The first race was shortened from 22 to 19 laps when a red flag halted the initial proceedings. With the positions for the restart allocated to the running order at that time, Rea was relegated to 18th place on the grid.

The hard charging Ballyclare teenager was back up to 16th at the end of lap one, before settling down into a race-long battle with fellow Honda rider Steve Plater. The close formation CBR1000RR Fireblades crossed the finishing line in 11th and 12th positions respectively, with the Red Bull Honda rider just losing out to his more experienced adversary.

It was a similar story in race two – another restart and a shortened 16-lap event, as Rea battled with Plater once again. However, on this occasion there was a different outcome as Plater crashed out at mid-distance. That helped Rea take his second points-scoring ride of the day on the Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

Jonathan Rea: “I’ve had to work hard today under the most challenging of conditions. With all the red flags and restarts, I’m happy to have taken two top 12 results. After the frustration of missing the second qualifying session yesterday, I needed to pull out two results today. Thanks to the hard work of the Red Bull Honda team, I’ve managed to do just that!”

Race one: 1. G. Lavilla (Ducati) 27:50.122; 2. L. Haslam (Ducati) +3.160; 3. J. Reynolds (Suzuki) +10.104; 4. K. Harris (Honda-Racing.co.uk) +11.904; 5. G. Richards (Kawasaki) +11.935; 6. D. Thomas (Kawasaki) +12.079; 7. G. Mason (Honda) +16.233; 8. R. Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda Racing) +18.762; 9. T. Hill (Yamaha) +20.570; 10. J. Haydon (Suzuki) +23.524; 12. J. Rea (Red Bull Honda) +27.697

Fastest lap: 1:26.870 – Kiyonari (lap 4, new lap record)

Race two: 1. R. Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda Racing) 23:15.938; 2. G. Lavilla (Ducati) +1.490; 3. L. Haslam (Ducati) +7.420; 4. M. Rutter (HM Plant Honda Racing) +8.139; 5. G. Richards (Kawasaki) +15.189; 6. D. Thomas (Kawasaki) +15.342; 7. G. Mason (Honda) +16.070; 8. J. Haydon (Suzuki) +17.949; 9. K. Harris (Honda-Racing.co.uk) +17.968; 10. T. Hill (Yamaha) +28.067; 11. J. Rea (Red Bull Honda) +32.950

Fastest lap: 1:26.681 – Lavilla (lap 6, new lap record)

Championship points: 1. Rutter – 316; 2. Kiyonari – 290; 3. Lavilla – 286; 4. Haslam – 208; 5. Richards – 182; 6. Harris – 145; 7. Thomas – 129; 8. Mason – 116; 9. Laverty – 113; 10. Reynolds – 84; 16. Rea – 47







Luckless Laverty


The luck of the Irish deserted Eugene Laverty at the ninth round of the Metabo British Supersport Championship at Silverstone. After qualifying in pole position, the 19-year-old Ulsterman crashed out of contention at the exit of Ireland on the opening lap of the restarted race.



Laverty’s front row position was negated after a poor start to the original race. Eighth at the end of the first lap, the Red Bull Honda CBR600RR was up to sixth position when the red flag was shown on lap six.



A long delay ensued while the hard working team of marshals attended to the reason why the race had been stopped – an oil spill on the straight between Ireland and Abbey. His second row position for the restart failed to change his fortunes as he highsided out of the shortened 12-lap race.



Pere Riba took his first victory in the series by a fraction of a second from the Honda CBR600RRs of Craig Jones and Cal Crutchlow. Leon Camier brought his CBR600RR home in fourth position and now leads the 13-round series by 16 points from Jones.



Eugene Laverty: “You could say it’s been a bit of a mixed weekend for me. After the joy of taking pole yesterday, I’ve been brought down to earth again. It was quite a big crash, with the back end of the Red Bull Honda coming right round before it spat me off. Fortunately, I’m feeling OK and will be back on the grid next weekend at Cadwell Park.”



Race result: 1. P. Riba (Kawasaki) 18:06.455; 2. C. Jones (Honda) +0.164; 3. C. Crutchlow (Honda) +0.430; 4. L. Camier (Honda) +1.092; 5. J. Robinson (Honda) +1.245; 6. S. Easton (Ducati) +6.181; 7. J. da Costa (Suzuki) +12.748; 8. S. Andrews (Suzuki) +14.000; 9. R. Frost (Honda) +14.535; 10. J. Vincent (Honda) +14.771; DNF – E. Laverty

Fastest lap: 1:29.515 – Riba (lap 6)

Championship points: 1. Camier – 146; 2. Jones – 130; 3. Easton – 115; 4. Riba – 108; 5. Crutchlow – 95; 6. Sykes – 90; 7. Robinson – 84; 8. Vincent – 57; 9. Murphy – 50; 10. Laverty – 48





Jones closes the gap


Red Bull Honda’s Chris Jones continued to show a rich vein of form as he took an impressive second position at the Silverstone International Circuit. It was the 14-year-old rookie’s fifth podium finish after nine rounds of the Honda-dominated British 125GP Championship.



Jones blasted into an early lead, taking full advantage of his front row starting position. He maintained what looked like a winning position until the penultimate lap when he was passed at Bridge by the new lap record holder and eventual race winner James Westmoreland.



The Red Bull Honda RS125 was down to third at the very next corner (Priory) after Kev Coghlan slipped through under braking. However, Jones showed his growing maturity as he responded magnificently on the 12th and final lap by retaking second on the approach to Abbey.



Jones has now closed the gap on championship leader Christian Elkin to 21 points. The series goes to Red Bull Honda’s home event at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire next weekend for what should be a fascinating British 125GP race on Bank Holiday Monday.



Chris Jones: “That was a good race for me and Red Bull Honda. I was feeling good out in front until Westmoreland made his move. That unsettled me and Guiver took advantage on the way into the next corner.



“However, I got myself together again on the last lap and forced him wide under braking at the end of the back straight. I’m really pleased with this result as it has closed the gap at the top of the championship points table.”



Race result: 1. J. Westmoreland (Honda) 18:54.020; 2. C. Jones (Red Bull Honda) +0.765; 3. K. Coghlan (Honda) +1.097; 4. B. Smith (Honda) +1.266; 5. B. Clark (Honda) +2.089; 6. R. Guiver (Honda) +2.994; 7. C. Elkin (Honda) +6.602; 8. D. Linfoot (Honda) +13.901; 9. A. Beech (Honda) +14.175; 10. M. Wilcox (Honda) +23.436



Fastest lap: Westmoreland – 1:32.917 (lap 12, new lap record)



Championship points: 1. Elkin – 130; 2. Guiver – 128; 3. Jones – 109; 4. Westmoreland – 107; 5. Linfoot – 97; 6. Coghlan – 86; 7. Clark – 78; 8. Beech – 67; 9. Wilcox – 54; 10. Smith – 48