JG Speedfit Kawasaki's Leon Haslam broke his British Superbike Championship 'duck' in dramatic style this weekend at an incident packed event at Brands Hatch. It also marked another Championship crown for Öhlins, their 19th BSB title in just 22 seasons; backed up by further titles in the well-attended support classes.
Haslam had a season long battle with young rival Jake Dixon and in the final standings they were joined by Glenn Irwin, Josh Brookes and Peter Hickman to make it a top five lock out for the Swedish suspension manufacturer.
Alongside the blue riband Superbike class, the more road bike derived classes were also well supported with the famous yellow spring rear shocks and Öhlins cartridge kits - with supply and service agreements in place with a large percentage of the paddock. In one of the most successful seasons ever for the brand, they took Championship honours in all the major classes, namely:
Bennetts British Superbike Champion: Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
Dickies British Supersport Champion: Jack Kennedy (Integro Yamaha)
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Champion: Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW)
Pirelli National Superstock 600 Champion: Ryan Vickers (Mototechniks Yamaha)
Dickies Junior Supersport (300) Champion: Eunan McGlinchey (Team #109 Kawasaki)
Öhlins remains committed to National level racing alongside their high profile dominance within the MotoGP Championship.
Chris Witter, General Manager Öhlins Distribution & Test Centre commented, “It has been another fantastic season of British Superbike action with many different riders and teams tasting the champagne throughout the season, close action throughout all the classes and continuing high crowd numbers of enthusiastic fans.
From our point of view we have considerably upped the level of supported customers throughout the BSB paddock with heartening results. Leon and the JG Speedfit team are just a part of the picture with real strength in numbers throughout all the support classes, highlighted by our five titles in Superbike, Supersport and Superstock classes.
All in all it's been another tremendous job by our technicians providing support throughout the season. Their passion and commitment is every bit as important towards our success as having Championship winning proven products.“
Öhlins British Superbike Championship Successes
1996 – Niall Mackenzie – Cadbury's Boost YZF750 – Öhlins
1997 – Niall Mackenzie – Cadbury's Boost YZF750 – Öhlins
1998 – Niall Mackenzie – Cadbury's Boost YZF750 – Öhlins
1999 – Troy Bayliss – INS GSE Ducati 996 - Öhlins
2000 – Neil Hodgson – INS GSE Ducati 996 – Öhlins
2001 – John Reynolds – Reve Red Bull Ducati 996 – Öhlins
2002 – Steve Hislop – MonsterMob Ducati 998 – Öhlins
2003 – Shane Byrne – MonsterMob Ducati 998 – Öhlins
2004 – John Reynolds – Rizla Crescent Suzuki GSXR1000 – Öhlins
2005 – Gregorio Lavilla – GSE Airwaves Ducati 999 – Öhlins
2008 – Shane Byrne – GSE Airwaves Ducati 1098 – Öhlins
2009 – Leon Camier – GSE Airwaves Yamaha YZF-R1 – Öhlins
2010 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR – Öhlins
2011 – Tommy Hill - Swan Yamaha - Öhlins
2013 – Alex Lowes – Samsung Honda – Öhlins
2015 – Josh Brookes – Milwaukee Yamaha – Öhlins
2016 – Shane Byrne – Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R – Öhlins
2017 – Shane Byrne – Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R – Öhlins
2018 – Leon Haslam – JG Speedfit Kawasaki – Öhlins