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Shane Byrne takes the double at Donington

Pic: Carly Rathmell
By Dan Moakes October 10 2003
With Shane Byrne secure as the new champion, and John Reynolds also confirmed in second, the British Superbike finale at Donington Park was all about third position. Michael Rutter, Steve Plater and Glen Richards were all in with a chance, although Rutter looked most likely.

Qualifying saw the usual front runners emerge, although Plater would not race due to an unfortunately timed bout of appendicitis - he would not be finishing third overall. Pole position went to Byrne’s MonsterMob Ducati, for the twelfth time this season, with the 998s of Sean Emmett (ETI) and Rutter (Renegade) next in line. Reynolds put his silver-liveried Rizla Suzuki in fourth position.

Row two was led by Rutter’s team-mate Leon Haslam, from the Kawasaki of Richards. Surprise holder of P7 was three-time former champion Niall Mackenzie, out of retirement to fill in for Yukio Kagayama on the second Suzuki. Jon Kirkham was an impressive eighth on the Appleyard Yamaha. Next up were Dean Ellison (Ducati), Scott Smart (Kawasaki), Gary Mason and Chris Burns (both Virgin Yamaha).

Race one began with Reynolds taking the lead from Rutter, with Byrne, Haslam, Emmett, Richards, Smart and Mason following close behind. Rutter moved ahead at the Old Hairpin, with Byrne also passing Reynolds fairly quickly. Mason passed Smart on the first lap, and the Kawasaki man then had a scary looking ‘moment’ as they went onto lap two.

Byrne looked to be on top form as he went past Rutter at Redgate, and started building a lead over the field. Rutter, Emmett and Reynolds were closely bunched, but once Emmett had passed Rutter at the old hairpin, the ETI man began to chase down Byrne’s lead. These two seemed to be in separate class, and it became a close battle for the lead.

Meanwhile, Reynolds had passed Rutter for third at Redgate, only for Michael to come back through down the Craner Curves. John’s next attempt saw him get the GSX-R on the inside at the Fogarty Esses, but he was travelling too quickly and ran straight across the grass. Rutter was able to take the place back down at the following Melbourne Hairpin. Reynolds finally made it stick at Redgate.

The lead battle really hotted up in the closing stages, and Emmett took over in front at the Esses. Byrne came back past at the final Goddard hairpin, but Sean fought on and was ahead again at Redgate. At this stage, Reynolds had joined in, but his attentions on the two Ducatis were short lived.

Now Byrne overtook Emmett at Redgate, but at the bottom of the hill Emmett tucked his bike inside at the Old Hairpin for another pass. ‘Shakey’ came back at him almost immediately, and was in front as they went into the final lap. Emmett had not given up, and he made his move at the Esses. But Shane was in control enough to power out of the chicane ahead, and he held the place to the flag.

Reynolds and Rutter were next home, well in front of the pack, and Michael’s result confirmed him in third for the championship, with Richards finishing fifth in the race. Smart and Haslam came sixth and seventh, having dealt with Mason, and the Yamaha man was followed by Ellison, Kirkham, Mark Heckles (on the lone Honda SP-2).

Privateer Dennis Hobbs was twelfth, followed by Hawk Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson, and Dave Wood - who wrapped up the privateer title in the process of finishing fourteenth. Only twelve works riders had made it to the flag, with Mackenzie joining Burns, Paul Jones and Nick Medd among the non-finishers.

Race two saw the same suspects tussling for supremacy, with Emmett leading away, from Byrne, Mackenzie, Reynolds, Haslam, Rutter and Richards. In the course of the opening lap, Byrne moved up to first, Reynolds passed his team-mate for third, and both Rutter and Richards got in front of Haslam’s 998 Ducati. Before long, Byrne and Emmett had moved clear of the rest, but this time Shane was too quick for Sean, who then came under fire from Reynolds.

With Byrne pulling away to an unassailable lead, Reynolds passed Emmett at Redgate. Sliding as he went, ‘JR’ then attempted to catch the leader. Although he put some distance between himself and Emmett, Byrne’s pace was beyond him. Rutter had emerged as the likely challenger to Emmett’s third place, but the first four ultimately finished in this order, Byrne from Reynolds, Emmett and Rutter.

‘Best of the rest’ was 20-year-old Haslam, who had recently been re-hired to race the second Renegade Ducati in 2004. Leon had earlier dealt with 42-year-old Mackenzie at the Esses, before Niall had been forced to pull up again, and had got ahead of Richards’ ZX-7RR by the flag. Mason was seventh, from Kirkham, Heckles, Hobbs, Phil Giles and James Buckingham, whilst retirements included Jackson, Burns, Smart and Ellison.

Shane Byrne confirmed his dominance of the 2003 championship by taking his win tally to twelve - exactly half of the races run, and he also set fastest lap in both Donington races. John Reynolds confirmed the progress of the Suzuki GSX-R1000 with two more podium results, and Sean Emmett reinforced his late-season revival by just overhauling Steve Plater’s points tally for fifth overall. It had been another great season for BSB but, given the uncertainties over World Superbike, it could be even better next year.

Final standings, after twenty-four races:
1 Shane Byrne (Ducati) · 488
2 John Reynolds (Suzuki) · 358
3 Michael Rutter (Ducati) · 289
4 Glen Richards (Kawasaki) · 255
5 Sean Emmett (Ducati) · 247
6 Steve Plater (Honda) · 246
7 Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) · 214
8 Gary Mason (Yamaha) · 208
9 Scott Smart (Kawasaki) · 154
10 Steve Hislop (Yamaha) · 122
11 Lee Jackson (Kawasaki) · 98
11 Mark Heckles (Honda) · 98
11 Leon Haslam (Ducati) · 98

Check in at this site for a full season review very soon.


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