The HM Plant Honda team got their season off to a winning start as Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne secured the opening race win of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch after an incident-packed opener.
Shakey had held the lead after taking the hole shot and was embroiled in a battle with Michael Laverty for the lead. Shakey dropped to second, but then Laverty crashed out at Clark Curve causing Shane to take evasive action. He then regained the lead to secure his first BSB win since 2008, whilst Ryuichi Kiyonari suffered the disappointment of a retirement, after the frustration of a high-speed crash in morning warm up.
In race two the HM Plant Honda Fireblades were challenging for the victory but it was Kiyo who took second from Shakey in third.
Jason O’Halloran scored a second place in the opening race of the National Superstock 1000 Championship season following an intense battle with Danny Buchan throughout. The race was red flagged early on, but once restarted the pair continued to battle, with a last lap attempt dash to the line with Jason having to settle for second.
Shakey said: “I didn’t have any excuses if I didn’t have a result today riding for the championship-winning team! It was a hectic race and I got a good start and then Michael’s crash happened in slow motion right in front of me and I was lucky that I managed to miss him. That incident then bunched us all up and then I had a fight with Stuart Easton but I knew I had to get passed him as soon as possible. It’s fantastic to have won the first race of the season.
“I felt good again in the second race and I had another good start so I was happy with that! I was able to lead for a few laps and I was pushing but then Tommy came past me and I wanted to get back to the front. I had been losing to Tommy a bit coming out of Clearways and then with three laps to go I got a better drive out of the corner. As we approached Paddock Hill Bend I thought ‘I can make this’ then I realised ‘no you can’t’ so I had to scrub off some speed which lost me the place. It was one of those things, but to come away from here with a first and a third ahead of Oulton Park next weekend is a good start to the season and all credit has to go to the HM Plant Honda team.”
Kiyo said: “Today was a difficult one for me and the HM Plant Honda team. We had a big crash in warm up, which was unlucky as a rider slowed suddenly in front of me and then I had nowhere to go but crash. There was big damage to the bike so the team had lots of work to do to get it ready again in time for the first race. Then in race one I had a problem with the bike and had to stop which was disappointing as I wanted to win, we had been fast over practice and qualifying and I knew we could. In race two I had a big gap to close and I just ran out of time, but I was happy to be on the podium again. I wanted to win to dedicate to my friend Kouki Takahashi who died this weekend in an accident back in Japan. We were good friends and so I try and win at Oulton Park for him.”
Jason said: “The start was good and I tried to stay consistent. I got to the front but then Danny came back and passed me. I sat behind him and then I was able to get him back, but then he got by again. On the last lap I just wanted to make a move at Clearways but I just didn’t get on the throttle fast enough and he had just a little more speed than me on the exit. It was a great race, the Fireblade was excellent and I am happy to be on the podium for HM Plant Honda at my first race with the team.”
Team Manager Havier Beltran concluded: “All in all it has been a good start for the HM Plant Honda team at Brands Hatch, despite Kiyo suffering a DNF in the first race. Shakey scored two podiums and is now second in the championship and Kiyo is fourth after the podium in race two. If we were to go back four weeks I wouldn’t have believed we would be running at such a pace with Shakey and Kiyo qualifying under the lap record. Jason has also done a superb job this weekend and all credit must go to the team and riders for their hard work over the winter and this weekend, in sometimes difficult circumstances. We have more to come from both us and the Honda CBR1000RR and now we are looking forward to next weekend at Oulton Park.”
Race one full results and race report available here, race two full results and race report available here.
Join the discussion on this story in our forum
