Samsung Honda Victorious at Brands Hatch

The Samsung Honda team took victory in the first race of the opening round of the 2012 British Superbike Championship season at Brands Hatch today as Jon Kirkham made a move on the final corner of the final lap to cross the line ahead of Alastair Seeley and clinch glory.

Happy to oblige- The Samsung Honda boys

Kirkham had a good start from the front row and was in the leading pack, before taking the lead on the sixth lap. He was challenged for the position as Seeley made a move into Druids, but Kirkham was preparing to make a move and on the final lap as they exited Clearways he got the opportunity to take the advantage to cross the line 0.136 seconds ahead. It was a disappointing opening race for Michael Laverty who after starting from the sixth row was determined to move up the order, however on the opening lap the conditions caught him out and he high-sided on the exit of Druids and was then sidelined for the remainder of the race.

The second Superbike race of the day was unfortunately postponed to due to track conditions.

In the Superstock 1000 Championship, Jason O'Halloran scored the Samsung Honda team their first Superstock podium of the season after securing a solid third place finish. Gary Johnson, making his race debut for the team, fought his way through the field to sixth at the finish.

Jon Kirkham: "First race and first win for Samsung Honda and I am ecstatic. I knew there would be a few incidents but I just kept my head down. The safety car mixed me up a bit but then Alastair Seeley nipped up the inside of me at Druids and got away a little bit. I started closing back in on him and tried to make a pass at Paddock Hill but it was sliding underneath me. I just knew I needed to stay as close as possible to Alastair and then he got a bit sideways out of Clearways and I just went for it!"

John Kirkham- top of the pile at the moment!

Michael Laverty: “It has been a nightmare day for me; this morning was the first time I had any wet practice on the Samsung Honda and we planned on making some changes for the first race and I felt more comfortable even on the warm up laps. I just pushed as I knew I needed to make up some places early on and I just pushed too hard out of Druids and the bike bit me. This wasn’t the start I obviously wanted to the season but we will be looking to turn it around this weekend at Thruxton.”

M-Lav: not his favorite outing at Brands..

Jason O’Halloran: “It is fantastic to take a podium first time out on the Samsung Honda. The conditions were tough so I took it steady at the start and just took a bit too long to get going. The Honda felt good in those conditions though, and we have made some big steps forward again this weekend. I need to thank the team and my sponsors for their efforts in making this happen.”

Gary Johnson: “I had a disappointing qualifying session but I pushed hard to come through the field as I was on the back foot compared to some of the other riders where I have had less testing. I didn’t make the best start though and was caught out with some other people’s crashes but after seeing what happened to Michael my main concern was to have a points scoring finish.”

Team Manager, Havier Beltran: “It was fantastic for Jon to give the Samsung Honda team a victory in the first race of the season. He has gelled well with the team and he rode a controlled race and knew where he would have a chance to pass Seeley, and when he did he was able to make it happen. For Michael it went wrong in qualifying and that gave him a lot of work for the race and unfortunately he got caught out, like many others, in the conditions. It was also great to be on the podium with Jason in Superstock and for Gary to have a strong finish.”

For more information on Samsung Honda Racing please visit: www.honda-racing.co.uk

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