British Superbike Championship

Infobox sports league
title=British Superbike Championship
logo=BSB logo.gif
pixels=200px
teams= 5 manufacturers
caption=The official British Superbike logo
sport=Motorcycle sport
founded=1988
country=United Kingdom
champion=flagicon|ENG Shane Byrne (Rider)
flagicon|ITA Ducati (Manufacturer)The British Superbike Championship (BSB) is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom.

The championship is managed and organised by MCRCB-Events. The commercial and television rights have been delegated to MotorSport Vision. [cite web|url=http://www.crash.net/motorsport/bsb/news/159846-0/msv_takes_over_bsb.html|title=MSV takes over BSB|publisher=crash.net|accessdate=2008-02-20] The Series and Race Director is Stuart Higgs. Event marshals are provided by the Racesafe Marshals Association.

Two annual championships are awarded, one for riders and one for manufacturers. A "Cup" class exists for riders running in privately owned teams; past champions of this include Shane Byrne in 2001, and James Ellison in 2004.

Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki all participate in the championship. From 2008, the championship followed the Superbike World Championship in appointing Pirelli as the single control tyre supplier, until 2010. Previously most teams used Dunlop tyres, although the factory Hondas used Michelin and the factory Yamahas used Pirellis.

The championship's current title sponsor is Bennetts bike insurance.

History

Niall Mackenzie was the most successful rider of the 1990s, with three titles. Other past champions include Neil Hodgson, Australian Troy Bayliss and Steve Hislop. Chris 'the Stalker' Walker has finished as runner up 4 times. Many riders from the series have gone on to race in the Superbike World Championship or MotoGP.

2005

In 2005, the overall championship was won by Spanish rider Gregorio Lavilla on a Ducati 999 F04 (1000 cc vee-twin), ahead of 1000 cc in-line four Hondas ridden by Japanese rider Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Rutter. 2004 champion John Reynolds endured an injury-hit season, after which the veteran (he also won the 1992 and 2001 championships) announced his retirement from racing. The 2003 champion Shane 'Shakey' Byrne returned to the series for 2006 on the Suzuki Reynolds vacated.

2006

The 2006 British Superbike season was won by Kiyonari at the final round in Brands Hatch in front of a capacity crowd and a reported 1.5 million live TV viewers. Second was Leon Haslam with Lavilla third.

2007

In 2007 the championship featured 13 meetings, including a single overseas event at Mondello Park in Ireland, each featuring 2 races. Races were covered live by ITV and Sky Sports. Kiyonari won the rider's championship, with Jonathan Rea in second place and Haslam finishing third. Honda won the manufacturer's championship.

2008

The 2008 championship will feature 12 meetings, all taking place within the UK and each featuring 2 races. The series is now live on British Eurosport, with highlights on Channel 4 within the next few days.

The reining double-champion Ryuichi Kiyonari left the series to compete in the World Superbike Championship during the 2008 season, as did Lavilla. Rea, Chris Walker and Tommy Hill all now compete in World Supersport.

Early races have seen Ducati's Shane Byrne dominating over team-mate Leon Camier and the Hondas of Haslam and Cal Crutchlow.

British Superbike Champions

References

External links

* [http://www.britishsuperbike.com britishsuperbike.com] Official website
* [http://www.mcrcb-events.co.uk mcrcb-events.co.uk] BSB organizers website
* [http://www.bennetts.co.uk bennetts.co.uk] BSB Title Sponsor website