VARIED FORTUNES FOR DUCATI AT SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL RACING CIRCUIT
10 August 2008
Despite
failing to finish the second race of the day at Knockhill, Airwaves Ducati rider
Shane Byrne extended his lead in the British Superbike Championship
today to 110 points after achieving a 2nd place finish in race one.
Leon Camier finished 5th and 8th to secure valuable championship
points.
Race one was declared wet although rain stopped falling as the
riders took off for their sighting lap. Both Airwaves Ducati riders
initially got away well from the line, but Shane was to lose a couple
of places by the first corner, slotting into 5th with Leon behind him
in 6th. Shane pushed hard to get himself up to 2nd however, any further
progress was to be hampered by a number of back markers. Leon managed
to successfully withstand pressure from Michael Laverty on the Suzuki
to cross the line in 5th.
Race two saw Shane quickly take to the front of the field and
start to build a gap. Lying in 6th, Leon was catching the rider in
front of him when the race was red flagged and stopped. At the restart
Shane once again took the lead. Leon, struggling for grip on a fast
drying track, dropped back a couple of places to 8th. A combination of
fast laps and quick, successive passes on back markers saw Shane pull
away slightly from those behind him until lap 14 when he crashed
heavily at turn one. Shane’s crash brought the race to an end and as
two thirds race distance had been completed the race result was
declared.
Following his fall, Shane was taken to the circuit medical centre for a full check.
On race two, Shane said, “I got a really good start and knew
that I needed to get away as early as possible. I was feeling really
comfortable on the Airwaves Ducati but saw from my pit board that the
gap to the guys behind was up and down all the time. I came into turn
one and as soon as I touched the brake I was down. It was a really
strange crash because everything felt normal right up until that point.
I’m feeling sore but I’ll be back training in a couple of days
preparing for Cadwell Park.”
It was a positive weekend for the NW200 Ducati Team at round eight of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Michael Rutter on the North West 200 Ducati gained a fourth and second place in the two races at Knockhill. His team-mate John Laverty was ruled out of racing this weekend after he crashed at the fast Hislops' corner on Friday sustaining two broken ribs and knocking himself unconscious.
The British Superbikes Championship moves on to Cadwell Park for round 9 on the 25th of August.