The chat night will feature local riders and former British 125 champions James Lodge and Garry Dickinson alongside the Fire Place Warehouse team.

As well as bringing along one of their race bikes, the team will be well represented with Team Manager Adrian Mason alongside part of the management team Mark Hodgson.

Fire Place Warehouse 125 riders Tom Carne and Callan Cooper will kake up the numbers, with doors opening at 7.30pm and the chat night getting underway at 8.15pm.

There is a nominal charge of £2.00 for members and £3.00 for non members and the evenings entertainment includes TV Highlights and a raffle. Money raised from the chat nights help to fund local riders in the area to pursue their racing campaign through the season.

Shane Byrne – Brands Hatch 2008

Kent based rider Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne will rejoin the British Superbike grid for 2011 with this years championship winning team of HM Plant Honda.

The former double BSB champion Byrne will line up alongside three time winner and current 2010 champion Ryuichi Kiyonari as the HM Plant team bid to win a record breaking fourth BSB title.

Byrne replaces Josh Brookes at Honda as the Australian heads off to Relentless Suzuki and the English rider admits that there is nothing more he would like to achieve than to become the most successful rider in BSB history.

That made his choice of teams for this year a relatively simple affair as the rider admits that the two teams who were constantly winning when he last raced in the series are GSE Racing and HM Plant, ‘GSE had gone so Honda was my logical choice’ said Byrne.

Well aware that he has not won a race in the two years he has been away from British Superbile, Byrne is anxious to make amends this coming season in what promises to be the strongest team that HM Plant Honda have ever had.

But ‘Shakey’ is not simply there to make up the numbers, the rider he replaces was runner up in 2010 and the team will be expecting the same or better from Byrne, who will be among the most experienced riders on the grid.

Fans favourite Byrne is already looking forward to the start of the 2011 season when he will make a welcome return to his ‘home track’ at Brands Hatch for the first race of the year where he will enjoy an incredible welcome back to the series.

Meanwhile Australian Jason O ‘Halloran has been rewarded for his change of fortune in the final races of this season by being signed up for the HM Plant Honda National Superstock team for next season.

O’Halloran feels that after being pushed from pillar to post since arriving in the UK he will at last be joining a top quality team and described his signing as ‘a great opportunity.’

There are still some tickets available for the event, priced at £50 each or £500 for a table of ten making it an ideal pre-Christmas company bash for motorcycle racing fans.

Entertainment for the night includes;

• A three course meal
• Caricatures
• A photographer on the night
• A palm reader – top psychic Sam Amos
• Tombola
• Silent auction
• Katy Bullock will be singing, she made it to the last 24 in X Factor in 2009
• Plus a Disco to round the night off!

Motorcycle racers hoping to attend the event include fan’s favourites Tommy Hill, Danny Webb, Gino Rea, Dan Linfoot, John Kirkham and Sam Lowes, with other riders yet to confirm due to current racing commitments.

Organiser Carly Rathmell says;

“I am still in need of any items for the Auction and Tombola, if you have anything that you could donate, signed or unsigned, photos, clothing, tools, wine, tickets, vouchers, or anything for that matter it would be greatly appreciated – please mail me at carly.rathmell@btinternet.com

A special room rate has been arranged at the Nottingham Belfry for guests who would like to stay overnight, full details can be obtained by contacting carly.rathmell@btinternet.com

Tommy Hill on the Worx Crescent Suzuki, leading the title race going into the final weekend, put up a valiant fight in race one on Saturday, finishing a whisker behind the Japanese rider to set up a thrilling finale for Sunday’s final showdown.

But when Hill lost his brakes in race two and had to resort to throwing the Suzuki down the track, you somehow felt that it was not to be for the British rider.

The Swan Honda’s of Stuart Easton and James Ellison were in exceptional form over the weekend with a third place in both race one and three for Ellison and a second in race two for Easton, effectively shutting out the rest of the final shoot out contenders behind Kiyonari.

To his credit Tommy Hill managed to claim third in the final race after the Worx Crescent team spent the gap between races putting his Suzuki back together, but it was Kiyonari’s teammate Josh Brookes who kept Hill at bay, making a one – two for Honda’s HM Plant riders in the finale and ensuring the title for Kiyonari who never put a foot wrong all weekend.

I’m still not sure whether the changes made to BSB with the final five meeting showdown have made things any more exciting this season, sure the Championship went down to the wire on the last day of the season, but would it have been any different without the changes?

But there can be no doubt that the season has provided us with as much entertainment and excitement as anyone can possibly imagine, right down to the final race at Oulton Park on Sunday.

2010 British Superbike Championship Rider final standings

1. Ryuichi Kiyonari HM Plant Honda 649 points
2. Josh Brookes HM Plant Honda 625
3. Tommy Hill Worx Crescent Suzuki 620
4. Michael Laverty Relentless Suzuki 604
5. Michael Rutter Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati 559
6. Alastair Seeley Relentless Suzuki 550

Jason O'Halloran

Jason O’Halloran finally lived up to his promise with his first podium place of the season at Silverstone last weekend in the penultimate round of the British Supersport Championship.

The East Coast Racing Yamaha rider started the race in tenth place on the grid, but a good start to the race from O’Halloran was to no avail as the race was stopped after a big crash on the first corner.

Team mate Pat McDougall was caught up in the incident, hitting a fallen bike and injuring his foot in the process making it an awful weekend for him.

When the race was re-started it was reduced to just an eight laps and O’Halloran made an awesome start, settling into fourth place with some blistering lap times.

Having caught Ben Wilson and James Westmoreland, who were swapping places in an exciting race for second place, O’Halloran watched on as Wilson lost the front end of his bike on lap seven and the Australian grasped the podium opportunity with both hands.

A delighted Jason O’Halloran said

“Finally the podium I’ve been looking for all season. It’s been a hard weekend with a few ups and downs but the end result was ideal! I’m just chuffed to bits for all the team and myself, but the team have worked so hard since I joined them mid season at Mallory Park and we’ve been working for this ever since. The weather conditions certainly weren’t ideal but hopefully things will carry on like this for Oulton and I can get myself another good result there. I just like to thank everyone involved who have supported me this year and I couldn’t have done it without them!”

The third place result at Silverstone moves O’Halloran into seventh place overall in the British Supersport Championship.

winner in race one, Michael Rutter is still in the frame for title

Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati team owner Phil Jessopp refused to concede that his rider, Michael Rutter’s chances of winning the 2010 British Superbike Championship title were over , even though Rutter is now 43 points behind championship leader Tommy Hill.

“It’s not over yet. As today showed, anything can happen. Obviously it’s disappointing that Michael crashed out of the second race but let’s not overlook that fantastic first race victory. I think the team did a superb job all weekend. We worked hard in practice and qualifying to get the bike working well around this difficult circuit that’s so different to anything else we race on in the UK.  And when the weather turned nasty, Michael rode brilliantly to win the first race.
We’re now at a critical point in the championship. It’s all getting very serious and the pressure is on but, with three races left at Oulton, anything can happen and we know the circuit really suits our bike.”

It had been a day of contrasting emotions for Rutter on Sunday, like most teams coming to the Silverstone track the Ducati team had to work hard to find a suitable bike set-up on the wide, fast flowing course but Rutter put the 1198 Ducati on the front row of the grid, in second place,  narrowly missing out on pole by a tenth of a second.

But on race day the weather turned nasty and that played into Rutter’s acknowledged smooth riding style as he revelled in a race that started in miserable wet conditions but started to dry out in the closing stages.

Rutter won the race by a whisker, holding on to keep Josh Brookes at bay and finishing just 1.26 seconds ahead of the Australian rider.

For a while it looked as though Rutter maybe able to repeat the performance in race two running a comfortable third, inches behind James Ellison and Ryuichi Kiyonari but on the fourth lap, he suddenly slid off at Aintree corner.

After the race Rutter said;
“I’m gutted. I’d been having problems in the fast double left all weekend. It’s not the kind of corner you should lose the front but that’s exactly what happened.  It simply washed out on me for no apparent reason. I wouldn’t mind if I’d done something stupid but I can’t see why I went down. Maybe I was inches off line and caught a puddle … but I certainly didn’t think I’d done anything wrong.”

MIchael Rutter – Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati 2010

Michael Rutter and James Ellison took the win in the British Superbike races at Silverstone yesterday under horrendous weather conditions of the 2010 championship.

Race 1

After only 4 laps of the opening race at Silverstone yesterday, the red flags were waved as the heavens opened while the HM Plant Honda rider Josh Brookes was leading the way.

At the restart it was Michael Laverty that led the riders away from the lights ahead of Brookes and team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari before the Japanese rider dropped back into fourth place, moving Michael  Rutter up into third.

On his second attempt, Brookes made his move stick when he passed Laverty to take the lead on lap 4 but the Australian rider could only hold onto the leading spot for a couple of laps before Laverty once again retook his position at the front.

While the two riders battled for the lead, Rutter was closing in on the pair and while Brookes once again moved to the front on lap 7, Rutter made his move on Laverty to slot into second place.

The Ridersmotorcylces.com Ducati rider then set his sights on Brookes, stealing the lead from the Honda rider with just 3 laps remaining.

Rutter crossed the line to take the victory followed by Brookes in second and Michael Laverty in third.  James Ellison finished in fourth place ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari in fifth, Alastair Seeley sixth, Simon Andrews seventh, Tommy Hill eighth, Chris Walker ninth and Dan Linfoot in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Michael Rutter  GBR Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati  24mins 05.289s
2. Josh Brookes AUS HM Plant Honda +1.263s
3. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +5.254s
4. James Ellison GBR Swan Honda +12.177s
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN HM Plant Honda +12.331s
6. Alastair Seeley GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +23.908s
7. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +25.628s
8. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +26.984s
9. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +31.611s
10. Dan Linfoot GBR Motorpoint Yamaha +37.179s
11. Loris Baz FRA Motorpoint Yamaha +37.199s
12. Chris Burns GBR Splitlath Aprilia +37.976s
13. Yukio Kagayama JPN Worx Crescent Suzuki +38.554s
14. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +40.542s
15. Tom Tunstall GBR Doodson Motorsport Honda +47.030s

Steve Heneghan IRL Quattro Plant Honda
Aaron Zanotti GBR Red Viper Spike Suzuki
Adam Jenkinson GBR Buildbase Kawasaki

Race 2

James Ellison – Swan Honda 2010

In the second of the races at the Silverstone circuit it was the Swan Honda rider James Ellison that crossed the line to take a sensational win in an incident packed round.

A crash at the first corner on the opening lap involving Michael Laverty, Loris Baz and Chris Burns ended the Irishman’s chance of a podium finish as James Ellison slotted into the leading spot.  Laverty managed to rejoin the race but suffered a technical problem just one lap later and was forced to retire.

Josh Brookes was on a mission and had moved into fifth place after overtaking Alastair Seeley on lap 3 and set about catching Gary Mason in fourth.  Brookes finally got past Mason on lap 5 to take third before trying to close the gap between himself and the front runners Ellison and Kiyonari.

Tommy Hill had a disastrous start and was lucky not to have been involved in an accident on the start/finish line as his Worx Crescent Suzuki was seen weaving across the track, miraculously missing the riders behind  but Hill fought his way back through the pack to finish in fifth place.

Michael Rutter crashed out on lap 4 whilst in third place and was out of the running.

Here are the results;

1. James Ellison  GBR Swan Honda  23mins 58.750
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN HM Plant Honda +5.850s
3. Josh Brookes AUS HM Plant Honda +12.865s
4. Alastair Seeley GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +15.293s
5. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +20.264s
6. Dan Linfoot GBR Motorpoint Yamaha +22.767s
7. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +25.308s
8. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +27.694s
9. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +28.793
10. Peter Hickman GBR Ultimate Racing Yamaha +39.165s
11. Gary Johnson GBR AIM Suzuki +39.847s
12. Tommy Bridewell GBR Quay Garage Tyco Racing +40.248
13. Pauli Pekkanen FIN 777 RR Motorsport Suzuki +41.747s
14. Yukio Kagayama JPN Worx Crescent Suzuki +47.928s
15. Hudson Kennaugh RSA Splitlath Aprilia +49.791s

Steve Heneghan IRL Quattro Plant Honda
Adam Jenkinson GBR Buildbase Kawasaki
David Johnson AUS Becsport/Two Wheel Suzuki
Michael O’Brien GBR Motomob/O’Brien Hifi

Tommy Hill – Worx Crescent Suzuki 2010

This weekend saw the first of the three rounds of the title showdown for the British Superbike championship of 2010 with Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty sharing the wins of the day.

Race One

The Worx Crescent Suzuki rider Tommy Hill crossed then line to take the chequered flag in race 1 of the day at Croft followed by Michael Laverty on the Relentless Suzuki, just a tenth of a second behind.

The safety car was deployed on lap 1 following a crash at Clerveaux of David Johnson, who although battered and bruised didn’t appear to have any serious injuries.  At the restart of the race it was Michael Laverty that took to the front of the pack followed by Hill, Michael Rutter, James Ellison and Dan Linfoot.

Within two corners, Hill had put his Suzuki ahead of Laverty and attempted to create a gap, while on lap 5, Simon Andrews made his move past Dan Linfoot to slot into seventh place.

The HM Plant Honda rider Ryuichi Kiyonari dropped several places after running straight-on at Tower Corner, finding himself down in 22nd place.

On lap 9, Alistair Seeley was passed by the second HM Plant Honda of Josh Brookes before crashing his Relentless Suzuki at the hairpin.

Michael Rutter crashed his Ridersmotorcyles.com Ducati on lap 13, losing the front end at the hairpin as Hill’s lead on Laverty increased to six-tenths of a second.

Hill took the win ahead of Laverty in second, Stuart Easton in third, Simon Andrews in fourth, Dan Linfoot in fifth, Josh Brookes in sixth, Loris Baz (replacement rider for Andrew Pitt) in seventh, John Laverty in eighth, Chris Walker in ninth and Gary Mason in tenth.

Here are the results;

1.  Tommy Hill  GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki  27mins 43.359s
2. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +0.155s
3. Stuart Easton GBR Swan Honda +10.177s
4. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +13.512s
5. Dan Linfoot GBR Motorpoint Yamaha +14.742s
6. Josh Brookes AUS HM Plant Honda +15.407s
7. Loris Baz FRA Motorpoint Yamaha +21.044s
8. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +25.983s
9. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +26.304s
10. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +26.670s
11. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN HM Plant Honda +31.454s
12. Peter Hickman GBR Ultimate Racing Yamaha +35.436s
13. Adam Jenkinson GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +40.448s
14. Tom Tunstall GBR Doodson Motorsport Honda +43.184s
15. Hudson Kennaugh RSA Splitlath Aprilia +45.526s

25. James Ellison GBR Swan Honda 17 laps completed
26. Tommy Bridewell GBR Quay Garage Honda 13 laps completed
27. Alastair Seeley GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki 8 laps completed
28. David Johnson AUS Becsport Suzuki 0 laps completed

Race Two

In race two, it was the Irishman Michael Laverty that took the chequered flag for the Relentless Suzuki team ahead of Tommy Hill.

Laverty took the lead as the lights went out followed by Stuart Easton on the Swan Honda ahead of Hill and the second Swan Honda of James Ellison with Michael Rutter in hot pursuit.

Easton didn’t make it easy for Hill to get past giving Laverty time to create a gap from his lead position.  As Josh Brookes, who had struggled with illness all weekend, managed to catch-up with Ellison after starting from ninth on the grid, he was passed by Tommy Bridewell on the inside at the hairpin.  Only two laps later he was passed by Dan Linfoot and Simon Andrews and by the halfway point of the race, his team-mate Kiyonari also got ahead of him.

Rutter and Ellison were battling for fourth place with Rutter winning the contest until the final lap when Kiyonari passed both riders.

Laverty took the victory ahead of Hill in second, Stuart Easton again in third, Kiyonari in fourth, Rutter in fifth, Ellison in sixth, Bridewell in seventh, Brookes in eighth, Linfoot in ninth and Andrews in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Michael Laverty  GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki  25mins 42.670s
2. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +0.202s
3. Stuart Easton GBR Swan Honda +8.534s
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN HM Plant Honda +9.590s
5. Michael Rutter GBR Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati +9.833s
6. James Ellison GBR Swan Honda +10.138s
7. Tommy Bridewell GBR Quay Garage Honda +10.730s
8. Josh Brookes AUS HM Plant Honda +11.619s
9. Dan Linfoot GBR Motorpoint Yamaha +12.412s
10. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +16.489s
11. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +17.680s
12. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +27.340s
13. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +27.714s
14. Yukio Kagayama JPN Worx Crescent Suzuki +29.477s
15. Alastair Seeley GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +31.153s

27. Loris Baz FRA Motorpoint Yamaha 10 laps completed
28. David Johnson AUS Becsport Suzuki 0 laps completed

Loris Baz – Superstock 600 – 2008

Loris Baz has been appointed as the replacement rider for the injured Andrew Pitt at this weekends round of the British Superbike championship at Croft alongside Dan Linfoot.

Pitt broke his collarbone at the Brands Hatch round of the championship and now the Frenchman has been given the chance to get aboard the Motorpoint Yamaha teams YZF-R1 which he tested for the first time on Wednesday.

Team boss Rob McElnea said;

“We have a lot to look forward to this weekend at Croft, this is Dan’s local track and our bike should work very well. It is Loris’s first time at BSB and on a Superbike so we are all keen to get the weekend started.

This will be a baptism of fire for Loris, he knows the pace will be hot and he cannot wait to get on track. We want him to take things step by step and enjoy the whole experience. He tested yesterday at Mallory and put together a good performance. On the bike you would never imagine he is only 17 years-old so I am sure he will get a good welcome.”

Among those attending this years event will be;

Buildbase Kawasaki – John Laverty, Adam Jenkinson, Barry Burrell and Lee Jackson plus team managers Stuart and Steven Hicken

Worx Suzuki – Tommy Hill & Yuki Kagayama and team manager Jack Valentine

MSS Kawasaki – Simon Andrews and Gary Mason and team manager Nick Morgan

British Superbike race director Stuart Higgs will also be on hand and interviews will be conducted by Norman Bradley and Larry Carter.

British Superbike riders Dan Linfoot, Sam Lowes and James Westmoreland among others will be available for photos and autographs.

Entrance to the NYRRSC British Superbike Chat Night is £4 for members and £6 for non members, support them if you can as funds raised from their regular chat nights help to fund local motorcycle racers to pursue their favourite sport.

For more information visit the NYRRSC website.