2014 British Superbike Championship
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
Entry list
2014 Entry List | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Constructor | Bike | No. | 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
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Bold – Pole |
Notes
- "Kiyonari returns, Lowes joins Samsung Honda". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.