Words by: Dave Cornish
Blyton Park, the former RAF bomber base hosted round six of the 2012 British Supermoto Championships over the recent bank holiday weekend and a first this season both race days were run in dry conditions.
450 Elite
During qualifying it was James Addy (SHR) who managed to pip reigning champion Chris Hodgson (Skyzone) for pole with Lewis Cornish (NPS/DCR) lining up third in front of Ben Robb (Drilltec) who suffered a nasty looking collision on the last lap of qualifying.
As the flag dropped for race one Addy, Hodgson and Cornish pulled away from the field to put on an impressive display for the enthusiastic crowd. Meanwhile Davey Todd (Skyzone) and Douglas Cunningham (Motosupplies Husqvarna) eased ahead of Robb who was clearly struggling with his injured arm sustained in his earlier crash. Addy took the win from Hodgson and Cornish and this result was repeated in the following two Elite 450 races as Addy’s bike clearly had the speed over his two nearest rivals along the infamous Blyton Park straight. Ben Robb came home a gritty fifth spot one place behind Cunningham in the remaining 450 Elite races with European championship runners Todd, Richard Blakeman (D3 KTM), Brad O’Leary (SHR) fighting it out and Bradly Hardy (HGR) had his best ride this season by picking up an eighth place in the final.
Michelin Clubman Cup
Tim Johnson was the only rider under 1:10 during qualifying and his rivals were only ever scrapping for the runner up spot all day. Johnson took all three races wins with Neil Crayston (D3 KTM) the best of the rest with Dave Clapperton, Steve Ellis, Keith Topliss and Karl Geary Snr (D3 KTM) all having a share of the top five places during the day.
Open Elite
Once again James Addy and Chris Hodgson were at the front during qualifying with Brad O’Leary nipping third from Lewis Cornish. Off the start of race one Cornish somehow had his leg jammed in O’Leary’s rear wheel and both were lucky to stay upright. Douglas Cunningham took full advantage of the situation to follow Addy and Hodgson across the line from O’Leary and Blakeman. Race two and this time it was the two SHR Hondas of Addy and O’Leary who both passed a luckless Hodgson on the fast straight and they finished in that order in front of the #1 plate holder. Cunningham held off Blakeman for fourth followed by Todd and a recovering Cornish. The Trophy Final proved to be the race of the weekend as Addy tipped off his bike early on but remounted to challenge leaders Hodgson and O’Leary. Addy put in the fastest lap of the day to pass Hodgson but O’Leary held on for his first Elite win. Forth placed Cunningham only just held off a flying Cornish with Blakeman and Todd 12 seconds adrift.
Open National
Will Moore (NPS/MX500) took pole in qualifying from Tim Johnson, Neil Crayston and Keith Topliss. With qualifying determining A and B groups it was Lee Marchant, Dan Spencer, Josh Harvey and Sam Roberts who made it up to the A group by finishing first and second in the first two B races. The B final win was taken by Darren Corkett with Kris Norris runner up from Edgar Ivuskans but the real fireworks were in National A.
Tim Johnson took the first two race wins from Graeme Wiles and Keith Topliss (race one) and Will Moore and Neil Crayson in race two. In the Trophy Final Johnson led the race until the final lap when Moore eased past to take the win after passing Crayston a couple of laps earlier. Paul McNamara came home fourth ahead of a chasing Ashley Saunders to round out the top five.
450 Elite Trophy Final Results
1 James Addy SHR Honda
2 Chris Hodgson Skyzone
3 Lewis Cornish Nameplate Services/DCR
4 Douglas Cunningham Motosupplies/Aquarious
5 Ben Robb Drilltec
6 Richard Blakeman D3 KTM
7 Davey Todd Skyzone
8 Brad Hardy HGR
9 Dale O’Connor G&M Lawson/Derwent
10 Robert Hartley TRM/LR Designs
Open Elite Trophy Final Results
1 Brad O’Leary SHR Honda
2 James Addy SHR Honda
3 Chris Hodgson Skyzone
4 Douglas Cunningham Motosupplies/Aquarious
5 Lewis Cornish Nameplate Services/DCR
6 Richard Blakeman D3 KTM
7 Davey Todd Skyzone
8 Chris Walker MWR
9 Graeme Norris Flat 6 Eng
10 Dale O’Connor G&M Lawson/Derwent
Michelin Cup
1 Tim Johnson
2 Neil Crayston D3 KTM
3 Keith Topliss Killer Racing
4 Steve Ellis HGR
5 Dave Clapperton CC Racing
Open National A Trophy Final
1 Will Moore Nameplate Services/MX500
2 Tim Johnson
3 Neil Crayson D3 KTM
4 Paul McNamara
5 Ashley Saunders GB Racing
Open National B Trophy Final
1 Darren Corkett
2 Kris Norris Flat 6 Eng
3 Edgars Ivuskans
4 Dan Williams Williams Heating
5 Gavin White
2012 British Supermoto Championship standings
450 Elite
Pos # Points
1 1 559 Chris Hodgson Skyzone KTM
2 30 501 Douglas Cunningham Motosupplies/Aquarius
3 24 498 Ben Robb Drilltec
4 698 494 James Addy SHR Honda
5 54 453 Richard Blakeman D3 KTM
6 8 451 Lewis Cornish Nameplate Services/DCR
7 742 426 Davey Todd Skyzone KTM
8 711 396 Brad O’Leary SHR Honda
9 270 312 Robert Hartley TRM/LR Designs Honda
10 244 294 Harry Kampz Printacom/Unitrack M/Cs
Open Elite
1 1 534 Chris Hodgson Skyzone KTM
2 30 519 Douglas Cunningham Motosupplies/Aquarious
3 698 515 James Addy SHR Honda
4 54 446 Richard Blakeman D3 KTM
5 8 433 Lewis Cornish Nameplate Services/DCR
6 742 411 Davey Todd Skyzone KTM
7 155 406 Chris Walker MWR
8 24 397 Ben Robb Drilltec
9 711 393 Brad O’Leary SHR Honda
10 41 319 Dale O’Connor G&M Lawson/Derwent
Michelin Cup
1 67 528 Keith Topliss
2 371 509 Ryan Metcalf
3 234 494 Tim Johnson
4 331 458 Ashley Saunders
5 79 368 Michael Hosey
6 136 361 Kyle Wingate
7 700 339 Dave Clapperton
8 259 337 Ben Topliss
9 82 324 James Wood
10 240 319 Neil Crayson
Open National
1 234 1789 Tim Johnson
2 259 1677 BenTopliss
3 50 1666 Paul McNamara
4 121 1612 Steve Alford
5 67 1549 Keith Topliss
6 79 1540 Michael Hosey
7 236 1483 Dan Spencer
8 500 1456 Will Moore
9 599 1426 Phil Dacres
10 441 1415 Josh Harvey
NOTE: Riders drop their worse round points score at the end of the season