Vitrans Honda dampened in Knockhill lottery.

Team Vitrans Honda riders Dean Thomas and Michael Laverty finished in ninth and 13th place respectively in Sunday's fifth round British Supersport championship encounter at Knockhill as varying weather conditions played havoc with their Pirelli tyre choice.

The race was won by Honda's Karl Harris and, having qualified on the front row for the 28-lap race around Scotland's 1.3-mile circuit, Laverty opted for full wet weather tyres.

However, a dry racing line quickly appeared and the rain held off, causing problems for Laverty, Thomas and others. "It rained in every other race," said Laverty afterwards, "and because the Supersport was declared wet, we made the choice to go with full wets."

Thomas, who finished second at Oulton Park in his race debut for Vitrans Honda two weeks ago, was philosophical, saying: "It sometimes goes like that in racing, especially at Knockhill! You guess on the weather and pay the price if it goes wrong.

"But this is a well-organised team with a great package in Ten Kate bikes and Pirelli tyres," continued the Australian, "so I've got no worries."

The team now heads to Assen for this weekend's Dutch Supersport championship race and then on to Oschersleben in Germany where Laverty and Thomas plan to compete as wildcards in the next round of the World Supersport championship on 1 June.