2013 British Supermoto Championship, by NORAsport.com - Round seven, Teesside Autodrome,

Thursday August 22, 2013 at 9:50am

Words by: Dave Cornish
Photos by: www.styleimage.co.uk

Round seven of the televised 2013 British Supermoto Championships sponsored by ‘want to live afloat.com’ made a welcome return to the North East as Teesside Autodrome hosted round seven of the popular Norasport run championship. With the three Supermoto of Nations Team Great Britain places still up for grabs and the season into its final three meetings, the on track action promised plenty and the sizeable crowd weren't disappointed. Saturday's 450 Elite and Michelin Cup race were held in changeable weather conditions which made tyre choices important however the sun came out on Sunday for the Open Elite and Open National races and it also brought out the spectators to witness top level supermoto action at its best.

450 Elite

Qualifying, and it was no real surprise to see local racer Davey Todd (DCR/Nameplate Services) on pole but with the addition of European Championship leader Malachi Mitchell-Thomas and his SHR team mate Ben Stafford, Chris Hodgson (Skyzone) and Lewis Cornish (DCR Nameplate Services) were both pushed out of their usual top three grid positions as the Italian based SHR teamsters took second and third places respectively.

Race one in dry conditions and it was clear that the regular BSMC runners were going to have their work cut out to battle with the two pro-racers as Todd and Hodgson rode hard to keep in Mitchell-Thomas's wheel tracks Stafford was always a threat running in fourth place from Richard Sharp (MWR). Cornish's challenge ended when he crashed following a bad start but it was the leading four riders who put on a great display as they pushed hard for the lead. Eventually Hodgson narrowly took the win from Mitchell-Thomas with Todd in third from Stafford and Sharp a distant fifth followed by Richard Blakeman (D3 Racing). However the second race saw the two usual British Championship front runners Hodgson and Todd pull away at the head of the pack as Mitchell-Thomas and Stafford failed to cope with the wet and slippery conditions and were running outside the top ten. Blakeman was in his own battle for third place with Chris Walker (698 Racing) and Graeme Norris (Norris Racing Husqvarna) but were way behind the two front runners as the race wore on. With Todd pushing champion Hodgson hard all the way to the flag the local rider had to give best to the number one plate holder as Hodgson took another win from Todd, Blakeman and Walker. The final 450 Elite race and the top three positions were identical to the previous race but Todd really looked up for the race win from Hodgson but the champion's experience paid off as he narrowly took the race win from Todd with Blakeman, Mitchell-Thomas and Cornish over 18 seconds adrift.

Overall positions: 1 Chris Hodgson, 2 Davey Todd, 3 Richard Blakeman

Open Elite

It was decided to run the Sunday's races with the Teesside Circuit running in the reverse direction for the first time and in qualifying it was Mitchell-Thomas taking pole from Hodgson, Todd and Kiwi Richard Dibben (SHR) on the thankfully dry track.

It was soon clear that it was going to be another thrilling battle at the front between Hodgson, Todd and Mitchell-Thomas. Off the line and Mitchell-Thomas made the most of his TM's power to take the fight to Hodgson as Todd and his injured team mate Cornish were forced off the track going into turn one. With the leading duo only having to worry about each other, the lead changed place several times as Sharp, Dale O'Connor and Walker scrapped it out for third position. As all eyes were on the leading pair stretching their advantage, Cornish and Todd were moving up through the field and as Cornish crashed whilst attempting a move past fourth placed O'Connor, Todd and Walker both gained a place. At the line Mitchell-Thomas had managed to pull ahead of Hodgson to take the race win as Sharp held off Todd for third spot.

Race two and it was British Championship action as normal as the top three riders in the championship pulled away at the front. Hodgson, Todd and Cornish were quickly running in this order as Mitchell-Thomas had his problems. Todd took the lead and looked to have the beating of champ Hodgson but the positions were reversed when Todd made a small error which Hodgson capitalised on as he slipped through to take the race win from Todd by 0.3 seconds at the line. Meanwhile Blakeman could see Cornish was having problems and redoubled his efforts to reel him in but he ran out of time and was narrowly beaten for third place.

Drama unfolded in the final race when Todd crashed out whilst battling it out for the lead. Once again this gave Mitchell-Thomas and Hodgson the space to put on another dramatic battle for the race win. The two riders rode hard and swapped positions but Hodgson lost out by 0.4 seconds as Mitchell-Thomas took the race win. A remarkable ride from Dibben who kept out of trouble in third place as Cornish struggled to make several passes stick on fourth placed Blakeman who managed to hold off the challenge to the line. As a result of the championship positions following this meeting, Davey Todd alongside his team mate Lewis Cornish will be joining Chris Hodgson in Team Great Britain at the Supermoto of Nations in Bulgaria during October.

Overall positions: 1 Chris Hodgson, 2 Malachi Mitchell-Thomas, 3 Lewis Cornish

Michelin Cup

The Michelin Cup and it was old hand Peter Bennett (Aprilia) making a return to supermoto who qualified on pole from Ashley Saunders (GB Racing) and Tom Barrington (TKB Racing) with first timer Chris Chisolm putting his 350 KTM on the front row. Saunders pulled away at the head of the pack and took the first two race wins from Bennett and a delighted Chisolm. However in the final race Saunders crashed as the Barrington's (Tom and Kayla) who put their earlier problems behind them to finish first and second place respectively in front of Bennett with Chisolm finishing fourth ahead of a recovering Saunders in fifth.

Overall positions: 1 Ashley Saunders, 2 Peter Bennett, 3 Chris Chisolm

Open National A

On form Ashley Saunders made a rare Open National appearance and took pole from Lee Rudd (LR Designs/TRM) during qualifying for the Open Nationals in front of Keith Topliss (Killer Racing) and Tom Barrington. Race one and Saunders crashed which handed an easy win to Rudd from Edgars Ivuskans (MotodromsTM) with Tom Barrington in fourth place. The second race and Tom Barrington made amends by beating Rudd for the win, however it was third placed Kayla Barrington who impressed as she closed the gap down to the runner up spot but ran out of laps to make a serious challenge. Topliss was some eight seconds adrift of the leaders but finished fourth comfortably ahead of a recovering Saunders.

The final race saw an unusual result as Kayla Barrington put in some smooth, fast laps to lead the field but Lee Rudd suffered a bad fall whilst in second place due to a mechanical problem which brought out the red flags with 2 laps to go. Kayla took the race win from an injured Lee Rudd the race results were decided on the previous lap to the red flag. So the final race three results were, Kayla Barrington, Rudd from Saunders and Topliss.

Overall positions: 1 Lee Rudd, 2 Kayla Barrington, 3 Keith Topliss

Open National B

Andy Burgin took a straight forward race one win and moved up into the As for the rest of the day, this left Scottish rider Andrew Gow to dominate and scoop the remainding two race victories and the overall B win. Jonathan Hirst was second on the podium thanks to a third and couple of runner up finishes and a delighted Jordan Nutter took third overall and his first ever podium.

Overall positions: 1 Andrew Gow, 2 Jonathan Hirst, 3 Jordan Nutter

British Supermoto Championship

Round seven, Teesside Autodrome

Overall results

450 Elite

1 1 Chris Hodgson

2 742 Davey Todd

3 54 Richard Blakeman

4 666 Malatchi Mitchell-Thomas

5 41 Dale O'Connor

6 8 Lewis Cornish

Open Elite