Kiyonari Doubles at Brands

Tom Sykes aboard his Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Brands Hatch

(Photo: www.worldsbk.com)

Although the death of Craig Jones put a real detached mood on this weekend, the racing went on, surely how Craig would have wanted it. Kiyonari took the double win at Brands in 2 hotly contested races.

Points leader Troy Bayliss had the jump on the pack in the first race,
but Kiyonari fought his way up through the pack to catch him late. Biaggi was not blisteringly fast midway through the race, however he closed from a gap of nearly 3 seconds to challenging for the win after the 2 leaders battle wore their tires thin. If this race was 5 laps longer, I believe Biaggi's pace would have handed him a comfortable win. Haga lost his front end fairly early in the race, and wildcard Tom Sykes' bike failed while battling in the front group as well.

1. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 36'18.607 (152,933 kph);
2. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 0.137;
3. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 0.180;
4. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 5.733;
5. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 6.499;
6. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 6.984;
7. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 8.300;
8. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 10.732;
9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 16.547;
10. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 16.569;
11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 18.366;
12. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 22.308;
13. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR1000RR 26.788;
14. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 26.856;
15. Walker C. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 32.877;
16. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 38.329.

Race 2 saw Kiyonari once again lead and win, however as close as Bayliss was in race 1, Haga was in race 2, right on the tail of Kiyo virtually throughout. A somewhat distant Troy Corser improved for race 2 and rounded out the podium in third.

Biaggi ran off of the track early and could only come back to fight for a 12th place finish. Bayliss made a poor tire compound choice and after leading early, rapidly dropped back to finish in 11th, once again right in front of Biaggi as in the first race. Skyes had better luck this time around moving into 7th and Neukirchner gained strong points in 4th.

1. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 36'14.904 (153,193 kph);
2. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 1.848;
3. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 8.883;
4. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 11.180;
5. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 12.928;
6. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 13.696;
7. Sykes T. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 13.872;
8. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 14.009;
9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 19.065;
10. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 19.864;
11. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 20.479;
12. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 20.621;
13. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 20.722;
14. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 24.512;
15. Walker C. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 32.090;
16. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 32.207.

These are how the points standings look after Brands Hatch '08. No major differences:

1. Bayliss (Ducati) 334;
2. Neukirchner (Suzuki) 252;
3. Corser (Yamaha) 242;
4. Checa (Honda) 233;
5. Haga (Yamaha) 230;
6. Nieto (Suzuki) 183;
7. Biaggi (Ducati) 166;
8. Kiyonari (Honda) 165;
9. Fabrizio (Ducati) 161;
10. Xaus (Ducati) 148.

Manufacturers points:

1. Ducati 403;
2. Yamaha 345;
3. Suzuki 303;
4. Honda 297;
5. Kawasaki 64.

Laconi had very poor luck once again this weekend and things just don't look competitive on any level for Kawasaki.