HARRIS REIGNS IN DOWNPOUR
20 June 2004 - Honda Racing

HM Plant Honda Racing’s Karl Harris reigned supreme in atrocious conditions throughout the seventh round of the British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch.

The current British Supersport Champion took another step towards successfully defending his title by beating fellow Honda rider Jay Vincent and Pere Riba over 17 challenging laps at the 2.6-mile Grand Prix circuit.

Third into the first corner, Harris made a confident move on Riba and early leader Vincent at Hawthorn Bend midway through the first lap. The familiar number one plate on the black and orange CBR600RR wasn’t headed from that decisive moment. The 24-year-old Yorkshireman was in superb form, building up a comfortable advantage over the remainder of the Supersport field to extend his lead at the top of the championship to 20 points over Michael Laverty.

Harris’ Red Bull Rookies Honda team-mate Jonathan Rea rode with remarkable maturity to take an impressive eighth position. The 17-year-old Ulsterman used his schoolboy motocross experience to good effect on a soaking track to take his second best finish of the season in eighth. He made steady progress through the race from a lowly 16th at the end of the first lap and now moves up to 11th position in the points table as a reward for his skill and determination.

Karl Harris: “The Brands Hatch GP circuit is my favourite track, so I’m over the moon to have won here for the first time with HM Plant Honda Racing. The CBR600RR was the ideal machine for the conditions and the Dunlop tyres worked perfectly – that made my job easier than it looked. The rain actually worked in my favour as I have been able to extend my lead in the championship. The team has worked really well with me all weekend and they were able to react positively when the rain came on before the race, so I owe a big thank you to them all.”

Jonathan Rea: “I was quietly confident before the start of the race because I enjoy riding in the wet. However, I made it difficult for myself again after the first lap. After that I just kept my head down, worked hard and picked off the riders in front of me right up to the chequered flag. Overall, I’m happy to have secured my second consecutive top ten result of the year and to have progressed up the points table at the same time.”

Result: 1. K. Harris (HM Plant Honda Racing) 28:47.398; 2. J. Vincent (Honda) +2.120; 3. P. Riba (Kawasaki) +2.628; 4. M. Llewellyn (Ducati) +7.907; 5. S. Andrews (Yamaha) +8.536; 6. D. Beaumont (Honda) +13.586; 7. M. Laverty (Ducati) +23.882; 8. J. Rea (Red Bull Rookies Honda) +37.535; 9. M. Buckles (Yamaha) +38.052; 10. L. Jackson (Honda) +38.395

Points after round seven: 1. Harris – 136; 2. Laverty – 116; 3. Vincent – 97; 4. Riba – 88; 5. Andrews – 76; 6. Quigley – 65; 7. Camier – 49; 8. Jones – 41; 9. Sykes – 36; 10. C. Crutchlow – 32; 11=. Rea, Murphy – 26

www.honda-racing.co.uk

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