HARRIS FINDS FORM ON HOME GROUND
29 August 2005 - Honda Racing

Karl Harris scored his best results since round four of the 2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park today.

The Honda-Racing.co.uk rider put in two strong performances at the 2.18-mile Lincolnshire track and re-established himself as a frontrunner in the ultra-competitive series.

Harris passed the chequered flag in fourth and fifth positions respectively aboard the Dunlop/BLD-backed CBR1000RR Fireblade to consolidate his top six position in the championship overall. An exciting day’s racing at the Louth-based team’s local circuit saw the Sheffield rider dicing for a leading position from the early stages of both races.

Race one saw Harris get away from the front row of the grid into fifth position. He retained his place until lap 13, but was unable to make any progress, as he struggled to find a way past Glen Richards. The Yorkshireman decided to make a move on his rival on lap 13, but a mistake saw him run onto the grass before rejoining the race in sixth.

However, a dramatic last lap incident between team-mates Leon Haslam and Gregorio Lavilla enabled Harris to pick up two further places before crossing the line in fourth position.

Harris made another good start to race two and moved into sixth position on the track from fourth on the grid. Once again, the Dunlop/BLD-backed Honda-Racing.co.uk machine was behind Richards for the majority of the race. However, on lap 11, the 25-year-old lost further ground to HM Plant Honda Racing’s Ryuichi Kiyonari, who was on a charge through the field.

Undeterred, the Honda-Racing.co.uk rider soon regained his place on the following circuit and by lap 16 he felt ready to make a pass on Richards. Though unable to make it stick the first time round, Harris persevered and made another, more successful attempt on the penultimate lap. He remained in fifth position for a crowd-pleasing final result.

Karl Harris: “It feels good to be racing again and in the mix with the frontrunners. I felt that I should have won race one – or at least have been on the podium – but I was held up for too long. I changed bikes for race two in an attempt to gain some extra power, but I now think that may have been a mistake.

“I felt that the Honda-Racing.co.uk machine that I rode in race one still had the edge, which made race two a bit more of a struggle. I’m happy with the progress that we have made this weekend though and I hope to build on that at the next round at Oulton Park where I have already finished two races on the podium earlier this year.”

Race one: 1. T. Hill (Yamaha) 27:41.871; 2. G. Lavilla (Ducati) +4.180; 3. G. Richards (Kawasaki) +4.607; 4. K. Harris (Honda-Racing.co.uk) +5.045; 5. R. Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda Racing) +5.311; 6. L. Haslam (Ducati) +7.498; 7. J. Haydon (Suzuki) +13.062; 8. M. Rutter (HM Plant Honda Racing) +13.765; 9. D. Thomas (Kawasaki) +13.974; 10. J. Buckingham (Suzuki) +14.625

Fastest lap: 1:28.409 – Kiyonari (lap 17, new lap record)

Race two: 1. L. Haslam (Ducati) 26:41.146; 2. G. Lavilla (Ducati) +0.444; 3. R. Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda Racing) +9.839; 4. T. Hill (Yamaha) +10.751; 5. K. Harris (Honda-Racing.co.uk) +15.894; 6. J. Haydon (Suzuki) +16.284; 7. D. Thomas (Kawasaki) +16.460; 8. J. Reynolds (Suzuki) +24.476; 9. S. Plater (Honda) +28.365; 10. G. Mason (Honda) +30.347

Fastest lap: 1:28.098 – Lavilla (lap 7, new lap record)

Championship points: 1. Lavilla – 326; 2. Rutter – 324; 3. Kiyonari – 317; 4. Haslam – 243; 5. Richards – 199; 6. Harris – 169; 7. Thomas – 145; 8. Mason – 127; 9. Laverty – 113; 10. Reynolds – 96

www.honda-racing.co.uk

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