Close run thing at Silverstone in BSB 2013

Shane Byrne or Alex Lowes? That seemed to be the obvious question in the final stages of the 2013 British Superbike Championship, after the first of three Showdown meetings, at Assen. Could someone else get on a roll at Silverstone in round eleven, or would it all be those two?

The pair had clashed in round ten, with a run of victories for Lowes on the Samsung Honda ending with exclusion for his part in Byrne’s second race crash on the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki. This left the two men separated by one point in the championship, with closest challengers James Ellison and Josh Brookes around twenty points adrift. Silverstone’s recently modernised Grand Prix circuit hosted the penultimate round, albeit using the traditional start-finish grid, with Copse as turn one.

Qualifying saw the two main contenders topping the timesheets, with Lowes on pole position for the seventh time this year. Byrne was second, but this came despite a highside crash in practice which had left him on crutches after he hurt his hip. He was obviously not 100% comfortable but would still race. Brookes would head the second row, in fourth position, separated from the first two by his Tyco Suzuki team-mate PJ Jacobsen. The other members of the contending Showdown top six were not prominent on the grid.

In the case of Ryuichi Kiyonari, this was because he was absent entirely with an injury. His Samsung Honda would be raced by French rider Freddy Foray, who had been with Quattro Plant Kawasaki for the first half of 2012. The former Endurance champion did not make it into the top twelve. James Westmoreland would be the second of the two Buildbase BMW riders, starting ninth, and with team-mate Jon Kirkham fifth. Meanwhile Ellison had shown good form on the Milwaukee Yamaha, but a crash left him back in P18, with team-mate Tommy Bridewell eighth.

Peter Hickman would start sixth on the Lloyds British GBmoto Honda, his first second-row start of the season. Also a best-yet result was that of seventh man Matteo Baiocco on the Rapido Sport Ducati, with this improved form apparently helped by a repositioning of his bike’s footpegs. Behind Bridewell and Westmoreland were Jakub Smrž (Padgett’s Honda), Noriyuki Haga (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) and then Michael Rutter (Bathams Honda).

Silverstone
Form guide: BSB wins
Ryuichi Kiyonari · 2005, 2006, 2006, 2007, 2007
Michael Rutter · 2003, 2004, 2010
James Ellison · 2009, 2010
Alex Lowes · 2012, 2012
Chris Walker · 2000
Shane Byrne · 2003
Josh Brookes · 2011

The start of race one saw Byrne get away in the lead ahead of Lowes, Brookes, Jacobsen, Hickman, Kirkham, Haga, Dan Linfoot (GBmoto Honda) and Bridewell. Further back, at the left-handed Chapel curve, heading onto the main Hangar Straight, Rutter was not helped by clipping the grass. There was even more action down into Vale, a tight left-hander, where Lowes passed Byrne on the brakes. Just behind, Linfoot and Haga went out when they crashed together at the same corner.

The new section of corners saw the contest between Byrne and Lowes kick-off as the Honda man took the inside to pass for the lead at the acute left-handed The Loop. From there they headed through the fast left at Aintree and onto the Wellington straight, which ends with the braking zone for the left at Brooklands, where Shane got past once more. Brooklands feeds into the long looping right at Luffield and a further fast right at Woodcote just before the finish line. Alex was ahead again by the time ‘Shakey’ got a bit too close at Luffield and had to take avoiding action.

Bridewell had got past Hickman, followed by making a move on Kirkham at the right-handed Copse, joining on to make it a five-man lead group, behind Lowes, Byrne, Brookes and Jacobsen. By this time, Kirkham and Hickman headed Westmoreland, Ellison and Baiocco. The next change amongst the leaders came when Brookes’ Suzuki cut out and he had to pull off when on the Hangar Straight. The spirited battle between the two front men continued, as Jacobsen and Bridewell began to lose touch. Byrne attacked at Vale but ran a bit deep for the corner and continued in second place.

At half-distance, Ellison was cutting through ahead of Hickman and Kirkham to run fifth, moving clear but being out of range of the leaders by now. Westmoreland and Baiocco were followed by Josh Waters (now with Halsall Kawasaki after being replaced by Bridewell), Barry Burrell (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) and Foray. Bridewell, meanwhile, passed Jacobsen for a podium slot, but with the first two at that stage out on their own in their personal battle.

Lowes continued ahead of Byrne, but on the last lap the champion was able to squeeze through on the inside through the fast left kink at Maggotts, leading at Becketts and Chapel and onto Hangar Straight. Byrne stayed ahead through Stowe, Vale and Club, with Lowes really on the attack at the fast right-handed Abbey. Shane was riding defensively at Farm, Village and The Loop, but Alex got good drive out of Aintree and onto Wellington, which allowed him to get past on the outside for Brooklands. Byrne tried to stay inside and get back through, then made another attempt accelerating out of Luffield, but Lowes just took the victory.

The minor places had not seen much in the way of change late on, with Bridewell third, then Jacobsen, Ellison, Kirkham, Hickman, Westmoreland, Baiocco, Burrell, Foray and Waters. The last points went to Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Kawasaki), Lee Costello (Halsall Racing Kawasaki) and Smrž, followed by Rutter, Danny de Boer (Bathams Honda), Karl Harris (PR Racing Kawasaki), Aaron Zanotti (STEL Suzuki) and Jenny Tinmouth (Two Wheel Racing Honda).

Fastest lap times meant that the new grid for race two was similar to the earlier result, with Byrne on pole then Lowes, Bridewell, Jacobsen, Brookes, Ellison, Hickman, Westmoreland, Kirkham, Baiocco, Foray, Burrell, Smrž, Waters and Walker; and with Haga and Linfoot back on the seventh row. The sun was getting low as they set off, with Byrne once again the man to lead away, but only until Lowes got through under braking on the inside for the right-handed Stowe. Brookes, Jacobsen, Bridewell, Ellison, Hickman, Kirkham, Westmoreland, Baiocco and Foray followed, but with Hickman suffering an early crash.

Byrne was quick to re-pass Lowes, doing so on the inside for The Loop. The race was on behind these two, with the Tyco Suzuki pair swapping positions at Brooklands and Luffield, Brookes regaining the initiative from Jacobsen. Then the American lost out to Bridewell at Copse, with the Yamaha man also quick to get past Brookes to run third. Ellison was in a close sixth with, at this stage, the first three seeming to ease clear of their main pursuers.

Byrne was unable to pull away from Lowes and, when the Kawasaki ran wide at Chapel curve, Alex soon took advantage with a pass on the inside for Vale. The leading group of six had closed up a bit by now, but then Ellison, at the back of the queue, lost ground when he had to make a big save as the Yamaha nearly flung him over the side. The margin between the first two continued to fluctuate, but a good pace meant that only Bridewell could go with them, to begin with, as the Suzuki duo were left battling for fourth.

The late stages saw even more of the Lowes-Byrne contest, with Shane getting ahead again on the inside for Brooklands. The next move was by Alex on the inside at Stowe, and on the final lap it was the Honda ahead. ‘Shakey’ tried a pass on the outside at Brooklands, but did not get in front. He was very close for Luffield, but Lowes kept on a tight line and there was no gap. However, Byrne was still right there behind, and on acceleration he was able to put his Kawasaki more to the inside through Woodcote approaching the finish line, and he just edged it, with Lowes beaten by 0.001s!

Bridewell took a secure third, for his fifth podium result from his five most recent finishes. Brookes fought off the dogged attentions of Jacobsen for fifth, after Ellison’s recovery ride took him past both Suzukis in the final stages and into fourth. Kirkham maintained seventh, but Walker, Haga and Burrell all lost positions during the race. Baiocco went one better for eighth, from Westmoreland, Smrž, Walker, Waters, Linfoot, Haga, Foray, Burrell, Costello, Rutter, Zanotti and Martin Jessopp (Riders BMW).

Shane Byrne’s second race victory had echoes of one of his earliest BSB wins, when he just at the last moment edged past Steve Hislop at Thruxton in 2002. With a win and a second apiece for Byrne and Alex Lowes, they each gained equal reward for their efforts at Silverstone, meaning that Byrne remains just a single point ahead going into the season finale triple-header at Brands Hatch. Realistically they are the only two contenders, so all is to play for; but at his local circuit, Shakey’s record is an enviable one.

Showdown standings after twenty-three races: Byrne 604; Lowes 603; Ellison 562; Brookes 546; Westmoreland 534; Kiyonari 522
Standings behind the top six: Kirkham 193; Bridewell 174; Jacobsen 167; Walker 141; Hickman 111; Farmer 93