Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/177528
P26 IN THE WIND podium hopes were crushed by a mechanical issue that forced him to drop out of the race. Instead it was his new teammate on the Milwaukee Yamaha Tommy Bridewell who would get the last podium position. Bridewell battled with Byrne's new teammate Noriyuki Haga and then Josh Brookes before gapping the pair and ultimately securing the spot. As Byrne had promised he was going to try for a different story for race two and he started it by grabbing the holeshot in front of Lowes, Haga and Brookes. But as it started differently, it ended differently. And not as Byrne planned. Instead it ended with a high-speed crash that was the culmination of the battle between him and Lowes. And while Ellison initially took the lead that was later reclaimed by Lowes, a decision made after the race (by the Race Director, the Judicial Clerk of the Course in the presence of the Riders' Judicial/Stewards Advisor in response to the contact made between Byrne and Lowes) disqualified Lowes. So in the end Ellison would rebound from his bad luck in race one to secure not only a podium, but victory. American PJ Jacobsen would also get his first podium in his rookie season of British Superbike racing at Assen, finishing second after the Lowes disqualification. Lowes' teammate Ryuichi Kiyonari rounded out the top three. Byrne still holds the championship lead by one point over Lowes, but Ellison moves up to third place in the championship - 21 points behind Byrne. CUDLIN BACK TO MOTOGP A ustralian Damian Cudlin will replace Yonny Hernandez on the Paul Bird Racing CRT team for this weekend's Aragon MotoGP and also for his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island, the team announced on Monday. Cudlin, who has raced in both the World Endurance and the German Superbike Championship this season, raced in the 2011 Japanese MotoGP with Pramac Racing and competed in Moto2 at both Assen and the Sachsenring in 2012. Hernandez, meanwhile, has been released from his contract with the PBM team so he can take over Ben Spies' Pramac Ducati for the rest of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship. Brit Michael Laverty, who has campaigned the CRT-specification PBM machine all season, will switch to the Aprilia ART machine for the remainder of the season. The former British Supersport Champion tested the machine at Misano last week and is hop- Have leathers will travel: Damian Cudlin will get a shot at the Paul Bird Racing CRT bike in the Aragon MotoGP this coming weekend. ing to improve the team's results in the final five GPs.