91�ȱ�

Ballyclare rider Jonathan Rea romped to victory on his Pata Honda in the first World Superbike race at Silverstone.

Runner-up Eugene Laverty led early on but the rain fell and Rea made best use of the changeable track conditions.

In race two, Laverty was third on his Aprilia and Rea fourth, with Kawasaki rider Loris Baz claiming the victory.

Laverty now lies third in the championship on 226 points, 36 points behind leader Sylvain Guintoli, with Rea seventh on 176 points.

Both Northern Ireland riders started from the front row of the grid, with Laverty on pole and Rea qualifying third fastest for the day's two races.

Race one was reduced to 17 laps and it was Aprilia rider Laverty who held the early advantage until the rain started to come down midway through.

Rea assumed the lead, while the Toomebridge man fell down the field, only to recover and beat final rostrum finisher Leon Camier to the line.

For Rea, it was his first victory of the season and the 11th success of his 115-race World Superbike career.

"I was starting to get frustrated with the problems I was having but now I've kept up my record of winning a race in every year of my career," commented Rea.

"It's so nice to win again - I used my head, tried to be smart and didn't make any mistakes. I'm so happy and my team deserves that victory," he added.

The second race was red-flagged because of deteriorating conditions after 16 of the 18 laps.

Six rounds of the series remain with the next at the Nurburgring in Germany on 1 September.

.