British Superbikes 2012: Tommy Hill retakes the lead at the Knockhill International Test

Tommy Hill regains lead at Knockhill

One month after the last appointment of the British Superbikes 2012 one hardly remembered the spectacle that the British national gives us. Already in the height of summer, the championship moves to Knockhill, its first international appointment on the calendar. An extremely short and narrow circuit, so much so that the race pace is usually below 50 seconds and you have to do 30 laps. However, Kockhill passes through one of the most impressive circuits on the islands thanks to unparalleled changes in grade. Here, the regular performance of Tommy Hill has gotten him to go home with the lead from the standings in his pocket when he had finished second, two points behind Josh Brookes.

During these days without racing, Peter Hickman was the protagonist since, by accepting Suzuki's offer to race in Superbikes as a wildcar, he also renounced his season as Michael Rutter's teammate in Kawasaki. Without a motorcycle, on Thursday I received a call: what are you doing this weekend? And, finally, he has returned to the BSB grid together with BMW. The complete races are not uploaded yet but we leave you the summaries and we remind you that you can always watch them using the Eurosport Player.

First race, -55- 35 wins for Shakey Byrne and a joy for Paul Bird

Because Paul Bird hadn't had a single good news for more than a month. James Ellison's performances aboard the Aprilia ART are more than low-key and his boss is not happy with the MotoGP rider's performance. However, when Byrne got on the CRT, he felt the same problems as his partner. That said, we can understand the Paul's joy to see Shakey pass the Knockhill finish line in first position. A race that was marked by calm in the leading group, knowing that a false step could leave them out of the Showdown.

Tommy Hill started from the first position off the grid with Michael Laverty and Josh Brookes on the same line. At the start Laverty managed to take the lead followed by Shakey byrne, who came out right behind him. Thus, Hill was third, with Josh Brookes glued to his tail. Behind the BSB Magnificent Four were Ian Lowry and Noriyuki Haga. The former FastMagazine and MotoGP test rider it did not take long to snatch the leadership by stopping thousandths later than Michael. Tommy, third, took advantage of the situation to position himself behind the beautiful Kawasaki ZX-10R.

With Shakey, Tommy, Laverty and Brookes escaped from Ian Lowry, the race got sleepy although only the spectacle of seeing a superbike without electronic aids on a circuit with such unevenness it was worth it. Five laps from the end, Lowry lost his grip on the front axle in full swing, leaving fifth position to Tommy bridewell, who could get rid of Make a great duel.