Croft has a mix of different types of corner, including a tight left-hand hairpin onto the start-finish straight, the odd chicane, and several flowing and fast sections, making bike set-up fairly critical. Three different makes of machine had made the 2004 podium, and yet the front end of the grid was dominated by Honda FireBlades this time out.

Points leader Michael Rutter took his sixteenth BSB pole position, with HM Plant team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari lining up fourth. Jonathan Rea followed up his Mondello pole with third on the Red Bull machine, whilst Karl Harris was fifth for Honda UK, and Michael Laverty was eighth with his MonsterMob-Stobart example. In amongst this lot came the two Hawk Kawasakis of Dean Thomas (second) and Glen Richards (sixth), and Leon Haslam’s seventh-placed Airwaves Ducati.

Ninth was the best yet for Steve Plater and the Sendo Kawasaki, from privateer James Buckingham (Quay Suzuki), Kieran Clarke (Hydrex Honda), Haydon (Virgin Yamaha), Gregorio Lavilla (Airwaves Ducati), Tommy Hill (Virgin Yamaha) and then the Rizla Suzukis of Scott Smart and Reynolds.

Two riders had problems before the start of an action packedrace one, with Karl Harris diving into the pits, and Nick Medd having to start from the back of the grid. Harris was not allowed into the race from the pitlane. The race began with damp patches on the track, and the threat of more rain in the air. Off the line the teams lined up in pairs at the front, as Rutter led Kiyonari, Thomas, Richards, Lavilla and Haslam. Plater quickly passed Rea for seventh.

The hairpin proved to be the best overtaking opportunity, and this was where Lavilla went through on the inside of Richards. A better exit through a left-hander also took the Spaniard past Thomas, into third behind the HRC-backed Rutter and Kiyonari. The Japanese rider took over the lead at the hairpin and, as he’d done so often this year, had soon gone clear into a class of his own.

Lavilla’s impressive charge through from his uncharacteristic 13th on the grid over was quickly, as third was the extent of his progress. Likewise, Rutter kept his secure second to the flag, as the top three in the points once again dominated the top of the results sheet. However, there was frantic activity as a group of riders fought over fourth and fifth places.

Michael Laverty emerged to pass Richards for P4, with Plater, Thomas and Haslam in attendance early on. Glen ran wide as he tried to re-pass, and lost a few places as a result. Rea ran ninth, a little way off the others, but would later join the race for fifth. At the tail of the group, Reynolds got into trouble trying to go inside Ben Wilson where there wasn’t really gap, and the two collided. ‘JR’ crashed in the incident, but managed to avoid aggravating his recent leg injuries.

The final order saw Laverty lead home Richards, Haslam, Rea, Haydon, Gary Mason, Thomas, Plater, Wilson, Smart, Marty Nutt and Steve Brogan.

The second race proved even more eventful, and again started with the tarmac damp in places. This time Kiyonari got the lead, from Rea, with Rutter quickly moving past Haslam for third, soon to be followed by Richards. 18-year-old Rea was quickly awarded a penalty for jumping the start but, before that could happen, Wilson had crashed at turn one, and Harris also went out in an incident with Laverty, capping an unfortunate weekend for the Yorkshireman.

Before Rea served his ride through penalty, he was passed by Rutter at turn one, for another HM Plant one-two. Meanwhile, a resurgent Plater passed fifth man Haslam at the hairpin, holding off the youngster at turn one. However, the onset of rain meant a red flag and the race was stopped. The re-started new race saw Richards pass leader Kiyonari, only for Lavilla to go past both his rivals. Three riders crashed together down the field and, with one of them left on the track, the safety car was despatched.

The drama continued as Hill was forced to stop due to damage to his Yamaha R1 after being hit from behind. Back at the race, in uncertain conditions Lavilla led Richards, Kiyonari and Rutter. Richards took the lead through a right-hander, and Plater joined the battle to take second from Lavilla at the hairpin, before Kiyonari also got him at turn one. The order was soon Richards, Kiyonari, Plater, Rutter, Lavilla, with Thomas, Mason and Haslam in a second group.

Plater was showing his best form in at least a year, as he took second from Kiyo at the hairpin, only to lose out again, and also to Rutter at the following turn one. Ryuichi battled back and forth to get the lead from Richards, while Plater had a ‘moment’ that meant Lavilla got ahead, and the Spaniard took third from Rutter at the hairpin.

As Kiyonari started to run clear of Richards at the front, Lavilla moved past the Australian. Ryuichi and Gregorio had pulled away from the pack as the Ducati man went for the lead at the hairpin. A slide for Lavilla meant his Honda rival was forced out, but the balance was redressed along the straight. However, the Spaniard’s next move was clean, and Kiyo soon had third man Rutter to worry about, after the points leader had relegated Richards.

© Raceline Photography

The first three finished with Lavilla heading Rutter and Kiyonari, in the opposite order to the result of race one. Richards was fourth, but a grassy moment for Plater meant he lost places to Mason and Thomas before the flag. Meanwhile, Haslam had already retired before Haydon crashed his Yamaha going into turn one, and was lucky not to be hit when the machine came back down after being launched in the gravel.

The number of prominent non-finishers promoted Clarke to eighth, from Brogan, John Laverty and Chris Martin. These last three recorded their best finishes of the year to date, coming home ahead of Reynolds and Smart, then Buckingham and Tristan Palmer.

So the race wins were once again shared by overseas winners, with Ryuichi Kiyonari getting his sixth, and Gregorio Lavilla his second. Regular podium finishes were keeping this pair well up in the points, but Michael Rutter’s supreme consistency meant that he stayed on target with a 45 point advantage. Elsewhere, six riders had picked up their best results over the weekend, whilst Steve Plater had shown flashes of the form that took him to two wins each with Yamaha and Honda.

Sadly, the same was not true of Scott Smart, whose continued disappointing form saw him net only a pair of 13th places. After this, Rizla Suzuki opted to let go of the former race winner, and are bringing back ‘super-sub’ James Haydon for the rest of the year - see separate story.

Standings after twelve races: Rutter 235; Lavilla 190; Kiyonari 182; Richards 138; Haslam 130; Harris 102; Thomas 85; Emmett 79; Mason 72; Smart 68; M Laverty 64; Plater 44; Haydon 35; Clarke 33.

To buy the photographs shown above, visit Raceline Photography

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