The Swan Yamaha team got their season off to a flying start at Brands Hatch for the opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship as Tommy Hill took a first and second place to lead the standings ahead of Oulton Park.

The opening race of the day ended in dramatic fashion for Michael Laverty as he suffered a highside whilst leading the race at Clark Curve, which caused Hill to take evasive action and drop down the order to eleventh. Hill then fought back and a determined performance saw him finish second.

In the second race of the day Hill took a sensational victory at his home round after holding off the challenges of race one winner Shane Byrne and defending champion Ryuichi Kiyonari. Laverty meanwhile recovered from his race one crash to finish in a solid fourth place.


Hill:

"It has been a long four days as it has been the most I have ridden for a while! Last week I was concerned about my elbow and I had a lot of treatment throughout the week to be ready which has paid off. It is fantastic to be leading the championship but it is only round one and it is early days still. The bike has been working well and we couldn't have asked for a better start today. We are now looking forward to Oulton Park and getting the bike to work around what is a completely different track. Hopefully we can get there and come away with a very similar result."

Laverty said:

"Today has been a bit of a tough one for me. I am feeling a little bit sore, but I was able to walk away from a really big crash in the first race and that is the main thing but the team worked hard to get the bike back together for the second race. It was a shame to crash out as I felt quite good and I was feeling confident for the win. It was a big crash; the tyre just spun and I didn't have time to save it. I did get clipped by Tommy but I was so lucky that both him and Shakey were able to miss me. In the second race I felt ok and set the fastest lap but then there were a few places where the front was folding and I didn't want to crash again. We have a few days now before Oulton Park and I want to come out there and get back on the podium."

Swan Yamaha team owner Shaun Muir concluded:

"What a start to the season for the Swan Yamaha team. We had a long winter and the hard work has paid off and we are delighted to be leading the championship after Tommy's performance today. Michael was unlucky in the first race but he showed his potential despite that to challenge for the podium in race two. We are now really looking forward to next weekend at Oulton Park and hopefully we can be back on the top step of the podium again."