Local superbike rider Luke Jones continued to battle handling problems with his Honda - KGD at Brands Hatch on the weekend, in the 11th and 12th round of the MCE British Superbike Championship.

Following his performance at the weekend Luke has moved back up to 10th in the championship standings, with 63 points, but has since taken the bike back to Holland for assessment.

Luke, who has fully recovered from a hand injurysuffered at Knockhill, Scotland, in June, qualified in 11th, third row on the grid, for his first race on Sunday morning. His qualifiying time was only 0.777s off Graeme Gowland's time of 1:28.380, who came in first. Over 10 laps Luke rode well and took 10th place at the flag with a time of 15:03.022, some 6.142s off winner Stuart Easton and his Yamaha.

In his second race, in the afternoon, over 16 laps, Luke make a good start and was ninth for a long period, and even slipped back to 12th. However, Luke fought back to take 9th place, in 24:04.333.

Championshiop leaders Alastair Seeley and Stuart Easton once again battled it out for first and second place, respectively.

The race took place in very hot, demanding conditions, and considering the frustration for Luke, and his team, with the performance of the bike, he will have to be contented, for now, with moving up in the standings. He will be hoping the mechanics in Holland can fine tune and eradicate the handling problems before his next ride at Oulton Park on August 11th.

For more stories in full please see this week's Ross Gazette.