Andover Advertiser motorsport correspondent Tim Crisp reports on the recent Ducati Trioptions Cup race at Brands Hatch...

STOCKBRIDGE’S Ducati Trioptions Cup rider Leon Morris managed to secure two podium finishes at Brands Hatch last weekend despite a high speed crash in qualifying.

The racer started his weekend in the worst possible way at Brands Hatch Indy, crashing out of qualifying towards the end of lap 11.

The Stockbridge rider managed to send his bike crashing towards the start-finish line on the exit of Clark Curve.

At more than 130 mph, he highsided off the Carl Cox Motorsport/ P&H Motorcycles 899 Ducati in what looked like a serious incident.

Luckily Leon was not badly hurt and the bike was repairable ready for the first of two races over the weekend.

Starting from the front row of the grid in third place, Morris made a great start and went into the lead.

He held first position for the first three laps of the 15-lap race.

As the front four broke away Leon got caught in a battle, which saw him drop down to fourth place at one point.

However at the flag Morris had fought his way back up to third.

At this point Leon was beginning to realise how much the Friday crash had taken out of him, so all in all not a bad result.

Perhaps crucially he had finished ahead of the Championship leader.

Andover Advertiser:

(Leon Morris - Picture by Tim Crisp)

Sunday was another dry race and like the previous day the front four broke away.

This time Morris was in a scrap which ended with the Ducati rider crossing the line in second position, 0.221 seconds ahead of third-place rider Phil Atkinson.

Rob Guiver was the biggest winner of the weekend, taking two race wins which secured him top spot in the title race.

However these results have give Morris a big boost, as he moved up the table into fourth place, 16 points behind Guiver.

Meanwhile in the British Superbike Championship, there was the first win of the season for the Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team.

Their Ducati Panigale R was ridden to victory by four-times BSB Champion Shane Byrne.

The Andover based company became a major sponsor this season.