2014 British Superbike Championship Explained

The 2014 British Superbike Championship season was the 27th British Superbike Championship season. Shane Byrne took the championship, riding a Kawasaki for Paul Bird Motorsport. Byrne's fourth title – after previous triumphs in 2003, 2008 and 2012 – saw him set a new record for the series. He scored 11 victories during the season, and was able to win the championship by 62 points ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari, a three-time series champion. Kiyonari had trailed by 12 points going into the final round of the season at Brands Hatch, but Kiyonari crashed out of contention during a free practice session, and fractured a collarbone in the process. Kiyonari won seven races during the season for the Buildbase BMW team. Third place in the championship was decided in the final race between Milwaukee Yamaha team-mates; a third-place finish for Tommy Bridewell, compared to a fifth place for Josh Brookes, allowed Bridewell to take the position by three points. Brookes took four race victories to his team-mate's single victory at Cadwell Park, which was his first in British Superbikes.

Outside of the Showdown, Stuart Easton was the winner of the BSB Riders' Cup, finishing in seventh place in the overall championship standings. Although only recording two podium finishes during the season, consistent finishing allowed Easton to remain in front of the chasing pack, most notably GBmoto's James Ellison. Ellison started the season with six successive podium finishes and had been in contention to make the Showdown, but he was forced to miss several rounds after a crash at the second Brands Hatch meeting which resulted in a broken femur. The only other riders to win races during the season were three more first-time winners in the series; Tyco Suzuki rider Josh Waters won at the second Brands Hatch meeting, Peter Hickman won at Cadwell Park for the RAF Reserves team – having replaced Simon Andrews in the team, after his death at the North West 200 road race in May – and Quattro Plant Kawasaki's Howie Mainwaring won the opening race of the final Brands Hatch meeting.

Kawasaki won the manufacturers' championship, 124 points clear of Yamaha. Byrne, Kiyonari and Brookes all scored seven points towards the Speedy Fastest Lap League, with all three riders each setting a lap record at some point during the 2014 campaign.

To increase the emphasis of a main season win, the playoff bonus points was changed to five points for a win (up from three), three points for second (up from two), and one point for third.

Race calendar and results

2014 Calendar
Main Season
Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Rider	Winning Team
1	R1	Brands Hatch Indy	21 April	Josh Brookes	James Ellison	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
	R2				James Ellison	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
2	R1	Oulton Park	5 May	Shane Byrne	Josh Brookes	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
	R2				Josh Brookes	Josh Brookes	Milwaukee Yamaha
3	R1	Snetterton 300	15 June	Shane Byrne	Shane Byrne	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
	R2				Josh Brookes	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
4	R1	Knockhill	29 June	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Shane Byrne	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Buildbase BMW
	R2				Ryuichi Kiyonari	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
5	R1	Brands Hatch GP	20 July	Shane Byrne	Shane Byrne	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Buildbase BMW
	R2				Keith Farmer	Josh Waters	Tyco Suzuki
6	R1	Thruxton	3 August	Jakub Smrž	Dan Linfoot	Josh Brookes	Milwaukee Yamaha
	R2				Ryuichi Kiyonari	Josh Brookes	Milwaukee Yamaha
7	R1	Oulton Park	9 August	Shane Byrne	Josh Brookes	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Buildbase BMW
	R2		10 August		Shane Byrne	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Buildbase BMW
	R3				Ryuichi Kiyonari	Josh Brookes	Milwaukee Yamaha
8	R1	Cadwell Park	25 August	Shane Byrne	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Tommy Bridewell	Milwaukee Yamaha
	R2				Shane Byrne	Peter Hickman	RAF Reserves Honda
9	R1	Donington Park	7 September	John Hopkins	Josh Waters	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Buildbase BMW
	R2				Ryuichi Kiyonari	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Buildbase BMW
The Showdown
10	R1	TT Circuit Assen	21 September	Christian Iddon	Jon Kirkham	Josh Waters	Tyco Suzuki
	R2				Dan Linfoot	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
11	R1	Silverstone Arena GP	5 October	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Shane Byrne	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
	R2				Ryuichi Kiyonari	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Buildbase BMW
12	R1	Brands Hatch GP	18 October	James Ellison	Josh Waters	Howie Mainwaring	Quattro Plant Kawasaki
	R2		19 October		Josh Brookes	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki
	R3				Tommy Bridewell	Shane Byrne	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki

Entry list

2014 Entry List
Team	Constructor	Bike		Riders	Rounds
Bimota Alstare Junior Team	Bimota	Bimota BB3	2	Christian Iddon	10
			123	Christophe Ponsson	6–12
Milwaukee Yamaha	Yamaha	Yamaha YZF-R1	3	Josh Brookes	All
			46	Tommy Bridewell	All
Quattro Plant Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	4	Dan Linfoot	All
			37	James Hillier	1
			43	Howie Mainwaring	3–12
Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	5	Stuart Easton	All
			67	Shane Byrne	All
RAF Reserves Honda	Honda	Honda CBR1000RR	6	Simon Andrews	1–2
			60	Peter Hickman	4–12
Team WD-40 Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	7	Barry Burrell	1–11
			Bryan Staring	12
FFX Yamaha	Yamaha	Yamaha YZF-R1	8	Ian Hutchinson	1–7
			Filip Backlund	9–12
Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	9	Chris Walker	All
			77	James Ellison	1–5, 8–12
Halsall Racing Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	10	Jon Kirkham	4–12
			39	Lee Costello	1
			50	Harry Hartley	1–3
Tsingtao WK Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	10	Jon Kirkham	1–2
			50	Harry Hartley	4
			60	Peter Hickman	3
			101	Gary Mason	7–12
Bathams BMW	BMW	BMW S1000RR	11	Michael Rutter	1–9
			24	Patric Muff	All
Tyco Suzuki	Suzuki	Suzuki GSX-R1000	12	Josh Waters	All
			21	John Hopkins	All
Buildbase BMW	BMW	BMW S1000RR	14	Lee Jackson	5–7, 10
			23	Ryuichi Kiyonari	All
			27	James Westmoreland	1–4, 8–12
			33	Michael Dunlop	1
Gearlink Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	15	Ben Wilson	All
Anvil Hire TAG Racing Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	18	Kevin Valk	10
			35	Mitchell Carr	1, 3, 9–10
			Shaun Winfield	2, 6, 11–12
			47	Richard Cooper	1–6
			75	Glen Richards	7–8
			88	Scott Smart	7–8
			101	Gary Mason	5
Two Wheel Racing Honda	Honda	Honda CBR1000RR	20	Jenny Tinmouth	1–7, 11–12
Quelch Afterdark Motorsport	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	26	Josh Wainwright	1
Saudi Falcons	BMW	BMW S1000RR	36	Abdulaziz Binladin	9
RidersMotorcycles BMW	BMW	BMW S1000RR	40	Martin Jessopp	1–2, 5–12
SBK City Racing Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	45	Rhalf Lo Turco	1–3, 5–12
Refresh Debt Solutions Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	53	Joe Burns	10
Morello Services PBR Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	55	Peter Baker	1–2
			56	John Ingram	3–12
GGH/STEL Suzuki	Suzuki	Suzuki GSX-R1000	64	Aaron Zanotti	All
PR Racing Kawasaki	Kawasaki	Kawasaki ZX-10R	68	Jed Metcher	10–12
			303	Keith Farmer	1–8
Honda Racing	Honda	Honda CBR1000RR	86	Julien Da Costa^[1]	3, 9, 11–12
Millsport Ducati	Ducati	Ducati 1199 Panigale	96	Jakub Smrž	1–8
Moto Rapido			12
MotoDex Performance First	BMW	BMW S1000RR	127	Robbin Harms	11–12

Championship standings

Riders' championship

Pos Rider Bike BRH OUL SNE KNO BRH THR OUL CAD DON ASS SIL BRH Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 The Championship Showdown 1 Shane Byrne Kawasaki 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 5 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 Ret 1 1 2 Ret 1 1 682 2 Ryuichi Kiyonari BMW 16 4 Ret Ret 5 4 1 2 1 Ret 3 3 1 1 4 Ret Ret 1 1 2 2 2 1 WD WD WD 620 3 Tommy Bridewell Yamaha 7 9 4 5 4 3 6 7 Ret 4 5 DNS 4 7 8 1 3 3 Ret 9 3 10 4 5 6 3 587 4 Josh Brookes Yamaha Ret 2 2 1 2 Ret 4 4 6 8 1 1 2 2 1 4 DSQ 4 3 Ret Ret 3 Ret 8 4 5 584 5 Dan Linfoot Kawasaki 11 8 6 7 7 6 7 6 5 7 4 4 5 4 3 7 11 8 14 6 4 4 7 4 8 6 577 6 Chris Walker Kawasaki 2 5 Ret 8 6 Ret 5 3 4 9 7 5 Ret 5 7 3 8 11 10 16 Ret 12 12 10 Ret 10 525 BSB Riders Cup 7 Stuart Easton Kawasaki 6 6 5 4 Ret 13 3 5 10 14 16 7 9 6 5 9 Ret 5 4 3 6 5 6 6 5 4 231 8 James Ellison Kawasaki 3 3 3 3 3 2 Ret 8 3 DNS DNS DNS 14 11 4 7 11 3 7 2 2 223 9 Josh Waters Suzuki 15 16 13 13 10 10 Ret 16 14 1 17 12 8 9 6 5 5 6 5 1 8 7 5 2 16 15 192 10 John Hopkins Suzuki 5 11 Ret 9 9 7 9 11 9 10 8 8 6 Ret Ret 13 DNS Ret 9 Ret 5 Ret DNS Ret 10 8 125 11 Peter Hickman Kawasaki 19 Ret 120 Honda 14 13 12 13 12 10 7 Ret 13 6 1 7 7 12 Ret 9 9 13 11 9 12 Jon Kirkham Kawasaki 21 DNS 9 10 17 17 13 6 11 6 14 8 9 8 6 12 13 Ret Ret Ret 15 3 7 7 118 13 BMW 10 7 8 6 Ret Ret 10 Ret 11 Ret 10 8 14 10 8 10 9 9 14 96 14 Howie Mainwaring Kawasaki NC 16 Ret DNS 11 DNS 18 9 10 Ret 15 15 12 13 12 8 Ret Ret 14 1 3 Ret 82 15 Jakub Smrž Ducati 9 Ret 10 11 Ret 8 12 12 7 Ret 6 13 11 12 10 DNS DNS 14 12 11 82 16 Richard Cooper Kawasaki 8 15 7 Ret 10 9 11 9 8 2 DNS DNS 69 17 Patric Muff BMW 14 14 14 15 8 Ret DNS DNS 15 DNS 10 11 12 10 Ret 14 13 9 16 Ret Ret 14 13 Ret 13 13 60 18 Michael Rutter BMW 12 17 11 12 Ret 14 13 10 DNS DNS 9 DNS Ret 11 11 19 10 16 Ret 47 19 Julien Da Costa Honda Ret 5 15 6 6 8 15 14 Ret 43 20 Ben Wilson Kawasaki 4 10 15 16 Ret 15 16 Ret 17 15 Ret DNS DNS DNS DNS 12 9 Ret 19 13 Ret Ret DNS 12 Ret 17 40 21 Gary Mason Kawasaki Ret 11 Ret 17 18 16 4 Ret Ret 11 Ret 15 Ret 11 DNS DNS 29 22 Barry Burrell Kawasaki Ret 20 19 18 11 11 8 Ret Ret DNS 13 14 13 Ret Ret Ret DNS Ret DNS 19 15 Ret Ret 27 23 Keith Farmer Kawasaki 19 19 Ret Ret 14 DNS 15 14 Ret 3 14 DNS 17 13 Ret DNS DNS 26 24 Glen Richards Kawasaki 16 14 12 10 7 21 25 Filip Backlund Yamaha 17 15 Ret 9 13 11 Ret 15 12 21 26 Martin Jessopp BMW 13 12 12 14 20 19 19 16 Ret DNS DNS 18 Ret Ret 17 18 14 17 16 Ret Ret DNS 15 27 Jed Metcher Kawasaki 7 13 18 18 18 12 28 Lee Jackson BMW 16 18 15 Ret 15 16 16 10 12 12 29 Christian Iddon Bimota 5 Ret 11 30 Ian Hutchinson Yamaha 23 Ret 16 Ret 13 12 18 15 18 16 22 17 Ret 19 19 8 31 John Ingram Kawasaki 16 Ret Ret DNS 19 12 20 18 18 18 17 17 14 Ret 18 Ret 16 16 Ret Ret 17 19 6 32 Kevin Valk Kawasaki Ret 11 5 33 Scott Smart Kawasaki 19 15 14 Ret 15 4 34 Harry Hartley Kawasaki 18 13 17 17 DNS DNS DNS DNS 3 35 Aaron Zanotti Suzuki 22 21 18 19 15 18 Ret Ret 21 17 21 15 21 20 Ret Ret Ret 18 20 15 Ret Ret 19 DNS 23 Ret 3 Bryan Staring Kawasaki 17 Ret 16 0 Robbin Harms BMW Ret Ret 16 Ret Ret 0 Jenny Tinmouth Honda 27 23 20 20 17 17 19 18 22 DNS 23 19 20 22 Ret 18 20 19 19 22 0 Christophe Ponsson Bimota Ret DNS 22 21 20 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 17 19 18 20 22 Ret 0 Mitchell Carr Kawasaki 20 Ret DNQ DNQ Ret DNS 17 18 0 Lee Costello Kawasaki 17 18 0 Shaun Winfield Kawasaki 21 21 24 20 20 17 Ret 20 20 0 Rhalf Lo Turco Kawasaki 28 24 22 23 18 19 23 20 Ret 21 23 Ret 21 20 Ret 19 Ret Ret Ret 21 21 21 0 Peter Baker Kawasaki 26 22 Ret 22 0 Michael Dunlop BMW 24 Ret 0 Josh Wainwright Kawasaki 25 Ret 0 Simon Andrews Honda Ret DNS Ret DNS 0 Joe Burns Kawasaki Ret Ret 0 James Hillier Kawasaki Ret DNS 0 Abdulaziz Binladin BMW DNQ DNQ 0 Pos Rider Bike BRH OUL SNE KNO BRH THR OUL CAD DON ASS SIL BRH Pts

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Notes

1. News: Kiyonari returns, Lowes joins Samsung Honda. Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 December 2012. 10 December 2012.