Scott Smart snatched a dramatic maiden victory in the fifth round of the

THINK! British Superbike Championship as he nosed his Hawk Kawasaki ahead

of series leader John Reynolds on the final corner of the last lap of a

hard fought race at Mondello Park.

The 27 year old Maidstone rider had always been in contention, but the

chance seemed to have gone as Reynolds eased his Rizla Suzuki ahead, and

then inherited the lead as Michael Rutter tumbled out of the action with

four laps to go.

But, Reynolds found himself under fire. "I pulled him back and was trying

to hang in there," Smart explained. "John had swept through the corner a

bit wide on the previous lap, I thought I might be able to win this one,

went inside him into the corner and the bike in, got ahead, and got the

win."

It was a first ever victory in the series also for the privately owned

Hawk team, and Smart praised their hard work. "It has been fantastic for

everyone, I am really, really pleased."

Then, Smart, the nephew of twice former World 500cc Champion Barry Sheene,

poigniantly, after receiving his trophy said: "I am dedicating my first win

in the championship to my friends Steve Hislop, David Jefferies and of

course Barry, who all died last year - hopefully they were watching from up

there."

Reynolds was bitterly disappointed at being relegated to second place, by

0.002 seconds: "I had settled for the win and have never made a mistake

like that before - it just shows, you never stop learning."

Rutter, who had shattered the record to take his third pole start, was

determined to atone for his earlier disappointment, when he was thrown from

his HM Plant Honda Fireblade

He led throughout the second 18 lap race, with Reynolds pressing hard, as

he had to settle for a fourth consecutive second place, but, the twice

former champion left the Irish circuit with an increased lead of 33 points

over Rutter.

Smart, again running strongly, took third place, finished ahead of his Hawk

team-mate Glen Richards.

ends