Rizla one-two, Reynolds wins first race.

John Reynolds won the first race in the ninth round of the British Superbike championship at Mallory Park from Suzuki team mate Yukio Kagayama. Pole sitter Scott Smart finished in third in front of Honda rider Ryuichi Kiyonari.

18 Jul 2004

John Reynolds got a terrible start from third on the grid and was swallowed by the field. He battled back to take the lead from his flying team mate with only five laps to the end.

Kagayama got a great start from his ninth place and entered the first corner in fourth. He then battled to the front and led the race for most of the latter half. It was not to be Yuki-san's day as championship leader Reynolds took him.

The Japanese rider immediately tried to come back at the Nottingham based rider but Reynolds made sure there were no gaps for him to be passed with.

Pole man Smart led for the first few laps but fell back down to fourth, being taken by Yuki and Haydon on the same corner on lap 14. JR then slipped through to relegate Smart to fourth. However Smart was able to take back Haydon during the latter half of the race to finish a final third.

Haydon looked strong in the early stages, contesting Smart for third for much of the race. Towards the end he seemed to struggle coming out of corners with tank slappers, this allowed Kiyonari to slip through to take the fourth spot.

21-year-old Kiyonari is showing a great return to form following his broken collarbone sustained earlier in the season. It has taken Kiyonari a few meetings to get back on the pace but is now showing his best form yet this season.

Kiyonari's team mate, Rutter, needed to finish ahead of Reynolds to try and claw back some points on the championship leader. Rutter got an exemplary start and moved into second, from fourth on the grid, during the first lap.

However as the race progressed he was swallowed by the field due to rear tyre grip problems. Rutter seemed to have the wrong compound rear which saw him spinning up out of the slower corners on the track.

Rutter needs a good result this meeting in order to stay in contention for the championship. No doubt he will re-evaluate his rear tyre choice and will be able to run at the pace he demonstrated he could in the first part of the race.

'Young gun' Tommy Hill, who qualified in an excellent second position couldn't manage to keep up with the pace of the much more experienced Superbike riders.

He was relegated into fifth by the second lap and then continued to be passed until lap 18, where he was lying in seventh, where he dropped his Virgin Yamaha at the bus stop, luckily he was unhurt and will be competition in the second race.

Sean Emmett, who had a nightmare qualifying, managed to claw his way up the field to finish seventh. Emmett threatened to do a rain dance yesterday evening after qualifying on the fourth row due to set-up troubles. The London based rider managed to get things together for the race today and show the sort of form he is capable of.

Returning to racing after eleven weeks of absence due to a broken wrist, Steve Plater placed his Virgin Yamaha in eleventh place as he fights for fitness.

Race one top ten

1. John Reynolds Rizla Suzuki
2. Yukio Kagayama Rizla Suzuki
3. Scott Smart Hawk Kawasaki
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari HM Honda
5. James Haydon Virgin Yamaha
6. Michael Rutter HM Honda
7. Sean Emmett Monstermob Ducati
8. Dean Thomas Sendo Ducati
9. John McGuinness Hawk Kawasaki
10. Dennis Hobbs Hobbs Suzuki *