Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

the waysjde for the most part in terms of podiums. Byrne, as we remember, wasn't even there, because he was busy resting for his latest championship challenge during his stellar UKSB season. There was the small matter of his Ducati F02s being raced at the TT by John McGuinness as well. The lone Monstermob rider was unleashed by his enthusiastic team at Brands, however, and he devoured the track, taking the new lap record of 1:26.755 on lap 13. And of course both wins, after a front row qualification in Superpole. A real Mob of Monsters Byrne's team are, and seemingly all ready to go SBK racing in 2003. At Brands, a slightly modified place that the wildcard Brits had been to before this season, the top Brits were almost all powerful. In race one Superpole winner and early leader Rizla Suzuki's John Reynolds was in contention for second place when his bike developed a fault, forcing his retirement due to a suspected pickup of grit or metal coating on the main bearing. After Byrne had hit the leading place on his 998 F02 (the same spec as Toseland and Walker, and Bayliss last year), he was a cert to win in the opener, and sure enough there was no stopping Byrne, enjoying a margin of victory of more than five seconds as he wheelied across what passes for Brands' start/finish straight. "It's not sunk in yet; John pulled the pin early on," said Byrne of his chase of Reynolds in the early laps. "I had a good battle with Chris and Regis and then was able to chase John down and pass him. When I was in the lead, I kept getting plus zero and just wanted them all to leave me alone. I could do with going home right now... I'm happy. The race went on forever. It felt like I was doing the Le Man 24-hour. I can't believe it this is unreal. I just kept my head down and saw that I had a half-second lead and then the next thing, it was three seconds. and it kept going up from there. I saw I was catching James Haydon in the final laps, and it must have distracted me as I nearly ran off the track. but what a feeling. I'm absolutely made up." In front of a claimed weekend crowd of 120,000, Byrne's wins were hailed by all as something special, especially as the race one podium also featured Brits Ducati Fila's Neil Hodgson and HM Plant Ducati's Chris Walker. And not forgetting that none of the starboyz in the AMA series gave the best SBK riders a run for their money in a real race situation at Laguna. Some never even came out for seconds, if memory serves. Walker was up for it on home ground, like a terrier with a rat in race one. "JR [John Reynolds] was off like a rocket, and the pace was fast early on," said Walker. "Shakey did a good job to catch and pass JR. When I saw the podium, but I was down on top speed compared with Hodgson and the rest, so it is easy for them to pass me on the straight," said the Frenchman. "I made a good race considering that we had little time to set up the bike in the dry. The result is good for my championship, as I pulled back points on both Toseland and Xaus." Sean Emmett, who had worked himself into contention for a podium at one stage, was ultimately just ahead of HM Plant Ducati's James Toseland; Emmett was fifth and Toseland sixth. Emmett was to suffer at the hand of the dreaded timing lights, and there was absolutely no question. He didn't so much jump the lights as jump up and down on them and led by several bikelengths for the first few laps. Many said that it was a deliberate tactic, to show his ETl's team colors in a good light of the world stage. It certainly worked, and Emmett ran at the front, missed (or ignored) the stop-go penalty - and was excluded eventually when he came in to Pit Lane after six laps or so. In race one, with Reynolds out, Alstare Suzuki's Gregorio Lavilla was the first four-cylinder rider on display, ahead of Michael Rutter's wild card Renegade Ducat!. Rutter would fail to finish race two and fail to impress quite like Byrne, even though he also has possession of an F02 Ducati. Still, not bad for a team that was operating out of a tent at the end of Pit Lane ... In the first running, Laguna race winner Pierfrancesco Chili could only manage to finish ninth at one of his best tracks, while the scent of competition was enough to take Rizla Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama to tenth. Even the less fancied Brit or two had a good day in parts, Dean Ellison finishing 11 th on his own Duke in the first, Juan Borja was 12 and top Pirelli runner Ivan Clementi the best Kawasaki in 13th, Steve Martin 14th and Mauro Sanchini the last points scorer. In the second race the action behind the leading trio was equally tight and tense as race one, with Xaus racing against tire woes and brakes which had not quite bedded in properly. Xaus had to use his spare bike after his engine retirement in race one, and he used up all his adjustment on the bar-ended brake lever adjuster - all eight clicks. Considering this, he had an excellent ride, and rumors circulated that Xaus had failed to understand team orders to let Hodgson win. If this is true, then good for him. He made some new friends. "I think I could win here," said Ruben. "My start wasn't as good as In race two, Byrne faced heat from Chris Walker (,) and Ruben Xaus (11) before pulling away. Walker finished third In race one. Xaus retired with engine woes. Xaus was having problems, I thought I could get on the podium, but I was having a few slides. When Neil came past, I upped my game again, but it was difficult to make a pass on Neil because he had it all covered and the fact that I had plus zero to Laconi so was having to make myself wide and cover my own lines." The strength in depth of the UK series is now evident, and in race two Reynolds was able to stay around long enough to underline this in bold, earning a fine second. In the second 25-lapper Byrne was pressurized by Reynolds all the way. winning by 0.5 seconds after 25 laps of hard action in warm conditions. Swapping results with his teammate Walker, James Toseland scored third place in the second outing, out-slugging what was a somewhat troubled Ruben Xaus. Having his machine lose oil after the front tire had rubbed the protruding cylinder head enough to loosen the can cover gasket, Xaus was out of race one, pushing Hodgson closer to the chance of taking the crown in race two. Xaus had troubles in race two as well. a chunking rear tire among them. The Brits still love Ruben for the big wild man he is, and the importance of Superbike to the British rac- ing psyche, even after a superbly attended Donington GP tickled their fancy two weeks previously, should not be underestimated. Once more there were three Brits on the podium at an SBK - twice this time, and on merit - and for a series under pressure it was a real boost to bask in sunshine of many kinds. The crowd looked worryingly thin on race morning, the weather overcast and damp, the mood something approaching sedate. As the sun crashed through the clouds, the mood lightened, and for race one, the previously busy (but not full) grandstands and spectator areas filled for the high noon kickoff. Were there 120,000 people in Brands - over the entire weekend? Maybe, but there were certainly less on Friday and Saturday than last year, mainly due to miserable weather. The racing was as close and intense as the weather (by British standards anyway), and even behind the leading duos and triplets, there was plenty going on. Just off the podium in race one, Frenchman Regis Laconi was fourth, escaping a suspected jump-start unscathed. Everyone oohed and aahed, but Laconi was let off. 'The race was OK; I was close to Walker's (9) race-one third-place finish matched his career best finish in World Superbike. Xaus would later use his spare bike to finish fourth in race two. cue I e n e _ S • AUGUST 6,2003 15

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