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Sylvain Guintoli said that his first BSB win of the season “means a lot”, having narrowly missed out on tasting the champagne in race one. He took his first win and the Bennett’s Suzuki Team’s first win of the season – Suzuki’s first in British Superbikes since Josh Waters in 2014.

“It means a lot, this first victory. I felt good right away this weekend. We’ve improved the bike a lot in recent rounds and also in the wet too, which is somewhere we’ve struggled before”, began former World Superbike champ Guintoli, joining a list of a select few that have won both BSB and WSBK races.

‘Guinters’ at one stage in the 2nd race was lapping over a second quicker than leading duo Shane Byrne and James Ellison, who escaped early on. It is the new Suzuki’s first win in a Superbike class on Pirelli tyres too.

“In the dry, we’ve really improved. We worked step-by-step. We’re also running a different swingarm now and we were able to have two good races. I enjoyed them both a lot. There was lots of fighting and people diving underneath each other; I’d never seen some of the types of passing we saw today”, stated a remarkable Sylvain, who demonstrated throughout the weekend that he and his Suzuki are coming on leaps and bounds.

A frantic battle that at one point saw four of the five leading riders go side-by-side, working in the Frenchman’s favour. He was able to lead and break away from his pursuers, building up a gap of over a second entering the last lap.

Assen is a place that already held special memories for Sylvain. He took his first – and so far only – Grand Prix podium there in 2003 in a wet 250cc race, which was won by Anthony West. He also took his first ever World Superbike victory at the track too, in 2012, riding a privateer Ducati.

“It was all safe and a lot of fun. We were unlucky to miss the podium in race one but in race two I felt really strong. I took it easy at the start, just to try and save a bit of tyre but then we were able to attack and get the win. We knew we had to develop the bike this year but sometimes people want things right away. It wasn’t going to happen in a championship this competitive but we’re making steps and this shows that the bike is improving”, concluded Guintoli, who has silenced his critics with a masterclass of tactical racing in the 2nd outing today.

Guintoli is now 13th in the championship, equal on points with John Hopkins on 122 points and just four points back from top Suzuki rider, Bradley Ray. Sylvain is 25 points behind a top 10 place, currently occupied by Dan Linfoot, on a 147 points.

Image by: Suzuki Racing

Sylvain Guintoli became the 10th winner of the 2017 British Superbike championship, seeing off challenges from Brookes, Haslam, Ellison and Byrne to take the new Suzuki to it’s first race win in the United Kingdom in Superbike spec.

Despite a good start, Byrne was 2nd going into turn one, with James Ellison taking the lead momentarily. Byrne fought back into turn two and held the lead for several laps. In 3rd, Leon Haslam was ahead of Guintoli and Brookes, whilst Jake Dixon was up to 6th with Peter Hickman in behind.

Byrne and Ellison soon pulled away and at one stage, it looked like it was going to be a head-to-head dual between the two veterans of BSB. Both riders were in the 1 minute 36 second bracket, whilst the chasing trio of Haslam, Brookes and Guintoli were in 1 minute 37 second times.

Guintoli broke free from Haslam and Brookes and rapidly set off after the leading duo out front. In the process, he set a lap time that was fractionally outside of Byrne’s best lap, even though it was a over a second quicker than the leaders on that particular circulation. Guintoli looked like his old self as he ghosted up to the rear wheel of ‘Shakey’ and Ellison. The three passed each other several times, slowing the pace.

However, whilst the leading three battled, it allowed Haslam and Brookes to also close back in and soon, we had a 10-wheeler. Out of the leading five, it looked like Australian Brookes was struggling more than others, just a few bike lengths more off the back of the group. However, it was all set to change.

A bad chicane exit from the-now leader Guintoli gave Haslam, Byrne and Ellison a chance down into the first turn. Four abreast, Haslam and Byrne messed turn one up completely and ran well off track, gifting the lead back to Ellison and Guintoli – who both did well to avoid a sideways ‘Pocket Rocket’. Josh Brookes was now third.

Just two laps from the end, James Ellison had a moment whilst in 2nd place. His McAMS Yamaha sat up at the Struben hairpin, hindering those behind him and allowing Sylvain Guintoli to race away. Ellison held off a challenge from Haslam, making it more and more difficult to imagine anyone else but Guintoli taking a 25-point haulage for the first time this season.

Guintoli had broken clear and had over a second advantage onto the last lap. Into Ruskenhoek, Brookes put a show-stopping move on Haslam – a vital pass in the championship which meant Josh closes in on the ex WSBK race winner. Ellison and Byrne were out of the competition, just too far away from realistically launching any pass on those ahead.

Sylvain Guintoli kept a cool head and rode a faultless final lap, taking the new Suzuki to it’s first ever race win in the UK in a Superbike race. Brookes held off Haslam, both finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. James Ellison finished 4th, whilst a disconsolate Shane Byrne could only manage 5th, despite starting from pole and setting the fastest lap of the race. Hickman, Dixon, Iddon, Linfoot and Ray completed the top 10.

Haslam maintains his lead in the title, with a 32-point advantage over Josh Brookes, with Shane Byrne a further point back of his rivals. Overall, Leon Haslam made up 10 points on both Josh Brookes and Shane Byrne, meaning he can now finish 3rd in every race at Brands Hatch to become champion. Jake Dixon is next up, 54 points behind Haslam – meaning he must beat Haslam by 4 points in race one at Brands Hatch to stand any mathematical chance of title success. Peter Hickman is 5th and 63 points back, meaning he needs 13 points more than Haslam to keep his title hopes alive. 6th is Jason O’Halloran, who can’t now mathematically win the championship, being 86 points adrift.

The race did not consist of Danny Buchan, who wasn’t entered into the race after a race one tumble.

Image by: Suzuki GB

Leon Haslam took a thrilling British Superbike race victory in the first outing at Assen. The ‘Pocket Rocket’ saw off a challenge from Shane Byrne, James Ellison, Sylvain Guintoli, Josh Brookes and youngster Bradley Ray to extend his lead at the top of the championship table to 28 points.

Off the line, it was initially pole-sitter James Ellison who got the jump. Ellison pushed hard early on, using the harder SC1 compound tyre to his advantage. The McAMS Yamaha rider was quickly caught by the chasing pack, which at the time consisted of Haslam, Dan Linfoot, Bradley Ray, Christian Iddon, Sylvain Guintoli and John Hopkins.

During the race however, the cream came to the top as Shane Byrne and Josh Brookes charged through the field from 16th and 11th respectively. Whilst ‘Shakey’ caught the leaders fairly swiftly, Brookes wasn’t able to make an immediate impression, as he sat around 1.5s off the pace. Bradley Ray drifted off the leaders and was being caught by Anvil Yamaha’s Josh Brookes.

The gap between Brookes and Ray and the leaders began to shrink however, as the battling quartet out front tripped over each other. Haslam and Ellison swapped positions for the lead, allowing Guintoli to take advantage, whilst Byrne sat in 4th. Guintoli tried a move at the final chicane, running in deep before blocking off the three riders behind him. As they went four abreast down the straight, Byrne was a big beneficiary and moved to 2nd.

However, it was Josh Brookes and Bradley Ray who took the most advantage of the squabbling and closed right up to the rear of the leaders. Soon, it went from an eight-wheeler to a twelve-wheeler, as Bradley Ray had also latched onto the rear of the five ahead of him.

With just a handful of laps to go, Haslam hit the front and stayed there until the end, taking his third consecutive win – both in 2017 and at Assen, having done the double at the circuit in 2016. Shane Byrne took advantage of a hectic final lap to pip James Ellison to 2nd. Ellison himself beat Sylvain Guintoli on a mad dash to the line, with Brookes and Ray coming home 5th and 6th. Jake Dixon was 7th ahead of Peter Hickman – who came from 19th on the grid on his Smith’s BMW. American John Hopkins was 9th ahead of Jason O’Halloran in 10th. O’Halloran remains sixth in the championship, a colossal 73 points back of Haslam, making it virtually impossible to take the championship title now.

Just one second covered 2nd to 6th, whilst under three seconds covered the whole top six. Haslam did however beat Byrne by nearly two seconds, although ‘Shakey’ starts race two on pole.

Out of the National Superstock 1000 wildcard riders, Richard Cooper was 13th, with Josh Elliott in 19th. FS3 Kawasaki’s replacement rider, National Superstock 1000 series leader Danny Buchan, crashed out at turn three, with 11 laps to go.

Image by: Peter Backhurst

Back at Oulton Park, I caught up with FS-3 Quattro Plant Kawasaki team owner, Nigel Snook. Snook, who has a previous career in business, understands what it takes to become successful and he hopes to translate that to BSB. In this exclusive interview, Snook talks about his BSB life so far, his 2018 plans and his thoughts on National Superstock 1000 rider, James Rispoli.

How have you found your British Superbike experience so far?

I think it’s been what you might call a ‘difficult second season’. We had a charmed start in 2016, as we bought the ex PBM/Shane Byrne Kawasaki that ‘Shakey’ had finished second on in 2015, so we had ready-to-go bikes. We had five guys who had a wealth of experience between them, a couple of vans and we basically got on with it from there. Our rider, Billy McConnell, had a few decent results, including a fourth place at Snetterton. Overall, we probably exceed ours and other peoples’ expectations.

Over the winter, we upgraded the bikes to the 2017/18 spec ZX-10RR with a lot of support from Kawasaki. We had engine work done by Frank Wrathall Developments, who used to work on the Paul Bird Kawasakis and we continued to use the special swinging arm and low, centre of gravity fuel tank that PBM had developed.

The engine in the bike is now a monster and our data engineer spends most of his time turning it down. That has been quite a challenge for Billy to master; he is a really good 600cc Supersport rider but unfortunately, he has had a few prangs. This culminated in him having a major off at Thruxton, which caused him and the bike a lot of damage. As a result, Luke Stapleford deputised for Billy at Silverstone and although he didn’t race he was able to confirm to the team that we have got a very good bike. A number of riders have been in touch with us about riding the bike for next season and Kawasaki are very willing to support us.

As much as it’s been difficult, you guys have made some progress though, haven’t you?

We have made progress. We have bought a transporter, the hospitality unit that we are standing in right now and of course, the new bikes so we have made a big investment – in staff, facilities, branding, image and so on. Now what we need to do is pop the cherry on the top and – without being disrespectful to Billy or James Rispoli, our Superstock 1000 rider, – we need to take it to the next level for next season. Watch this space in 2018!

Are you therefore looking at a Showdown position for next season?

That would be very nice, however, we need to remain realistic. We need to be regularly getting into Superpole, troubling the top six and showing consistency. There are riders who have been both race winners and crashers this season who were only confirmed in the Showdown at the previous meeting at Silverstone. What we really need is a positive, professional building season in 2018 where we can establish ourselves as serious contenders.

On the topic of rider selection, who is in the running for 2018?

Well, we can’t name names but there are plenty of people that have started saying hello to me! The rumour machine is well and truly flat out too. We have a close relationship with Kawasaki and they have riders who they have supported for many seasons too. So you won’t be surprised to hear that Kawasaki are suggesting names. Stuart Higgs also likes to suggest names. However, they are all spending my money so at the end of the day, I’ll decide who it is! Hopefully, on the other side of Assen, things will become clearer.

There is one rumour doing the rounds about Danny Buchan riding for you next season. Is there any truth to that?

You’re quite right – that is a rumour that has been floating around and quite honestly, I can see where that rumour would come from. Kawasaki have supported Danny for many years and he has been with them for a long time. In 2015, he had a go on the BeWiser Kawasaki and whilst he had a few crashes – which some people seem to remember more than his results, including podiums. Sadly, that team folded and he then had a ride on the MotoRapido Ducati which is night and day different from a Kawasaki and it didn’t quite work out.

For this season, he has come back to the National Superstock 1000 championship and whilst he is not quite storming it, he has been very successful. He and Richard Cooper are having a real dual. Obviously, Kawasaki are keen to see him win the championship and see him promoted to a Superbike. The Superstock series has been significantly upgraded this season as we know, with extra races and longer races. Therefore, with the investment in the championship, the organisers would clearly want the winner to graduate.

Have you enjoyed your British Superbike experience thus far?

Most days I do enjoy it! Some other days, I have to take myself for a long walk around the paddock – especially when I have to contemplate repair bills. However, having said that, there is as much regret at the missed opportunities as there is contemplation of the repair bill.

How would you sum up James Rispoli, your National Superstock 1000 rider?

James is another classic 600cc rider; he won both his titles in The States on a 600cc bike and had success at Team Traction Control too. Riding style has to be adapted for a big bike. James is very hard on the brakes into corners and comes out of the corners very hard on the power too. On a Supersport bike, you’re used to coming out of a corner and thinking, ‘well where is the power’ but on a 1000cc Superstock bike it will just chuck you off.

James is very talented, he’s very brave and just needs to refine his riding style so he can go to the next level on the big bikes. I think that, quite truthfully, we are a bit disappointed for James; we thought that maybe he would be able to make more of an impression towards the front but boy, that class is a tough one! James is a very good ambassador for the team but as you know, it is a results game and so far he’s only managed a couple of fifth places.

Explain your role within the CoolFab Minibike championship.

It was a coincidence really. My professional life has involved me in leading significant organisations in the area of vocational education and training, so I’ve always been involved with skills development. So I suppose I’ve got a built-in interest to see people get on.

Crispin Vittoria came up to me at the MCN Live show in London and introduced himself. He mentioned he was buying the old Bournemouth Kawasaki hospitality unit and then asked me if I would be interested in using it for BSB rounds. To cut a long story short, his sponsor dropped out and I stepped in to buy it, on the condition that Crispin would run it for me at BSB rounds. In return, that meant he could have it for free at Cool Fab rounds. It was more a marriage of convenience than a business deal – the team got to support Cool Fab and we had the benefit of having our own hospitality facility at BSB rounds.

I turned up to the first Cool Fab round at Llandow and was so taken by the talent on display. I met Alan and Adam Cook, the father of James and Max and could see there were some really talented lads there. Adam has been running the hospitality unit so I got to know him well and have followed Max’s progress in the Moto3 championship and was delighted when he won the championship ay Oulton Park. The Quattro Plant FS-3 team has been giving Max some support so we were delighted when he was also selected for the The British Talent Cup selection day at Silverstone has been one of the highlights of my year – a great day.

Max is just one example but what’s not to like about youngsters enjoying themselves and pursuing their dreams? Even if they don’t make it big, the skills and the disciplines are transferable to all walks of life. I will enjoy watching Cool Fab go from strength to strength.

Image by: Peter Backhurst