Ryuichi Kiyonari and Josh Brookes powered their HM Plant Honda Fireblades to another double podium finish today, enabling Josh to take the championship lead at the sixth round of the British Superbike Championship at Knockhill, before the second race of the day was cancelled and rescheduled due to extreme wind and rain.

Josh had started from pole position to lead the race before it was red flagged on the opening lap when there was a torrential downpour. The race restarted and Kiyo had taken the lead but on the second lap, a crash involving Dan Linfoot and Chris Walker bought out a second red flag.

The race restarted for a third time and both HM Plant Honda riders got off to a flying start with Josh leading Kiyo at the front of the field on the opening lap. Kiyo passed Josh for the lead, before Michael Rutter stole the front runner position to win the race, but with a second and third place for Kiyo and Josh respectively they are now elevated to first and third in the overall championship standings.

The second race of the day was cancelled due to the conditions and will now take place on the Saturday of the Snetterton round on 16/17/18 July. The team has two weeks until the seventh round of the championship at Snetterton, but for Kiyo he flies back to Japan this week for two days of testing ahead of the Suzuka Eight Hour race at the end of the month.

Josh said:

“I am never happy with third, but a podium means that I now have the championship lead and that is what I am here for. The conditions out there were very similar to what we had at Oulton Park and I was having a bit of a problem with the stability; as the conditions were improving when I had the bike upright the tyre was spinning up and I couldn’t move forward as fast as I needed to. I had two good starts in the first race when it was restarted - I didn’t get the hole shot but I could make the passes without too much problem. In the third restart I was up there and then Kiyo and Michael passed and I was watching them but there wasn’t anything I could do. I could change direction and be hard on the brakes but I was losing time getting forward drive. I just suffered it and came home in third, which is important for the championship, as I knew I had a gap to fourth. It is disappointing to not have had a chance to try and win the second race, but the right decision was made and now I just want to get to Snetterton.”

Kiyo said:

“This morning in warm up was difficult, I wasn’t so happy with the wet setting and I was very far down the order which wasn’t good, especially after qualifying. I came in and out of the garage and the changes we made worked for the race. It was very difficult to keep the concentration out there with the race being stopped and restarted but it worked for me as we could make some changes to solve some other issues we were having and I was able to be at the front, but I still need to be faster. I am happy as it is important to be on the podium and I have also moved up to third in the standings now - it was disappointing to not get another chance in race two, but I was happy the race was cancelled as the conditions were bad. I am now ready for the test at Suzuka and also for Snetterton. That will be an important weekend with three races and I hope to be winning again there.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran said:

“It was another great weekend for the HM Plant Honda team here as for the first time this season Josh now leads the championship standings following his third place in the opening race, which is a real boost to the team. Likewise for Kiyo he has also moved up the order to third with his second place, so overall we are happy. We have had a few problems which we have been working through, partly due to the weather. I’d like to thank everyone involved with the event today, from the organisers to the circuit staff who have worked so hard to get some racing in today despite the incredibly adverse weather conditions.”