Qualifying saw the affable Lincolnshire rider head the leaderboard in each of the qualifying sessions and unofficially break the lap record with a scorching lap of 1m 17.297s on his way to setting pole position.

He said:

“Every session has been good, we have been working on a race set up rather than one lap and I have gone faster each time - not by a lot, just a little bit - and then I posted a really good lap in the second qualifying session. I am happy enough as I am over half a second quicker than anyone else but of course it’s the race that counts and I need to get a good clean start and then get my head down and see what I can do.”

But the clean start did not happen for the vastly experienced rider from Woodhall Spa near Lincoln as he was clipped by another rider and pushed wide into the first corner. He came out of the corner in eighth position and held station to let the rest of the field settle down before making his move forward.

By lap four he had reached fourth place and then nipped past Tristan Palmer at the complex to claim third position. Two laps later and he was up to second and chasing Howie Mainwaring for the lead.

As the race progressed Plater reduced the gap and eventually swept past Mainwaring at the complex and into the lead. But Mainwaring wasn’t giving up his position easily and stuck with him. The pair exchanged places on more than one occasion but Plater held station and took the chequered flag for his second win of the current campaign crossing the finish line just two tenths of a second ahead of his rival. As well as the race win Plater took 0.7 seconds off the existing lap record with a time of 1.16.9s – 110.23mph on lap two of 15.

“Another lap record and another win which obviously is good for me and HM Plant Honda. The Fireblade is working so well to be honest and I am riding it well so the package is complete. I nearly got run in to at the first corner so I lost some time. But I didn’t panic and just got my head down and came through the pack to slot in behind the front two. I sat there for a little while and then went on attack mode and hit the front just in case there was a stoppage. That didn’t happen and I was able to stay in control and win the race.”

With maximum points from the first two races under his belt, Plater leads Mainwaring by 10 championship points 50 – 40 with Conor Cummins in third place on 26 points.

The next round is at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the May Day bank holiday weekend (May 3) where Plater will be looking to add to his points tally and to further extend his series lead.



Pic credit – Ian Hopgood