THIRTEEN times British champion Paul Winrow is on the verge of a 14th title after he stretched his series lead to 42 points at the penultimate round Culham on Sunday with second overall.
Victory – for the first time ever in the British championship – went to Stefan Murphy thanks to three consistent rides, but even he admitted afterwards he was gifted the win by Winrow, who pitted on the final lap of the third race to repair a damaged exhaust to ensure it passed any post race noise test.
That dropped Winrow to 10
th spot. However, despite sacrificing his chance of overall victory to guarantee getting points, Winrow still managed to finish second overall on the day following an earlier win and a second.
Winrow now goes to the final round at Canada Heights on October 5 knowing he can follow his main rivals to clinch the title.
Winrow had made his intent clear from the offset by getting the holeshot in race one, which was crucial on the sandy Oxfordshire track which was always going to be “one line” in the early stages before it roughed up.
Indeed, although close on paper, with just three and half seconds covering the top five of Winrow, Murphy, Mark McLernon, Sheldon Seal and Dean Colhoun there was no actual overtaking across the entire top seven.
Reigning champion Paul Holmes in 8
th was the first person in the field that actually gained places!
On catching the top seven he did try to go higher but promptly rolled after being forced off line into the soft stuff!
Race two, with the track much rougher with various line, was a different affair. Winrow and McLernon entertained with a great battle up from for over half the race, before former British champion Justin Reid, seventh in race one caught them both napping to nick ahead.
McLernon faded from this point to an eventual sixth, but Winrow now had to deal with a rejuvenated Holmes, who is starting to look his old self again after a prolonged injury layoff. However, he span trying a move in the closing stages and had to settle for third. Winrow was just half a second behind Reid.
Sheldon Seal was a lonely fourth, while Murphy, who had been pushed wide in the opening stages had made his way back to fifth.
Race three saw a surprise early leader in Colhoun, who had been fairly anonymous in earlier races after a getting caught in the pack in race one and electrical problem in race two, However, with an open track in front of him he was superb, smashing the field by 28 seconds.
Behind the chase was taken up by Carl Bunce, but he was eventually overhauled by Murphy and they finished in that order. Reid was ruled out by a big early crash.
The drama though was further back with Winrow circulating inside the top then and seemingly on course for overall victory before he started gesticulating to his pit crew, then pulling into to effect repairs on the last lap. He re-entered to secure a crucial 31 championship points.
Ireland’s McLernon remains on course to win the Conner Smith 660 British Under 21 championship after secured victory over Scotland’s Murray Graham.
The day featured a full programme of NORA club championship races too and there was drama in every class.
The ACU British Masters Championship is going down to wire after series leader Ed Davies could only manage fourth spot after a broken axle in race one saw him finish 26
th.
He bounced back with two race wins but overall victory by just a single point, went to Ant Barrett thanks to a win and two thirds. A third and two seconds earned Darren Bridge the runner up spot.
Davies’s daughter Catrin had no bad luck in the 100 youth group where she notched up a third in the opening race, then went on to decimate the field in the remain two races as the track got rougher – especially the second where she won by over 35 seconds. Second place overall went to Marcus Sprason who won the first race.
The 250 British Championship was blown wide open when series leader Bailey Edwards slumped to a season worse ninth. He won the first race but a broken final drive meant he DNF’d race two and could only manage fourth in the final race on his spare machine.
Estonia’s Martin Adamson put himself back in the title hunt with overall victory with 2-1-2. He lost the last race, to Scotland’s Lawrence Whyte, after losing his seat. Whyte was second overall and on adjusted scores is also now also a serious title contender.
Finally, the closest class of the day was the Clubman group, which saw just four points split the top four finishers!
Visiting Belgian teenager Davino Bruneel had won the first race after Harry Walker could only manage ninth after he got stuck on the bank at the first corner. Walker bounced back with two race wins but that was not quite enough to overhaul Jack Naylor, who won by just a point after crucially overtaking James Bevan for second on the final lap of the last race. Fittingly, his dad’s firm, Simon Naylor Fencing, sponsored the day’s trophies!
RESULTS: Cromwell Trucks British Championship: 1 Stefan Murphy, 2 Paul Winrow, 3 Sheldon Seal, 4 Paul Holmes, 5 Carl Bunce, 6 Mark McLernon
Connor Smith Six-Sixty Under 21 British Championship: 1 Mark McLernon, 2 Murray Graham, 3 Dean Colhoun, 4 Luke Davies, 5 Harry Miller, 6 Josh Coombs.
Clubman: 1 Jack Naylor, 2 Harry Walker, 3 James Bevan, 4 Davino Bruneel, 5 Kyle Hawkes, 6 Jamie Smith.
Rookie: 1 Jack Naylor, 2 Harry Walker, 3 James Bevan, 4 Davino Bruneel, 5 Jamie Smith, 6 Alex Bethell.
Masters British Championship: 1 Ant Barrett, 2 Darren Bridge, 3 Clint Eagle, 4 Ed Davies, 5 Roland Hopkins, 6 Darren Jukes.
Masters B: 1Trevor Humpris, 2 Richard Clark, 3 Rick Jones, 4 Dave Lickfold, 5 Andrew Willcock, 6 Marcus Knight.
EVO: 1. Pat Carr, 2 Richard Shaw, 3 Doug Lightfoot, 4 Mark Smith, 5 Geoff Ottway. No other finisher.
250cc ACU British Championship: 1 Martin Edwards, 2 Lawrence Whyte, 3 Dafydd Davies, 4 Ayrton Knowles, 5 Jack Holmes, 6 Jack Norris.
250 Open: 1 Martin Adamson, 2 Lawrence Whyte, 3 Jack Holmes, 4 Lorne Sinslair, 5 Jack Norris, 6 Ryan Spratt-Wyatt.
250 Modified: 1 Dafydd Davies, 2 Ayrton Knowles, 3 Bradley Cockrem, 4 Harry Carmichael, 5 Dean Porter, 6 Bradley Watson.
250 Standard: 1. Oliver Martin, 2 Daniel Hares, 3 Harry Ruby, 4 Elysha Crane, 5 Joseph Jukes, 6 Shanice Mott.
250 Stock: 1 Shanice Mott. No other finishers
100 Group Overall: 1 Catrin Davies, 2 Marcus Sprason, 3 Alfie Walker, 4 Tom Fitzgerald, 5 Shelley Smart, 6 Woody Jackson.
100cc Geared: 1 Catrin Davies, 2 Marcus Sprason, 3 Alfie Walker, 4 Tom Fitzgerald, 5 Woody Jackson, 6 Dylan McKenna.
100 Modified: 1 Shelley Smart. No other finisher.
Yamaha Raptor: 1 Luke Berlyn, 2 Josh Talent, 3 Vassna Wilcock, 4 Lewis Humphris. No other finishers.
50cc Round: 1 Aled Davies. No other finishers.