Michael Laverty - 10th & 6th - and Alastair Seeley - 12th & 9th - battled courageously after qualifying crashes and a number of minor problems during both races, to score solid points that keeps them both in the top-10 and at the sharp-end in the Championship table as Seeley currently slots into fifth and Laverty 10th.

Laverty's 10th place in race one, from row five on the grid, whilst riding around a serious rear tyre problem, was a terrific performance, but his second race top-six finish could so easily have been a debut podium - losing out by 0.6sec at the chequered flag, this time from the third row of the grid.

Seeley took a gamble with set-up in race one and the series rookie battled to 12th place. For the second outing he reverted to his qualifying set-up, and although he found Thruxton a tough proposition on his full Superbike debut, ninth place keeps him well in the Championship hunt.

Michael Laverty:

"After the tyre problem in race one, 10th place was a decent result considering the circumstances. Race two was much better, although I took a bit long to pass Alastair and my brother John, but my pace over the last 10 laps was the same as the leaders. With a good starting position today I could have challenged for the win, but again I can take a lot of positives from race day. We have the pace but just not the luck yet. We will regroup before Oulton with a test planned and come back even stronger. I would like to thank the whole team for their efforts this weekend; they have had to work so hard and endure a lot of setbacks."

Alastair Seeley:

"I tried a different set-up for the first race but it didn't work for me, so we reverted back to the old set-up for race two. It all hooked up a lot better and instead of the tyre going off at half distance, we were right on the money until it deteriorated about four laps from the end. The track control works overtime around here and it's a tough circuit to perfect your set-up on. At least we got more points in the bag and remain top-five in the Championship. Thanks to all the boys in the team as it's been a tough weekend with all the travel problems and burning the midnight oil fixing bikes."

Philip Neill - BSB Team Principal:

"It's been a tough weekend for the whole team for a number of reasons, but we will take the positives from Thruxton. We haven't come away with the results we had hoped for after a strong start on Friday, where the both boys posted top-three times, but we scored solid points today.

"Both riders started the weekend with a lot of confidence but their crashes during practice set them back a bit and we also had our fair share of little problems - not least an all-night session for the boys to rebuild Michael's bike after it's excursion over the infamous Thruxton kerbs. With flights cancelled, Alastair also had a long drive to the circuit from Northern Ireland at the last minute, which isn't ideal preparation, but something that couldn't be avoided.

"Michael needs a lot of credit for his efforts this weekend: He rode around a chatter problem in race one due to an out-of-balance tyre, which in turn affected his grid position for race two. From the halfway point on in the second outing he showed us just why he is regarded as one of the most talented riders in the Championship, narrowly missing out on the podium.

"Alastair had a Baptism of Fire on his first Superbike ride here, but it is a daunting circuit for evvven the most experienced riders and bike set-up is very specific. Maybe we fell into the trap of trying to find the perfect set-up but we have learned from it. I'm glad Thruxton is over and we can now focus on Oulton Park in two weeks time."


Race 1:

1. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki)
2. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.818s
3. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +1.185s
4. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +1.510s
5. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +5.670s
6. Martin Jessopp (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +7.490s
7. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +9.154s
8. Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +9.300s
9. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +9.493s
10. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +17.014s
12. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS)



Race 2 Results:

1. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda)
2. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.391s
3. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +17.112s
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +7.146s
5. Martin Jessopp (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +7.263s
6. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +7.789s
7. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +8.241s
8. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +10.378s
9. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +12.218s
10. Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +12.240s