BIKE racer Matthew Horne started the season on a high -- with eight wins from eight races.

Riding his Suzuki GSXR1000 machine at the Snetterton track he encountered a few problems in Friday's test sessions, but they were overcome by the start of a weekend of racing.

The first race was damp and he rode to victory on wet tyres, but his pit crew had to work overtime to change the wheels ready for his next race. "It was drying out all the time, but I rode quite carefully and got another win," he said.

Throughout the weekend Horne continued to dominate, winning every race.

n Eighteen-year-old Kieran Clarke made an encouraging start to his Superbike campaign in the opening round of the 2004 British Superbike Championship.

He qualified 17th in damp conditions and launched all 180bhp of his Yamaha YZF-R1 on a damp Silverstone circuit at the start of race one, the first time he has ever raced on wet tyres.

After 22 laps in challenging conditions, Clarke finished race in 16th place.

Race two was dry and Clarke made up three places in the opening lap. By the tenth lap he had made his way up to 11th place.

He continued to climb the leader board reaching ninth place by lap 14. Unfortunately his race ended on the penultimate lap when he collided with Sam Corke at Woodcote corner.

After the race Clarke said: "Overall I feel very encouraged the way that things unfolded. Race one was pretty good but I was really disappointed not to finish race two. I made a great start, felt comfortable with the pace and was looking forward to a top ten finish."

Team owner Colin Appleyard added: "Of course we are all disappointed with how the second race ended, but we have a lot of positives to take away from the weekend, not least was how well Kieran adapted to the conditions in race one and the race craft he showed in the second."

The next round is at Brands Hatch on April 12.