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Kiyonari, Lavilla share Snetterton BSB wins

Raceline Photography
By Dan Moakes July 17 2005
Round eight of British Superbike competition came in the wake of the bombings on the London public transport system, for whose victims the riders stood for a minute’s silence before the first race. It was a sombre moment, but the action at Snetterton was as lively as ever.

Snetterton is one of the quickest circuits the series visits, with two long straights and only a couple of particularly tight turns. The lap is also relatively rapid, without a great number of corners to contend with. In qualifying, Airwaves Ducati rider Leon Haslam claimed his second pole position of the year, with team-mate Gregorio Lavilla as usual off the front row, this time seventh. Then it was the customary quick Honda FireBlades, with the HM Plant bikes of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Rutter heading Michael Laverty’s Stobart example.

Rizla Suzuki’s revival continued with James Haydon fifth and John Reynolds eighth, and the other second row man besides Lavilla was Steve Plater. Back from his one race layoff, Steve had slotted into the Hydrex Honda squad alongside Kieran Clarke, with the Sendo Kawasaki team unable to continue. Sixth was his best grid position all season to date.

Dean Thomas would start ninth for Hawk Kawasaki, this time joined by the team’s 2003 rider Lee Jackson. Glen Richards was out of action following a collarbone injury sustained during a tumble on the Friday. Karl Harris, Tommy Hill and Gary Mason completed row three, ahead of Scott Smart, Ben Wilson, James Buckingham and Danny Beaumont. Another change was Chris Burns, taking over from John McGuinness at AIM Racing, and he would start 20th.

Rutter was also struggling with collarbone injuries, following a fall in qualifying, but the quest for his first BSB title was enough to keep him going for the races. The first of these started with Kiyonari jumping into the lead, from Haslam, Laverty, Rutter, Reynolds, Haydon, Lavilla, Thomas and Harris. As the first two moved away from the group squabbling for third, Lavilla was an early faller, and was unable to successfully rejoin the race.

Laverty looked like putting some air between himself and pursuers Rutter, Reynolds and Haydon, but all too soon his race was over, and he was pulling off the super fast Revett straight with a smoking motorcycle. Haydon took over third place, going inside Reynolds at the turn one right-hander Riches, and then targeting Rutter on the brakes at the inside for the left of the Esses at the end of Revett.

Rutter’s point deficit to race leader Kiyonari was weakened further when Reynolds passed at the Russell chicane, leading onto the start-finish straight. ‘JR’ went past inside at the right-hander on the way in, securing the position through the tighter left section. John then showed that his return to fitness was complete when he made a good pass on Haydon, going inside through the fast right-hander at Coram.

Kiyonari was the fastest man in the race, and took his margin to eight seconds by the flag, with Haslam settling for a comfortable second. Rizla men Reynolds and Haydon were next home, with fifth man Rutter dropping back and later citing a problem with the quick-shifter mechanism. Harris, Plater, Mason, Wilson, Hill, Thomas, Richard Wren, Tristan Palmer, Smart and Dennis Hobbs were the other scorers.

Race two was a better one for Laverty, who initially took the lead, only to see a decisive Rutter quickly push him back to second. Haslam, Kiyonari, Reynolds, Haydon, Lavilla and Thomas followed on. Laverty twice threatened Rutter at the braking zone for the left-right Esses, and the second time saw him get inside and ahead on the way in. In the early stages a gap opened up behind the four leaders - Laverty, Rutter, Haslam and Kiyonari.

But this group was diminished when Haslam’s 999 Ducati started to smoke dramatically, and he slowed to the inevitable stop. With the two Michaels trading places at the Esses yet again, Rutter holding off Laverty’s fight back move, soon they were left as a duo, with Kiyonari crashing out of third place. The battle continued, but Laverty came rather too close to the rear of Rutter at Russell, and had to run deep into the chicane and turn late.

This gave Rutter some respite, but the daring Lavilla was coming. He relieved Laverty of second at the Esses, then moved in on Rutter and made the same pass for the lead. Laverty was drawn along, and Rutter couldn’t respond when the pass came at Riches. Lavilla’s third win was as impressive as the first two, and his success saw him finish 1.7s in front. Laverty recorded the fastest lap on his way to a clear second, and his best BSB result to date.

Rutter was a philosophical third, with Reynolds clear in fourth following a crash for Haydon. The next group were close across the line, Plater getting the better of Wilson at the Esses and holding fifth, with Hill seventh, and Mason pushing Thomas down to ninth. Burns, Beaumont, Wren, Jackson, Smart and Steve Brogan took the remaining points, with Harris another man out of luck.

Despite only taking a fifth and a third, Michael Rutter’s points lead grew to 45 at Snetterton, up by two. With a crash apiece, the two race winners, Ryuichi Kiyonari and Gregorio Lavilla, had both adversely affected their title chances. ‘Kiyo’ still looks like racking up wins aplenty, and his BSB total of eleven has now seen him draw ahead of experienced campaigner Haydon, on ten. But the Japanese rider only has a little in hand if Rutter is going to carry on shadowing him, and taking those consistent finishes.

Michael Laverty’s excellent promise was confirmed in this meeting, and the last four rounds, culminating in his second place, have now moved him into seventh overall. Meanwhile, John Reynolds confirmed his return proper with his best two results and a first 2005 podium; and Steve Plater returned to front-running form with a bit of help from one of those rapid Hondas. Sixth in race two was Ben Wilson’s best on the Vivaldi Kawasaki, and new recruit Scott Smart has not yet broken into the top ten with the same machine.

Standings after sixteen races: Rutter 302; Kiyonari 257; Lavilla 241; Haslam 172; Richards 160; Harris 125; M Laverty 113; Thomas 109; Mason 98; Emmett 79; Smart 76; Reynolds 68; Plater 64; Haydon 56.

To buy the photograph shown above, visit Raceline Photography


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