IN
THE
WIND
P26
BYRNE DOUBLES UP AT BRANDS HATCH
F
our-time British Superbike
Champion and current series
leader Shane Byrne (Be Wiser
Ducati) took his first double
victory of the season at Brands
Hatch over the weekend, de-
feating runner-up Leon Haslam
on both occasions with Luke
Mossey (Quattro Plant Tec-
care Kawasaki) taking third in
race one and Jason O'Halloran
(Honda Racing) taking third in
race two.
Byrne was dominant at a cir-
cuit he's famously tough to beat
at, taking the victories despite
suffering terrible starts from P2
on the grid in both races behind
pole-sitter Mossey. The races
were their usual scrapping affair,
with Haslam, O'Halloran and
Tommy Bridewell (Bennetts Su-
zuki), in Barry Sheene-inspired
livery, all taking turns at the front
of the field.
Yet despite having to claw
his way back to the front in
both races, Byrne's love affair
with Brands continued and he
opened up a 25-point lead in
the process over Haslam in the
championship.
"I completely fluffed the start
in the first race and it gave
me plenty of work to do," said
Byrne. It was my fault but I had
a good rhythm and grabbed the
lead with a few laps to go and
concentrated on hitting all my
apexes to get the job done.
"It was a similar story in race
two in terms of my start but I felt
that if I could stay calm, there
was still plenty of time for me to
fight my way through. I thought I
may have showed my hand too
early but it all worked out well."
For the Americans racing at
Brands Hatch, James Rispoli
(Anvil Hire TAG Racing Yamaha)
picked up 18-18 results and
John Hopkins (ePayMe Yamaha)
in his return ride from injury took
15-DNF finishes. CN
Race One
Race Two
