First qualifying was held in wet conditions but Sunday’s final session took place in the dry giving Plater the opportunity to put in some ultra-fast laps. He briefly held pole position but his opponents were even quicker and Plater appeared to be looking at a second or third row start to Monday’s race. But the vastly experienced Lincolnshire rider bided his time and waited until the very last lap before going out on a new tyre and posting the second fastest lap of the session to claim a front row start to his race.

“Fortunately today in qualifying the rain stayed away and I was able to get some good, fast laps in and get myself up onto the front row,” said the ever-smiling HM Plant Honda rider. “The weather is supposed to be better for race day, I think Brands Hatch has its own little climate just like Cadwell but, getting away from the weather, the Indy circuit is one I really enjoy and I still hold the Supersport record from last year. Most of the track has been resurfaced I do believe if the weather is good then the lap record in every class will go.”

Plater was correct on both counts as the weather remained dry for his race and he went on to break the lap record.

As the 23-lap event got underway, Plater slotted into second place behind Glen Richards and the pair quickly opened up a gap from the following pack.

But things took a dramatic change when Richards highsided after just six laps leaving Plater to take the lead and gradually pull away from the rest of the field. He continued to add to his lead and established a new lap record on lap 17 of 46.671s – 92.45mph before slowing as he negotiated his way through the back markers.

He eventually crossed the finish line some 6.7 seconds ahead of Howie Mainwaring to claim maximum points and the series lead.

“I was beginning to catch Glen (Richards) but unfortunately he suffered a big highside coming out of Graham Hill Bend and crashed, I am just hoping he is ok and fit enough to ride the Honda in the Supersport class later today. (Unfortunately this was not the case as he suffered a broken shoulder and ribs).

“I just settled down and concentrated on pulling clear from the guys behind. I was shown the pit board and saw I was seven or eight seconds ahead so I was quite comfortable and didn’t really panic when I got in amongst the back markers. I just conserved my tyre towards the end to make sure of the win. Now I can look forward to the Superbike races and hope my teammates can come up with similar results!”


1 Steve Plater (HM Plant Honda)
2 Howie Mainwaring (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +6.702s
3 Jon Kirkham (Jon Kirkham Racing) +6.718s
4 Connor Cummins (Black Horse Kawasaki) +6.908s
5 Luke Quigley (Formwise-Astro Racing Suzuki) +8.063s



Next round Thruxton – April 18