Crutchlow trims Biaggi's lead

Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha) was the undisputed star of the Silverstone show as he added two race wins to his Superpole triumph on Saturday. 

He is also the new lap record holder, thanks to a 2'05.259 lap in race one. Max Biaggi (Alitalia Aprilia) lost a small amount of ground at the top of the championship, with his fifth and sixth places as Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki) scored a second and a fourth. 

Biaggi now has 373 points and Haslam 313, a difference of 60 with three rounds and six races left to run. The 65,000 weekend crowd saw Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Honda) take two strong second places, consolidating his third place overall in the series on 243 points. Leon Camier, Biaggi's team-mate was third in race two, his first podium since Salt Lake City in May. The all-British podium in race one was the first since Assen this year, and five British riders filled the top five places in race two, the first time this has happened for UK riders in WSBK history.

Fourth place rider in the standings, Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) was seventh and tenth on Sunday and is on 204 points, with Crutchlow moving up to fifth overall, on 188 points. James Toseland (Sterilgarda Yamaha) had to settle for eighth and fifth places, remaining sixth in the rankings, nine points behind Crutchlow. For some fancied runners race day was hard, with Troy Corser (BMW) dropping down the order to finish tenth in race one, then crashing after passing Biaggi early in race two.

Race 1

Cal Crutchlow took his first career WSBK race win in this 18-lap race, also giving his team its first win of the year. Cal eventually pushed away from early leader Jonathan Rea at lap record pace, setting his 2'05.259 best on lap 13. Third place rider was Leon Haslam, which made it a clean sweep of British riders on the podium at their home race. Michel Fabrizio (Xerox Ducati) was fourth, having qualified on the front row. Biaggi was sixth, and his team-mate Camier sixth.

Cal Crutchlow: "I think that one of the nicest things about the win is that we repaid Yamaha back for their efforts. It's not been easy on us, we've been trying hard all year, but I'm absolutely ecstatic about bringing the win home!"

Jonathan Rea: "Cal quite simply had a little more pace than me in the race, a couple of tenths a lap on average. My bike worked very well, but I think we got a bit let down by the tyre. It's nice to be on the podium and I'm enjoying riding around Silverstone."

Leon Haslam: "It was a hard fight and Johnny and Cal have had a good pace all weekend, I managed to catch them a little bit but dropped off towards the end. It was a bit frustrating as they looked as if they were having a lot of fun!"

Race 2

Crutchlow completed a perfect weekend with a double win, pushing away in the last few laps to overhaul long time leader Rea once again. Third went to another British rider Camier, fourth to Haslam and fifth to Toseland; complete domination from the home riders. Biaggi raced to sixth, maintaining a healthy championship lead despite being beaten by Haslam twice.

Cal Crutchlow: "As people have said, it's a dream come true for a lot of Brits, three on the podium in both races. All credit to the fans, they gave us tremendous support here today. What a brilliant day for Yamaha and a brilliant day for me! I couldn't believe both wins came at once, I would rather have had one earlier in the year and one today, but we've been fighting for this all the year and here it is."

Jonathan Rea: "Half-way through the race I was thinking 'Have I got the pace?". It was a bit slower than race 1 but well done to Cal he rode absolutely superb. On my side the team gave me a good bike this weekend. I'm really happy and enjoyed riding this weekend, it's a good result to go into the summer break with."

Leon Camier: "It's a dream come true, from 16th to third, you could never imagine doing it! We've been having a bit of a rough time lately, but this weekend has more than made up for it. For this race, the team just told me to get involved so I'm so happy with the result."

World Supersport

Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) was the long time leader but a strong charge from Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Honda) made the final laps a close contest, with Laverty finally re-passing the former champion to take the Silverstone win. Gino Rea (Intermoto Honda) was a hometown hero, taking his first podium in this class. In the points standings, Sofuoglu now leads Laverty by 203 to 186. Joan Lascorz (Motocard Kawasaki) and fast qualifier Roberto Tamburini (RT Yamaha) were both injured in a crash that halted the first attempt to race, and caused a complete re-start.

Superstock 1000

Ayrton Badovini (Italia BMW) had to work hard to get to the front of the field for his seventh straight win of the year, but in taking a full points score he also secured the outright championship win. Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) hit the front early on but could not hold off the lap record pace of Badovini, in race or championship terms. Andrea Antonelli (Lorini Honda) finished third, but the day belonged to Badovini, the new Superstock FIM Cup champion.

-WSBK-

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