Difficult Donington for HM Plant Honda

The HM Plant Honda and Padgetts Honda teams came away from this weekend's third round of the British Superbike Championship at Donington Park's famous 2.5-mile Grand Prix circuit, with a podium finish but also some disappointment.

In the British Superbike class, Josh collided with Guintoli at the Melbourne hairpin on the sighting lap of the opening race - the impact causing the Frenchman to break his right tibia and fibula.

Series organisers - MSVR - issued a statement citing a ‘failure in the operation of the braking system of Josh's machine' as the cause of the accident, but have since retracted this statement after correct investigations revealed there was no evidence of a mechanical failure with the CBR1000RR Fireblade. Instead, they concluded that Josh was travelling at a pace consistent with a lap at racing speed and that the difference between him and Guintoli was 'incompatible with the end of a sighting lap'. Josh has been given a ban of one race, but on a suspended basis for three British Superbike Championship meetings.

Team-mate Glen Richards had a steady weekend although missed out on a rostrum place in both races, finishing in fourth and fifth places respectively, having led race two for the first five laps after the re-start.

In the British Supersport class, Steve Plater rode an impressive fifteen lap race to take victory at the chequered flag having working his way through the field from ninth on the grid. Steve now leads the British Supersport Championship by 3 points.