Wins for Rutter and Byrne

Michael Rutter and Shane Byrne provided most of the entertainment at the First round of the British Superbikes Championship, with both riders taking a race win each.

Race one saw Byrne pull away on his Monstermob Ducati only to be caught again as his tyres began to lose grip. But the threat of Rizla Suzuki rider Yukio Kagayama and Hawk Kawasaki rider Glen Richards in hot pursuit forced Shakey to find that little bit extra and he managed to pull away again beating second place Kagayama by just over a second.

Glen Richards claimed his first ever BSB podium after hanging on to third in both races despite the fact that he is on a 750cc machine.

He said: ” That’s not a bad weekend! We’re still getting to grips with this bike and after the first race I really thought I might be in with a chance of winning the second one. But I went for a different front tyre and it created a bit of chatter. ”

Despite giving Byrne a run for his money Michael Rutter spent most of race one trying to deal with problems thrown up by brake and gear leavers, holding him back to a fourth place finish. Race two saw the problems fixed, allowing the Renegade Ducati rider to challenge Byrne for the lead, eventually winning by 1.1 seconds.

Yukio Kagayama gave away a second podium finish after a failed overtaking manoeuvre on Byrne let Glen Richards slip past.

He said: ” I’m happy with results, but I want to win. I made mistakes in race two. In the fastest corner I tried to pass Byrne, but I was too close. I could not see track layout and missed braking point.

Steve Plater crashed his Honda SP-2 in both races, taking both Sean Emmett and Appleyard Yamaha rider Jon Kirkham with him in the first race. The second race saw him spin off at the chicane but he managed to get back on and finish in 10th place.

To comment on this story click the link on the right to go to our BSB Discussion board.