This meeting marked the first outing for Scott Smart with Vivaldi Racing, and a return to the Kawasaki ZX-10R, alongside Ben Wilson and Tristan Palmer, as the team fielded three machines for the first time. A three-time winner from last season, Smart had been dropped by Rizla Suzuki after only making the top six twice. Scott commented that the way the Crescent Racing/Rizla team worked was somewhat at odds with his preferred methods, not helped by boss Paul Denning’s elevation to the Suzuki MotoGP team.

Taking Smart’s place on the GSX-R1000 was ‘super-sub’ James Haydon, who has filled in for Steve Plater, John Reynolds and Sean Emmett over the last twelve months. Haydon was lined up for the GSE/Airwaves Ducati team at the start of this season, but didn’t race due to injury. He then stepped aside to let substitute Gregorio Lavilla continue after an impressive start. After some notable stand-in rides with Rizla and Virgin Yamaha, James now has a full-time seat once again.

Another change was the absence of the Sendo/Dienza Performance outfit with some financial difficulties. Team leader Plater was in attendance, and assured fans that it was a one-off, and that he would be back on the Kawasaki for Snetterton. Meanwhile, newcomer Daniel Stauffer had arrived from Australia to fill in for Emmett on the Virgin R1.

Knockhill is near Dunfermline in Scotland, and is one of the shortest circuits the riders visit - evidenced by the top sixteen qualifiers being covered by just 0.8 seconds. It is notable for significant changes of elevation, particularly in the dive through Duffus Dip after the first corner. Although mostly tight, there are a couple of fast blasts, but these are linked by the final right-hand hairpin, which turns uphill slightly. The track is often subject to inclement weather, but it stayed dry and bright this year.

The HM Plant riders secured a one-two on the grid, strangely for only the second time this year, with Kiyonari’s FireBlade ahead of Rutter’s. Jonathan Rea had another Honda in third, keeping up his front row run, whilst fourth went to John Reynolds in his first meeting at near full fitness on the 2005 Suzuki. This was the best performance for Rizla since round one, and JR’s form was backed up by Haydon in P8.

In contrast, the Hawk Kawasaki pair missed the front row for the first time since round two, with Dean Thomas fifth and Glen Richards tenth. Between Thomas and Haydon were Leon Haslam (Airwaves Ducati) and Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda). Karl Harris was ninth, and behind Richards came Clarke, Lavilla, Buckingham, Hobbs, Mason and Hill, with Smart down in P22.

The start of race one saw Kiyonari take the lead ahead of Rutter, Thomas and Rea, with Haydon jumping to fifth on the inside, from Haslam, Laverty, Reynolds, Gregorio Lavilla and Richards. Haslam took fifth from Haydon on the first flying lap acros the start-finish line, but James was in determined mood, and he had a good run at the hairpin and onto the following straight to get past both Haslam and Rea. Meanwhile, both Lavilla and Richards got by Reynolds, who now headed Harris.

Even in the opening stages Kiyonari and Rutter were stretching out a lead, leaving the action to take place in the following bunch. With the Ducatis obviously on song, Haslam overtook Rea, and Lavilla passed Laverty at the hairpin. Meanwhile Haydon’s promising run ended early when he crashed out of fourth.

Thomas was looking good in P3, especially when he responded to a Haslam pass, at turn one, by riding back through in the tricky following section. However, Leon made his move stick when he overtook into the hairpin, leaving the Australian rider to deal with Rea and Lavilla. The Spaniard was optimisitic at best with a move at the hairpin on the pair ahead, running wide, and so it was 18-year-old Rea who first got the better of Thomas.

Jonathan pushed through inside Dean at a right-hander in the tighter section of the track, and the Kawasaki was forced wide. Thomas lost out to both Lavilla and Laverty as a result, and would later fade backwards as Richards, Reynolds, Harris and Gary Mason in turn came towards him. Meanwhile, Haslam’s challenger for third place changed as Rea slid out losing the front end, and Lavilla passed his team-mate at the hairpin. Laverty followed on by taking Leon at turn one.

The five-way group was looking like breaking up as Lavilla made a break for it, but Laverty went with him, and overtook at turn one - to move into a clear and deserved third place. Haslam had his hands full with Richards and Reynolds, and Glen made an attack at the hairpin. The result was that Reynolds passed the Kawasaki, only for Richards to recover the place at turn one.

By the closing stages Kiyonari had pulled a decent lead over Rutter, and it finished up at twelve seconds by the flag. Laverty took a clear third, but behind him they were still racing closely. Richards showed a good turn of speed as he passed Haslam at turn one, and was also able to get Lavilla when the Spaniard left the door open for him at the hairpin. The finish saw Richards lead Haslam and Lavilla over the line, with Reynolds seventh, from Harris, Mason (up from P12), Thomas, Buckingham, Smart, Palmer, Wilson and Tommy Hill (despite sliding out at the hairpin when tenth).

© Raceline Photography

Race two saw ‘Kiyo’ straight into the lead yet again, but this time Haslam briefly held second before Rutter took over. They led Thomas, Reynolds, Richards, Laverty, Rea, Lavilla, Kieran Clarke, Haydon, Harris, Hill, Mason and Palmer. The shuffle through the opening corners involved Rea getting ahead of Laverty, with Richards finding himself pushed behind the two young Northern Irishmen.

Whilst the leading pair already began to make good their escape, Reynolds went inside Thomas for the hairpin but took himself wide. His second attempt worked out, and he began to chase down third man Haslam, as Laverty sat a little ahead of Rea, Richards and Lavilla. As we’ve seen more than a few times, Gregorio was on a mission to move through from his start position, and he soon had his sights set on Thomas, with Rea and Richards already behind. Lavilla passed the Hawk rider, and started to catch Laverty for fifth.

The Spaniard’s move came at the hairpin, and before long he had added Reynolds’ scalp and dragged the two of them up to team-mate Haslam. Laverty got the best of Reynolds through a group of backmarkers, with Lavilla going on to attack Haslam at the hairpin and get the place on the exit. From there the field began to spread out.

Kiyonari had taken longer to drop Rutter, but ran out the winner by the reduced margin of seven seconds. Lavilla had emerged in a secure third, making up for his earlier disappointment, whilst Haslam lost fourth to Laverty in the closing stages, with Reynolds on his own in sixth. Richards, Haydon, Rea, Thomas, Harris, Hill, Mason, Clarke and Palmer took the other points finishes, with Smart in P16.

With eight race victories from ten finishes, Ryuichi Kiyonari had moved ahead of Gregorio Lavilla at Knockhill, and begun to gnaw into Michael Rutter’s series advantage. The experienced midlander was not happy to have finished second to his team-mate for the fifth and sixth times, but was relatively satisified that his consistency had kept his lead at 43 points. With John Reynolds and James Haydon up with the fast men, the meeting marked a bit of a turning point for the Rizla Suzuki team, and they will now be looking to end the sixteen race winless streak. But man of the meeting was surely Michael Laverty, with a third and fourth marking his arrival amongst the big boys.

Standings after fourteen races: Rutter 275; Kiyonari 232; Lavilla 216; Richards 160; Haslam 152; Harris 115; Thomas 97; M Laverty 93; Mason 82; Emmett 79; Smart 72; Plater 44; Haydon 43; Reynolds 39.

To buy the photographs shown above, visit Raceline Photography

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