A second place on home tarmac was sufficient for Steve to hold on to his series lead – but his advantage is cut to just two points over Billy McConnell who won at Cadwell Park on Monday.

Steve was competing in round nine of the Fuchs/Silkolene British Supersport championship at the Lincolnshire circuit of Cadwell Park and knew he had to produce a top result to maintain his championship lead over McConnell who was only a handful of points away from him.

There are only three machines per row on the starting grid instead of the usual four, which resulted in Plater, who was seventh in qualifying, starting his campaign from the third row.

“Qualifying didn’t really go to plan for me, in the first session I finished seventh and as we had a few problems with set up we changed things for the final session,” explained Plater. “But we had a little bit of rain, nothing much but enough to slow us down a tad and I wasn’t able to go any faster, so ended up in seventh place. Billy is only seven points behind me so I realise the need to bag the points today I love Cadwell Park and it would be nice to get the win in front of my home crowd. I will be trying hard so we will just have to see what happens”

Not getting the best of starts, Steve completed the first lap in sixth place before making his way through to fourth on lap three. When Dan Linfoot had an out of seat moment at Mansfield on lap three Steve was quick to power the HM Plant Honda through to snatch his third place.

He gradually reeled in James Westmoreland and finally forged ahead at Park Corner to chase after McConnell who had a commanding lead. Once he had a clear track ahead of him, Plater stepped on the gas and once he had McConnell in his sights set about reducing the gap.

But although he got to within striking distance he ran out of laps and crossed the finish line in second place, just two seconds away from his target.

“Billy McConnell has been on fire all weekend,” said Steve. “In fact I was thinking about calling the fire brigade to put him out,” he quipped. “I realised that Billy was on the pace and in reality I was riding for second, unless he had a problem. I struggled to get past Westmoreland but once I got by I knew I could push on and pull a gap, which is what I did. I am happy enough with second but it is very tight now with only two points separating us so I need to finish the remaining three races ahead of him to be sure of the title.”

The next round is at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire on September 13 when Steve will be striving for a top result to maintain his series lead.

Steve can’t wait to get his race underway at his local circuit of Cadwell Park where he will be defending his series lead in the ninth round of the Fuchs/Silkolene British Supersport championship over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The championship lead is delicately poised with only seven points separating Billy McConnell from Steve, plus fellow Lincolnshire rider Ben Wilson and Hull’s James Westmoreland are only a handful of points away from the two front runners, thus making for a close and exciting battle at the Lincolnshire circuit.

“I realise the need to score maximum points on Monday to ensure I leave Cadwell Park having extended my series lead,” said Steve. “Cadwell is my local circuit, I live just a few miles down the road and the circuit attracts the biggest crowd of the year. It’s a festival as well as a race meeting so with a maximum capacity crowd it is very important for me to get the win. Of course the HM Plant Honda base is at Louth and they too will be anxious for me to put on a good display on home tarmac.

“A lot of local people come here to watch me and to perform in an arena like this is just awesome. There are quite a few circuits I do enjoy but Cadwell is special and it means more to me to win here. Hopefully the weather will be good and we can all enjoy the whole weekend.”

Steve has experienced a good season on the roads with wins at the TT and the North West 200 but to win the British Supersport title which so far has eluded him would eclipse all that.

“I have been going very well all year,” said Steve. “I won both classes, the Supersport and Superbike, at the North West 200 and then the Senior TT at the Isle of Man Festival for HM Plant Honda. But to win the British Supersport championship would really be the cherry on the cake for me.”

The weekend at Cadwell begins with free practice on Saturday ahead of the two qualifying sessions on Sunday. The British Supersport race is to be run over 16-laps of the 2.25- mile circuit with a start scheduled for 3.45pm on Bank Holiday Monday.