GUISBOROUGH'S Dennis Hobbs came home 12th in the first race of Sunday's British Superbike double-header at Mallory Park.

The Team Nvidia Yamaha rider, in his first season as a professional, was 31 seconds behind race one winner Michael Rutter (Honda), who also doubled up in race two.

The team have suffered with grip on their Pirelli-shod Yamaha R1 and have scheduled two test sessions, at Pembury and Oulton Park, before the next round of the championship.

"We know the bike is not slow," said Hobbs' team manager Brent Gladwin. "Dennis is consistently in the top three riders in the speed traps at whatever track we visit. We expect the tests will help us convert that into strong points finishes."

Rutter, meanwhile, moved ahead in the chase for the championship crown. He grabbed the initiative after his previously unbeaten team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari crashed heavily out of the action on the sixth lap of the opening race, as he braked into the left-hander of the chicane.

Kiyonari fell heavily, but escaped serious injury, and now faces a race against time to be fit for the next round at Oulton Park next Monday - the 22-year-old Japanese rider was heading the action, just ahead of Rutter when disaster struck.

''I was pushing him hard, hoping he might make a mistake, but not for that to happen,'' said Rutter, who was told his team-mate was conscious and sitting talking to staff in the circuit's medical centre.

Rutter held off heavy pressure from Hawk Kawasaki rider Glen Richards to take the victory, and they were scrapping for supremacy in the afternoon's second race, which was run in three parts.

The first stoppage came as officials dealt with a heavy crash involving Tommy Hill and Danny Beaumont at Devil's Elbow, and then they had to deal with oil sprayed on to the track from a blown engine.

Richards made Rutter work for his second victory, but the Honda rider, who lives adjacent to the circuit, held on.

Published: 26/04/2005