HM Plant Honda get clean sweep
Added on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
I am very happy
Josh Brookes and Ryuichi Kiyonari gave their HM Plant Honda team a trio of wins at Snetterton this weekend, with each taking one win on Sunday.
After gaining the prominent starting position, Brookes again suffered with a slow getaway, however still triumphed where others faltered. Tommy Hill and Michael Rutter shared the early advantage, while Brookes clawed his way back through the pack.
Kiyonari was hot on the tail of Hill, when the HM Plant Honda rider stole second away from him. However, his joy was short lived when he was forced to retire with technical problems in the opening stages. Determined to make up ground in his teammates absence, Brookes was soon on a charge, fighting his way back to the front within a matter of laps.
Still charging through the pack, it wasn’t too long before Brookes was back in control of this second race, and on his way to a double victory. Hill was his rear gunner in second, with Alastair Seeley in third. James Ellison enjoyed another good outing to finish fourth, with Michael Laverty fifth, and Tommy Bridewell sixth. Chris Walker, Stuart Easton, Simon Andrews and John Laverty completed the first ten positions.
Race two saw Ellison as the early pace setter, with the Swan Honda rider taking control to send his weekend another step in the right direction. As ever Brookes and Kiyonari were never far behind, with each looking for the victory.
As the race progressed the chaos kicked in, when Brookes found himself slipping down the order and into retirement. It wasn’t long before Ellison joined him, being forced to watch the rest of the race from the side lines. Ellison’s teammate, Easton was another retirement, with the Scotsman not even getting a chance to make his mark on this final race of the weekend.
With chief rival out of the picture, Hill was able to slot into second place, however was unable to make much of an impression on leader Kiyonari. Michael Laverty slipped through into third and the final podium position, with Rutter fourth.
Some of the battle towards the back end of the top ten was fought out between John Laverty, Simon Andrews and Chris Walker, each slipping into fifth, sixth and seventh places, respectively. Meanwhile, Andrew Pitt, Gary Mason and Yukio Kagayama followed them home in eighth, ninth and tenth.
Kiyonari told the BSB website: “I am very happy, especially after the race earlier today when we missed the chance to fight for it. It has been a hard weekend and we had been struggling with the setting but we have worked between the sessions to solve this and we are getting better all the time and I think the championship is looking good again now.”
Brookes leaves Snetterton still with the championship advantage in his grasp, with Hill breathing down his neck. The HM Plant Honda rider now leads with 216 points to Hill’s 198 points, with the next round taking place on the 6-8th August on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
