Poignant return for Easton as Knockhill remembers Hislop

Defending champion Shane Byrne, won both rounds of the British Superbike Championship at Knockhill but the day was dominated by two Scots.

Stuart Easton, the 29-year-old from Hawick who survived a horror 130mph motorcycle crash in Ireland just over two years ago, was racing at the Fife track for the first time since his injuries.

The former British Supersport 600 champion twice finished on the podium despite being forced to start from 14th and ninth on the grid after crashing in qualifying.

In Saturday’s opening race, the Scot had powered to within 0.8 seconds of second-placed Alastair Seeley’s Kawasaki, with leader Ben Wilson just a further 2.1sec up the road. With just five laps left, the race was stopped as the torrential rain made the track too dangerous and he had to settle for third place.
In yesterday’s second race, Easton again carved his way through the field from ninth before finishing second behind Wilson’s Kawasaki. The Scot though, already a four-time winner this season, was delighted to have eased into a one-point lead in the championship ahead of Seeley. “It was a pity Saturday’s race was stopped, because I definitely had the pace to catch and pass the two guys in front,” Easton said after parking his MarTrain Yamaha, “but I fully understood the decision to stop the race. Today it looked at one stage that I’d be able to catch and pass Ben, but my tyres started going off towards the end of the race and I had to back off and accept the podium. Overall though, it’s been a fantastic weekend.

“While I’d have loved to have won here, at least we scored to podiums and maintain the title push.”

The weekend was also a tribute to the memory of double BSB champ and 11-times Isle of Man TT-winner, Steve Hislop. The 41-year-old from Hawick, who took Easton under his wings and mentored his early career, was killed in a helicopter crash ten years ago.

Hislop’s life was celebrated with some special laps by former team-mates. Three-times BSB champ, Niall Mackenzie from Doune, and Huddersfield’s Jamie Whitham, rode Hislop’s iconic Cadbury’s Boost Yamahas.

Easton joined the laps with a replica Monstermob Ducati which Hislop rode to his 2002 BSB title. “We all were going out for some steady laps and I could hear Whit behind me back shifting and prepared to go a bit faster,” Mackenzie said afterwards. “The bike still feels really sharp, and it has been great that we can remember Steve with a fantastic tribute as he had a lot of special races here at Knockhill.”

In the two rounds of the BSB, Londoner Byrne dominated both races on his Kawasaki, twice finishing ahead of second-placed Aussie Josh Brookes’ Suzuki. Byrne, who entered the weekend six points behind Honda’s Alex Lowes, headed back to his southern base leading the title race by 30 points from Brookes.