Riders Ducati enjoyed a positive start to their season with Michael Rutter finishing sixth in the second race of Easter Monday’s opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch.

Rutter had already finished seventh in the opening race and his team-mate Martin Jessopp was also among the points with 11th and 9th place finishes from the two races.

Rutter made a good start in the first race and maintained his seventh place for the entire 30-laps race.  He was tenth in race two on the opening lap but put in a string of consistent lap time to finish sixth.

Jessopp had to work hard for his results after two bad starts left him down the field in the early laps. In the second race he was 34th and last on the opening lap but clawed his way through the traffic to finish a remarkable ninth.

Rutter said: “In the first race my bike had no rear grip around Clearways for virtually the entire race. Otherwise, I was really pleased with the way the Riders Ducati worked. This is the best this Ducati has ever been and that’s a credit to the team after all their hard work this winter.

“I’m really pleased with my results today. We’ve still got work we can do to improve the bike further and there’s more to come from me. But this has been a really good start to the season.” 

Jessopp added: “I made the worst starts in the world today. I think as Michael went forward, I went backwards.  And once I finally got into a rhythm in race one, it was broken when the red flag was shown after Laverty’s bike blew up. I wasn’t the only one to roll it off when we saw the flag but it was hard to get going again and I’d lost the slipstream from the guys in front by then,

“My race two start was even worse. I was last at the end of the first lap. So while I’m not happy finishing ninth, I’ve got to be pleased with the way I got through the traffic to finish that high up.”

Team owner Phil Jessopp said: “I’m really pleased with our performance today. It’s a good solid start to the season – something we can build on. Michael rode well and deserved his top six finish in race two.

“Martin needs to get the bike off the line better but I think everyone in the team was delighted with the way he dug deep to battle his way through the pack.

“We’re looking forward to Thruxton. Our Ducati v-twins are well suited to the fast, bumpy circuit.