Formula 1

Formula 1 Italian GP Wrap Up

The beautiful and picturesque Monza circuit is home to the fastest grand prix on the Formula 1 calendar and has been the site of the two fastest F1 races of all time. With Honda F1's aerodynamic troubles Monza could have proved to be quite problematic, but things turned out reasonably well, with Jenson Button making it to the final qualifying session.

When the flag dropped it was once again time to do battle with the other mid-pack runners and Button was up for the fight. Button ran as high as 7th, and battled with Nico Rosberg's Williams Toyota for quite a long time before he finally had to surrender his position. He would bring the car home in 8th position to score Honda F1's second point of the season.

Button reckoned that better front wing performance could have allowed to do even better in the race:

"It was nice to get a point today but it was a frustrating race for me as I had so much understeer on the first stint," said the Briton.

"We run such low front wing around this circuit that it is very easy to lock the front tyres, particularly at Parabolica, and I flat-spotted the front right which meant I was losing grip through every right-hand corner.

All of the Hondas opted for a one-stop strategy which ended up paying dividends after a safety car period. The full course yellow was caused when David Coulthard's Red Bull RB3 took a fairly rapid exit off the racing surface at Curva Grande and into a tire wall.

Scoring another point at Monza was a small step forward for HF1 that was helped by a bit of luck but there's still clearly a long way to go.

Monza GP Results

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes 53 laps 1:18:37.806
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes +6.1
3. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro-Ferrari +27.3
4. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team-BMW +56.6
5. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber F1 Team-BMW +60.6
6. Nico Rosberg Germany AT&T Williams-Toyota +65.8
7. Heikki Kovalainen Finland ING Renault F1 Team-Renault +66.8
8. Jenson Button Britain Honda Racing F1 Team-Honda +72.2
9. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull Racing-Renault +75.9
10. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda Racing F1 Team-Honda +76.9
11. Jarno Trulli Italy Panasonic Toyota Racing-Toyota +77.7
12. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy ING Renault F1 Team-Renault +1 lap
13. Alexander Wurz Austria AT&T Williams-Toyota +1 lap
14. Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri F1 Team-Honda +1 lap
15. Ralf Schumacher Germany Panasonic Toyota Racing-Toyota +1 lap
16. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team-Honda +1 lap
17. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
18. Sebastian Vettel Germany Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
19. Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker F1 Team-Ferrari +1 lap
20. Sakon Yamamoto Japan Spyker F1 Team-Ferrari +1 lap

Formula 1 Belgian GP Wrap Up

At Spa-Francorchamps Honda decided to roll the dice again on a one-stop strategy but a points finish was not in the cards. Expectations were fairly low from the onset since the team was not able to realize a particularly fast pace in their pre-Spa test. As expected, their performance took a dip from the relatively positive result at Monza.

Spyker once again embarrassed the factory team a little bit but this time Adrian Sutil hustled his new B-Spec Spyker past many in the mid pack on pure pace. He had even gotten past all four Honda cars in one of the best results for the formerly known as Midland, formerly known as Jordan team since...they were known as Jordan.

Takuma Sato in his SA07, always the cheeky opportunist, was able to overtake Button on track before Button's car finally succumbed to mechanical problems. After the race Button said:

"It's always disappointing to retire from a race but it was six laps less pain as the car was so difficult to drive. We expected a tough race this weekend, having tested the revised circuit back in July, so it was no surprise that the car has not been working well here."

Rubens Barrichello's race was no less frustrating:

"This has been a pretty frustrating weekend for us because we have been struggling with the car from start to finish. Today, carrying that amount of fuel for a one-stop strategy, the rears were locking badly and I was fighting the car the whole race."

Belgium GP Results

1. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro-Ferrari 44 laps 1:20:39.066
2. Felipe Massa Brazil Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro-Ferrari +4.6
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes +14.3
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Mercedes +23.6
5. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team-BMW +51.9
6. Nico Rosberg Germany AT&T Williams-Toyota +76.9
7. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull Racing-Renault +80.7
8. Heikki Kovalainen Finland ING Renault F1 Team-Renault +85.2
9. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber F1 Team-BMW +85.7
10. Ralf Schumacher Germany Panasonic Toyota Racing-Toyota +88.5
11. Jarno Trulli Italy Panasonic Toyota Racing-Toyota +1:45.0
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
13. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda Racing F1 Team-Honda +1 lap
14. Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker F1 Team-Ferrari +1 lap
15. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team-Honda +1 lap
16. Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri F1 Team-Honda +1 lap
17. Sakon Yamamoto Japan Spyker F1 Team-Ferrari +1 lap

Moto GP

Misano GP Wrap Up

The Misano GP ended before it started for Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden as Dani Pedrosa was knocked off in the first corner by Randy DePuniet who was busy crashing out of his 6th grand prix of the season. DePuniet's crash collected Dani and forced Nicky to ride off track to avoid running over one of them. Pedrosa was not able to continue. Hayden was able to get back on track but his tire had been damaged in the gravel excursion and he could only manage to claw his way back up to 13th place.

Suffice it to say, crashing into your new employer's two top riders is not a good way to make first impressions. DePuniet actually leads the championship in crashes with 16 (in practice, qualifying, and races).

Misano Moto GP Results

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 44min 34.720 secs
2. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 44min 39.571 secs
3. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 44min 50.722 secs
4. Marco Melandri ITA Honda Gresini (B) 44min 57.457 secs
5. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 44min 59.507 secs
6. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR (M) 45min 9.706 secs
7. Toni Elias SPA Honda Gresini (B) 45min 15.616 secs
8. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 45min 16.494 secs
9. Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 45min 21.866 secs
10. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda (M) 45min 23.528 secs
11. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP (B) 45min 24.019 secs
12. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha (D) 45min 43.896 secs
13. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 45min 55.144 secs
14. Makoto Tamada JPN Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha (D) 46min 8.943 secs
15 Kurtis Roberts USA Team Roberts (M) 45min 14.795 secs

Misano 250GP

The 250 race at Misano was a homecoming for Kopron Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, who was born less than an hour from the track. He had a lot of fans show up to show their support and he didn't disappoint, starting the race from pole position and taking an early lead over championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. In the later stages of the race Lorenzo put on the pressure but Dovi did not fold. Lorenzo would use the superior straight-line speed of his Aprilia to pass on the straight while Dovi would use the nimble handling of his Honda to slice back by in the corners.

But tragedy struck as Dovizioso's engine seized and caused him to retire from the race. A bitter pill to swallow and a massive disappointment on home turf. Not unlike Nicky Hayden's ill-fated home race at Laguna Seca, but at least Dovi got to lead most of the race in front of his home crowd.

Misano 250GP Results (Top 10)

1. Jorge Lorenzo Fortuna Aprilia
2. Hiroshi Aoyama Red Bull KTM +3.578secs
3. Hector Barbera Team Toth Aprilia +7.041secs
4. Thomas Luthi Emmi Caffe Latte Aprilia +7.213secs
5. Alex de Angelis Master MVA Aspar Team Aprilia +7.664secs
6. Shuhei Aoyama Repsol Honda +36.234secs
7. Roberto Locatelli Squadra Corse Metis Gilera +36.918secs
8. Alvaro Bautista Master MVA Aspar Team Aprilia +36.936secs
9. Yuki Takahashi Kopron Scot Honda +37.142secs
10. Julian Simon Repsol Honda

Estoril GP

The Estoril circuit was the scene of one of the most infamous friendly fire incidents in history when Dani Pedrosa crashed into Nicky Hayden, taking both men out of the race, breaking Nicky's shoulder blade, and ceding the championship lead to Valentino Rossi. Nicky would recover from the incident to win the championship but understandably both men were looking to avenge that ugly weekend.

Qualifying went a long way towards to erasing Hayden's bad memories as he took his first pole of the season. It was a welcome gift considering that Nicky's race pace was not looking so good through the three free practices.

But when the green flag dropped Nicky dropped back a few spots and it was Dani Pedrosa who flew the Honda banner. Dani clawed his way from 5th on the grid all the way to lead

In the closing laps Pedrosa and Rossi traded places a few times but once Rossi settled down to just follow him for the final 2 laps it was apparent what the Italian's plan was. True to form, he slipped by Pedrosa on the last lap and pushed as hard as he could to eke out just enough of a gap for victory.

Although he didn't win, Dani drew some positives from the race.

"I'm happy to be fighting for win and the pace we could run today was very quick. We were lapping very fast right until the end and this is good progress for us because there have been races where this was not possible."

Nicky was also positive about the results, having set the fast lap of the race while trying to recover from his poor start.

"There are a lot of positives from this weekend and pole position was one of them, though certainly fourth wasn't quite the result we hoped for. We knew it was going to be tough today and the first lap wasn't so kind to me - but actually I was just happy to get through the first lap after what happened at the last race..."

"This was my first pole position of the year and I had the fastest lap of the race which is definitely positive. We're way better off than we were a few months ago so things feel like they're back on track and I'm enjoying riding the bike again. So, we'll go to Motegi and try to keep it rolling. We've got four more cracks at it!"

Estoril Moto GP Results

1 Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 45min 49.911 secs
2 Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 45min 50.086 secs
3 Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 45min 51.388 secs
4 Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 46min 2.862 secs
5 Marco Melandri ITA Honda Gresini (B) 46min 7.254 secs
6 John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 46min 8.768 secs
7 Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR (M) 46min 21.435 secs
8 Toni Elias SPA Honda Gresini (B) 46min 30.446 secs
9 Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 46min 33.018 secs
10 Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 46min 34.585 secs
11 Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda (M) 46min 35.314 secs
12 Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 46min 44.473 secs
13 Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 46min 49.913 secs
14 Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha (D) 46min 57.523 secs

250GP at Portugal

Andrea Dovizioso followed up his strong performance at Misano with a pole position at Estoril, a race that he won last season. Dovi launched off the start and took the lead with points leader Jorge Lorenzo in hot pursuit. For awhile it looked as if Lorenzo was just cruising so that he could pass Dovizioso later in the race but as things progressed it became apparent that Lorenzo did not have the pace to hang with Dovizioso.

Unfortunately, from 12th place, Aspar Aprilia rookie Alvaro Bautista put in an awe-inspiring charge to the front of the pack and eventually overhauled Dovizioso for a commanding victory. A somewhat dejected Dovizioso said in the press conference:

"Today I really believed in the victory, we had a perfect weekend, a perfect lap time. Bautista was too fast at the end of the race, it was impossible for us to go and catch him. The problem is always the same: we're able to be as fast as the Aprilia riders as long as we can use tyres at 100% of their performance in the middle of the corner, but when they go down and the grip lowers, we have to open the gas in early to remain at their level, while they can wait more and use less tyre. Now we still have four races, we just have to think of winning and recover as many points as possible. We always give our best, we must be happy with that."

Andrea is almost certain to join the Konica Minolta Honda squad in Moto GP next season. An official announcement is forthcoming.

Estoril 250GP Results (Top 10)

1. Alvaro Bautista Master MVA Aspar Team Aprilia
2. Andrea Dovizioso Kopron Scot Honda +4.367secs
3. Jorge Lorenzo Fortuna Aprilia +6.148secs
4. Thomas Luthi Emmi Caffe Latte Aprilia +12.685secs
5. Hector Barbera Team Toth Aprilia +13.411secs
6. Alex de Angelis Master MVA Aspar Team Aprilia +13.440secs
7. Marco Simoncelli Squadra Corse Metis Gilera +13.322secs
8. Julian Simon Repsol Honda +13.634secs
9. Fabrizio Lai Campetella Racing Aprilia +1min 12.253secs
10. Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Aprilia +1min 12.319secs

Honda's 2008 Moto GP Lineup All but Settled

Dani Pedrosa has finally re-signed with Repsol Honda for another two years after a prolonged hold out. By all accounts Dani was trying to force HRC to switch to Bridgestone tires for 2008 but Bridgestone has refused an approach from HRC to supply 2 more of their bikes. At the moment it seems like Repsol Honda will continue with Michelin for 2008

For Gresini Honda, 250 cc GP runner Alex DeAngelis will be joining the team for 2008 in a one-year deal with one option year. DeAngelis is currently third in the 250GP championship (he finished 3rd in 2006 as well).

The other all but certain signing for Gresini is Shinya Nakano, who is currently on the one-man Konica Minolta team. While this is somewhat of a lateral move for the Japanese rider the critical part of the deal is that he will be allowed to move back to the Bridgestone tires that he achieved his strong results with when he was riding for Kawasaki.

Now the only Honda team whose lineup is still unclear is Team KR. At this time it is not even certain that they will continue with Honda power next season, or that they will even be in Moto GP next year.

The problem with their Honda engine supply at the moment is that HRC is stretched fairly thin with supplying 7 riders (6 leased bikes and Team KR's engine supply) and they simply cannot provide Team KR with enough engines for them to expand to a 2-rider team. For this reason Team KR has purportedly approached other manufacturers about getting engines for two bikes. However, Team KR's other pressing problem is finding enough sponsorship to contest the full season next year. Even if Team KR no longer uses Honda power next year let's hope they can still make it onto the grid in 2008.

World Superbike

Lausitzring Wrap Up

The order of the day was damage control for King James as an error in tire choice left Toseland a sitting duck in race 1 as all manner of riders that he normally never sees in a race came for his scalp. Troy Bayliss of Ducati suffered a similar fate but his tire didn't fall off until the last few laps so he was able to finish fourth. Toseland finished 9th, which was his worst result of the year short of a DNF.

Race 2 went better for Toseland but he wasn't quite able to battle for the lead so he took home considerably more points than race 1 by taking a 4th place finish.

There are only 2 rounds left in the championship and James retains a 41 point lead over nearest rival Noriyuki Haga. As long as he doesn't have any more really bad days at the office like race 1 at Lausitzring this title should be in the bag.

Lausitzring Race 1 Results

1 Noriyuki Haga JPN Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 40mins 02.923 secs 2 Max Biaggi ITA Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSXR1000 K7 +11.007 secs 3 Troy Corser AUS Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 +11.628 secs 4 Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati Xerox 999F07 +22.156 secs 5 Roberto Rolfo ITA Ten Kate Honda CBR 1000RR +26.082 secs 6 Regis Laconi FRA PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX10R +26.381 secs 7 Fonsi Nieto ESP PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX10R +36.870 secs 8 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA Ducati Xerox 999F07 +43.465 secs 9 James Toseland GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR 1000RR +44.258 secs 10 Karl Muggeridge AUS Alto Evolution Honda CBR 1000RR +45.233 secs 11 Shinichi Nakatomi JPN Yamaha Motor France-Ipone YZF R1 +52.553 secs 12 Ruben Xaus ESP GMB Racing Ducati 999F06 +1min 01.959 secs 13 Jakub Smrz CZE Team Caracchi Ducati SC 999 F05 +1min 17.989 secs 14 Steve Martin AUS Celani Team Suzuki GSXR1000 K7 +1min 19.224 secs

Lausitzring Race 2 Results

1 Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati Xerox 999F07 39mins 49.291 secs
2 Noriyuki Haga JPN Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 +1.353 secs
3 Max Biaggi ITA Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSXR1000 K7 +13.001 secs
4 James Toseland GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR 1000RR +14.641 secs
5 Troy Corser AUS Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 +15.210 secs
6 Ruben Xaus ESP GMB Racing Ducati 999F06 +25.830 secs
7 Roberto Rolfo ITA Ten Kate Honda CBR 1000RR +29.752 secs
8 Fonsi Nieto ESP PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX10R +29.947 secs
9 Max Neukirchner GER Suzuki Germany GSXR1000 K6 +30.552 secs
10 Karl Muggeridge AUS Alto Evolution Honda CBR 1000RR 33.815 secs
11 Regis Laconi FRA PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX10R +39.323 secs
12 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA Ducati Xerox 999F07 +42.5927 secs
13 Michel Fabrizio ITA DFX Treme Honda CBR 1000RR +50.755 secs
14 Steve Martin AUS Celani Team Suzuki GSXR1000 K7 +53.598 secs
15 Shinichi Nakatomi JPN Yamaha Motor France-Ipone YZF R1 +56.284 secs
16 Jakub Smrz CZE Team Caracchi Ducati SC 999 F05 +57.818 secs
17 Martin Bauer AUT Holzhauer Racing Promotion Honda CBR 1000RR +1min 18.407 secs
18 Yoann Tiberio FRA Alto Evolution Honda CBR 1000RR +1min 32.03 secs
19 Jirri Drazdak CZE Yamaha Jr. Pro SBK Racing +1min 36.702 secs

Johnny Rea, and Andrew Pitt to join Ten Kate

Jonathan Rea has signed with the Ten Kate Honda squad in a three year deal that will have him racing World Supersport in 2008, then World Superbike in 2009 and 2010. Rea is only 20 years old and there are few better organizations for a budding star in superbike racing than Ten Kate. Rea's teammate and defending BSB champ Ryuichi Kiyonari has not been confirmed with Ten Kate as of yet. Most believe it to be merely a formality but the very real possibility is that Kiyonari is being considered for a Moto GP seat. That however, seems to be a bit of a long shot.

Meanwhile, 2007 World Supersport champion Kenan Sofuoglu has been confirmed to be moving up to World Superbike with the Ten Kate outfit.

Australian racing veteran Andrew Pitt was also officially signed to the Ten Kate squad although it was not immediately announced whether he would be racing World Supersport or World Superbike. It seems most likely that he will be campaigning in Supersport.

Pitt's 2008 season has been a bit of roller coaster. He started out as a rider on the Ilmor team in Moto GP that ended up folding in short order due to a lack of funds. He then put in some outstanding performances for Ten Kate as a substitute rider for the injured Sebastien Charpentier. Pitt has also been doing tire testing for Yamaha and Michelin in Moto GP.

AMA Superbike

The AMA Superbike season has finally closed and after the smoke has cleared, Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki's factory teams have been thoroughly smoked by Yoshimura Suzuki. Ben Spies and Mat Mladin won every single race of the season, by margins that made the rest look like they were in a different race. The final round at Laguna Seca was no different, as Spies and Mladin cleared off to fight for the championship.

Jake Zemke was the lone American Honda in the race and was able to briefly scrap with Ben Spies in the opening laps but simply could not keep up with their pace. Later in the race he fought with Jordan Suzuki's Aaron Yates for the final spot on the podium but could not hold on to close the season with an appearance on the box.

Laguna Seca Superbike Results

1 Ben Spies Yoshimura Suzuki
2 Mathew Mladin Yoshimura Suzuki
3 Aaron Yates Jordan Suzuki
4 Jake Zemke American Honda
5 Eric Bostrom Yamaha
6 Tommy Hayden Yoshimura Suzuki
7 Jason Disalvo Yamaha
8 James Ellison Corona Extra Honda
9 Jake Holden Jordan Suzuki
10 Matt Lynn MV Agusta

Neil Hodgson to American Honda

As was rumored since Neil did a wildcard ride on an American Honda superbike at Laguna Seca, he has now been signed to the factory American Honda team for next season in a 2 year deal. Neil was a leading candidate for the Ten Kate Honda ride in World Superbike but apparently Ten Kate was dragging their feet about making an offer and Hodgson did not want to have a repeat of last year where he was the last man left standing in the game of motorcycle racing musical chairs. The former World Superbike and British Superbike champion said he was 'well chuffed' about the prospect of racing in the AMA championship again and is a welcome addition to the American Honda team.

Unfortunately Jake Zemke will not be continuing with the American Honda team in 2008. He's been on the team for 4 years now and has taken 5 wins and recorded a high finish in the championship of 3rd in 2004. Jake probably won't have too much trouble finding another ride and we wish him the best.

Formula Xtreme and Supersport

Josh Hayes won the Road Atlanta Formula Xtreme race with relative ease and closed up his back to back championship in Formula Xtreme. Josh really had no peer in the FX class this season, which was a deep contrast to the down to the wire fight he had with the Yamaha factory team last year.

Josh had a much tougher job of things in the Supersport. After a crash at Laguna Seca earlier this season which caused him to relinquish the Supersport title lead, Hayes had been on a tear in Supersport, taking several victories in a bid for a comeback.

Everything came down to the last race of the season at Laguna Seca. For Josh to win the championship he would have had to take pole position, get the extra point for leading the most laps, win the race, and have championship points leader finish the race in 4th or worse.

Right off the bat Hayes suffered a big setback after a big highside crash in the Formula Xtreme race broke both of his feet. His teammate Aaron Gobert would go on to take the win.

Undeterred, Josh came back from his FX crash and took pole position for the Supersport race. When the green flag dropped for the race Hayes didn't get the holeshot going into turn 1 and an intense dice for supremacy ensued.

Unfortunately in his push to get up front and lead the most laps Hayes crashed in the high speed turn 6 (the same place he crashed earlier this year) and got knocked out cold in his tumble in the gravel. The incident brought out a red flag and he was not seen moving for some time. Luckily he wasn't injured badly but he was not able to make the restart. A disappointing end to a valiant effort and a Rocky-esque against-the-odds comeback. Still, with his second FX championship Josh is now a 3 time AMA champion.

British Superbike

The last round of British Superbike visited what is one of the most famous (or infamous) race tracks in all of motorcycle racing; Cadwell Park. Cadwell Park is a fast, flowing, undulating circuit with a turn that is unique in all of motorcycle racing known as 'The Mountain'. It is a blind, right hand turn over a crest that the riders approach with enough speed that they get airborne in spectacular fashion. The Mountain has also been the site of many bad crashes, including a crash that broke the leg of World Superbike points leader James Toseland when he was racing in the British championship.

A Youtube Video of The Mountain

In race 1 Kiyonari played it cool, not running with the lead group for most of the race, until Leon Camier's pass attempt on Johnny Rea ended with both riders having a fall. Rea would remount and set the fastest lap of the race while trying to climb back up the order but crashed again, ending his race. Kiyonari ended up getting on the podium and further consolidated his championship lead.

In race 2 Johnny Rea avenged his race 1 difficulties as he controlled the race from the front. Several other riders were in hot pursuit of the remaining spots of the podium in the last laps of the race when all hell broke loose. After all was said and done HM Plant Honda ended up with a one-two, Leon Camier ended up with a broken femur, and Shakey Byrne narrowly avoided getting run over. Check out the video below.

mode=relatedsearch=">Youtube Video of Frenetic Fracas in Final Laps

Kiyonari is now another step closer to back to back titles with only 2 rounds (4 races) left to go. He retains a 41 point lead over his teammate and a whopping 75 point lead over Leon Haslam in third place.

BSB Cadwell Park Race 1 Results (Top 10)

1 Leon Haslam GBR Airwaves Ducati 26mins 21.047 secs
2 Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN HM Plant Honda Racing +2.233 secs
3 Tom Sykes GBR Stobart Honda +2.862 secs
4 Shane Byrne GBR Stobart Honda +13.872 secs
5 Cal Crutchlow GBR Rizla Suzuki +14.196 secs
6 Tommy Hill GBR Virgin Mobile Optoma Loans Yamaha +15.968 secs
7 Gregorio Lavilla ESP Airwaves Ducati +34.111 secs
8 Chris Walker GBR Rizla Suzuki +34.966 secs
9 James Haydon GBR Hawk Kawasaki +41.182 secs
10 Scott Smart GBR Hawk Kawasaki +41.406 secs

BSB Cadwell Park Race 2 Results (Top 10)

1 Jonathan Rea GBR HM Plant Honda Racing 27mins 0.039 secs
2 Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN HM Plant Honda Racing +1.085 secs
3 Gregorio Lavilla ESP Airwaves Ducati +1.208 secs
4 Cal Crutchlow GBR Rizla Suzuki +4.421 secs
5 Tom Sykes GBR Stobart Honda +6.681 secs
6 Chris Walker GBR Rizla Suzuki +11.459 secs
7 Tommy Hill GBR Virgin Mobile Optoma Loans Yamaha +13.608 secs
8 James Haydon GBR Hawk Kawasaki +16.250 secs
9 Steve Plater GBR AIM Yamaha +16.624 secs
10 Michael Rutter GBR MSS Discovery Kawasaki +19.127 secs

Soichiro's Heroes

Josh Hayes - Erion Honda

Hayes locked up back-to-back Formula Xtreme titles with ease and was within a shout of winning the AMA Supersport title too in the final round. Even after breaking both of his feet in a crash prior to Supersport qualifying he still came out and took pole position. He ended up crashing out of the race but it was still an incredible effort from the Mississippian.

He has not re-sign with the Erion Honda team next year, as he desperately desires to race in AMA Superbike in 2008. If he does move up to superbike on another team (Jordan Suzuki for instance) he will definitely be someone to watch.

Honda Racing on TV

All times are EST

Sunday September 23rd

4:00 pm KONI Challenge Series Salt Lake City (SPEED)
6:00 pm MotoGP World Championship Japan (SPEED)

Saturday September 28th

2:00 pm Formula One Practice Japanese Grand Prix (SPEED)
3:30 pm Formula One Qualifying Japanese Grand Prix (SPEED)

Sunday September 28th

12:00 am Formula One Japanese Grand Prix (SPEED)
3:30 pm FIM World Superbike Championship Italy - Race 1 (SPEED)
4:30 pm Formula One Japanese Grand Prix (SPEED)

Tuesday September 28th

2:00 pm FIM World Superbike Championship Italy - Race 1 (SPEED)
3:00 pm FIM World Superbike Championship Italy - Race 2 (SPEED)