DENNIS Hobbs survived a scare in the rain to post a fine fourth-place finish in the second round of the British Supersport Cup.

Guisborough ace Hobbs, riding for Padgett's Honda, qualified in fifth place at Donington Park on Sunday.

Hobbs, who failed to finish in the opening round at Brands Hatch when his bike succumbed to mechanical failure, was among a clutch of riders to fall off during a torrential downpour.

"On lap ten I high-sided coming out of Redgate and I was one of six who went down," he said.

That led to officials calling a temporary halt to the race before ordering a six-lap sprint when the conditions eased.

"I ran back to the pits and jumped on to my spare bike for the restart and started from tenth, where I was before I crashed," said Hobbs.

"I was running fourth and challenging for third on the last lap and on the last corner I went round the outside of Eugene Laverty. We touched as I was going past him and because I was virtually on the white line I had to shut off and settle for fourth."

Despite missing out on the podium, Hobbs was happy with the way things turned out.

"I qualified fifth and finished fourth so, overall, that's not bad at all," he said.

The next race is at Thruxton this weekend and Hobbs is hopeful of building on his new-found confidence since moving to the Padgetts outfit.

"It's a very fast circuit, the quickest on the British calendar," he said. "It will be quite interesting and I am looking forward to it."

* SEAT team-mates James Thompson, from Harrogate, and Newcastle-raised Jason Plato shared the race victories in Sunday's opening three rounds of the 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. But the day ended in disaster for reigning champion Matt Neal, who crashed out of the final race. It was his first retirement in more than a season of racing and he is back in fifth in the current championship standings.

Instead, it was Thompson, who is contesting only a part-season for the SEAT Sport UK team, who left the Kent circuit as the championship leader. Second and third are the BTCC's two rising British stars, Team RAC's Colin Turkington (Portadown) and Vauxhall's Tom Chilton (Reigate), with Plato in fourth.

The day was a resounding success for SEAT, whose new Leon model, with victory in all three opening rounds of the new season, has shown it will be a major challenger for championship honours in 2006. The Spanish marque also leads both the manufacturers' and teams' championships.

Published: 11/04/206