Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Provisional British Superbike Race Two Results From Croft Circuit:

1. Michael RUTTER, Honda, 22 laps, 30:08.942
2. Scott SMART, Kawasaki, -1.991 seconds
3. John REYNOLDS, Suzuki, -2.912 seconds
4. Ryuichi KIYONARI, Honda, -11.722 seconds
5. James HAYDON, Yamaha, -16.491 seconds
6. Gary MASON, Yamaha, -24.979 seconds
7. John McGUINNESS, Kawasaki, -26.204 seconds
8. Craig COXHELL, Honda, -27.568 seconds
9. James ELLISON, Yamaha, -37.061 seconds
10. Steve PLATER, Yamaha, -37.183 seconds
11. Sean EMMETT, Ducati, -44.022 seconds
12. Paul BROWN, Ducati, -44.902 seconds
13. Jon KIRKHAM, Suzuki, -50.009 seconds
14. Dennis HOBBS, Suzuki, -54.975 seconds
15. James BUCKINGHAM, Suzuki, -63.670 seconds

22. Yukio KAGAYAMA, Suzuki, -20 laps, DNF


British Superbike Championship Point Standings:

1. REYNOLDS, 362 points
2. RUTTER, 312 points
3. SMART, 276 points
4. KAGAYAMA, 249 points
5. EMMETT, 240 points
6. KIYONARI, 150 points
7. TIE, HAYDON/Dean THOMAS (Ducati), 132 points
9. Tommy HILL (Yamaha), 105 points
10. MASON, 95 points
11. ELLISON, 87 points
12. COXHELL, 84 points
13. Glen RICHARDS (Kawasaki), 78 points
14. Jon KIRKHAM (Suzuki), 65 points
15. McGUINNESS, 64 points


More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:

THINK! BSB Championship, Round 10, Aug 15

National Superstock Cup, Round 8

Croft, N. Yorks

Track length: 2.1270 miles

Weather: dry and bright, 25°C

Track: dry, 38°C

RACE

DOUBLE PODIUM FOR SMART AT CROFT

Hawk Kawasaki star Scott Smart consolidated his third place in the THINK! British Superbike Championship today by taking a double podium in two hard-fought races at Croft. His third and second place finishes gave the Hawk rider his sixth and seventh podium visits of the year.

In the first 22 lap outing Smarty mounted a strong challenge to Yukio Kagayama and Michael Rutter but he was unable to best the pair when his ZX-10R sprang an oil leak at mid-race distance. Despite being unable to hang onto the leaders Smart brought his bike home for 16 valuable championship points.

“I caught Kagayama up, and then I made a mistake and nearly ran into him so I dropped back,” he said. “I caught him again, then dropped back but never got back to him after that. My foot slipped off the peg a few times as well because we had an oil leak, although the bike was essentially good.”

Smart made up for his disappointment by snatching the lead from Kagayama on the first lap of the second 22 lapper. The Hawk star immediately put the hammer down and pulled out a 1.7 second lead by the fourth lap. Smarty controlled the race from the front until lap 19, despite several strong moves from Rutter at Tower Bend, treating the huge crowd to some of the hardest racing of this year’s series. Scott’s eventual second place, behind Rutter, boosts his championship by a further 20 points.

“It was great fun out there,” beamed Smart on the podium. “I really got my head down at the start and pulled out a 1.5 second lead. I’d given my tyre hell to pull away so I knew I’d have to ease off a bit and that’s when Rutter and Reynolds caught up. I thought, ‘we’ll sort this out in the last few laps,’ but we ended up doing that for the last six laps. The boys worked really hard between the races to fix the bike so I have to thank them for giving me a bike to do the business on in the second.”

John McGuinness impressed yet again by bringing his Hawk ZX-10R home in two strong top 10 finishes – tenth and seventh.

“That was a better race,” he said of his second outing. “Kiyonari came by and I diced with him for a while before I caught Mason up, but I didn’t quite have enough to pass him. I was in a nice rhythm so I just concentrated on bringing the bike home and was seventh in the end, which is encouraging. This weekend is the first time that bike has been run because at the others I was riding Glen’s bikes. The new one felt a bit alien to start with but now we’ve got it feeling more like my bike. It was tough out there though. Two races, 44 laps, but we’ve got solid points and come home safely in both races.”

After suspecting Croft may not suit the ZX-10R, Hawk Kawasaki Team Principal Stuart Hicken was delighted with the results. “This weekend has been great for the team,” he said. “Starting with young Peter Hickman taking his first win, Scott getting two podiums and setting super lap times and John’s two solid rides, especially because I didn’t think our bike would suit this circuit. I’m over the moon with how the bike responded to the track and we’re not far away from the others in terms of top speed now either.”

Round 11 of the BSB Championship and rounds 9 and 10 of the National Supertsock Cup will be held at Cadwell Park on August 30.

BSB RACE 1

1) Michael Rutter, Honda. 2) Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki. 3) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki. 4) Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda. 5) John Reynolds, Suzuki. 6) James Haydon, Yamaha. 7) Sean Emmett, Ducati. 8) Dean Thomas, Ducati. 9) Tommy Hill, Yamaha. 10) John McGuinness, Hawk Kawasaki. 11) James Ellison, Yamaha (P). 12) Paul Brown, Ducati. 13) Craig Coxhell, Honda. 14) Dennis Hobbs, Suzuki (P). 15) Jon Kirkham, Suzuki (P)

(P)= Privateer

Fastest lap: Michael Rutter, Honda, 1:21.487, 93.96mph

BSB RACE 2

1) Michael Rutter, Honda. 2) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki. 3) John Reynolds, Suzuki. 4) Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda. 5) James Haydon, Yamaha. 6) Gary Mason, Yamaha. 7) John McGuinness, Hawk Kawasaki. 8) Craig Coxhell, Honda. 9) James Ellison, Yamaha (P). 10) Steve Plater, Yamaha. 11) Sean Emmett, Ducati. 12) Paul Brown, Ducati. 13) Jon Kirkham, Suzuki (P). 14) Dennis Hobbs, Suzuki (P). 15) James Buckingham, Suzuki (P)

Fastest lap: John Reynolds, Suzuki, 1:21.245, 94.24mph

BSB CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 10 ROUNDS

1) John Reynolds, Suzuki, 362. 2) Michael Rutter, 312. 3) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki, 276. 4) Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, 249. 5) Sean Emmett, Ducati, 240. 6) Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 150. 7) Dean Thomas, Ducati, 132. 8) James Haydon, Yamaha, 132. 9) Tommy Hill, Yamaha, 105. 10) Gary Mason, Yamaha, 95. 11) James Ellison, Yamaha, 87. 12) Craig Coxhell, Honda, 84. 13) Glen Richards, Hawk Kawasaki, 78. 14) John Kirkham, Suzuki, 65. 15) John McGuinness, Hawk Kawasaki, 64

MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 10 ROUNDS

1) Suzuki, 412. 2) Honda, 348. 3) Kawasaki, 292. 4) Ducati, 275. 5) Yamaha, 220


More, from a press release issued by MSS Discovery Kawasaki:

MSS DISCOVERY’S DA COSTA POWERS ZX-10R TO DEBUT VICTORY AT CROFT

MSS Discovery team new recruit Julien da Costa put on a sensational display to win his first race in the National Superstock championship at Croft, North Yorkshire on Sunday.

Da Costa – making his debut in Britain, for the MSS Discovery Kawasaki team and on Pirelli tyres ­grabbed the lead on the opening lap and put in a dominant performance to win round nine of the series.

The 22-year-old Frenchman eventually won by 2.6 seconds in the 18-lap, sun-kissed encounter.

“The race seemed to last forever,” reported Da Costa. “Everything was fine, no problems at all. I was a little bit nervous about my first race on a new tyre brand but my mechanics made the tyre choice for me and the Pirellis worked well.”

Da Costa added: “It didn’t take too long for me to get used to the Croft circuit and I’m really pleased to be given this opportunity by the MSS Discovery Kawasaki team.”

Da Costa will also contest round 11 at Cadwell Park and round 13 at Donington Park but misses Oulton Park’s 12th round to race in the Bol d’Or 24-hour race.

Da Costa’s team-mate Steve Allan crashed out on the opening lap while holding seventh place after powering off the startline in determined fashion aboard his ZX-10R.

Allan explained: “I was making ground and just about to pass Tristan Palmer, I out-braked him into the slow right-hander but I was in his blind spot, he couldn’t see me and he just cut across.

“It wasn’t his fault. It was just one of those racing accidents. It’s such a shame because I’d really got dialled in for the race ­despite the pain from the collarbone I broke at Mallory Park last month.”

MSS Discovery’s luckless Pere Riba crashed out of third place in round 10 of the British Supersport championship, on lap five of 20.

Riba powered his ZX-6R into fifth place on the opening lap after qualifying in seventh. He was quickly up to third and the Spaniard looked like he would challenge the leading duo before he slid off, escaping injury.

“That was about the best I’ve felt all year and I was really confident of challenging for a win this afternoon,” said Riba. “We knew the race set-up was good enough to win but I knew I had to get to the front.”

Riba explained his first crash of the year: “I was pushing too hard around the right-hand Sunny corner and the front tyre let go. It was a really silly crash and I should not have made a mistake like that.”

British Supersport Championship, round 10 result (20 laps ­ 42.60 miles):

1 Jay Vincent, Honda, 28:17.303 ­ 90.22mph
2 Leon Camier, Honda, 28:18.543
3 Karl Harris, Honda, 28:24.419
4 Tom Sykes, Suzuki, 28:26.029
5 Luke Quigley, Suzuki, 28:30.962
6 Adrian Coates, Suzuki, 28:32.773
7 Matt Llewellyn, Ducati, 28:33.046
8 Stuart Easton, Ducati, 28:38.705
9 Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 28:38.962
10 Jamie Robinson, Yamaha, 28:43.604

Championship points after 10 of 13 rounds: 1 Harris 197, 2 Michael Laverty (Ducati) 145, 3 Vincent 142, 4 Pere Riba (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) 101, 5 Camier 85, 6 Quigley 81, 7 Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 76, 8 Sykes 67, 9 Crutchlow 57, 10 Craig Jones (Triumph) and Paul Young (Honda) 49.

Next round: Cadwell Park, Lincs ­ August 30.


National Superstock Championship, round nine result (18 laps ­ 38.34 miles).

1 Julien da Costa, MSS Discovery Kawasaki, 25:45.549 ­ 89.17mph
2 Andy Tinsley, Suzuki, 25:48.156
3 Les Shand, Yamaha, 25:48.523
4 Lee Jackson, Yamaha, 25:48.804
5 Danny Beaumont, Yamaha, 25:55.236
6 Tristan Palmer, Suzuki, 25:57.455
7 Ben Wilson, Suzuki, 26:01.461
8 John Ingram, Suzuki, 26:14.903
9 Ian Hutchinson, Suzuki, 26:15.796
10 Andy Wallace, Suzuki, 26:17.289

Championship points after nine of 13 rounds: 1 Palmer 157, 2 Tinsley 143, 3 Wilson and Beaumont 128, 5 Shand 100, 6 Steve Allan (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) 59, 7 Howie Mainwaring (Yamaha) 44, 8 Kelvin Reilly (Ducati) 41, 9 John Laverty (Yamaha) 39, 10 Marshall Neill (Suzuki) 37.

Next round: Cadwell Park, Lincs ­ August 30.


More, from a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

CROFT DISASTER FOR TEAM MONSTERMOB

It was a day to forget for MonsterMob Ducati in round ten of the THINK! British Superbike Championship after neither Superbike rider Sean Emmett nor Supersport rider Michael Laverty made it onto the rostrum at Croft Circuit, North Yorkshiretoday.

The Cumbrian-based team arrived at their local circuit with great expectations after Emmett had recorded fastest time in last week’s test aboard the 999F04 and Laverty had planted the 749 on the front row of the grid but it wasn’t to be for the Paul Bird team in front of a massive crowd.

34 year old Londoner Emmett managed seventh place in race one from a disappointing qualifying start of twelfth on the grid but any hopes of redeeming himself in race two went as he was adjudged to have jumped the start and endured a ride through penalty which had him down in 20th place at one point. However, Emmett managed to battle his way up to 11th at the flag but admitted it was a disappointing weekend.

“It’s been a very frustrating weekend, although I have ridden really hard. I was doing the same lap times as the top guys but because of qualifying down the grid there wasn’t much I could do about it as I had riders in front of me, its just one of those things. I made a gamble in race two and just thought I would anticipate the lights because if I could have got into the top five anything could have happened, but it just wasn’t meant to be”

Meanwhile team mate Michael Laverty was leading the British Supersport race when he crashed out on lap two.

“I’m so disappointed. I don’t know what happened there but I put the power on and I think there was a bump on the corner or something, and it just spun and there was nothing I could do about it. I felt very comfortable leading the race and I thought I could have had that one”

Paul Bird was unhappy with the day’s proceedings and had the following to say:

“That was a disappointing day especially with it being our local circuit. We came here with high expectations and are leaving disappointed. I am definitely not very happy”


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

SUZUKI EARNS 20TH PODIUM OF YEAR
Team Suzuki Press Office – August 15, 2004.

Rizla Suzuki riders John Reynolds and Yukio Kagayama gave Suzuki its 20th consecutive podium of the year and set a new lap record at today’s 10th round of the Think! British Superbike Championship at Croft in North Yorkshire.

In the first event, Kagayama led from pole position until the last lap and then missed a gear – his only mistake in the 30-minute long race – letting Honda’s Michael Rutter through and steal the win, while Reynolds, who was battling the bumpy surface on his GSX-R1000, gritted his teeth to finish fifth.

The second race saw Kagayama dicing for the lead only to highside out of contention on the third lap, fortunately without serious injury. Reynolds switched to a different set-up on his machine and was able to run with the leaders, setting a new lap record in the process at 1:21.245, and eventually finished third just behind winner Rutter.

JR’s podium was Rizla Suzuki’s 20th consecutive rostrum in 2004, cementing Suzuki’s position as the leading manufacturer by 64 points from Honda. And his Championship lead is now 50 points over Rutter with a maximum of 150 points still up for grabs in the final three rounds.

A huge crowd of more than 25,000 fans flocked to Croft, now back in the BSB calendar after a long absence.

John Reynolds:

“We struggled with set-up right from the start of the weekend and it took us until the second race for me to be comfortable on my Rizla Suzuki. In truth I am relieved to be leaving here with two solid results and points in the bag.

“In race two I might have been able to challenge a bit harder for the win as my GSX-R1000 was handling perfectly. I raced hard with Scott Smart and Michael Rutter but could easily have crashed out and I didn’t want that to happen. It’s been hard work this weekend and I am now looking forward to Cadwell Park in a fortnight’s time and a circuit which we know well and have good set-up data for the bike. I will be doing my best to get back to winning ways there!”

Yukio Kagayama:

“In race two I have no idea why I crashed. The throttle was closed and I was riding easily but the tyre broke away and next it was a big highside. I land heavily and now I am very sore but nothing is broken and this is good news.

“Today maybe we did not reach our full potentials. I think all weekend we have fast setting and maybe it is possible to win. In race one, I lead for all laps apart from the last when I missed a gear and presented Michael Rutter with an easy win. Thank you to my Rizla Suzuki team staff for supplying such a fast bike this weekend. I try 100 per cent as always but luck left us today. It was possible for a double win but this is racing!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“Yuki was fastest all weekend and we had hoped for better results. In race one, a tiny mistake gifted Michael the win and in race two he suffered a highside while going for the lead early on. He had the pace and deserved better results than those but some days the luck just doesn’t run with you.

“JR’s day was different. He struggled to find a competitive set-up all weekend and to be fair only really had the bike handling the way he wanted for the second race. He was a day behind everybody else in terms of set-up and that cost him in the races. Still, he dug very deep to score more points and while he retains his lead in the Championship we are very aware that to win the title we need to win more races – and that’s what we plan to do starting at Cadwell Park.”


More, from a press release issued by JR Motosport:

ROBINSON BACK IN BUSINESS AT CROFT

JR Motosport riders Jamie Robinson and Paul Veazey put on a brilliant show in front of their local fans and sponsors with a pair of great rides in round ten of the British Supersport Championship held at Croft Circuit yesterday.

Yorkshireman Robinson planted his Yamaha R6 on row three to secure this best qualifying position of the year whilst team mate Veazey, from nearby Middlesbrough, started from row six for the second successive meeting.

With glorious sunny conditions gracing the North Yorkshire track and in front of a massive North East crowd, Robinson got a decent start and was running in the leading bunch as half a dozen riders battled it out around the fast 2.2 mile circuit.

At the end of twenty fast and furious laps, Robinson had done enough to secure tenth place at the chequered flag which as a result, was his best result since Brands Hatch in round two over the Easter weekend.

“What a fantastic weekend for us at the team’s local circuit and I’m delighted that all the hard work is starting to pay off. What makes it special is that I was the top Yamaha home and Paul was the second one in what is a truly competitive class. We need to build on this and try to improve at Cadwell where I’ve not had the best of luck in the past” said the 28 year old from Holmfirth.

17 year old Veazey, for his part, coped well in the hot and humid conditions to bring the bike home in 18h place after a tough race which saw him nearly taken out on the first corner. Having made his best start of the season, Veazey was in the middle of the pack when another rider cannoned into him and forced him wide meaning he dropped way down the order. The teenager battled back to claim 18that the flag despite his misfortune:

“I found a gap on the run into the first corner and I was well in the mix when all of a sudden, Tom Tunstall side-swiped me and pushed me onto the dirt. I was lucky to stay on but by the time I’d got things under control, I was third last. It was an uphill struggle after that but I’m sure I could have scored my first points if it hadn’t been for that” said Veazey who will be hoping to do that next time out at CadwellPark over the August Bank Holiday weekend.


More, from a press release issued by Hobbs Racing:

DOUBLE PODIUM FOR HEROIC HOBBS

Despite being injured in a 150mph smash just over a week ago, Hobbs Racing rider Dennis Hobbs rewarded his local fans with a heroic performance in front of a massive crowd at Croft in round ten of the THINK! British Superbike Cup yesterday.

Riding the Scott Leathers backed 1000cc Suzuki, the 22 year old from Guisborough was hospitalised after suffering neck and back injuries when he crashed at the official test day last week and after undergoing intensive physiotherapy for a week, was pronounced fit enough to ride just in time for his local meeting.

Unable to rotate his neck properly or to crouch down behind the screen, Hobbs qualified on row four of the grid before charging to a superb 14th place overall in race one and amazingly, bringing the machine home in second place in the Privateer’s class whereby he holds second in the standings.

Another physiotherapy and massage session between races enabled Dennis to take his place on the grid for another gruelling 22 lap race in the hot and humid conditions and once again he responded by scoring yet another podium finish, this time in third place in class despite his 14th overall.

“I’d like to apologise to the crowd for not winning as I’d promised to be up there and challenging but after the happenings of last week, I should count myself lucky that I was able to race at all. I can’t move my neck and I was getting buffeted by the wind as I couldn’t get behind the screen and it was just a case of hanging on. Another couple of weeks and I should be in a lot better shape at Cadwell” said Dennis who saw the gap between himself and championship leader James Ellison extend to 53 points courtesy of the Cumbrian rider’s double win.