TOP FOUR FOR HARRIS
21 August 2005 - Honda Racing

Honda-Racing.co.uk’s Karl Harris achieved his best finish since Mondello Park in May at the ninth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship today.

The Yorkshireman’s steely performance in race one at Silverstone earned him fourth position at the chequered flag followed by ninth place in race two.

The 25-year-old had a less than promising start to the day at the 2.213-mile International Circuit. Starting from 15th position, he powered the Dunlop/BLD-backed CBR1000RR Fireblade into 11th on the opening lap. He remained there until the start of lap five when an incident involving Michael Laverty and Ben Bostrom at Copse also saw Harris in the gravel.

A red flag, with positions taken from the running order at the time of the crash for the restarted 19-lap race, allowed the Sheffield rider to move up the grid to 11th place. Another strong start saw Harris move into ninth by the end of lap one. He continued to pick off his opponents, taking advantage of a James Haydon mistake on lap six for seventh place.

By lap 16, Harris was again challenging his rivals, first passing Dean Thomas to move up to sixth position. The Honda-Racing.co.uk rider remained there until a dramatic penultimate lap saw him pass Glen Richards. He crossed the line in fourth, proving a return to form for the back-to-back British Supersport Champion.

Race two was less eventful for Harris. A poor start from row three saw the Yorkshireman drop to 15th position aboard the Dunlop/BLD-backed machine. The opening lap appearance of the safety car, followed by a red flag on lap two, relegated Harris back to row four for the 16-lap restart.

However, this enabled the determined rider to get a better start on the Honda-Racing.co.uk Fireblade. He moved into tenth position and remained there until he gained a place on lap three when John Reynolds crashed out. Harris maintained station until he reached the chequered flag in ninth for further points towards his top six position overall.

Karl Harris: “It’s been quite a good day for me overall in terms of the championship. I was much more relaxed ahead of today’s races and that has helped me to find my form again. The development work that we have done with the Honda-Racing.co.uk machine over the past six weeks has paid off and I’m hoping to build on this at Cadwell Park next weekend.”

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

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

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

www.honda-racing.co.uk

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