By Dan Moakes
September 17 2013

The 2013 British Superbike Championship was building to its climax. After eight rounds, the Donington Park meeting would finalise the top six men, who would go forward into the title-deciding Showdown. Who would take the final slot?

Alex Lowes pictured in World Superbikes, 2011

There were fifty points up for grabs, as usual, at the Donington double-header, so that three men had already qualified for the Showdown: nine-time race winner Shane Byrne, four-time winner Alex Lowes and double winner Josh Brookes. James Ellison, with two wins, needed only six points to guarantee his position; with fifth man Ryuichi Kiyonari also pretty safe, as long as he scored some reasonable points - even if his two closest pursuers both managed to reach the podium twice.

In reality, the contest was for the final qualifying position, with the Buildbase BMW pair leading the way. Tommy Bridewell, Chris Walker and PJ Jacobsen all had an outside chance, but surely the outcome rested on whether Jon Kirkham or James Westmoreland (separated by five points) had a better day; and of course maybe luck would come into it. The weather might play a part, therefore, and wet conditions did arise during practice.

The result of qualifying did bring one particular surprise - a BMW rider taking pole position. The previous best grid position for Donington’s fastest man, Westmoreland, had been third at Brands Hatch in 2012, and his best for the season to date had been sixth at the same circuit. For BMW, their best ever BSB grid slot prior to this had been fourth, achieved by Barry Burrell in 2012 and by Kirkham twice this season. It was the first pole for a non-Japanese bike since 2010 - the most recent for Ducati.

However, the usual suspects lined up right behind Westmoreland on the three-by-three grid, with Lowes in second for Samsung Honda, Ellison third for Milwaukee Yamaha, Byrne fourth for Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki and Brookes fifth for Tyco Suzuki. Bridewell took sixth on the Halsall Kawasaki, despite a fall, and then came Walker (Quattro Plant Kawasaki), Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki), Kirkham, Jakub Smrž (Padgett’s Honda), Josh Waters (Milwaukee Yamaha) and Kiyonari (Samsung Honda).

Donington Park
Form guide: BSB wins
Michael Rutter · 1995, 1998, 2002, 2002, 2002
Shane Byrne · 2002, 2003, 2003, 2008, 2008
Chris Walker · 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
Ryuichi Kiyonari · 2004, 2004
Josh Brookes · 2012, 2012
James Ellison · 2009

Race one saw Lowes lead away, with Byrne quick to push Ellison back to third, then Brookes and Walker. Westmoreland was absent from the leading group after a poor start, apparently due to a difficult clutch on the BMW. One of the key overtaking places at Donington is on the return leg, into the braking zone at the end of Starkeys Straight, for the left-right Fogarty Esses. Bridewell used that move to take fifth from Walker. Kirkham was seventh, but would soon lose out to both Smrž and Jacobsen; then came Westmoreland, from Michael Rutter (Bathams Honda) and Burrell (Quattro Plant Kawasaki).

In the early stages, Lowes and Byrne looked like pulling clear of the rest, but Ellison retook third from Brookes at the Esses, the Yamaha man then looking capable of closing down the gap. Josh initially stayed with James, with Bridewell trying to keep pace behind them. Kiyonari was outside the points and apparently going backwards, but Westmoreland was making the right kind of progress. Getting by team-mate and rival Kirkham, he then dealt with Jacobsen and Smrž, taking sixth from Walker at the Esses. With fastest lap, the BMW was homing in on Bridewell and the leaders.

Lowes and Byrne kept at it, with Ellison getting in a position to try and attack, but in the end he couldn’t quite match the two leaders. Meanwhile, fourth man Brookes looked like he would have to settle for that position. After the Esses, the lap at Donington is completed by the right-handed Melbourne Hairpin, with its slight downhill incline, and then the left-handed Goddards loop. On the final lap, Byrne was as close as he could be through that section, but still Lowes took the win, the top four finishing in unchanged order.

Fifth had looked like being a contest between Bridewell and Westmoreland, but the Kawasaki man had been hit with a mechanical failure at the Esses, which gave the position to the red machine and put Tommy out of contention for the Showdown. Kirkham had recovered to sixth, from Walker, Smrž, Jacobsen, Burrell, Peter Hickman (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda), Waters (after going off track), Kiyonari, Rutter and Dan Linfoot (also GBmoto). Ellison was through to the Showdown, Kiyonari needed only six points to join him, and the final place was now purely a Kirkham-Westmoreland affair, with four points between them.

The new grid ended up very similar to the qualifying result, with Westmoreland again on pole, from Lowes, Ellison, Byrne, Brookes, Bridewell, Kirkham, Walker, Smrž, Jacobsen, Waters and Burrell. The start of race two saw Ellison initially in front of Byrne and Lowes, but a quick reshuffle through the first couple of corners meant a reversal of this order, with Ellison then passed for third by Brookes at the McLeans right-hander. Westmoreland was quickly past Kirkham for fifth, with Jon then losing out to Bridewell at the Esses. Walker and Jacobsen were next.

The 2013 race winners were at the front, with Lowes heading Byrne, Brookes and Ellison, but Westmoreland was right with them, and he now set a new lap record on the BMW. Bridewell was at the back of the lead group, but a gap was opening behind him to Kirkham, who looked secure enough in seventh. Brookes and the Suzuki were not quite on their best form, as he was passed by Ellison on the inside for the Esses and then by Westmoreland on the inside at Melbourne. Soon after, Bridewell also got through.

The next change came when Ellison moved through for second at the Esses, with ‘Shakey’ then under pressure from the next pair. Westmoreland looked to see if he could go past the Kawasaki man on the outside at Melbourne, but with Byrne going a bit wide it was actually Bridewell on the inside who profited, gaining two places for third. Meanwhile, the leading Honda of Lowes had close company from Ellison on the Yamaha.

James went past Alex, braking on the inside for the Esses, but then a bit of a rear slide forced the Yamaha man to correct and he went straight on for the escape road, rejoining the fray on his own in sixth. That left Bridewell in second behind Lowes, then Byrne, Westmoreland and Brookes. Byrne regained his earlier position at the Esses, as he looked to challenge Lowes, whilst in the late laps the other men in the leading group became spread further apart.

However, Byrne stayed right behind Lowes, and on the last lap was looking for a way past. With a slipstream, Shakey was able to power ahead on Starkeys Straight, but still Alex could get him back on the brakes for the Esses, and once again it was a close finish but with the Honda ahead. Bridewell was third, and then Westmoreland and Brookes, and then Ellison. Kirkham was seventh, from Walker, Jacobsen, Smrž, Kiyonari, Waters, Hickman, Linfoot and Rutter. Westmoreland and Kirkham had ended up with an equal amount of points, so sixth position was decided on results count-back. Both had been fourth three times and fifth twice, so James got the nod for having been sixth home on five occasions, as opposed to three for Jon.

Another double for Alex Lowes, and a more subdued weekend for Josh Brookes, made the Honda rider into the clear challenger to defending champion Shane Byrne; and with the top two on close matched form. But in many ways the Donington races were just the prelude to the Showdown - apart from a few extra podium credits, the likes of Brookes and James Ellison hadn’t needed to do too much on the day; but it will all be different at Assen next time out. There is all to play for, so who is your money on?

Standings after nineteen races: Byrne 370; Lowes 343; Brookes 308; Ellison 200; Kiyonari 170; Kirkham and Westmoreland 154; Bridewell 126; Walker 123; Jacobsen 115.
podium credits: Byrne 39, Lowes 34, Brookes 22, Ellison 13, Kiyonari 4, Bridewell 3.
Standings going into the top six championship Showdown: Byrne 539; Lowes 534; Brookes 522; Ellison 513; Kiyonari 504; Westmoreland 500.