April 2009 Archives

JAMES Ellison returns to the track where he clinched the 2004 Superbike Cup this weekend - and is determined to lead from the front onboard the Airwaves Yamaha R1.

The 26-year-old from Kendal, Cumbria, will be the man most of his rivals need to fear as the Brirish Superbike Championship heads to Oulton Park in Cheshire.

And it's a track he has fond memories of. Not only did he win the 04 title there, but he also scored a pair of second places onboard the Hydrex Honda last season.

WITH one World Supersport race win already under his belt, Eugene Laverty should have known better.

Because it seems the Durham-based Irishman hasn't learned that with victories come very big trophies.

The 23-year-old, who won his second WSS race at Assen on Sunday - becoming the first man this year to win two races - clearly hadn't banked on standing on the top of the podium when he headed out to the Dutch track last week.

I always thought William Wordsworth was a bit, you know, a bit strange.
He was one of the Romantic poets who wrote about lakes, and mountains, and daffodils, wandering lonely as a cloud with his head in the air.
He even said a poet could not help be gay at the sight of such a laughing company of daffodils.

Well I did it. I managed to get round 26.2 miles of London on Sunday under my own steam. I can't say I managed to run all the distance although I was pleased with how I did.
After covering that kind of distance you might expect I would be suffering from sore legs, chaffed thighs or blisters on my feet.
While I have all these they aren't my biggest problem. The thing which has been giving me constant pain since Sunday is sunburn and I blame the BBC......

NORIYUKI Haga took an easy win in the second World Superbike race at Assen after Ben Spies crashed out in Lap Two.

And Brit Leon Haslam rode his Stiggy Racing Honda to an impressive second place to back up his earlier third, and was followed over the line by the Czech Republic's Jakub Smrz.

Fellow Brits Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea bounced back from slow starts to take fifth and sixth respectively.

EUGENE Laverty won a fraught and frantic three-man dice for the chequered flag in today's World Supersport race at Assen.

The Durham-based Irishman crossed the line just inches ahead of Brit Cal Crutchlow, after the pair inched out Spaniard Joan Lascorz in the final corner.

Laverty's win came after a dramatic closing lap, which was impossible to call as the leading trio entered the latter half.

BEN Spies made a banzai last lap comeback to take the win in the first World Superbike race at Assen.

The AMA star, who had started the 22-Lap race from pole, made a daredevil final lap charge to inch Noriyuki Haga down to second just three turns away from the chequered flag.

Haga crossed the line second, ahead of a delighted Leon Haslam, with fellow Brit Tom Sykes fourth.

British Touring Car Championship...Thruxton

REIGNING champ Fabrizio Giovanardi destroyed the opposition with just one flying lap to take pole for the first of tomorrow's HiQ MSA BTCC races at Thruxton.

The VX Racing star set a lap of 1.17.985m with just the one lap around the fast Hampshire circuit, and it was a time that no-one would be able to match.

Team-mate Matt Neal was the closest, putting his Vauxhall Vectra second on the grid while his old nemesis Jason Plato snuck into third just behind him.

World Superbike Superpole...Assen

IT was business as usual for Ben Spies as he stole the top spot in Assen, making it four in a row.

In what is becoming normal practice, the American - who had never been to the Dutch track before this weekend - made it look easy as he set a scorching lap of 1.37:626 in this afternoon's final Superpole session.

Guandalini Racing's Jakub Smrz brought his Ducati 1098R across the line second quickest, with Brit Leon Haslam qualifying in a impressive third place onboard the Stiggy Racing Honda.

WSS Qualifying....Assen

CAL Crutchlow seared to his third consecutive pole ahead of tomorrow's World Supersport race at Assen.

The factory Yamaha rider brought his striking blue and white machine over the line with a time 1.40:131, a full half second quicker than nearest rival, Joan Lascorz.

The firey Brit, who had already proved strong in earlier practice, set his hotlap just 20 minute into the session, and it was a time which was to unchallenged by anyone as the minutes ticked by.