Rea eighth while Laverty falls.

Red Bull Honda rider Jonathan Rea battled to a strong eighth place finish aboard his Honda CBR1000RR in the second race of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Mallory Park after an unfortunate crash in race one.

The 19-year-old Louth-based rider got a bad start to the second race of the day but managed to hold eighth position for the duration of the 28-lap race aboard his Dunlop-shod machine, despite feeling sore from the incident in race one.

Rea took full advantage of his front row start position in race one and got a fantastic start to hold second place for much of the race from fellow Honda Racing rider Ryuichi Kiyonari, before coming under pressure from Leon Haslam. However Rea kept the door firmly closed until Haslam eventually got the better of him; passing him on the entrance to Edwina's on lap nineteen and demoting him to third.

Unfortunately Rea's race came to a premature end two laps later when he slid off at the Bus Stop and was unable to re-start. Despite his misfortune Rea maintains his sixth place in the overall Championship standings as he goes into the next round at Snetterton in two weeks time.

"I'm just really disappointed for the whole team. We had our work done being on the front row and the first race was, unfortunately, a culmination of me making a mistake and pushing too hard," said a disappointed Rea, "I got a bad start in the second race and was eighth and made some silly mistakes - I think I was out of my rhythm. Roll on Snetterton."

Havier Beltran, Red Bull Honda team manager said "I felt Jonathan pushed a bit too hard in the first few laps of the first race and made some mistakes and got a bit frustrated. I'm pleased he finished the second race and just earned more valuable points at the end of the day.
Rea's team-mate, Eugene Laverty lost out on a possible third consecutive win when he was involved in a high drama last lap collision with a back marker. Laverty, who had taken the holeshot aboard the Honda CBR600RR, established his superiority at the head of the field and entertained the crowd with his racing prowess as he tightly defended the line from his nearest Championship rival Cal Crutchlow.

The titanic battle drew to a close when Crutchlow finally passed the Red Bull rider at the hairpin. However, the 20-year-old was undeterred and fought back aboard the Dunlop-shod machine as he made his way through the back markers in the final stages.

Unfortunately Laverty's race was brought to a dramatic close at the approach to Edwina's chicane with an incident with a back marker, resulting in the Irishman crashing out. Fortunately Laverty was uninjured despite his spectacular exit. He now lies in second position in the Championship.

"I made a break for it early on but I could have done with a bit more grip and fell back into the clutches of Cal. I backed it off a bit and Cal came past me so I followed him to see where he was weaker. I wasn't close enough to try to pass him so I just followed and was planning to pass him at the hairpin, but I didn't get that far," explained Laverty, "Cal went past a back marker making him lift out of the way but he came back into me not realising that I was that close behind, my front brake hit him and we both went down. It was no-one's fault. I'm looking forward to Snetterton now which I think is my strongest circuit."

Havier Beltran commented, "It's just unfortunate when you get caught up with back markers and this time Eugene came off worst. We know he's got the right race pace and the right set-up, so he should be strong at Snetterton."