British Superbikes Brands Hatch – HM Plant Honda
All four HM Plant Honda riders brought home podiums and points in the final round of the Bennetts British Superbike series at Brands Hatch.
Leon Haslam battled the pain from a separated right clavicle, which was heavily strapped for both 30-lap Superbike races, and took fourth and second places in the two feature races. Meanwhile, team-mate Cal Crutchlow replicated the results but in reverse with second in the first race and fourth in the second, where he was slowed by a lack of rear grip.
Steve Brogan wrapped-up his Metzeler National Superstock 1000 campaign in style with his eighth win of the season aboard the dominant Honda UK CBR1000RR Fireblade. Wearing the ‘winning-yellow’ paint scheme that will be sold as a limited-edition version of his championship-winning bike, Steve held off a determined effort from Yamaha’s Peter Hickman to take the win by just four-thousandths of a second! He didn’t ride in the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship today as he was still suffering from the two broken bones in his right foot sustained in a crash at Croft.
Josh Brookes proved to be a quality replacement for Steve in the series with a superb ride to third place. He stuck with the leaders in the early laps before a lack of dry set-up time saw him fade and bring the HM Plant Honda CBR600RR home in a lonely but impressive podium position.
Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
RACE ONE: 4th position
RACE TWO: 2nd position
“In the first race I couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted to thanks to the injury, but between the two races the physiotherapist worked on the collar-bone and after the start the adrenalin kicked in. When Shakey caught up in race two, I tried to be as smooth as possible. I held Shane off into Paddock Hill Bend, but as we went into Clearways for the last time, I could see the backmarker and I backed off a little, but Shakey didn’t. I then went a bit wide onto the grass and that was the end of it. Of course I’m disappointed with not winning a race today, but we secured second in the championship. Once more the fans were fantastic for me today and I hope to be out there battling for wins in the World Superbike Championship next season. It’s sad to say goodbye to the fans after being runner-up in the series twice and third once, but the World scene is where my heart is. Thanks also to the HM Plant Honda team and all my sponsors for their support and hard-work in 2008.”
Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
RACE ONE: 2nd position
RACE TWO: 4th position
“In the first race I had a bit of a go at Shakey at about mid-race distance and closed the gap but then made a few little mistakes, but kept second place. I was still the first Honda and four-cylinder home, which was nice. In the second race I just never had the grip that I had in the first. We got a good start and I was sat behind Leon quite comfortably but as he started to up the pace and pull away I just had no answer to him and not as much grip from my rear tyre, which felt pretty worn-out straight away. With Tom’s retirement we finally secured third in the championship, which isn’t what I wanted at the start of the season, but I’ve shown I’m competitive and can win on a Superbike. I’m now off to the World Supersport championship where I want to do Britain proud. I’d like to thank HM Plant Honda, who are a great team, Honda UK and all my personal sponsors for their support.”
Steve Brogan – HM Plant Honda / Honda (UK) Racing
British Superstock – Honda (UK) Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade
1st position
“Now that was close! I have to say the foot wasn’t too bad in that race. As soon as we were underway the adrenalin kicked in. It was a little difficult after the straights going into certain corners, when you are trying to get into the right position, but this result and the wins we’ve had this year speaks volumes about the new Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. With such a fantastic year behind us, I’d like to thank both Honda UK and HM Plant Honda as well as my family and friends who’ve been there for me throughout my race career. I just hope now that we will be out there in the big class for 2009 with Honda!”
Joshua Brookes – HM Plant Honda
British Supersport – HM Plant Honda CBR600RR
3rd position
“That was quite a difficult race really. We were up there early on and I was feeling strong and confident, sitting there watching the two guys up front have their battle but I think we just didn’t have the race pace. We had the pace for one flying lap in qualifying and we could string a few of those together but I couldn’t stick with the front guys. I’m a bit disappointed that we couldn’t go for the win, but I would like to thank HM Plant Honda for the opportunity to race here in the UK in some lovely weather!”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager
“What can we say about Leon? He battled hard despite being pretty bashed about as a result of yesterday’s high-side. You could see he was away in that second race despite the injury, so we can only think what might have been if he was 100%. Cal scored a fantastic podium in the first race and did HM Plant Honda proud, but seemed to go backwards in the second half of the last race. We will take a look at the data and see what the problem was, but – with Tom’s retirement – we eventually managed to seal second and third in the championship, which was realistically the best we could hope for today. Josh really used his head the entire weekend. When you think that half the sessions he rode the HM Plant Honda CBR600RR in were damp, to pull in that result is quite an achievement and shows how hard he and the team worked on set-up in the dry sessions. Steve did just what he wanted to in Superstock. He wanted to put the winning-yellow limited edition machine on top of the podium and he did just that – just! It’s been a hard year, but everyone at HM Plant Honda has worked hard to be battling for wins in all classes by the close of the season.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Race One Result
1. Shane Byrne – Ducati
2. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
3. James Ellison – Honda
4. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
5. Leon Camier – Ducati
Race Two Result
1. Shane Byrne – Ducati
2. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
3. Leon Camier – Ducati
4. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
5. James Ellison – Honda
Championship Points
1. Shane Byrne, Ducati – 474 points CHAMPION
2. Leon Haslam, HM Plant Honda – 357 points
3. Cal Crutchlow, HM Plant Honda – 318 points
4. Tom Sykes, Suzuki – 316
5. Leon Camier, Ducati – 306
Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship
1. Glen Richards, Triumph – 240 points CHAMPION
2. Hudson Kennaugh, Yamaha – 187 points
3. Ian Lowry, Suzuki – 146 points
4. James Westmoreland, Honda – 136 points
5. Steve Plater, Yamaha – 106 points
8. Steve Brogan, HM Plant Honda – 85 points
22. Josh Brookes, HM Plant Honda – 16 points
Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship
1. Steve Brogan, HM Plant Honda – 273 points CHAMPION
2. Jon Kirkham, Yamaha – 215 points
3. Peter Hickman, Yamaha – 125 points
4. Alistair Seeley, Yamaha – 108 points
5. Ben Wilson, Yamaha – 103 points