Its taken a long time but finally Scotsman Stuart Easton took his first ever British Superbike win at Croft. There's no doubt Leon Camier helped him by running off track on lap 3, but Easton has been the only consistent challenger to the dominant Airwaves Yamahas this year. I thought he would mount a title challenge, but its been apparent that the GSE R1s are a class apart this year, so he's got to be reasonably pleased with his season. You just have to look at the names he beat to see everyone is struggling to keep up. Kiyonari did the double here a couple of years ago, but he looked well off the pace on this years HM Plant Honda, which just about says it all.


GSE RACING CLINCH 5TH BSB TITLE - Airwaves Yamaha report

The Airwaves Yamaha pair of Leon Camier and James Ellison today ensured they are the only riders who can still win the coveted 2009 British Superbike Championship. Series leader Leon recovered from a 6th in Race One to win Race Two. His teammate James came away with a 2nd and a 4th. Today's results mean that GSE Racing, the team behind Airwaves Yamaha, has already secured a record fifth BSB title.

At the start of Race One, James moved up to 3rd as Leon slotted in to 6th. On lap 3, whilst challenging Simon Andrews on the Kawasaki, Leon went straight-on at Tower, rejoining the race 22nd and last. Meanwhile at the front of the field, James went up into 2nd at the Chicane. He continued to push for the lead right until the chequered flag but was unable to find a way past. Leon managed to fight his way through to finish 6th.

Leon got a better start in the second race going to 4th with James 6th. Posting the fastest lap of the race, 1:20.097, Leon managed to make his way into the lead by lap 6. James became involved in a number of battles throughout the race. He narrowly missed out on a second podium, eventually finishing 4th.

On the days events James said, "I had a good start to the first race. Early on I thought Leon must have made a mistake so I knew I had a chance to score some good points for Airwaves Yamaha. I was pushing really hard to try and pass Stuart Easton but on the last lap there were yellow flags exactly where I wanted to pass. I tried one last time at the hairpin but didn't have enough power to make anything stick.

"I had a nightmare start in Race two and got stuck behind quite a few people. I'm pretty disappointed not to get on the podium again but I'm really happy that Airwaves Yamaha has wrapped up the Championship."

Commenting on his rare off, Leon said, "The mistake in the first race was 100% my fault. I was pushing too hard to get past and was 16kph faster than I should have been! Once I got back on track I got my head down and tried to work my way through the field. It was pretty tough to pass out there so I'm pleased to have got as high as I did and get some more Championship points for Airwaves Yamaha.

"I got an ok start to Race Two, for a change. From there, everything went to plan. A massive thank you to the whole team. The YZF-R1 worked amazingly all weekend."

Colin Wright added "To come away from Croft with a 5th BSB Championship and Yamaha's first for 11 years is absolutely awesome, I cannot thank the guys and girls in the team enough. We have enjoyed an amazing run of success since 1999 and I'm so very proud of all those that have made it happen, the records we have achieved over the last 10 years are unlikely to be matched. Therefore, GSE Racing will be known as the most successful British racing team for many years to come.

"The only question is, will we be in a position to break records in 2010 and beyond? Thank you."


British Superbikes - Croft Race One Result

Pos - Rider - Bike - Team - Time

1 - Stuart Easton - Honda - Hydrex Honda - 27:06.092

2 - James Ellison - Yamaha - Airwaves Yamaha - 27:06.451

3 - Josh Brookes - Honda - HM Plant Honda - 27:16.308

4 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda - HM Plant Honda - 27:17.059

5 - Ian Lowry - Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS - 27:25.704

6 - Leon Camier - Yamaha - Airwaves Yamaha - 27:27.528

7 - Tommy Hill - Honda - Hydrex Honda - 27:28.472

8 - Gary Mason - Honda - Quay Garage - 27:31.868

9 - Julien Da Costa - Kawasaki - MSS Colchester Kawasaki - 27:37.328

10 - Graeme Gowland - Yamaha - Motorpoint / Henderson Yamaha - 27:37.842

11 - Peter Hickman - Yamaha - Ultimate Racing - 27:38.086

12 - Tommy Bridewell - Suzuki - Team NB - 27:38.126

13 - John Laverty - Kawasaki - Buildbase Kawasaki - 27:39.646

14 - Karl Harris - Yamaha - Node 4 Yamaha - 27:50.252

15 - Howie Mainwaring - Yamaha - Team Maxxis - 27:54.019

16 - Tom Tunstall - Honda - Hardinge Doodson Motorsport - 27:55.538

17 - Martin Jessopp - Honda - Riders Racing - 28:03.338

18 - Atsushi Watanabe - Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS - 28:18.349

Not Classified

DNF - Sylvain Guintoli - Suzuki - Worx Crescent Suzuki - 23:30.205

DNF - Chris Walker - Yamaha - Motorpoint / Henderson Yamaha - 21:58.374

DNF - Simon Andrews - Kawasaki - MSS Colchester Kawasaki - 20:24.926

DNF - Tristan Palmer - Kawasaki - Buildbase Kawasaki - 4:17.105

British Superbikes - Croft Race Two Result
Pos - Rider - Bike - Team - Time

1 - Leon Camier - Yamaha - Airwaves Yamaha - 26:5.535

2 - Stuart Easton - Honda - Hydrex Honda - 27:06.323

3 - Josh Brookes - Honda - HM Plant Honda - 27:08.871

4 - James Ellison - Yamaha - Airwaves Yamaha - 27:09.505

5 - Simon Andrews - Kawasaki - MSS Colchester Kawasaki - 27:14.972

6 - Tommy Hill - Honda - Hydrex Honda - 27:15.124

7 - Ian Lowry - Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS - 27:15.578

8 - Gary Mason - Honda - Quay Garage - 27:22.866

9 - Julien Da Costa - Kawasaki - MSS Colchester Kawasaki - 27:24.968

10 - John Laverty - Kawasaki - Buildbase Kawasaki - 27:26.114

11 - Chris Walker - Yamaha - Motorpoint / Henderson Yamaha - 27:26.510

12 - Graeme Gowland - Yamaha - Motorpoint / Henderson Yamaha - 27:26.776

13 - Sylvain Guintoli - Suzuki - Worx Crescent Suzuki - 27:27.004

14 - Tommy Bridewell - Suzuki - Team NB - 27:29.119

15 - Peter Hickman - Yamaha - Ultimate Racing - 27:34.711

16 - Karl Harris - Yamaha - Node 4 Yamaha - 27:36.872

17 - Howie Mainwaring - Yamaha - Team Maxxis - 27:40.812

18 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda - HM Plant Honda - 27:47.847

19 - Tom Tunstall - Honda - Hardinge Doodson Motorsport - 27:52.291

20 - Martin Jessopp - Honda - Riders Racing - 27:52.498

21 - Atsushi Watanabe - Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS - 27:58.488

Not Classified

DNF - Tristan Palmer - Kawasaki - Buildbase Kawasaki - 11:44.384

Championship Points

; Gary Mason crowned Mirror.co.uk Cup Champion

1 - Leon Camier (Yamaha) - 434.5

2 - James Ellison (Yamaha) - 335

3 - Stuart Easton (Honda) - 303

4 - Ian Lowry (Suzuki) - 134

5 - Josh Brookes (Honda) - 131

6 - Simon Andrews (Kawasaki) - 130.5

7 - Julien Da Costa (Kawasaki) - 128

8 - Karl Harris (Yamaha) - 122.5

9 - Chris Walker (Yamaha) - 118

10 - Gary Mason (Honda) ; - 110

11 - John Laverty (Kawasaki) - 104.5

12 - Glen Richards (Honda) - 103

13 - Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki) - 97

14 - Graeme Gowland (Yamaha) - 90.5

15 - Michael Rutter (Various) - 65

16 - Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) - 60

17 - Tommy Hill (Honda) - 56

18 - Jason O'Halloran (Honda) - 54

19 - Karl Muggeridge (Honda) - 44



Report Shelley McGrath
Pix Eric O'Brien