Byrne on top, plus Ellison’s winning return in BSB 2013

Since 2005, the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent has been the venue for the opening event in the British Superbike calendar, and for 2013 there was good weather for the start of the new season. Two riders were aiming for an unprecedented fourth title, with eight BSB race winners amongst the entry this time around.

In fact, John Reynolds is a former BSB rider who could possibly claim to have won four titles, by virtue of the fact that he dominated two separate UK championships in the 1992 season, with subsequent success in 2001 and 2004. However, in terms of British championship titles, with the full-scale BSB series that began in 1996 - surely the best domestic Superbike competition that there is - there is a trio of three-time victors. Niall Mackenzie won three in a row in the latter stages of his career, with the other two men in question back for more in 2013.

Reigning champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne continues with the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki team as he targets a fourth success; and, from Japan, long-term Honda rider Ryuichi Kiyonari is back in Britain with the same goal in mind. The top man from 2011, Tommy Hill, who had hoped to move into world championship racing like his 2009 predecessor Leon Camier, has instead had to opt for a break from racing this year. Meanwhile, Michael Laverty has made the move into MotoGP; Noriyuki Haga has left the series after just one season; and race winners Scott Smart, Stuart Easton, Alastair Seeley and Ian Lowry are not in the current entry.

However, in addition to the two former champions, other likely contenders this year include three of last year’s top six - Josh Brookes, Alex Lowes and Tommy Bridewell - plus the 2009 runner-up James Ellison, who returns from MotoGP. Veteran BSB riders Michael Rutter and Chris Walker are both past runners-up in the title chase, and both men continue in 2013; and newcomers include 26-year-old Josh Waters from Australia and 19-year-old PJ Jacobsen from the US, two of the seven foreigners in the current field. The season would begin on the short Indy circuit at Brands.

The first qualifying result for the new season saw four different makes of bike at the top of the timesheets. Byrne secured pole position on his Paul Bird-run Kawasaki, the 14th of his BSB career, and in fact equalling his tally from the 2012 season. His team-mate Keith Farmer would start from fifth. Lowes was second on the grid for his first outing after switching to the Samsung Honda squad, with Kiyonari in seventh on the team’s other FireBlade. Ellison returned to the former Swan Honda team, powering the newly liveried Milwaukee Yamaha into third. Waters put his similar machine in P16. Meanwhile, Jon Kirkham led the BMW S1000RR contingent, fourth for the Buildbase team; with P9 going to team-mate James Westmoreland.

The first of the Suzukis was in sixth, ridden by Brookes for the Tyco-backed TAS Racing outfit; and Jacobsen was close to the Australian, with eighth for the same team in his first BSB outing. Tenth went to Dan Linfoot on the Lloyds British GBmoto Honda, from Walker (Quattro Plant Kawasaki), Karl Harris (PR Racing Kawasaki), Bridewell (Bathams Honda), Jakub Smrž (Padgett’s Honda), Matteo Baiocco (Rapido Sport Ducati); then it was Waters and Rutter (Bathams Honda).

Brands Hatch
Form guide: BSB wins on both GP and Indy circuits
Shane Byrne · 2003, 2008, 2008, 2008, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2012, 2012, 2012, 2012, 2012
Ryuichi Kiyonari · 2005, 2005, 2006, 2006
Chris Walker · 1998, 1999, 2000
Michael Rutter · 2000
James Ellison · 2010
Josh Brookes · 2011
Jon Kirkham · 2012

The start of race one did not go smoothly for Ellison. Because of last moment problems with his helmet visor, the Yamaha man was wheeled into the pit lane. After a quick fix, James resumed in his grid position at the end of the warm-up lap, when he should have started from the back. He would therefore be handed a ride-through penalty. The getaway saw Byrne and Lowes retain the leading positions, from Brookes, with Linfoot right up to fourth from P10. The 24-year-old headed Farmer, Ellison, Westmoreland, Walker and Bridewell.

Brookes made quick advances and was soon into the lead, passing Byrne on the inside for the right-handed Druids Hill Bend hairpin. Farmer also made early progress at the expense of Lowes, taking over in third, although the Honda man would soon reverse the situation. Bridewell made an impression as well as he advanced to sixth, then passed Linfoot for fifth; and with Kirkham moving through to run behind team-mate Westmoreland. Ellison served his penalty on lap five, which dropped him outside the points positions.

Kirkham was into seventh and soon passed Linfoot, Jon then tagging on behind Bridewell as the pair of them began to catch fourth man Farmer. Meanwhile, the first three were clear, and Byrne regained the lead from Brookes with a pass at the first right-hander, the downhill dive at Paddock Hill Bend. From there, Shakey was able to pull away, leaving Lowes to take second from the Suzuki rider ahead, in another inside pass at Paddock. From tenth, Harris went out of the race when he lost the front end of his Kawasaki.

The latter part of the race saw plenty of action in the battle to be fourth, with first of all Bridewell getting ahead of Farmer on the inside at Druids. Then the Ulsterman was engaged in a tussle by Kirkham at Graham Hill Bend, with a couple of position swaps before the BMW pilot took the initiative. By the finish Jon had also gone by Tommy, leaving Keith to deal with Linfoot and Westmoreland. On the final lap, this ended dramatically as Linfoot seemed to be clipped by Farmer, and Westmoreland was brought down when the GBmoto Honda crashed. Dan was unlucky enough to sustain a broken pelvis in the incident.

So, with Byrne winning comfortably, second man Lowes was followed home by Brookes, Kirkham, Bridewell and Farmer. The late crash elevated Walker to seventh, from Kiyonari, Jacobsen, Waters, Robbin Harms (Doodson Honda), Peter Hickman (GBmoto Honda), Smrž, Baiocco, Howie Mainwaring (MH Kawasaki) and then Ellison, who was in P16 and therefore just failed to score. However, he did record the fastest lap, which would be beneficial to him later. Struggling with leg injuries, Rutter was a non-finisher in the race.

The grid for race two was of course based on the best lap times from earlier on, putting Ellison on pole from Lowes, Byrne, Harris, Farmer, Brookes, Kiyonari, Kirkham, Bridewell, Walker, Westmoreland, Harms, Jacobsen, Hickman, Martin Jessopp (Riders BMW) and Smrž. Again it was Byrne who was first into Paddock, from Ellison, Lowes, Kiyonari, Bridewell, Farmer, Harris, Brookes and Walker. On lap two there was a change when Bridewell passed Kiyonari on the inside for Druids, although this would be quickly reversed, with Tommy also relegated further by Brookes.

There was an early lead change when Ellison overtook Byrne at the Clearways right-hand bend, with these two starting to ease away from the Samsung Honda pair in pursuit. Walker had moved forward, with his seventh-placed Kawasaki now followed by Farmer, Kirkham, Harris, Hickman, Westmoreland, Harms and Jacobsen. From fifth on the grid, Farmer would start to drop back, while Bridewell’s race soon ended with an apparent water leak.

With the field starting to get more spaced out, fifth man Brookes was soon on his own and, ahead, the gap between Lowes and Kiyonari - third and fourth - also began to extend. The leading pair remained together until lap 27 of 30, when Byrne went on the attack behind Ellison. At Surtees, the left-hand bend that leads directly into a right at McLaren, Shane came very close and had to back off to avoid making contact, thereby running over the grass on the inside at the start of McLaren. He rejoined the circuit in third place behind Lowes, fixing the order for the top three at the flag.

Fourth went to ‘Kiyo’, from Brookes, with Kirkham and Harris getting the best of Walker by the finish. Ninth went to Westmoreland, from Farmer, Harms and Jacobsen, with Hickman dropping back to P13, ahead of Waters, Baiocco, Mainwaring, Quigley, Smrž, Jessopp and Aaron Zanotti (Zanotti Racing Suzuki).

There were six different manufacturers represented at the Brands season opener, and five of them achieved a top-four result on the day. Kawasaki and Yamaha took a win each, with Honda twice second, Suzuki third first time out, and BMW with a best of fourth. Shane Byrne and James Ellison looked like they might be the main contenders for the year ahead, but in neither race did the two of them go head-to-head right to the chequered flag. Meanwhile, Ryuichi Kiyonari was not quite up to race-winning speed, and it was left to team-mate Alex Lowes to lead the way for the Samsung team. But will the pack be shuffled at all for the next round of the series?

Standings after two races: Byrne 41; Lowes 40; Brookes 27; Ellison 25; Kirkham 23; Kiyonari 21; Walker 17; Farmer 16; Bridewell and Jacobsen 11.
podium credits: Byrne and Lowes 4, Ellison 3, Brookes 1.