Damon Rees in action during the fifth round of the British Superbike Championships. Photo / Michael Wincott
Damon Rees in action during the fifth round of the British Superbike Championships. Photo / Michael Wincott
Whakatāne's Damon Rees returned to Donington Park, a circuit that he has previously had success at, for round five of the British Superbike Championship at the weekend.
The opening two National Superstock 1000 free practice sessions got underway on Friday in perfect conditions.
Rees set a lap time of 1m7.783s on board his Ashcourt Racing BMW 1000rr, only 0.487s off the quickest time set by Kawasaki's Luke Mossey.
Saturday's qualifying took place around the 3km circuit in cloudy conditions.
Rees improved his lap time from free practice by 0.080s which qualified him for the opening race of the weekend in 10th place, just 0.580s off the pole position.
Rees got a good start and had passed several riders before turn one. Unfortunately, drama unfolded in front of him, when a rider crashed on the exit of the opening turn.
Rees took evasive action and dropped to 22nd. The drama continued at the end of the opening lap as he overshot the last chicane, which dropped him back to 33rd.
By mid-race, a dry line had formed around the circuit. This allowed Rees to lap faster than the riders in front of him. He made up places each lap and finished the opening race of the weekend in 19th.
Richardson finished 13th and claimed his first championship points of the season.
The race winner was Mossey, riding for Bournemouth Kawasaki 1.794s ahead of Neave in second, and RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki's Lewis Rollo in third.
The grid places for the second 20-lap race of the weekend were determined by the rider's fastest lap in the opening race.
Rees started race two in 17th place, he got a good start and had managed to hold on to his starting position by the end of the opening lap. By lap 12, he had passed Tom Ward and Brayden Elliott and had progressed to 14th place, 0.663s behind Luke Stapleford in 12th.
With two laps remaining he had moved up to 11th and had pulled away from the battle for 12th being led by Richard Kerr.
Rees eventually finished the second race of the weekend in 11th place, just 2.200s behind Luke Stapleford in 10th.
Damon Rees is 21st in the British Superbike Championship. Photo / Michael Wincott
Richardson continued his strong weekend and finished in 13th, 0.189s behind Kerr.
Neave took victory in the second race of the weekend, beating Bournemouth Kawasaki's Mossey by 2.678s. IN Competition Aprilia's Fraser Rogers was a further 4.428s behind in third.
Alex Olsen is now joint championship leader with Neave on 113 points. They are one point ahead of Mossey and Taylor MacKenzie.
After continuing to improve over the weekend Rees sits in 21st place in the championship on 10 points. By securing his first points of the season, Richardson is 23rd in the championship on six points.
The sixth round of the British Superbike Championship will take place at Cadwell Park over the weekend of August 21-22. Live timing and coverage can be found on the BSB website.
