Best of the rest: Snetterton support class round-up

UK1 Racing talent Luke Jones secured a victory in the Metzeler National Superstock 600 race at Snetterton this afternoon, while Paul Jordan made the most of his luck to win the Relentless British 125GP race.

Joy for Jones…

UK1 Racing talent Luke Jones secured a victory in the Metzeler National Superstock 600 race at Snetterton this afternoon. A red flag brought the battle to a premature end on lap 11, however should the race have run its full distance, it was unlikely that Jones would have surrendered his lead.

After taking his second pole of the season, Jones looked sure of a win, and the lead in the championship. South African rider Allan Jon Venter ran in second until Lee Johnston reclaimed the position on lap seven, although neither rider could get close enough to the reigning British 125GP champion Jones, who had displayed awesome pace all weekend.

Robbie Brown, who took the victory at Donington Park could only manage fourth place, with Luke Stapleford rounding out the top five.

…and for Jordan

Paul Jordan secured only his second British 125GP win today at Snetterton, capitalising on the misfortune of others to sneak under the radar and take the top step of the podium.

To say that Jordan's win was solely down to luck would be harsh, as he had worked hard to make his way through the top five to put himself into contention. Matt Hoyle had looked a dead cert for the win, however mechanical failure on lap eight put a stop to any thoughts of champagne celebration for the sp125 Racing rider. He was obviously distraught after building a healthy five second lead at the front of the field.

Tim Hastings then took up the lead, but with just half a lap remaining, he spluttered on the Revett Straight, momentarily losing pace and gifting Jordan the win. Martin Glossop remained in the mix to grab second, and an amazing dead heat saw Tom Hayward and Shaun Horsman share third position.

Metzeler National Superstock 600, Snetterton, results:

1. Luke Jones (UK1 Racing) 11:48.927
2. Lee Johnston (Trevor Pennell Transport) +1.991
3. Allan Jon Venter (MAP Embassy Racing) +2.696
4. Robbie Brown (Robbiebrownracing.com) + 6.031
5. Luke Stapleford (Bournemouth Kawasaki/Hawk) +9.990

Relentless 125GP Championship, Snetterton, results:

1. Paul Jordan (KRP) 17:35.937
2. Martin Glossop (KRP) +1.743
3. Tom Hayward (KRP Daniel Weston Racing) +2.241
3. Shaun Horsman (Symity I.T North/ACU) + 2.249
5. Tim Hastings (KRP) +2.452

Neukirchner takes it to the Max

Max Neukirchner has become the first German to win a Superbike World Championship race as he and Noriyuki Haga took the honours in Monza.

Alstare Suzuki's Neukirchner won Race 1 at the Italian circuit, beating the Yamaha Motor Italia of Haga by just 0.058 seconds.

Race 2 saw Haga edge out Neukirchner by just 0.009secs after a three-man sprint for the line.

Australian championship leader Troy Bayliss was third in Race 1 on his Ducati Xerox, with nearest rival Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) down in eighth after he was relegated to the back of the field after a clash with fellow Spaniard Fonsi Nieto.

In Race 2, Haga and Neukirchner both were behind Ryuichi Kiyonari as they braked for the final entry into the Parabolica but they got through to complete the fifth closest finish in Superbike history.

An engine problem ended Bayliss' afternoon but Checa also retired to ensure the Australian extended his already-daunting championship lead.

Neukirchner was delighted with his afternoon's work, saying: "It's the first win by a German rider in World Superbike and I'm really happy about that."

"My team did a great job this weekend. Our engine for sure is very fast, Suzuki have done a lot of development work on it."

Haga could not believe how close Race 2 finished.

"On that last lap, I was thinking about what I had to do to win, my head was totally blank but I arrived at the line and couldn't believe the gap, 0.009 seconds," he said.

"Monza is special for me, here is our home track and I have been thinking for all last week that I must win."