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John Reynolds wins both times in Ireland

Pic: Carly Rathmell
By Dan Moakes July 27 2003
With the British Superbikes making their first visit to Ireland, for the races at Mondello Park, it was the Rizla Suzuki team that had the initiative going in. Points leader Shane Byrne, on the MonsterMob Ducati, was beaten by Yukio Kagayama at Rockingham, and the GSX-R1000s looked to be on the up.

Missing from the entry list for round eight of the series was reigning champion Steve Hislop. The Scot had obviously not found the Yamaha R1 a match for his riding style, and so a mutual decision had been made to split from Rob McElnea’s team after Rockingham. ‘Hizzy’ will join Sean Emmett in the ETI Racing stable, from round nine onwards. At Virgin Yamaha, MotoGP refugee Chris Burns will join Gary Mason, as soon as he is fit enough.

Qualifying provided an unusual grid, with Mason (fourth) joining two of the Hawk Kawasakis behind pole man Byrne. On the green 750 machines, third placed Glen Richards was beaten to second by Scott Smart, who was appearing on the BSB front row for the first time. The Suzukis were on the second row with team leader John Reynolds fifth, and Kagayama eighth. In between came the Ducatis of Emmett and Michael Rutter. The third row was filled by Leon Haslam, Mark Heckles, Steve Plater and privateer Dennis Hobbs.

At the start of race one it was Mason that got away first, but he was quickly passed by Richards. Kagayama was third, from Reynolds, Emmett and Rutter. Proving the start was no fluke, Mason took the Yamaha back past the Kawasaki on lap one, officially leading a Superbike race for the first time. Meanwhile, Reynolds was also on the move, passing his team-mate first, and then going by Richards on the inside for a right-hander. Kagayama also relegated the Australian.

With Mason leading Reynolds, Kagayama, Richards and Emmett, it looked like the first five were in a race of their own, getting away from sixth man Rutter. Byrne was nowhere to be seen, and it later emerged that his brake lever had taken a substantial knock at the start, dropping him right back into the field. Smart also seemed to have a poor start. Emmett was back on form after his change of teams, and was keen to race at the front. His first move on Richards saw him run too deep into the corner, giving the place straight back, but he finally made it stick after a determined assault.

After a few moments of glory, Mason’s lead went the way of Reynolds, when the Suzuki man came through on the inside of the final right-hander. Kagayama’s GSX-R went in the opposite direction, when he made a mistake. The Japanese rider ran wide, and Emmett went through for third. Sean’s next manoeuvre took him past Mason in a similar move to Reynolds, and Kagayama overtook the R1 on the inside for another right-hander.

Sadly, Mason’s impressive run was compromised when he ran across the grass, but he maintained control and rejoined the track fairly quickly. But in the end it was Reynolds’ second win of the year, and he crossed the line with a comfortable margin. Emmett was similarly safe in second, with Kagayama, Richards, Rutter, Plater and Mason completing the top seven. Smart was a disappointing eighth, considering his practice form, with Byrne managing to come in next. The last points went to Haslam, Heckles, Jon Kirkham and Lee Jackson.

For race two, Byrne managed to get away without any problems and, although it was tight through turn one, took the lead from the off. He was followed by Kagayama, Mason and Reynolds, with the latter soon passed by Rutter. Richards was sixth, ahead of Emmett and Smart. Emmett’s ETI Ducati was looking racy once again, and he was all over Richards, and quickly made it past. Ex-team-mate Rutter was next, and Sean duly moved into fifth. At the same time, Kagayama was attacking Byrne, and he took over the lead at the inside of the turn one right-hander.

These early stages saw the first five - Kagayama, Byrne, Reynolds, Mason and Emmett - soon pulling out a gap over Richards, and it looked like another 1000cc victory would result. Emmett’s momentum took him past Mason at the final corner, while Reynolds made it a Suzuki one-two when he went inside Byrne at a left-hander. With the two leading Ducatis now third and fourth, Emmett was keen to prove himself against the points leader. At a right-hand corner, Sean forced his way through on the inside with a tenacious late braking manoeuvre.

It now became a three-way tussle for the win, with Emmett pressuring another former team-mate in the form of Reynolds. At first the Ducati man went inside, but ran too deep again; then once again he used a bit of muscle to win the place, only to run onto the grass! He rejoined the track fifth, just within attacking range of Richards, but this time went straight on into the gravel in his haste to pass. This lost Sean quite a lot more time, but he still found his way back into the race. Smart had a similar off, but also made it back on track.

So it finally came down to the two Rizla GSX-R1000 Suzukis, with Kagayama leading Reynolds. The pack was led by Byrne, from Richards, Mason, Rutter, Plater and Haslam. ‘JR’ was in attacking mood and overtook his team-mate on the inside for a left-hander. Unfortunately, Yukio’s race soon ended when his bike’s rear suffered a slide and flipped him off. He hurried to try and get back up, but it was no good. Reynolds, then, was a comfortable winner, for his first double since 2001.

The other points went to Byrne, Richards, Mason, Rutter, Plater, Haslam, Emmett, Heckles, Paul Young, Kirkham, Jackson and Smart. Two fifths for Rutter meant that Reynolds moved into second overall, after a good nine race run of results. But, even after his first race problems, Shane Byrne still found himself with a lead of 135 points...

Standings after sixteen races: Byrne 352; Reynolds 217; Rutter 203; Richards 170; Kagayama 169; Plater 166; Mason 148; Hislop 122; Emmett 116; Smart 100; John Crawford 74; Jackson 69.


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