More points and podiums for HM Plant Honda riders at Donington
Park
Leon Haslam took two strong second positions during today’s
blustery Bennetts British Superbike races at Donington Park.
In the first race, Haslam suffered a bad start but fought
back to finish behind winner Shane Byrne, while in the second
the Derbyshire rider led for almost 18 of the 20 laps but
Byrne made a pass on the HM Plant Honda rider going into the
Melbourne hairpin and pulled away to take his second win of
the day. Haslam’s team-mate Cal Crutchlow took a disappointing
sixth in race one after suffering from a lack of grip towards
the end of the race. Cal made amends with a fighting third
place in the second outing. In the Fuchs-Silkolene British
Supersport series Steve Brogan once more brought the HM Plant
Honda CBR600RR home in the points. He spent a lonely race
in fifth place before being overtaken by Miguel Praia on the
penultimate lap at Melbourne for sixth. The results were later
amended when the visiting Ten Kate Honda World Supersport
team of Jonathan Rea and Andrew Pitt, who finished in first
and second places respectively, were excluded from the results
after deciding not to take their bikes to Parc Ferme, handing
the points to the British series regulars. This moved Steve
up to fourth place, moving him back up to second place in
the title hunt. In the Superstock race Steve increased his
lead in the championship with a second place finish when the
race was red flagged due to rain.
Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
RACE ONE: 2nd position
RACE TWO: 2nd position
“In the first race I had a terrible start! When I practice
them in warm-up they’re normally pretty good, but in
the race I had a bad one. I battled back through but lost
the leader as it took me a while to get past Tom Sykes. He’s
got a fast bike and he’s so good on the brakes it was
hard to make the pass and by the time I had, Shakey had gone.
In the second race I felt confident that we had the pace.
I had a much better start and led for so long, but when I
was in front the high winds were having an effect on me and
the times we were doing weren’t so good. When Cal was
behind me I was confident that if he came past I could stay
with him and get back past, but then I heard a Ducati behind
me! Shakey made his move and timed it to perfection and was
able to pull a little bit of a gap on me. The HM Plant Honda
team did an excellent job today and it’s a shame we
didn’t get the win that I want so bad, but hopefully
the next round at Snetterton will suit the CBR1000RR Fireblade
a little better.”
Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
RACE ONE: 6th position
RACE TWO: 3rd position
“I was pretty disappointed with the first race –
sixth place is not where I should be finishing. I don’t
know what happened to me in the first outing, but after the
Safety Car came in I just felt as though the grip wasn’t
there from the tyres. Adrian Gorst my crew chief made a couple
of changes for the second race and said that it would be down
to me in the final race of the day, which fired me up. It
was a tough pair of races today and we struggled to keep up
with the Ducatis here, but we’ve got a plan for the
next race at Snetterton. The HM Plant Honda team did a great
job today. The ankle wasn’t too bad, I’ve got
another three days in the air-cast after today so I’m
looking forward to getting 100% fit.”
Steve Brogan – HM Plant Honda / Honda (UK)
Racing
British Supersport – HM Plant Honda CBR600RR
4th position
British Superstock – Honda (UK) Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade
2nd position
“I had a pretty good start in the Supersport race but
then was left in No-Man’s land for a while. To be honest
we chose a tyre that was just too soft really and after about
nine laps the HM Plant CBR600RR was sliding through the faster
corners so I just brought it home and got some points. There
was no point crashing! The result has put me back into second
place in the championship, which is good. In Superstock I
had a bad start and got duffed up a little in the early laps,
then when rain began to fall I put my hand up, but some of
the other guys took advantage of the conditions. The race
was stopped a lap later. The rain was falling on the back
part of the circuit and as I could see that my championship
rival Jon Kirkham didn’t start the race I just wanted
to get some good points and increase my lead in the championship.”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager
“Overall it’s been a very good weekend for HM
Plant Honda. We’re very pleased for Leon and Cal with
more points and more podiums. If we keep finishing second
and third when we’re still developing the bikes then
that’s good as we will be winning when they’re
fully sorted. Remember, we’ve got new bikes, two new
riders and the new tyres to contend with, but we’re
making good solid progress every time we go out on track.
It’s a long season and we’re still not half-way
through. In Supersport Steve did well to get more points.
I thought that if we could get third or fourth that would
be a good result. That moves Steve back into second in the
championship. In the Superstock race Steve suffered a little
in the early laps but he did what he needed to do. He could
see that Kirkham was out and that it was better to bring the
bike home and increase his lead in the series, which is good
news for Honda UK and the new for 2008 Fireblade.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Race One Result
1. Shane Byrne – Ducati
2. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
3. Tom Sykes – Suzuki
4. James Ellison – Honda
5. Leon Camier –Ducati
6. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
Race Two Result
1. Shane Byrne – Ducati
2. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
3. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
4. Leon Camier – Ducati
5. James Ellison – Honda
Championship Points
1. Shane Byrne, Ducati – 190 points
2. Cal Crutchlow, HM Plant Honda – 122 points
3. Leon Camier, Ducati – 107 points
4. Leon Haslam, HM Plant Honda – 96
5. James Ellison, Honda – 88
Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship
1. Glen Richards, Triumph – 85 points
2. Steve Brogan, HM Plant Honda – 65 points
3. Hudson Kennaugh, Yamaha – 58 points
4. Ian Lowry, Suzuki – 52
5. Chris Martin, Kawasaki – 40
Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship
1. Steve Brogan, HM Plant Honda – 95 points
2. Marshall Neill, Suzuki – 64 points
3. Jon Kirkham, Yamaha – 60 points
4. Alistair Seeley, Yamaha – 48 points
5. Victor Cox, Yamaha – 30 points
|
