It was very much a case of what might have been for AP Kawasaki at the weekend with both Freddie Russo and Leon Hunt failing to convert their practice form into race results in the latest round of the Metzeler National Superstock 600cc and 1000cc Championships.

Competing at Thruxton, Hampshire, Russo was forced to retire from the 600cc race due to a smashed visor whilst Hunt came agonisingly close to the points in the 1000cc equivalent, just missing out in 16th place.

Russo, riding at one of his favourite circuits, eventually qualified in 13th having placed fourth in the first session, but he was hoping to make his presence more keenly felt in the race. Wet weather meant it was a whole new ball game but a good start saw Freddie move up to ninth place, a position he occupied until lap six when he was pushed back to 11th when a stone thrown up by a preceding rider pierced his visor and due to the rain and subsequent condensation, he had no option but to retire.

For team mate Hunt, it was a mixed weekend after the ups and downs of the first few rounds of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship. Having qualified in an excellent 17th place, hopes were high of scoring some more championship points in the 15-lap race although the first four laps of the race were run under the safety car. Having been in 18th at the end of the first lap, by lap seven Leon was up to 16th but a red flag brought the race to a premature end on lap 11 and he was denied the opportunity of improving upon that result, definitely a case of what might have been for the Brighton rider.

Despite the frustration of the two AP Kawasaki regular riders, it was better news for Danny Buchan who was using the ZX-10R normally campaigned by Anthony Haywood after wrecking his own MSS Colchester Kawasaki last weekend. The 18 year old from Basildon claimed second place in the race to lead the championship going into the next round at Knockhill in three weeks time.

Leon Hunt: "We are making progress and again I was suffering with my arms but I go in for an operation tomorrow which should fix that problem. We're starting to benefit from working with our suspension technicians and I'm confident of scoring good points at Knockhill so hopefully I can recover quickly as I'm hoping for a good result."

Freddie Russo: "I was running strong in the rain despite the conditions and then a rider threw a stone up and smashed my visor which meant I couldn't see where I was going so I had no option but to retire. It's particularly frustrating as I was comfortably placed in the top ten and felt I could have gained a good result."

Alan Greig: "It was a little frustrating that Leon just missed out on the points and Freddie suffered pure bad luck but these things happen. I was delighted we could help Danny out and running him out of our truck was a pleasure and we were pleased he scored a podium and now leads the Metzeler Superstock 1000 Championship for Kawasaki."

Metzeler National Superstock 600cc race (12 laps)1 Keith Farmer (Yamaha) 17m08.360s2 Josh Wainwright (Kawasaki) + 5.080s3 Connor Behan (Kawasaki) +5.284s4 James East (Yamaha) +5.401s5 Jake Newstead (Yamaha) +17.570s6 Tim Hastings (Kawasaki) +18.074s7 Deane Brown (Yamaha) +18.197s8 Cody Nally (Kawasaki) +18.705s9 Johnny Blackshaw (Triumph) +19.661s10 Grant Whitaker (Yamaha) +21.237sDNF Freddie Russo (AP Kawasaki) 9 laps

Championship positions1 Farmer 75pts2 East 443 Behan 434 Burke 415 Brown 4110 Russo 21

Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship race (11 laps)1 Richard Cooper (BMW) 15m37.068s2 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki) +0.134s3 Howie Mainwaring (Kawasaki) +0.261s4 Tristan Palmer (Honda) +0.429s5 Victor Cox (Kawasaki) +0.805s6 Jason O'Halloran (Honda) +0.907s7 Adam Jenkinson (Honda) +1.059s8 Joe Dickinson (Honda) +1.524s9 Luke Quigley (BMW) +1.785s10 Jonathan Howarth (Kawasaki) +2.204s16 Leon Hunt (AP Kawasaki)

Championship positions1 Buchan 81pts2 Palmer 793 O'Halloran 614 Cooper 595 Quigley 3024 Hunt 1