He returned to third position on the grid for the restarted race and again looked strong. The 19-year-old moved into second position before once again seizing the lead on lap two. He was engaged in a dice for first position with fellow Honda rider Craig Jones until he made a superb overtaking manoeuvre on lap nine.



The Toomebridge teenager looked comfortable at the front of the field, but misfortune struck at the end of the same lap in an eventful race, which was won by Padgetts Honda rider Leon Camier. An electrical problem slowed the Red Bull Honda, however Laverty refused to give in and battled on against the odds. He was forced to settle for an eventual ninth position at the chequered flag.



Eugene Laverty: “I’m obviously frustrated at the outcome, but at the same time today’s race was relatively positive. I couldn’t believe it when I was running so comfortably at the front of the field only for the gremlins to strike.



“Initially, the Red Bull Honda CBR600RR was so fast, it’s just a shame that I wasn’t able to maintain a leading position. I had felt confident that I may secure my first podium position of the season this weekend but I can now look forward to hopefully achieving that aim at Silverstone.”



Race result: 1. L. Camier (Honda) 21:59.766; 2. P. Riba (Kawasaki) +0.188; 3. C. Crutchlow (Honda) +5.202; 4. J. Robinson (Honda) +5.364; 5. R. Frost (Honda) +10.905; 6. T. Tunstall (Honda) +18.428; 7. S. Owens (Honda) +22.525; 8. M. Llewellyn (Honda) +22.860; 9. E. Laverty (Red Bull Honda) +30.488; 10. M. Jessopp (Ducati) +32.662

Fastest lap: 1:08.588 – Easton (lap 8, new lap record)

Championship points: 1. Camier – 133; 2. Jones – 110; 3. Easton – 105; 4. Sykes – 90; 5. Riba – 83; 6. Crutchlow – 79; 7. Robinson – 73; 8. Vincent – 51; 9. Murphy – 50; 10. Laverty – 48



Rookie rules at Snetterton


Chris Jones has secured his second victory in the 2005 British 125GP Championship at Snetterton today. The Red Bull Honda rookie rode a consistent race throughout the 18 laps at the 1.952-mile Norfolk track.



Jones celebrated his race win by standing on the foot pegs of the Honda RS125 as he passed the chequered flag. It was the third consecutive podium finish for the 14-year-old, which netted 25 points for Jones and elevates him to joint third position in the championship overall.



The young Droitwich star got a strong start to the race from second position on the grid and spent the early laps dicing with Kev Coghlan and Ashley Beech for the lead. Jones did well to stay aboard the Red Bull Honda when Coghlan crashed just ahead of him on lap six, which allowed Beech to pull out a substantial lead.



The talented teenager set about chasing the race leader and brought him under increasing pressure on laps 14 to 16. Jones set the best lap of the race with a time of 1:13.794 on lap 15, just two laps before Beech crashed out of contention. This left it to the Red Bull Honda rider to bring the machine home for another victory.



Chris Jones: “I was constantly battling throughout the race, but I knew that it would be tight from the word go. We initially struggled to get the best set-up during practice, but everything just seemed to click in second qualifying.



“In the race, I saw that I was catching Ashley (Beech) and he was feeling the pressure because he was looking behind a lot. When he came off, I thought just take it home for victory again. It’s a long wait now until Silverstone next month, but I’m hoping to fit in some more testing before then.”



Race result: 1. C. Jones (Red Bull Honda) 22:28.057; 2. R. Guiver (Honda) +8.795; 3. J. Westmoreland (Honda) +15.325; 4. C. Elkin (Honda) +16.108; 5. B. Clark (Honda) +16.773; 6. M. Wilcox (Honda) +17.097; 7. J. Pearson (Honda) +17.572; 8. W. Dunlop (Honda) +23.685; 9. J. Ford (Honda) +23.731; 10. N. Pallett (Honda) +26.267



Fastest lap: Jones – 1:13.794 (lap 15)



Championship points: 1. Elkin – 121; 2. Guiver – 118; 3=. Linfoot, Jones – 89; 5. Westmoreland – 82; 6. Coghlan – 70; 7. Clark – 67; 8. Beech – 60; 9. Wilcox – 48; 10. Weston – 42