Gregorio Lavilla took the initiative in the chase for the Bennetts British Superbike crown with a winning double in the penultimate round at Donington Park, opening up a 13 points advantage over Ryuichi Kiyonari who had to settle for second and third placings at the Leicestershire circuit.

The 30 year old Spanish rider proved the dominant force throughout – having shattered the lap record to claim pole start, the Airwaves Ducati rider then enjoyed a brilliant front-running performance to take the first race by a little over two seconds.

Kiyonari trailed him home in that race, having recovered from a startline clash with Leon Haslam that left him back in fourth place on the opening lap, to be running second by the third lap, and then turning up the speed, bettering the lap record, only for Lavilla to respond with an even faster lap.

“I concentrated hard to keep my bike smooth,” explained Lavilla who held on well at one point as his bike slid out of line. “It was a very important win for me psychologically – it was hard race, the lap times were very close.”

Kiyonari reflected on his start: “Not good, but then I concentrate on Lavilla, watching and waiting for him, pressing hard, but then made small mistake running off-line.” The single point advantage he had grabbed with a winning double in the previous round at Oulton Park had turned into a deficit of four points.

He responded to the challenge, powering his HM Plant Honda ahead from the start, but his team-mate Michael Rutter, sixth in the opening race, knew that he needed a maximum points haul to keep his fading title hopes alive and he moved ahead at the Esses on the second lap.

Lavilla, who had started slowly, running fifth, was on the charge, overtaking Rutter on the sixth lap and then forging clear, completing his first winning double of the campaign by some four seconds from his team-mate Haslam, with Kiyonari taking third ahead of Rutter.

“Incredible – a really good weekend for me with two victories, beating Kiyonari – the races were very good, especially the second when the conditions were very difficult, and now I look forward to Brands Hatch where I try to win the title,” smiled Lavilla who has opened up a 416-403 advantage over a disconsolate Kiyonari who now faces an uphill struggle to take the title: “I tried very hard, made little mistake, now have to work hard to catch him.”

Rutter, sixth and fourth, will have to settle for third place in the overall rankings for the second time in three years, with Haslam, third and second just adrift of him.

Glen Richards, riding the Hawk Kawasaki, having taken a hard riding fourth in the opener was looking good for a podium finish in the second 20 lapper but he was one of several riders who were caught out by the damp at the Old Hairpin, defending champion John Reynolds among them.

James Buckingham, already assured of the British Superbike Cup, won the opener, ahead of Chris Martin and Danny Beaumont, but was fifth next time out as Marty Nutt took the honours from Beaumont, Malcolm Ashley and Martin.

Ian Hutchinson won the Metzeler Racetech Superstock Championship race ahead of John Laverty, but Lee Jackson, taking fourth place, adrift of Guy Sanders, held onto the points lead, now nine, over Adrian Coates, who finished the race fifth.

Billy McConnell sealed the Virgin Mobile Cup title, but there is still all to play for in the Metabo British Supersport Championship. Pere Riba won the penultimate round but Leon Camier, seventh, takes a 22 point advantage into the final over Craig Jones who was fourth in the race.

James Westmoreland, with his third win in the last four races, opened up a single point lead in the British 125cc Championship over the defending title holder Christian Elkin who finished 0.617 seconds down.

Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki's John Reynolds and James Haydon each recorded hard-fought fifth place finishes at the 12th round of the British Superbike Championship at Donington Park in Leicestershire today.

A change of fork settings before the opening dry race allowed reigning Champion JR to set the third fastest lap on his way to taking fifth place. A rainstorm before the second race meant the riders started on a damp track with a drying racing line - JR fell foul of the conditions when he strayed onto a wet patch and crashed unhurt early on.

James crashed without injury on the opening lap of the first race. His crew then made the same change to his forks that JR had found beneficial and that gave him extra confidence to fight through to fifth in the second race despite a poor start. Ducati’s Gregorio Lavilla won both races.

Rizla Suzuki will be racing again at the final round of the 2005 British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent, on Sunday, October 9th.

JR:
“I’ll go away from Donington and focus on the positives we have achieved here. We have been struggling to set-up the front end of the Rizla Suzuki but today we made a change that has given me much more feeling and confidence in my bike.

“Well done to my team for working so hard all weekend. I’m just gutted that early in the second race I came off the dry line onto a wet patch and crashed without getting a proper chance to show what I could achieve…I guess that will have to wait until we are racing at Brands Hatch.”

James:
“I was disappointed to crash out of the first race when I lost the front end without any warning. We sat down after that and decided to make the same change to my forks that JR found beneficial. Thanks to that change my bike felt much better in the second race.

"I got caught behind a couple of riders from the start and because it was wet off the racing line it took time to get past them. Once I did, the extra confidence in my Rizla Suzuki let me get a move on and I was catching the leaders towards the end. I’m really excited about going to Brands Hatch and can’t wait to get racing again.”

Robert Wicks, Team Manager:
“Well done to the team for working so hard and providing both riders with new fork settings that gave them confidence to go faster than before.

“For JR to lap more than one-second faster than this time last year shows the solid progress we have made in 12-months. The good news is that there is still more performance to come as we learn more about the GSX-R1000. On top of that, advances in tyre performance by Dunlop means that we will go to Brands Hatch with real aspirations to mix it at the front and hopefully score strong finishes with both riders at the final round.”

HM Plant Honda

A double podium finish in challenging conditions at Donington Park was not enough for HM Plant Honda Racing’s Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Rutter to hold off the challenge of Gregorio Lavilla. The Spaniard seized the lead in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship following a double victory at the 2.5-mile Leicestershire circuit.

A warm and sunny race one saw Ryuichi Kiyonari recover from an indifferent start to move through the field from sixth position to second at the chequered flag. The Japanese rider set the fastest lap of the event on three separate occasions and closed on his title rival before a mistake at Coppice forced him to concede the victory – and the lap record – to Lavilla.

By contrast, his HM Plant Honda Racing team-mate Rutter had a strong start into third position from the same place on the grid. However, the Midlander struggled for grip over race distance aboard the CBR1000RR Fireblade. This enabled other competitors to pass the 32-year-old and push him back to sixth position, where he remained until he crossed the line.

A blistering start to race two by the HRC-supported machines on a damp but drying track looked like bringing a change in fortune for the duo. It was the Japanese rider who took the holeshot from fourth place on the grid and team-mate Rutter slotted in behind him into second position.

However, lap two of 20 brought drama for 23-year-old Kiyonari when Rutter passed him for the lead at Melbourne hairpin. Lavilla, team-mate Leon Haslam and Glen Richards also took advantage of the opportunity, relegating Kiyonari to fifth place.

By lap five, the Ducatis of Lavilla and Haslam were also ready to make a move on Rutter, passing him at Redgate corner. Four laps later the HM Plant Honda Racing campaigner ran wide at the Melbourne hairpin allowing Richards to make a move on him, before the Kawasaki rider crashed out on lap 15.

That incident elevated Kiyonari – who had overtaken his team-mate one lap earlier – to a podium position. He remained in third place for the final result with Rutter finishing behind him in fourth. This means that Kiyonari’s one point advantage over Lavilla has been converted into a 13-point deficit as the championship heads to the final round at Brands Hatch in a fortnight. But with 50 points still up for grabs, the HM Plant Honda Racing rider is certainly not out of contention for the title.

Michael Rutter: “It hasn’t been a great weekend for HM Plant Honda Racing. Donington Park was one of our best rounds last year, so we were hoping for better results here today. I found it difficult to get the right set-up on the CBR1000RR Fireblade and Lavilla was really strong. I had to score as many points as possible to help me secure third place in the series – and I’ve nearly made it.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari: “We have had very difficult conditions today with sunshine and then rain – and then sunshine again. I tried my best, but I made a few mistakes and was unable to win either race. I hope that I can do better for HM Plant Honda Racing at Brands Hatch and maybe still win the championship.”

Karl Harris

Karl Harris was able to match his qualifying performance of ninth in the second race at the 12th and penultimate round of the 2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship. He had earlier pulled out of the early stages of the first leg at Donington Park in Leicestershire.

The first race was held in perfect sunshine and Harris started brightly. An aggressive first lap saw the Sheffield star make up one place on his starting position in the opening laps. However, the distinctive number nine Honda-Racing.co.uk CBR1000RR Fireblade pulled into the pitlane at the end of lap five to retire from the 20-lap race.

The 25-year-old Yorkshireman made a typically determined start to the second leg, which was contested on a drying track after an earlier shower of rain. The racing line was clear, but certain sections of the 2.5-mile Grand Prix circuit were still damp from the downpour.

This affected the pattern of the race for all competitors and Harris was keen to make an impression after the frustration of his earlier retirement. The Dunlop/BLD-backed CBR1000RR Fireblade was up to seventh at the end of lap three, before dropping three places, where he remained until seven laps from the chequered flag.

Harris inherited ninth after Glen Richards crashed out of third place which presented him with seven points for his efforts. He now trails Richards by 36 points in the chase for fifth position overall in the championship points table.

Karl Harris: “I was really frustrated at the end of the first race, but there wasn’t much that I could do about it. At least I was able to take the Dunlop/BLD Fireblade home in ninth in race two. I had to work hard for the points and all I can do is to hope for better luck at the final round at Brands Hatch in a fortnight.”

Dean Thomas

"Well it's certainly been a very strange weekend for everyone concerned the weather conditions were a nightmare, I got a 9th and 6th position. I wasn't overly happy with my first race result but that was due to lack of dry testing over the weekend to get a suitable dry set up on the bike.

"I was locked in a tight battle with Scott (Smart) for the final two laps of the race which allowed Tommy (Hill) to sneak past the pair of us. We changed a couple of things on the bike between the first and second race and I was a bit weary about the drying conditions as to how slippery the track would be.

"Donington is renowned to be a slow drying track and the torrential down pour that arrived before the Supersport race left the track very patchy. Glen crashed in the second race by just clipping on a damp patch and suffered a pretty fast crash into McLeans, thankfully he was ok but the bike looks a little second hand now.

"The weather this weekend was certainly a huge influencing factor and hopefully at Brands Hatch in a couple of weeks time it will either be wet or dry and not mixed like it was here. With only one more round remaining now on one of my favourite tracks I'm hoping to finish the year on a high note."