Ryuichi Kiyonari put his bid for the MCE Insurance British Superbike crown firmly back on track with a brilliant winning double in the fifth round at Mallory Park where he headed off his HM Plant Honda team-mate Josh Brookes in each of the races.

The Japanese rider was at his best, lapping consistently and strongly, as he moved into fourth place in the standings while Brookes was not complaining too much about being second best as his points haul capitalised on a day of misfortune for series leading Tommy Hill.

The Worx Crescent Suzuki rider was complaining of a machine problem in the opener, but was given a life-line when the race was stopped on the fourth lap as Martin Jessopp and Dan Linfoot tangled. His team worked on the bike, but Hill was soon in trouble again on the re-start, pitting with a clutch problem.

Kiyonari was carving through from fourth on the opening lap be leading the pack at half distance with Brookes tucked in behind and trying everything he knew to find a way through as early race leader Michael Laverty on the Relentless Suzuki ran third, but not by much from the determined RidersMotorcycles,com Ducati riding Michael Rutter.

Next time out, it was local favourite Chris Walker, aboard his privately entered Suzuki who made the early running, but Kiyonari who blamed himself for a poor start had soon made amends and by the second lap was running at the head of the pack with Brookes now attacking Walker for second place.

Brookes was through to second on the seventh lap, but Kiyonari was dictating terms from the front. Walker was under pressure from Michael Laverty and by then Stuart Easton, fifth in the opener, had tipped off his Swan Honda.

Kiyonari ruled supreme taking his third victory of the season by some 3.601secs from Brookes and afterwards he reflected: "I am very happy to take these two victories which put me well up in the championship. In the first race, I had some special braking at the chicane and made a difficult pass on Michael Laverty - I said sorry to him as I pushed him wide!

"Then in the second my start was not so good and I was overtaken, but I got my head down and put in consistent laps and finished ahead of Josh again which was hard to do as he wanted the race wins," added Kiyonari.

Brookes admitted he lacked speed on Kiyonari. "I was not able to bridge the gap, but Kiyo clearly had a good race strategy and I am please to have taken a pair of seconds when Tommy Hill has had a bad weekend – now I am only four points down on him, but, it would have been even better if I had won."

Michael Laverty took third place ahead of Rutter with Chris Walker fifth from John Laverty aboard the Buildbase Kawasaki and Simon Andrews on the MSS Colchester Kawasaki.

Hudson Kennaugh extended his lead in the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO category, despite running second in the opener to his Jentin BMW rival Steve Brogan - the Liverpudlian tipped off early on next time out as Kennaugh took the race victory on the MAR Kawasaki.

Results - Round five - MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship
Race one - 25 laps
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 23m 42.274s
Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +1.820s
Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +3.573s
Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +3.753s
Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +13.883s
Chris Walker (CW Racing Suzuki) +14.155s
Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +16.175s
John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +16.343s
Andrew Pitt (Motorpoint Yamaha) +19.469s
Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +19.913s

Race two - 30 laps
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 28m 20.065s
Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +3.601s
Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +9.726s
Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +10.819s
Chris Walker (CW Racing Suzuki) +19.126s
John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +21.249s
Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +22.812s
Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +23.085s
Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +23.326s
Andrew Pitt (Motorpoint Yamaha) +23.950s

Championship standings:
Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 154
Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 150
Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 133
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 128
Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) 114
John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) 98

Next round: 2/3/4 July, Knockhill