Hodgson takes victory at Round 6 of British Supermoto Championship

Wednesday July 24, 2013 at 9:21am

2013 British Supermoto Championship, 2013 British Supermoto Championship, by NORAsport.com

Round six, Three Sisters, Wigan, Lancs

Words by: Dave Cornish

Photos by: Marty Hill

Three Sisters Circuit hosted round six of the televised 2013 British Supermoto Championships sponsored by ‘want to live afloat.com’ and once again the Norasport club delivered an exciting weekend of top level competition. Both day's racing were in blistering hot and dry conditions which were a complete contrast to the BSMC's previous visit to the Lancashire circuit at the Easter championship opening round. Needless to say, the on track action was every bit as hot as the hot summer temperatures and as the sizeable crowd soaked up the action packed weekend.

450 Elite

Qualifying and Chris Hodgson (Skyzone) swapped places with Lewis Cornish (DCR/Nameplate Services) for P1 as Davey Todd (DCR/Nameplate Services) narrowly edged out Richard Blakeman (D3 Racing) for third place. Hodgson eventually took pole ahead of Cornish.

Race one And it was a welcome return to the Elite class for James Addy (698 Racing) and despite still suffering from his wrist injuries sustained at last season's Mettet Superbiker he pushed hard to pass his team mate Walker and Richard Sharp (MWR) and take the fight to Todd who he passed and managed to hold off to cross the line in third. Hodgson and Cornish were inseparable out at the head of the field and despite Cornish looking as though he was lining up a move to pass the British Champion, Hodgson held off the challenge to take the chequers in first place a in front of Cornish with Addy further behind in third, one place ahead of Todd. Race two and the holeshot went to Hodgson as Todd made a great start from fourth to slot in behind the leader and in front of Cornish and Addy. In a crash ridden race which claimed John Earnshaw (698 Racing), Richard Sharp and Dale O'Connor (KTM), Brad Hardy (DCR) and Jay Smith (Taurus Husqvarna) battled hard to keep ahead of Jimmy Hodges (CRF). Meanwhile at the front Cornish made a move past team mate Todd and he set off in pursuit of Hodgson. As Cornish closed the gap to first placed Hodgson who responded and stepped up the pace. Cornish eventually finished runner up and a second behind Hodgson and almost seven seconds ahead of Todd who narrowly held of Addy for third place. It was all about the same three riders in the final race as Hodgson, Todd and Cornish simply ran away at the head of the field in a fantastic display of formation supermoto. Despite Cornish setting the fastest lap they finished the race in the order ahead of an exhausted Addy from Sharp and Walker.

Overall: 1 Hodgson, 2 Cornish, 3 Todd

Open Elite

Following on from the qualifying excitement of the previous round where 'Superpole' had been introduced for the first time because reigning champion Chris Hodgson (Skyzone) and Lewis Cornish (DCR/Nameplate Services) amazingly both recorded exactly the same time, it was decided to use 'Superpole' for the top four Open Elite qualifiers. Fourth qualifier Chris Walker (698 Racing) was first man out on his 'Superpole' followed by Davey Todd (DCR/Nameplate Services but it was Chris Hodgson (Skyzone) who made the most of his lap as Lewis Cornish (DCR/Nameplate Services) made a small mistake which took him off his top spot on the grid and down to third.

With the Three Sisters circuit now running its usual clockwise direction in race one it was soon clear that it was going to be another thrilling battle at the front between Hodgson, Todd and Cornish. The trio pulled ahead of the pack as Todd moved up to take the lead, Hodgson trying every trick in the book to repass but with Cornish in his wheel tracks it wasn't going to easy. Eventually the reigning champ made his move for the lead only for Todd to almost instantly retake the lead. With the top three forging ahead it was Sharp and Walker fighting it out for fourth spot which following a titanic battle went in the favour of Sharp with Blakeman not having a great day finishing sixth ahead of Jay Smith and Dale O'Connor. In first place and fighting hard to keep Hodgson and Cornish at bay, Todd squeaked a narrow victory in front Hodgson and Cornish.

Race two was almost a repeat of the frantic race for the lead between the usual trio. Cornish gambled with a harder tyre in the hot conditions but it backfired as Todd and Hodgson pulled several seconds ahead of the Norfolk racer. Drama unfolded on the last lap as Hodgson made a rare mistake and fell on the uphill dirt section leaving an easy win for Todd and a runner up spot for Cornish as over 25 seconds adrift a surprised Sharp took third spot ahead of Smith who was having a fantastic race to beat Walker for fourth spot. The bets were on for the Open final as to where Chris Hodgson would finish the race, starting from the back row. It was soon clear that the champion's pace and determination would see the Cumbrian force his way past the riders in front and as he put in some firm passes in a frantic attempt to get in touch with the leaders. However such was the pace of Todd and Cornish out at the front it was more in hope than expectation but Hodgson did set the fastest lap of the race in his charge up to third at the flag. Cornish pushed Todd hard all the way and on a couple of occasions it looked like Todd had cracked under the relentless pressure. However Todd held on to record three well deserved race wins which closed the gap at the head of the championship standings. Thanks to another solid ride from Sharp he took the third spot on the overall podium behind runner up Cornish and jubilant Todd.

Overall: 1 Todd, 2 Cornish, 3 Sharp

Michelin Cup

The Michelin Cup soon showed that Keith Topliss (Killer Racing) had the early pace as he took pole from David Blanks. However it was Ashley Saunders (GB Racing) who came from a bad eighth qualifying place to dominate the final overall standings as he not only took the race one win but also take the flag first in all three races from Tom Barrington and his sister Kayla (TKB). Saunders didn't run away with the race wins as Tom Barrington pushed him hard towards the end of each race.

Overall: 1 Ashley Saunders, 2 Tom Barrington, 3 Kayla Barrington

Open National A

No real surprise to see Lee Rudd (LR Designs/TRM) take pole during qualifying for the Open Nationals in front of on form Edgars Ivuskans (MotodromsTM) and Tom and Kayla Barrington. However Ivuskans crashed towards the end of race one as Rudd took the win ahead of Tom and Kayla Barrington with Keith Topliss in fourth. Race two saw Graeme Wiles take the fight to leader Rudd but Lee responded to put in the fastest lap at the end of the race to give him the win from Wiles and Topliss. Drama in the final race as Rudd had an uncharacteristic loss of concentration and suffer a hard crash which left the way clear for Topliss take the win by five seconds from Tom Barrington and sister Kayla. Overall: 1 Keith Topliss, 2 Tom Barrington, 3 Lee Rudd

Open National B

Adam Bryne took pole, a pair of race wins and a runner up to take the overall National B victory. It was Shaun McCarthy that took the final race win in front of Bryne who was under plenty of pressure from Chris Norris (Norris Family Racing). The overall podium was 1 Adam Bryne, 2 Charlie Light, 3 Mike Underwood

Event: Round 6 of the Norasport British Supermoto Championship

Venue: Three Sisters Race Circuit, Wigan

Day 1:

450 Elite

1st Chris Hodgson (Skyzone/Pope Racing)

2nd Lewis Cornish (DCR/NPS Racing)

3rd Davey Todd (DCR/NPS Racing)

4th James Addy (689 Racing)

5th Chris Walker (689 Racing)

6th Richard Blakeman (D3 Racing)

Michelin Cup

1st Ashley Saunders