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Brands Hatch (Indy) Review |
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by Jimmy Martin, 13th October 2008
 With the British Superbike title sewn up, Shane Byrne was able to relax for the final round of the year at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, taking a magnificent double victory. Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow tied up second and third places in the championship. Michael Rutter made history with his 300th superbike race start, and ran the number 300 for the weekend to celebrate, while Karl Harris was forced to withdraw and was replaced by John Kirkham.
Race 1
The riders were held for a long time on the grid when one of the back row starters stalled, but when the lights finally went out, Cal Crutchlow made the best start to lead into Paddock Hill bend on his HM Plant Honda, with the rest of the pack managing to miss each other and slot in behind. Airwaves Ducati's Shane Byrne also started well, as did James Ellison, running higher on the Hydrex Bike Animal Honda than he has done for most of the year. Crutchlow's team-mate, Leon Haslam, was in fourth place, riding injured after a dopey-looking crash in qualifying when he looked over his shoulder and immediately highsided into a gravel trap, dislocating his collar bone. Byrne's team-mate Leon Camier was in fifth, while the long wait on the grid had caused Tom Sykes to damage the clutch of his Rizla Suzuki and make a poor start, running in sixth.
Coming into Druids for the second time, Shane Byrne was able to take a wide, swooping line on his Ducati to pass Crutchlow for the lead. After that, the top six pretty much held station until the end of the 30-lap race. The gaps opened and closed, but nobody managed to pass anyone else. Seventh placed Michael Laverty on the Relentless Suzuki was closing in on Sykes, but he dropped back and eventually retired with a technical problem. This promoted NW200 Ducati veteran Michael Rutter to eighth. Gary Mason was the leading privateer on the Quay Garage Honda.
It had been Shakey Byrne's first win for months, having had to carefully nurse his championship lead for the last few rounds. He celebrated with a Valentino Rossi style sidesaddle wheelie and a rolling burnout.
| Race One Results |
| Rider |
|
Team |
Time |
| 1. Shane Byrne |
GBR |
Airwaves Ducati |
23m 21.717s |
| 2. Cal Crutchlow |
GBR |
HM Plant Honda |
23m 23.609s |
| 3. James Ellison |
GBR |
Hydrex Bike Animal Honda |
23m 23.861s |
| 4. Leon Haslam |
GBR |
HM Plant Honda |
23m 23.907s |
| 5. Leon Camier |
GBR |
Airwaves Ducati |
23m 27.464s |
| 6. Tom Sykes |
GBR |
Rizla Suzuki |
23m 28.276s |
| 7. Michael Rutter |
GBR |
North West 200 Ducati |
23m 41.052s |
| 8. Simon Andrews |
GBR |
Jentin Racing / Lloyds British |
23m 41.719s |
| 9. John Kirkham |
GBR |
Team Yamaha |
23m 45.245s |
| 10. Tristan Palmer |
GBR |
Tena For Men Honda |
23m 46.958s |
Race 2
 This time round the start was frantic, with Leon Haslam making the best of it to lead through Paddock Hill bend and immediately starting to pull out a gap. Crutchlow led Sykes and Ellison, while Shane Byrne was down in fifth, followed by his team-mate Camier. The new champion might have started slowly, but he soon woke up and started moving through the field. Shakey's first victim was James Ellison who was dispatched on the way into the last corner, and next came Tom Sykes, who was strangely out of sorts after being one of the main contenders for the last few rounds.
Cal Crutchlow could not hold onto his team-mate's pace, and was the next person to come under pressure from the hard-charging Byrne, the only person able to match Haslam's lap times. Again, Shakey showed the Ducati's strength into Druids as he grabbed second position, even waving an apology to Cal for the close pass. Now the 2008 champion was able to get his head down and chip away at the HM Plant rider's lead. The second Airwaves Ducati rider, Leon Camier, was also on a roll, moving past Ellison in the same place as Byrne had done, but with a tad more force. Camier would also overtake Crutchlow before the race was run. Ellison spent most of the race trying to get by Tom Sykes, but although he could get very close, the Suzuki was a little faster and a little better on the brakes. Eventually, Sykes would drop out with a technical problem.
The main excitement was at the front. The somewhat crocked Leon Haslam was starting to lose fractions of a second each lap to the chasing Ducati of Shakey Byrne. As usually happens, the gap shrunk to around half a second, then was suddenly zero. The pair engaged in a thrilling dogfight, including a breathtaking moment when they went through Paddock Hill bend side by side. Haslam looked like he just had enough to stay in front, but backmarkers appeared at exactly the wrong moment, and these were the kind of backmarkers who do not have eyes in the back of their heads (or even eyes in the front of their heads to look at blue flags with). Byrne guessed left and passed the backmarker, while Haslam guessed wrong and was balked, running off the track and coming close to ending up in the same gravel trap where he had hurt himself on Saturday, but recovering to finish second.
Shane Byrne took the chequered flag to take an incredible double victory, a perfect end to his title-winning season and an excellent way to bid farewell to BSB before he heads for World Superbike with Sterilgarda Ducati. Leon Camier rode a great race to finish third, dropping Crutchlow to fourth. NW200 Ducati's John Laverty won the Cup class race. Haslam was philosophical about his second place finish, performing a donut for the crowd. He was joined by Byrne, who did another donut, shrouding the whole start-finish straight in clouds of tyre smoke. Most of the riders then ran over to the crowd, throwing boots, gloves and knee sliders to the cheering fans (checking eBay over the next few days will probably reveal a few of these souvenirs). It had been an outstanding race; British Superbike racing at its very best.
| Race Two Results |
| Rider |
|
Team |
Time |
| 1. Shane Byrne |
GBR |
Airwaves Ducati |
23m 21.124s |
| 2. Leon Haslam |
GBR |
HM Plant Honda |
23m 22.941s |
| 3. Leon Camier |
GBR |
Airwaves Ducati |
23m 25.429s |
| 4. Cal Crutchlow |
GBR |
HM Plant Honda |
23m 29.685s |
| 5. James Ellison |
GBR |
Hydrex Bike Animal Honda |
23m 30.907s |
| 6. Michael Rutter |
GBR |
North West 200 Ducati |
23m 32.524s |
| 7. Simon Andrews |
GBR |
Jentin Racing / Lloyds British |
23m 45.389s |
| 8. Michael Laverty |
GBR |
Relentless Suzuki by TAS |
23m 46.968s |
| 9. Gary Mason |
GBR |
Quay Garage |
23m 46.991s |
| 10. John Kirkham |
GBR |
Team Yamaha |
23m 54.225s |
|
Final Rider Championship Standings |
| Rider |
|
Team |
Points |
| 1. Shane Byrne |
GBR |
Airwaves Ducati |
474 |
| 2. Leon Haslam |
GBR |
HM Plant Honda |
357 |
| 3. Cal Crutchlow |
GBR |
HM Plant Honda |
318 |
| 4. Tom Sykes |
GBR |
Rizla Suzuki |
316 |
| 5. Leon Camier |
GBR |
Airwaves Ducati |
306 |
| 6. Michael Rutter |
GBR |
North West 200 Ducati |
256 |
| 7. James Ellison |
GBR |
Hydrex Bike Animal Honda |
230 |
| 8. Simon Andrews |
GBR |
Jentin Racing / Lloyds British |
176 |
| 9. Michael Laverty |
GBR |
Relentless Suzuki by TAS |
141 |
| 10. Tristan Palmer |
GBR |
Tena for Men Honda |
111 |
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