Superbike World Championship
Round 9: Brands Hatch
By
GORDON RITCHIE
PHOTOS BY GOLD AND GOOSE
BRANDS HATCH, UK, JULY 27
onstermob Ducati's Shane
.
"Shakey" Byrne has been the
leading light in British Superbike
this year, running away with the
entire championship like it were
\ his own property already. It isn't
quite yet, but he's dominant to
a fault.
Byrne owned Brands
Hatch on Sunday, booming
to a clear race win in the
opener and a close one in
race two. He was nonetheless untouchable in either,
and a history maker of sorts.
He's even a local lad from
Kent, from Sittingbourne just up the
road and now domiciled on the Isle of
Sheppey, still in the county of Kent.
The sun-kissed hordes of British
fans at Brands Hatch were treated to
a double delight when wild card rider
Byrne became only the third rider
ever to win a double as a wild card the previous ones being Hitoyasu
lzutsu in 2000 and Makoto Tamada in
2001 - at Sugo of course.
British and other fans will remember the epic battle at Silverstone this
year with the local Brit wild cards
mixing it up but ultimately falling by
M
Byrne (671 battles with World Superbike top ace Nell Hodgson
(1001. Hodgson finished second in race one but would slip to
~t.::;;~~==~~=:::...
ftfth in race two.
14
AUGUST 6.
2003'
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