The 2011 British Superbike season was the 24th British Superbike Championship season. No major rules were changed from the previous year with the showdown section of the season staying and the continuation of the evolution class below the main superbike class. The field had greater quality than the year before with champion Ryuichi Kiyonari returning to defend his title on the HM Plant Honda alongside the returning former British superbike champion Shane Byrne. This meant that Josh Brookes moved onto the lone Relentless by TAS Suzuki, with Michael Laverty and Tommy Hill moving to a new swan Yamaha team. The major signing was that of former Moto GP rider John Hopkins who joined the Samsung crescent Suzuki squad alongside Jon Kirkham.
The championship was tightly contested between Byrne, Hopkins and Hill, each taking their share of race wins, but it was not until the final round at Brands Hatch that the title would be decided. The first race was edgy with Michael Laverty taking the victory, the second race of the weekend would however swing the title towards Tommy Hill, Hopkin's Samsung Suzuki cut out in the early laps forcing him to restart the bikes electronics and ride from the back of the field to 12th place. It was all down to the final race, whoever finished first between Hopkins and Hill would win the title. Hopkins made a good start and lead Hill for almost the entire race, however on the penultimate lap Hill would pass Hopkins, leaving it until the final corner of the final lap Hopkins went up the inside to retake second however he could not hold the line and Hill squeezed up the inside to beat Hopkins to the title by 6 thousandths of a second (0.006s) to become the 2011 British Superbike Champion.
Notes:
- 1.^ – The second race at Oulton Park was cancelled due to bad weather conditions. As a result, the race was run at the next possible round of the championship at Cadwell Park, with the second race grid positions standing for the race.[2]
2011 Entry List | Team | Constructor | Bike | | Riders | Class | Rounds | HM Plant Honda[3] | Honda | Honda CBR1000RR[3] | 1 | Ryuichi Kiyonari[3] | | All | 67 | Shane Byrne[3] | | All | Relentless Suzuki by TAS | Suzuki | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 2 | Josh Brookes[4] | | All | 11 | Guy Martin[5] | | 1 | MSS Colchester Kawasaki | Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 3 | Stuart Easton[6] | | 1–3 | 5 | Ian Lowry[7] | | 10–12 | 22 | Alex Lowes[8] | | 4–9 | 101 | Gary Mason[9] | | 1–9 | S | 10–12 | Sorrymate.com SMT Honda[10] | Honda | Honda CBR1000RR | 4 | Dan Linfoot[10] | | 1–6 | 16 | James Ellison[11] | | 7–10, 12 | Tyco Racing Team[12] | Honda | Honda CBR1000RR[12] | 4 | Dan Linfoot[13] | | 11–12 | 24 | Patric Muff[14] | E | All | 46 | Tommy Bridewell[12] | | 1–5 | 60 | Peter Hickman[15] | | All | Buildbase BMW[16] | BMW | BMW S1000RR[16] | 5 | Ian Lowry[17] | | 1–9 | 8 | John Laverty[16] | | 1–7 | 47 | Richard Cooper | | 12 | 77 | Barry Burrell[16] | E | All | 99 | Lee Jackson[18] | | 10–12 | Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati | Ducati | Ducati 1198 | 6 | Michael Rutter[19] | | 1–9, 11–12 | 40 | Martin Jessopp[19] | | All | Swan Yamaha[20] | Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-R1[20] | 7 | Michael Laverty[21] | | All | 33 | Tommy Hill[20] | | All | Pr1mo Racing | Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 9 | Chris Walker[22] | | All | Samsung Crescent Racing[23] | Suzuki | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 10 | Jon Kirkham[23] | | All | 21 | John Hopkins[24] | | 1–8, 10–12 | Splitlath Motorsport[25] | Aprilia | Aprilia RSV4 1000[26] | 11 | John Simpson[27] | E | 9, 11–12 | 56 | Hudson Kennaugh[25] | | 1–4, 6 | E | 7–8 | 100 | Jenny Tinmouth[26] | | 1–3 | Mark Miller[28] | E | 5 | | 6 | Karl Harris[29] | | 7–8 | E | 9–12 | AIR Racing | Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 12 | Josh Day[30] | E | 1, 3–7 | Doodson Motorsport | BMW | BMW S1000RR | 14 | Glenn Allerton[31] | E | 8 | 20 | Tom Tunstall[32] | E | 1–6 | 25 | David Anthony[33] | E | 10–12 | PR Racing | Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 17 | Simon Andrews[34] | E | 1–6 | 56 | Hudson Kennaugh[35] | E | 9–10 | Kawasaki World Superbike | Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 17 | Joan Lascorz[36] | | 8 | 23 | Broc Parkes[37] | | 8 | Jentin Racing[38] | Honda | Honda CBR1000RR | 19 | Steve Brogan[38] | | 1–6, 9–12 | 66 | Steve Mercer | | 12 | Team WFR[39] | Honda | Honda CBR1000RR[39] | 22 | Alex Lowes[40] | E | 1–3 | 27 | James Westmoreland[41] | E | 10 | S | 11–12 | 45 | Glen Richards[39] | E | All | 81 | Graeme Gowland[42] | E | 1, 3–12 | 98 | Jake Zemke[43] | E | 5–8 | Motorpoint Yamaha[44] | Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-R1[44] | 22 | Alex Lowes[45] | | 10–12 | 27 | James Westmoreland[46] | | 1–8 | 46 | Tommy Bridewell[47] | | 9–12 | 65 | Loris Baz[44] | | 1–7 | Hobbs Racing | BMW | BMW S1000RR | 25 | Dennis Hobbs[48] | E | 1, 3, 5 | Bournemouth Kawasaki | Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 37 | James Hillier[49] | E | All | Buy-force.com Quattro Plant | Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 54 | Steve Heneghan[50] | E | 11–12 | Marks Bloom Racing | Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 55 | Dan Kneen[51] | E | 1–2, 4–8, 10–12 | Spike Racing BMW | BMW | BMW S1000RR | 64 | Aaron Zanotti[52] | E | All | Close Print Finance Honda | Honda | Honda CBR1000RR | 75 | Craig Fitzpatrick[53] | E | 1–6, 10–12 | 777RR Motorsport | Suzuki | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 78 | Matteo Mossa[54] | E | 1–3, 5–9 | Boss D&B | BMW | BMW S1000RR | 79 | Nick Medd[55] | | 1, 3, 10 | Moto Rapido Ducati | Ducati | Ducati 1198 | 88 | Scott Smart[56] | E | All | | Icon | Class | E | Evolution Class | S | 2012-specification | Key | Regular Rider | Wildcard Rider | Replacement Rider | |
Championship standings
[edit] Riders' Championship
[edit] | Colour | Result | Gold | Winner | Silver | Second place | Bronze | Third place | Green | Points finish | Blue | Non-points finish | Non-classified finish (NC) | Purple | Retired (Ret) | Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) | Black | Disqualified (DSQ) | White | Did not start (DNS) | Withdrew (WD) | Race cancelled (C) | Blank | Did not practice (DNP) | Did not arrive (DNA) | Excluded (EX) | |
Evolution Championship
[edit] | Colour | Result | Gold | Winner | Silver | Second place | Bronze | Third place | Green | Points finish | Blue | Non-points finish | Non-classified finish (NC) | Purple | Retired (Ret) | Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) | Black | Disqualified (DSQ) | White | Did not start (DNS) | Withdrew (WD) | Race cancelled (C) | Blank | Did not practice (DNP) | Did not arrive (DNA) | Excluded (EX) | |
Manufacturers' Championship
[edit] Pos | Manufacturer | BRH | OUL | CRO | THR | KNO | SNE | OUL | BRH | CAD | DON | SIL | BRH | Pts |
R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R3 | R1 | R2 | R3 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R3 |
1 | Yamaha | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | C | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 503 |
2 | Suzuki | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | C | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 490 |
3 | Honda | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | C | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 454 |
4 | Kawasaki | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 5 | C | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 249 |
5 | Ducati | 6 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 3 | C | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 230 |
6 | BMW | 21 | 21 | 18 | 18 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 9 | 19 | C | 11 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 17 | 18 | Ret | 14 | 30 |
7 | Aprilia | Ret | Ret | 23 | Ret | 11 | Ret | 17 | Ret | Ret | 24 | 26 | 20 | 18 | C | Ret | Ret | Ret | 15 | 14 | 15 | Ret | Ret | 22 | 22 | 21 | 10 | 18 | 15 |
Pos | Manufacturer | BRH | OUL | CRO | THR | KNO | SNE | OUL | BRH | CAD | DON | SIL | BRH | Pts |