For the second time in 2010 British riders secured all three steps of the podium in both World Superbike races, this time at Silverstone. The assault of the Brits in their homeland was led by Sterilgarda Yamaha man Cal Crutchlow, who after dominating Superpole and setting more fast laps than anyone else in 2010, finally got his first and then second long-overdue race wins.

His victory was Yamaha’s first for close to a year – the last one came at Portimao in October when Ben Spies wrapped up the 2009 WSB crown.

Crutchlow has been threatening to win from the moment he traded his World Supersport Yamaha R6 for the WSB R1, but it’s been a long time coming. With the help of a new more flexible frame in an effort to improve rear grip, Crutchlow was the pace setter all weekend and left the Silverstone circuit with the perfect record of pole position, two fastest laps, two race wins and the lap record. Not only that, his 50-point haul rocketed him up the leader board from 13th to fifth- place, an eight-position jump over the course of a single weekend!

“Before the race I thought that after six laps the grip was going to be gone,” said Crutchlow. “But although I lost grip it didn’t come down as much as I thought it was going to. When I was behind Johnny (Rea) his bike was a lot more in line than mine, but I didn’t seem to be losing too much (time) to him.

“I never doubted it would happen, but it’s been a long time. It was against the odds because everybody said that we wouldn’t be able to finish the race with our tires. This result is encouraging because we’ve found the consistency we needed, but I still think that I was spinning a lot more than others.” 

Jonathan Rea was the only man that had any answer to Crutchlow, and although he led for the majority of both races on his Ten Kate Honda, he didn’t have the grip needed as the laps ran down and was forced to settle for second place in both races.

“When he came past I thought I still had a chance but then I saw that he had loads more than me in reserve," said Rea. "We did a good job this weekend, but they just figured out the last and the first turn better than us. On the exit of Turn 1 he was phenomenal. Fair play to him, Cal has shown incredible pace all year and he deserved to win today.”

Championship contender Leon Haslam got on the podium and beat his title rival Max Biaggi in both races, but only managed to close down eight points after struggling with a gearbox problem in Race 1 and a lack of rear grip in Race 2.
The ride of the day has to go to Aprilia's Leon Camier. After seemingly ignoring team orders to stay behind his teammate Max Biaggi, the-23 year-old reigning British Superbike Champion scythed his way through from 16th on the grid to third.

The solid results of the British riders have seen them become the target for the majority of race teams in the paddock. With three rounds to go and the series now on its summer break, talk and rumors were rife at Silverstone, but it appears that very little has been decided.

Leon Camier looks set to stay at Aprilia even though the Italian manufacturer is yet to pen a deal to keep championship-leader Biaggi for 2011. The next round of the championship takes place at the Nurburgring in Germany at the beginning of September and the Silly Season of rider signings should be in full swing by then, so stay tuned for all the updates the second we have them!

Away from the on-track action, the FIM issued a statement regarding amended technical regulations for 2011. The highlights of the new rulings include a higher minimum weight limit in WSB, which will apply to all bikes regardless of configuration, and a new ruling which will see the Aprilia gear-driven cam motor that they introduced at Miller outlawed come the end of this season.