Rutter: My luckiest race ever.

Thruxton circuit in Hampshire provided its usual mix of thrills and spills on Sunday, as HM Plant Honda Racing's Michael Rutter took a first race victory in dramatic fashion.

In a two-part race (due to an earlier crash) Rutter didn't make the best restart and had to fight his way through the pack from a track position of seventh.

Although running on combined times, Rutter had to pass Gary Mason and Glen Richards in the early stages to keep sight of championship rival John Reynolds in front of him. He did this on lap six but the 31-year-old Leicestershire rider was then caught napping on lap eight by ex-World Superbike rider Gregorio Lavilla, riding as a wildcard entrant at Thruxton.

Rutter regained his composure and set after pole sitter Dean Thomas, finally passing him with just two laps remaining. The HM Plant Honda Racing star then began to close down Lavilla and Reynolds, passing Reynolds on the penultimate lap and moving into a podium position on aggregate times.

However, in a dramatic twist of fate, leading rider Sean Emmett's premature victory celebrations almost caused him to crash, and in backing off to avoid a highside, he handed the win to Rutter, making it his third of the season.

Rutter's team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari had started from the fourth row of the grid on his first visit to the circuit. Despite a lack of track knowledge, the young Japanese rider managed to finish race one in 13th place on his debut outing.

"That was my luckiest race ever," reckoned Rutter. "I can't believe that I managed to win it. The HM Plant Honda Racing Fireblade felt really good throughout the race. There was a lot of overtaking going on in front of me and I thought that if I could just keep going things might go my way. I'm half way to achieving my objective of a double win at Thruxton but we've some work to do for the next race. I felt that I didn't have the edge that I needed to run at the front despite this fantastic result."

For team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari it wasn't quite as good a day. "I feel that I have made more progress than my finishing position suggests," said the Japanese rider. "I struggled with grip out there but it looked as if it was the same for all the riders. I still haven't managed to learn the track to my satisfaction but I'm now in a much better position than I was this morning having had the experience of a race under my belt. I rode with my heart and hope that I can finish higher in the second race."