“I only got four laps in Sunday’s session. On Friday I was second and well inside the existing lap record,” explained the Woodhall Spa rider. “But I was unable to match that time in final qualifying. Although it was a little bit cooler today that didn’t really affect the times. I had no big issues but after a couple of laps it started spitting with rain so I came in for a while, changed the tyre and went back out, but I couldn’t improve on my time and had to settle for fifth. But that’s no big deal for me because I was running well inside the existing lap record so I know my race pace is good. I will need a good start as there is a lot of competition out there and any one of 10 of us could be on the top step after the race.”

As Monday’s race got underway Plater played the waiting game and settled into eighth place, biding his time before beginning his move forward. By lap two he was up to sixth and stalking Ian Hutchinson, snatching fifth at Druids and then moving past Cooper at Lodge a few seconds later.

On lap six he repeated the move at Lodge, moving into fifth place ahead of Howie Mainwaring before lining up Tristan Palmer who he passed at Hilltop one lap later.

By this time race leader Jon Kirkham had got away and Plater got his head down in an effort to make inroads towards him and the race lead. But Palmer hadn’t given up the chance of second place and stuck with Plater, the pair exchanging places on more than one occasion.

But Plater wasn’t having it and shook off Palmer on lap 13 to accelerate away to chase Kirkham. On the final lap Plater was just a second adrift of the lead and when they arrived at Lodge Corner for the last time he was within touching distance. Smelling the victory, Plater pulled out all the stops on the drag to the flag but was just pipped to the post as Kirkham held on to cross the finish line just two tenths of a second ahead to take the win.

“The most important thing is that I have extended my championship lead,” said Plater. “After qualifying I realised I wasn’t going to get away at the front so just basically used my head and stayed out of trouble. I was quite comfy at the pace I was running at but had to push quite hard in places to make my move early on. I am happy enough with the result as I didn’t expect to come away with second place as easily as that to be honest. Maybe if we had another lap I could have done a bit more but I have extended my championship lead to 19 points so I have to be happy with that.”

The next round is on home tarmac at Plater’s local circuit of Cadwell Park on May where he will be hoping to continue to step onto the podium and add to his points tally to further extend his series lead.

Prior to Cadwell, Plater travels to Northern Ireland where he will once again contest the North West 200 races on May 15. This year he is riding in five races, two Superbike, two Supersport and the Superstock events.