REA IN THE POINTS AT SILVERSTONE
21 August 2005 - Honda Racing

Jonathan Rea made a successful comeback to the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Silverstone.

The Red Bull Honda protégé finished the ninth round of the series in 12th and 11th positions respectively in front of thousands of sun-drenched spectators around the 2.2-mile International Circuit.

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

www.honda-racing.co.uk

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