In the opening race Shane 'Shakey' Byrne was running third before a safety car period and when the race resumed he moved through to eighth at Brundle on John Hopkins. He retook the position and Shakey then held a strong third place. Kiyo meanwhile took a fifth place finish, setting the fastest lap to put him on pole position for race two.
The second race was another frantic tussle as Kiyo got a flying start from the pole position to move second on the opening lap as Shakey tucked in to fourth before the red flag on lap eight. On the restart Shakey was third and Kiyo fourth by the end of the first lap with Shakey moving second ahead of Josh Brookes before closing in on race leader John Hopkins on the penultimate lap. Shakey pulled an impressive tight line through Coram to take the lead, but on the final lap Hopkins tried to pass into Oggies with the pair colliding and when Shakey rejoined the track he was relegated to fourth. Reigning champion Kiyo was third on the final lap after he had also moved ahead of Brookes on the sixth lap and when Shakey and Hopkins collided he stormed into the lead to take his first win since Oulton Park earlier this season.
| Shakey and Kiyo - a good weekend |
Byrne said: "In the beginning of the first race I was feeling really comfortable and was in touch with John (Hopkins) and Tommy (Hill). It was the first time I had done a long race run though and I was struggling with tyre longevity over the final laps. They were ahead and after the safety car I thought that it was better to take third and a Podium Credit than ending on the floor with a crash! The team has been working hard and in race two the boys had done such a great job to improve the HM Plant Honda Fireblade; by the restart I felt we had the pace to challenge for the win. It has taken us longer than expected to get up to the pace we needed this weekend and the HM Plant Honda Fireblade was feeling fantastic. The race had been pretty hectic and I had got in front of Hopper the lap before and I was obviously disappointed to be taken out. He has since apologised but I was a bit gutted really as I thought I could have won that second race for HM Plant Honda. We will have to try and get that win at Oulton Park now!"
| Shane 'Shakey' Byrne - Championship leader |
Kiyonari said: "In race one I was feeling more confident but knew we had to find something extra for race two. I am of course happy for the win in race two and I was lucky as I could have been third rather than first. I found it very difficult to pass Josh Brookes and then I tried to catch the leading group and I think with more laps maybe I could have. I am sorry for Shakey and John but we needed the win here for our championship especially after some bad results. Our hard work has finally paid off and my confidence is high so now I look forward to Oulton Park."
| Kiyo- found form at Snetterton |
Team Manager Havier Beltran concluded: “Overall it has been another good weekend for the HM Plant Honda team. Shakey had another strong finish in race one to take a podium and we were obviously disappointed that he didn’t take the win in race two as it looked like he could have won the second race. We are happy for Kiyo though as the win in race two will be a big boost to him and his confidence after the last couple of rounds. We are happy that Shakey still leads the championship and Kiyo is now fourth in the standings and are looking forward to the next round at Oulton Park.”
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