NEAR DOUBLE DELIGHT FOR HM PLANT HONDA
HM Plant
Honda riders Ryuichi Kiyonari and Karl Harris experienced a mixed day at a rain
soaked Croft circuit in round ten of the Bennetts British Superbike
Championship today (13 August). Kiyonari scored his eighth win of the season in
the opening race while Harris looked set to follow suit in the second only to
be beaten to the flag in a race he dominated.
In the first race of the day, Kiyonari, who converted his front row start to
second place, quickly took the lead on the back straight before being passed by
Jonathan Rea, Leon Haslam and Gregorio Lavilla on lap three. Kiyo only
temporarily occupied fourth before passing Lavilla on the start-finish straight
of the 2.12-mile track. The Japanese rider then set his sights on second
placed Haslam finally passing him two laps later. Fellow Honda rider Rea
had established a strong lead at the head of the field, however the Irishman
went wide and Kiyo took advantage of his error and passed him, moving up into
first, a position he was to maintain until the end of the 20-lap fixture.
Torrential rain greeted the second race of the day and the drama, like the
weather, was unrelenting. Kiyo got away in third place and Harris in fifth.
Harris soon passed Tommy Hill and established himself in fourth before overtaking
his team mate Kiyonari and Gregorio Lavilla. Harris continued his charge and
was soon at the head of the field after passing race leader Michael Rutter at
the Clarke Esses. The Sheffield-based rider stretched away from the ensuing
pack and by lap eleven had established an impressive 8.7second lead. However a
hard charging Leon Haslam was as eager as Harris to claim his maiden British
Superbike victory and, as soon as he had passed his team mate Gregorio Lavilla
on lap 12, launched his attack on Harris.
The HM Plant rider put in a valiant effort to defend his position aboard his
Michelin-shod Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade but Haslam out dragged him to the
chequered flag on the final lap and snatched Harris’ maiden victory from him by
the slimmest of margins - nine hundredths of a second.
In the second race of the day Kiyonari finished in fifth place. As a result of
Haslam’s win Kiyonari now has a slim three-point lead over him in the
Championship standings.
In race one Harris had a disappointing outing. Harris got a clean start to his
race and settled in a sixth place before sliding out at the hairpin on lap
three after a coming together with Tommy Hill. Harris re-joined the field in
16th working his way up to finish in 10th place.
Ryuichi Kiyonari: “The first race was fine, at first it was a little
damp. I was a little too careful at one point and the other three riders passed
me but I concentrated hard and made my way back through the field, the second
was not so good as I don’t like the heavy rain.”
Karl Harris: “I’m gutted about the second race, but I guess that’s the
way it goes. I wasn’t expecting the see Leon. I broke the lap record on the
second to last lap with a 27.2, and I thought that would have sewn it up, but
he then did a 26.6 on the last lap and just got me. I guess that’s as close as
you can get to winning without actually winning!”
Superbike Race One Result
1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 27m23.430s, 2, Jonathan Rea
(Honda) +0.947s, 3, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +2.132s, 4, Leon Haslam (Ducati)
+2.339s, 5, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) +19.107s, 6, Michael Rutter (Honda) +25.601s,
7, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +37.520s, 8, Craig Coxhell (Kawasaki) +38.093s, 9, Steve
Plater (Suzuki) +38.838s, 10, Karl Harris (HM Plant Honda) +39.410s.
Fastest Lap: Leon Haslam 1m20.508s – 95.11mph
Superbike
Race Two Result
1, Leon
Haslam (Ducati) 26m57.266s, 2, Karl Harris (Honda) +0.090s, 3, Gregorio
Lavilla (Ducati) +13.712s, 4, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) +15.954s, 5, Ryuichi
Kiyonari (Honda) +23.642s, 6, Michael Rutter (Honda) +25.553s, 7, Michael
Laverty (Honda) +26.782s, 8, Peter Hickman (Kawasaki) +43.486s, 9, Glen
Richards (Honda) +45.633s, 10, Craig Coxhell (Kawasaki) +49.399s… 13, Jonathan
Rea (Red Bull Honda) +1m06.496s.
Best Lap: Leon Haslam 1m26.661s – 88.35mph
Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings (after round 10)
1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 310pts
2, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 307pts
3, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 292pts
4, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) 198pts
5, Jonathan Rea (Red Bull Honda) 176pts
6, Karl Harris (Honda) 175pts
7, Michael Laverty (Honda) 139pts
8, Michael Rutter (Honda) 138pts
9,, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 127pts
10, Glen Richards (Honda) 87pts
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