Mondello Park circuit, near Dublin, follows a number of loops and twists, and the emphasis is always on handling over outright speed. Scott Smart had proved that with his first win on the Kawasaki in 2004, and yet the very rapid current Honda FireBlade managed to tie up five of the top eight qualifying positions this year.

The surprise was that the HM Plant and Stobart backed machines were in positions four to eight, with the lead Honda being the Red Bull example belonging to rookie Jonathan Rea. One of five Ulster riders in the field, Rea had not been higher than the fourth row previously, and now he had secured pole position. Kiyonari was fourth, with Rutter (fifth), Michael Laverty (sixth) and Gary Mason (eighth) all on row two.

The Airwaves Ducati pair were also up front, as Leon Haslam would start third and Gregorio Lavilla was seventh. Hawk Kawasaki’s Glen Richards was in a season’s best second place. Karl Harris was the sixth Honda man, leading row three from Dean Thomas, Sean Emmett (first Yamaha) and Smart (first Suzuki). Then came Hill, Clarke, Haydon, Kirkham, Plater, McGuinness and the rest.

The start of race one proved disastrous for Rea, as the pole sitter was not too quick off the line, and then he found Rutter inadvertently cutting across him approaching the first corner. In a matter of seconds, Rea found himself down and skidding into the gravel trap, frustrated that he would go no further. Meanwhile, Kiyonari led from Richards, Haslam and Rutter, as these four already had a small margin over their pursuers.

‘Kiyo’ was soon establishing a firm lead, as he took up where he left off in his Mallory Park first race crash. His advantage was helped no end when Richards and Haslam went off the track at much the same time, but in unconnected incidents. This left him with a good lead over HM Plant team-mate Rutter, with Lavilla emerging in a close third, then a gap to Emmett, Harris, Michael Laverty, Mason and Haydon.

Kiyo’s lead grew considerably as he ran out a comfortable winner. Rutter and Lavilla stayed together to the flag, in that order, but most of the action was in the next group. Eighth placed James Haydon, in his second outing as Rizla Suzuki’s substitute rider, moved past both Mason and Laverty in quick order. This put him on the back of the battle between Emmett and Harris.

Harris had made an attempt to get by the Yamaha on the inside at a right-hander, only to run wide and leave Emmett enough room to force back through. The final right-hander was the scene of Karl’s successful pursuit of fourth, with Haydon following his example at the looping first turn. From here, Emmett would drop back, whilst Haydon apparently had a last lap incident, losing several places. Fifth went to Smart, from Laverty, Emmett, Mason, McWilliams, Haydon, Clarke, Kirkham, Wilson, Plater and Thomas.

Race two had a much better start for Rea, as he slotted into second behind Richards. Kiyonari, Haslam, Laverty, Mason, Rutter, Lavilla, Harris, Emmett and Thomas were next. Rea’s glory was fairly short lived, with Kiyo pulling ahead over the line at the lap’s end, and Haslam getting by soon afterwards. The 18-year-old was ultimately pushed back as the usual fast men got into their stride, but Jonathan had certainly made his mark.

To begin with, Richards, Kiyonari and Haslam made the running, and the Ducati man actually moved into the lead as he passed on the inside of both his rivals at the last turn. Kiyo went around Glen for second at the same moment. Richards’ luck seem to diminish as the race progressed, and when Laverty made a dive to his inside at a right-hander, it was enough to push Glen out and let both Rutter and Lavilla get ahead.

Haslam and Kiyonari raced on at the front, as Laverty and Lavilla got involved in a place swapping tussle for third. The Spaniard ultimately got the best of this, and was able to move up and make it a three-way affair. Indeed, Gregorio took second from Ryuichi on the inside at the turn 7A right-hander, at the end of a fast spurt, and would do the same thing to Haslam before too long. On his first visit to the track, Lavilla was once again able to find passing places that the no-one else had apparently considered previously.

© Raceline Photography

Lavilla seemed likely to pull out a margin over his two rivals, especially as Haslam went wide in the last turn, so that Kiyonari moved back to second. But Leon was quick to recover, and pushed his way past again at the first turn. In fact, the Ducati team-mates were virtually together as they took the chequered flag, but Lavilla held on for his first win in the series. Behind Haslam and Kiyonari, Laverty, Rutter, Richards, Harris, Smart, Mason, McWilliams, Plater, Kirkham, Thomas, Hill and Wilson took the other points.

Michael Rutter came out of the meeting with a lead of 46 points, down ten but still a healthy margin. The second and fifth places at Mondello made this his least productive weekend, but still he has scored heavily in every single race. Gregorio Lavilla’s first victory was his eighth podium visit, whilst Ryuichi Kiyonari made it five wins from five consecutive race finishes, but with the four blanks after Thruxton leaving him just in third. Further back, Michael Laverty had been the lead man for Stobart Honda, with his best BSB results to date.

Standings after ten races: Rutter 195; Lavilla 149; Kiyonari 141; Haslam 120; Richards 114; Harris 102; Emmett 79; Thomas 69; Smart 62; Mason 54; M Laverty 51; Plater 30; McWilliams 29; Haydon 27.

To buy the photographs shown above, visit Raceline Photography

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