Lowry leads the way after first BSB win at Thruxton

The rain at Brands Hatch had contributed to some dramatic race action in the first round of the 2012 British Superbike Championship, but did it provide a true form guide for the season ahead? Another chance to answer some aspects of this question came with round two at Thruxton, where defending champion Tommy Hill would be looking to get his season going.

Thruxton is one of the fastest circuits in the UK, and it usually allows plenty of overtaking, because of the slipstreaming and out-braking opportunities. The result of qualifying here, as with Brands, was that there were several different makes of bike heading up the grid. Tyco/TAS team rider Josh Brookes was once again the fastest Suzuki man, but instead of being on pole position this time he was in seventh. It was the turn of a Yamaha to take pole, with Swan-backed Tommy Hill fastest. The only other R1 was that of team-mate Noriyuki Haga, in P16.

Honda and Kawasaki riders were also prominent, with second going to Ian Lowry on the Padgetts Honda, from Michael Rutter (MSS Bathams Kawasaki) and James Westmoreland (WFR Honda). Both Lowry and Westmoreland had qualified on the front row of the grid for the first time in their BSB careers. Row two was led by fifth man Chris Walker (Pr1mo Bournemouth Kawasaki), his best grid slot since 2009, and he headed track newcomer Luca Scassa (Padgetts Honda), from Brookes and Alex Lowes (WFR Honda).

Brands winner Jon Kirkham qualified ninth for Samsung Honda, and tenth was a best-yet for Swiss rider Patric Muff on the Supersonic BMW. They were followed by Graeme Gowland (WFR Honda), Peter Hickman (MSS Bathams Kawasaki), Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda), Gary Mason (Quattro Plant Kawasaki), Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) and then Haga. Byrne’s team-mate Stuart Easton, twice a Thruxton winner in the support classes, was one of those who missed out on making it through to the second phase of qualifying.

Thruxton
Form guide: BSB wins
Shane Byrne · 2002, 2003, 2003, 2008, 2011
Michael Rutter · 2002, 2004
Tommy Hill · 2010
Josh Brookes · 2010
Michael Laverty · 2011

Following the fuel spill incident at Brands, there was a new rule that would apply to the racing from Thruxton onwards: a rider cannot remount after crashing. However, race one here would be run in very different conditions, as it was dry and bright, although also cold and somewhat windy. Lowes made a good start that saw him advance to fourth, with Hill retaining the lead, from Rutter and Lowry. Michael Laverty made the biggest gain, slotting into sixth behind Walker, and ahead of Scassa, Muff, Westmoreland, Byrne and Brookes.

Muff quickly moved up a spot to seventh, and there would soon be some action ahead of him at the Woodham Hill section. The fastest stretch at Thruxton is along Brooklands, coming out of the Church Corner right-hander and heading onto a section that bends gently left. Woodham Hill follows on from Brooklands as the heavy-braking zone for the right-left-right Club Chicane approaches. At Woodham, Lowes challenged Rutter on the outside, with Lowry going to the inside of both men to take over in second.

Hill led Lowry and Rutter, with Laverty past Walker and soon enough relegating Lowes to get into fourth. Lowes had an answer to this as he repassed braking on the inside for Club. Moments before, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne had lived up to his name as the Kawasaki tried to get away from him, but with the rider quickly regaining control. He had already got past both Westmoreland and Scassa, and with sixth man Muff about to start losing places. At this stage Walker disappeared from the top ten, with James now heading Haga, Kirkham, Brookes and Mason.

Hill and Lowry were moving clear of their pursuers as a tussle over third developed. Lowes repeated his earlier move to take P3 from Rutter at Club, but the 39-year-old was not to last much longer. A problem with the Kawasaki saw Michael raise his hand as he toured out of contention. Just before that, tenth man Haga had also pulled off with an oil leak. Byrne and Scassa had gone past Muff, and so now Shane was into fifth, and soon he closed up behind the pair ahead, where Laverty was now back in front of Lowes.

Hill and Lowry were now out of range of the rest but still close together, and Byrne was looking racy behind the Hondas of Laverty and Lowes. The first corner at Thruxton is the right-handed Allard, which feeds into a left kink. Shane overtook Alex out of this section, with the Honda man after that falling into the clutches of those behind. Easton had been making very good progress, and the shuffle had seen Westmoreland past Muff to run behind sixth man Scassa. Easton was next to move ahead of the Swiss rider, who then headed Kirkham, Brookes, Mason, Gowland and Hickman.

Having run in a podium position, Lowes would struggle with tyre wear in the later stages of the race, this costing him the chance to defend from Scassa and then Easton and Westmoreland, and then more of those behind. Easton’s advance took him beyond Scassa into fifth, but Brookes was starting to mount a similar charge from behind. The Australian moved past Kirkham first, and then soon enough was past Lowes, Westmoreland and Scassa.

By the time Brookes was in place to engage the Rapid Solicitors pair, Laverty had dropped behind this trio. When Josh passed Stuart going into Club Chicane it left the Scot to fight off team-mate Shakey for fourth. Byrne regained a place from Easton on the inside across the start-finish line at the start of the final lap. Not too long before there had been a significant moment as the lead changed at the Campbell-Cobb-Segrave complex, with Lowry diving inside Hill for the Cobb left-hander. He then proceeded to pull clear, and Lowry became a first-time BSB winner by 2.8 seconds.

Hill had not been able to respond, but he remained clear of third place finisher Brookes, who headed Byrne and then Easton. There was quite a gap back to Laverty, who headed Kirkham and Scassa, the Italian struggling with low tyre pressures. Westmoreland was ninth, from Gowland, Tommy Bridewell (Supersonic BMW), Dan Linfoot (Buildbase BMW), Mason, Barry Burrell (Buildbase BMW) and Alastair Seeley (Tyco Suzuki). Having run sixth, Muff had dropped back and was just outside the points, with Lowes even worse off as he ended up in P22.

With the new grid based on fastest race laps, race two would see Lowes starting from first position, in front of Lowry, Rutter, Hill and then Laverty, Byrne, Kirkham, Scassa, Muff, Westmoreland, Easton, Mason, Haga, Brookes, Gowland and Burrell. Hill made another good start to take the lead, initially from Rutter. However, the Kawasaki man had a ‘moment’ with the bike that let through Lowry and Byrne, with Easton fifth, from Muff, Lowes, Kirkham and Laverty.

Byrne took over in second place with a move on Lowry at Woodham Hill, and meanwhile another problem for Rutter let Easton through to fourth. Sure enough, Michael was touring again on the next lap, the rest flying past as his day came to a premature end. Moments earlier, Freddy Foray had been in the same position as he crashed the Quattro Plant Kawasaki at Club. With Rutter out, the contest for the lead soon resolved into a four-man affair. Byrne moved to the front with a pass on the inside for Club, with Lowry and Easton behind Hill.

Brookes moved through to head the second group, followed by Haga, with Muff going backwards again so that seventh man Lowes headed Kirkham, Scassa and Mason. At this stage, a little bit of light rain began to fall, but it didn’t amount to much. Up front, Easton went past Lowry for third at Woodham Hill, with the earlier winner then starting to look like he might lose touch. His next concern came as Brookes closed in behind, and the Australian made his move on the inside for the Campbell right-hander and was past.

The leading group now contained Byrne, Hill, Easton and Brookes, with Lowry just about in touch in fifth. Hill regained his lead braking on the inside for Club, with Brookes forcing his way through on Easton behind. Josh wasn’t done there, and the same part of the circuit saw him move past Byrne for second. Hill and Brookes now seemed to be threatening a breakaway, with Byrne, Easton and Lowry together behind them. Once again, Tommy lost out on a win in the late stages, this time when Josh passed him on the last lap, on the inside for Campbell. He pulled enough of gap to stay ahead to the flag.

Hill was the second man home again, with enough in hand over team-mates Byrne and Easton, who were virtually together across the line, and with Lowry still not too far off in fifth. Haga had lost a few places on the second Yamaha, so that Scassa took sixth, from Kirkham, Lowes and Westmoreland, with Noriyuki heading Linfoot, Hickman and Laverty, who had not been able to hold onto a top ten position. Mason had been as high as P10 until he was forced out with machinery trouble, so Laverty was followed home by Gowland, Walker, Bridewell, Burrell and Muff, who again dropped from the points positions.

Ian Lowry took a deserved first British Superbike win, also earning a first podium appearance; and coupled with a fourth at Brands and a fifth at Thruxton, this added up to the lead in the championship. Just a bit more consistent on the day was Tommy Hill, denied victory both times in the late stages, but twice second; with Josh Brookes also on the podium twice, including as the race two winner. With three winners from three races, those three men lead the standings, and with Hill making up for a disappointing start to his title defence and moving into fourth, behind Jon Kirkham.

Shane Byrne has been consistent enough to slot in behind them, but particularly unlucky here was Brands podium finisher Michael Rutter. Having started third on the grid for both races, he had been amongst the front runners both times until twice afflicted with technical problems. He could have been in the mix with the others heading up the points. The postponed race from Brands Hatch will be added to the programme for round three at Oulton Park, giving all riders an extra chance to advance their championship hopes.

Standings after three races: Lowry 49; Brookes 47; Kirkham 43; Hill 40; Byrne 38; Easton 24; Westmoreland 22; Seeley 21; Scassa 18; Rutter 16.
podium credits: Brookes and Hill 4; Kirkham and Lowry 3; Seeley 2; Byrne and Rutter 1.

wins in 2012: Kirkham 1, Lowry 1, Brookes 1
Honda 2, Suzuki 1