BSB News

[Gix]

Kiyonari Takes Mondello Race One, a Ducati 1-2 in Race Two

Michael Rutter will be returning to England in a deep depression, despite leading the BSB championship by a handsome margin. His 46 point lead will not disguise the fact that he is yet to beat his HM Plant Honda team-mate Ryiuchi Kiyonari, in any race they have both finished this season. No doubt Rutter was looking to stamp his authority on the series during the Irish round at Mondello Park, with Kiyo possibly vulnerable as he returned from missing two meetings after a nasty crash. In both races, however, Kiyo shot off the line to lead Rutter for every lap of both races, and the title chase looks like it is up for grabs once again.

It was the usual suspects who challenged Kiyo as he made his customary good start in Race 1. Pole man Jonathon Rea clipped a rear tyre in turn 1 and went down, leaving Kiyo leading Hawk Kawasaki’s Glen Richards and Leon Haslam on the Airwaves Ducati. At half race distance both Richards and Haslam had managed to keep the young Japanese hotshot within striking range, but both went down at the tight double apex right hander, letting Kiyo off the hook, and handing him a comfortable win on his return to race action. Rutter was gifted second, having looked incapable of closing the 2 second gap separating him from third place. Lavilla was charging, and spent the remainder closing a 6 sec gap between himself and Rutter. When they crossed the finish line, the gap was down to 0.2 secs.

A six rider dice developed for fourth, with Virgin Yamaha’s Sean Emmett holding Karl Harris off for lap after lap, until lap 16 when the Honda rider finally made a move stick on the brakes. Emmett then fell backwards as he encountered brake fade, as Rizla Suzuki’s supersub James Haydon charged through the pack to fifth. But a mistake on the last lap saw him run wide and rejoin to finish a hugely disappointing tenth. His embattled team mate Scott Smart benefited to take fifth, from Stobart Honda runners Michael Laverty and Gary Mason, with Emmett splitting them in seventh. Yet again, the junior members of the team beat former MotoGP rider Jeremy McWilliams in his home race, who could only finish in ninth.

Race 2 did not go so well for Kiyonari. Leon Haslam was not going to make the same mistake twice, and rode an absolutely superb race to take the lead on the slow steering Ducati, a bike that seemed ill suited to the twisty and bumpy track. The bike didn’t seemed to be set up terribly well for the tight turns either, with the bike sounding like it was searching for the right gear at a couple of points on the track. But Haslam showed what a good rider he is becoming, by making the 999 work where it really had no right to ( Emmett struggled hugely with it here last year), holding Kiyonari at bay for the final two laps, and, having retaken second spot with a hard pass at the double apex right hander, giving him no opportunities to make what seemed like an inevitable last gasp pass for second.

Michael Laverty had his best race of the season, and incredibly had the beating of Rutter on the factory bike. For all the world it looked like Laverty was going to stand on his first Superbike podium at his home round, but a certain Spaniard had different ideas, and stormed through the field to take the lead with five laps to go. He immediately opened a four bike length lead, and the only thing in doubt was who would take second. As they clocked off the laps, Kiyo looked bound to make a pass stick , finally doing so at the last turn leading onto the front straight. Haslam struck straight back, and was later and better on the brakes, holding on to make it a one-two for GSE Airwaves Ducati, with Laverty taking an excellent fourth, 2 secs ahead of Rutter. Glen Richards will have been disappointed with his weekend, coming sixth in Race 2, having lead both races, and having looked like he may have had enough race pace to take it all the way to the chequered flag. It cannot be too long until Richards returns the ZX10 to the winners spot in parc ferme, Scott Smart having set the precedent here last year. Who would have thought Smart would be able to manage just fifth and eighth here this year, having bagged the most desirable ride in the paddock when the riders merry-go-round opened for business at the end of last year’s season?

2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship & Superbike Cup – Mondello Park Race 1

1 – 6 – Ryuichi KIYONARI – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 30:22.490
2 – 2 – Michael RUTTER – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 30:30.273
3 – 36 – Gregorio LAVILLA – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 30:30.649
4 – 9 – Karl HARRIS – Honda – Honda-Racing.co.uk – 30:42.372
5 – 88 – Scott SMART – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki – 30:43.065
6 – 33 – Michael LAVERTY – Honda – Stobart Honda – 30:43.492
7 – 5 – Sean EMMETT – Yamaha – Virgin Mobile Samsung – 30:45.066
8 – 3 – Gary MASON – Honda – Stobart Honda – 30:45.509
9 – 99 – Jeremy McWILLIAMS – Honda – Stobart Honda – 30:45.697
10 – 18 – James HAYDON – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki – 30:47.464
11 – 74 – Kieran CLARKE – Honda – Hydrex Honda – 31:00.708
12 – 10 – Jon KIRKHAM – Kawasaki-Sendo Superbike Team – 31:01.125
13 – 11 – Ben WILSON – Kawasaki – Vivaldi Racing – 31:04.228
14 – 4 – Steve PLATER – Kawasaki-Sendo Superbike Team – 31:06.465
15 – 12 – Dean THOMAS – Kawasaki – Hawk Kawasaki – 31:06.829
16 – 26 – C – Chris MARTIN – Suzuki – Carmasters Ltd – 31:14.589
17 – 14 – John LAVERTY – Honda – Vitrans Racing – 31:16.255
18 – 77 – C – Marty NUTT – Honda-M Johns Motors/NuttTravel – 31:18.421
19 – 44 – John McGUINNESS – Yamaha – AIM Racing – 31:20.301
20 – 17 – Tristan PALMER – Kawasaki – Vivaldi Racing – 31:21.684
21 – 56 – C – James BUCKINGHAM – Suzuki – Quay Garage Suzuki – 31:24.510
22 – 37 – C – Danny BEAUMONT – Honda – Team JJL Racing – 31:27.752
23 – 68 – C – Steve BROGAN – Honda – PR Branson Honda – 31:27.990
24 – 48 – Nick MEDD – Kawasaki – Arco Medd Racing – 31:48.553
25 – 21 – C – Malcolm ASHLEY – Kawasaki – MAR – 31:48.857
26 – 24 – Richard WREN – Yamaha – Virgin Mobile Samsung – 32:03.445

C: Denotes Superbike Cup

Not Classified

22 – C – Michael PENSAVALLE – Kawasaki – MP Racing – 17:38.407
8 – Tommy HILL – Yamaha – Virgin Mobile Samsung – 15:44.274
91 – Leon HASLAM – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 14:01.490
75 – Glen RICHARDS – Kawasaki – Hawk Kawasaki – 10:09.063
25 – John CROCKFORD – Yamaha – Team Nvidia – 10:37.314
65 – Jonathan REA – Honda – Red Bull Honda –

Fastest Lap- –
75 – – Glen RICHARDS – Kawasaki – Hawk Kawasaki – 1:40.582
26 – C – Chris MARTIN – Suzuki – Carmasters Ltd – 1:42.862

2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship & Superbike Cup – Mondello Park Race 2

1 – 36 – Gregorio LAVILLA – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 30:21.071
2 – 91 – Leon HASLAM – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 30:21.089
3 – 6 – Ryuichi KIYONARI – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 30:21.458
4 – 33 – Michael LAVERTY – Honda – Stobart Honda – 30:22.610
5 – 2 – Michael RUTTER – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 30:24.669
6 – 75 – Glen RICHARDS – Kawasaki – Hawk Kawasaki – 30:28.508
7 – 9 – Karl HARRIS – Honda – Honda-Racing.co.uk – 30:30.694
8 – 88 – Scott SMART – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki – 30:34.100
9 – 3 – Gary MASON – Honda – Stobart Honda – 30:36.211
10 – 99 – Jeremy McWILLIAMS – Honda – Stobart Honda – 30:43.014
11 – 4 – Steve PLATER – Kawasaki-Sendo Superbike Team – 30:53.360
12 – 10 – Jon KIRKHAM – Kawasaki-Sendo Superbike Team – 30:54.713
13 – 12 – Dean THOMAS – Kawasaki – Hawk Kawasaki – 30:55.617
14 – 8 – Tommy HILL – Yamaha – Virgin Mobile Samsung – 30:55.876
15 – 11 – Ben WILSON – Kawasaki – Vivaldi Racing – 30:56.359
16 – 14 – John LAVERTY – Honda – Vitrans Racing – 30:56.404
17 – 37 – C – Danny BEAUMONT – Honda – Team JJL Racing – 31:14.236
18 – 17 – Tristan PALMER – Kawasaki – Vivaldi Racing – 31:19.271
19 – 56 – C – James BUCKINGHAM – Suzuki – Quay Garage Suzuki – 31:20.021
20 – 68 – C – Steve BROGAN – Honda – PR Branson Honda – 31:20.025
21 – 22 – C – Michael PENSAVALLE – Kawasaki – MP Racing – 31:28.479
22 – 24 – Richard WREN – Yamaha – Virgin Mobile Samsung – 31:29.096
23 – 21 – C – Malcolm ASHLEY – Kawasaki – MAR – 31:37.779
24 – 77 – C – Marty NUTT – Honda-M Johns Motors/NuttTravel – 32:09.799
25 – 26 – C – Chris MARTIN – Suzuki – Carmasters Ltd – 31:06.309

C: Denotes Superbike Cup

Not Classified- –
65 – Jonathan REA – Honda – Red Bull Honda – 23:41.790
18 – James HAYDON – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki – 23:48.845
44 – John McGUINNESS – Yamaha – AIM Racing – 19:09.698
25 – John CROCKFORD – Yamaha – Team Nvidia – 14:16.240
48 – Nick MEDD – Kawasaki – Arco Medd Racing – 9:08.682
5 – Sean EMMETT – Yamaha – Virgin Mobile Samsung – 6:55.545
74 – Kieran CLARKE – Honda – Hydrex Honda – 5:16.767

Championship Points After Race Two:

1 – Michael RUTTER (Honda) – 195
2 – Gregorio LAVILLA (Ducati) – 149
3 – Ryuichi KIYONARI (Honda) – 141
4 – Leon HASLAM (Ducati) – 120
5 – Glen RICHARDS (Kawasaki) – 114
6 – Karl HARRIS (Honda) – 102
7 – Sean EMMETT (Yamaha) – 79
8 – Dean THOMAS (Kawasaki) – 69
9 – Scott SMART (Suzuki) – 62
10 – Gary MASON (Honda) – 54
11 – Michael LAVERTY (Honda) – 51
12 – Steve PLATER (Kawasaki) – 30
13 – Jeremy McWILLIAMS (Honda) – 29
14 – James HAYDON (Suzuki) – 27
15 – Kieran CLARKE (Honda) – 25
16 – Jonathan REA (Honda) – 22
17 – Ben WILSON (Kawasaki) – 21
18 – Tommy HILL (Yamaha) – 18
19 – John REYNOLDS (Suzuki) – 16
20 – Jon KIRKHAM (Kawasaki) – 12

Superbike Cup

1 – James BUCKINGHAM (Suzuki) – 163
2 – Steve BROGAN (Honda) – 147
3 – Marty NUTT (Honda) – 129
4 – Chris MARTIN (Suzuki) – 122
5 – Danny BEAUMONT (Honda) – 108
6 – Michael PENSAVALLE (Kaw) – 82
7 – Malcolm ASHLEY (Kawasaki) – 79
8 – Gareth GLYNN (Yamaha) – 63

Manufacturers Championship

1 – Honda – 236
2 – Ducati – 190
3 – Kawasaki – 120
4 – Suzuki – 83
5 – Yamaha – 81

LOVE IS GIVING SOMEONE THE ABILITY TO DESTROY YOU, THEN TRUSTING THEM NOT TO.

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, But rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, vacuum in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming…….WOO HOO, there goes another engine!

[Author]

Posts