Mondello got BSB action, say John Wheeler and Adrian Small
Britain has a long and distinguished history in motorcycling both in producing some of the best race bikes and riders.Today, the British Superbike Championship, which although a domestic championship, is now recognised as an important international event in the motorcycle racing calendar.
To the delight of the many legions of BSB fans in Ireland and Britain, round eight of the championship was held at Mondello International Racing circuit in Co Kildare over the weekend. This three-day event is unprecedented in Mondello's history, and has been in planning for over a year. More than 23,000 people attended the event over the weekend, with 19,000 on race day alone.
In recent years, Mondello has undergoing some much needed renovating and rebuilding and it is now a very impressive circuit. The Irish organisers have secured a three-year contract for British Superbikes for '03 to '05, and have been working hard to get the circuit inspected and approved for safety by the BSB championship organisers.
The main teams involved need huge financial backing; many of the motorcycles have factory-supplied engines and parts which need constant updating and replacement requiring full-time mechanics and support staff as well as riders to push the bikes to their limits. As Mondello has never been raced by any of the championship teams involved, setting up the bikes for this circuit is an unknown quantity.
On Friday the gates were opened to the public to watch the first practice/testing session at which over 500 people had bought tickets. Saturday was qualifying day for all, including some Irish races also being held on race day.Many Irish wild card riders entered into the main BSB event and did themselves proud on the day against the factory bikes of the main teams.
We managed to speak to the championship leader Shane "Shakey" Byrne who rides for the Monster Mob Ducati team about his hopes for the weekend and thoughts on Mondello as a race circuit.
Having been here since last Monday he'd had time to study the circuit and said he'd been surprised by the fact that it was much tighter than expected on walking around.
He said that the organisers had done a good job in making the circuit as safe as possible for the riders. Being over 144 points clear of his nearest competitor before this weekend's races, he felt the most important thing was to maintain the lead with only five rounds left.
In the dying seconds of the qualifying session on Saturday he took pole position for both races on Sunday.
Overall the event has been a success for everyone involved. The fans and teams alike complimented the organisers and Mondello on such an entertaining and exciting three days.
On Sunday the results for round eight at Mondello were, in race one, 1st: John Reynolds (Suzuki);2nd: Sean Emmett (Ducati); 3rd: Yukio Kagayama with Shane Byrne in a disappointing ninth place. In race two, 1st: John Reynolds (Suzuki); 2nd: Shane Byrne (Ducati); Glenn Richards(Kawasaki).
In the championship the results after round eight are 1st: Shane Byrne (Ducati) 352 points; 2nd:John Reynolds (Suzuki) 217 points; 3rd: Michael Rutter (Ducati) 203 points; 4th: Glenn Richards (Kawasaki) 170 points and 5th: Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 169 points