The battle for the ACU/Sorrymate.com National Endurance championship is hotting up. IBL Racing (Mark Clark/Hudson Kennaugh) go into the sixth round of the series at Pembrey on August 10 and 11, holding a slender ten point lead over Team Traction Control (Steve Mercer/Ben Neeves) and a 14-point advantage over Go Racing Developments (James Edwards/Andy Carpenter).
With three races to go, including this one and so a possible 75 points still to be won in this Hottrax Motorsports organised series, it all points to a nail-biting finish.
Pit Stop Racing (Peter and Marc Dilks) have cut the gap on National 600 class leaders Team Sorrymate.com (Colin Norris/Warren Verwey) from 31 to 24 points after finishing second and first in the last two rounds. Victory in Wales for the Dilks brothers will put even more pressure on their rivals in the final two rounds.
TANC 2 (Grant Berry/Chris Mason), who has never finished outside the top two in the Clubman 1000 class this season, hold a 32-point lead over Anglia Interiors/Insignia Signs (Arron Bird/Jamie Loveday)
Fire IT Racing (Andy Goddard/LouisTurner-Laurent), third in the points’ table, is not out of it, either. Victory at Cadwell Park puts the team only 37 down on the leaders.
TDM Racing (Terry and Mike Merritt) won their third race of the year at the last round by a clear, three-lap margin. The victory gave them the lead in the Clubman 600 championship, but they are only five points ahead of Thunder Chickens (Martin Gibson/Ellis Hadley). T Watson Bikes (Tom Stephens/Rick Dickinson) lead the battle for the Rookies title, on 101, nine ahead of Team Soulson2wheels (Aaron Davies/Justin Dearsley).
Motogrande 600 Championship leader, Paul O’Connor was out of luck at Cadwell. His Triumph engine blew up in the first of four races, putting him out of the entire meeting. He could only watch as his rivals pulled away.
Stephen Bridle climbed to the top of the standings, on 163, 27 ahead of Jack Bleakley, with Connor now trailing Bridle by 29, instead of leading him by seven.
Sadly another man with championship ambitions, Brendan Brown, crashed heavily on the Sunday and will be out of racing for the rest of the season.
Paul Slade (Yamaha) remains firmly in control of the Rookies class, leading his closet rival, Tony Walsh (Kawasaki), by 96 points.
Andrew Haines moved back to the top of the SBK City Motogrande 1000 points’ table after a solid performance in the four races at Cadwell Park, but he is only six points ahead of Graham Hornby.
Sean Hardwicke enjoyed riding Ady Longmate’s Honda at Cadwell so much after a two year lay-off that he immediately made plans to race in this meeting.
Mick Alderson has now won nine of the 14 races run so far this season, leaves him firmly at the top of the Rookies championship. He has 274 points, 102 more than his closest rival, Andrew Gooding.
Gregg Allsop’s hopes of winning the Michelin Power Cup 1000 now look remote after a crash in the last round putting him 87 points behind series leader, Tony Keilty. But with nine more races still left to run and so a possible 225 points up for grabs, Allsop is not the sort of racer to give up.
Kevin Allen trails Allsop by 42 points, but his third place in the standings is coming under threat from man-on-form Dominic De-Leon, who did not score a point in the first two rounds, but who has not finished out of the top three in the last seven races. De-Leon is only 16 points behind Allen.
Andrew Roberts is more than just head and shoulders above the rest of the Rookies. He is now regularly mixing it with the Power Cup 1000 experts.
William White crashed out of the first of his four Power Cup 600 races at Cadwell and then could manage third place in the others. Rivals Richard Charlton and Wayne Humble made the most of White’s slip up.
Charlton won one race and finished second in the other three, while Humble had his best meeting of the season, winning the other three races and finishing second in the other to slash White’s lead.
Charlton is now only 20 behind White with Humble 25 down on the leader, with nine races to go.
After ten wins in succession, despite formidable opposition, Dave Wood Jr is now 54 points ahead of his closest rival, Andy Pike, in the Ducati Due Class A championship.
That lead seems certain to be extended because Pike is unable to race at Pembrey. James Gerrard is third in the standings, 110 down on Pike.
Tom Hallifax remains unbeaten in Class B on 325 points, a massive 142 in front of Andrew Claridge. Jim Brian is third, 20 points further back.
Graham Hornby stayed top of the Motosolo championship points’ table on 98, just three ahead of Mark Lister.
The good news for Hornby is that Lister will not contest any future rounds in the series. Hornby cannot afford to relax, though, because Colin Norris, third in the standings, is only 11 points down.
Robert Eagling is now just two points behind Parkitt Modern Classics Megabike championship leader Steve Roberts, after taking three second places at Cadwell Park.
Modern Classic Superbike championship front runner, Stuart Bayliss has stretched his lead over closest rival, Owen Richardson, to 27. Craig Robertson is now third in the series, 50 behind Richardson.
Bob Barton stayed top of the Supersport class, but another good meeting from young rival, Wayne Morris, has cut the gap to just 18 points. Mike Beadle climbed to third in the points’ table with a hat-trick of wins at Cadwell, but he is 102 behind Barton.
Joe Connolly, on 275 points, is 235 ahead of his closest rivals in the Maxitwins class, Andy Challis and Robert Tomlinson. Laurie Sands increased his lead in the Formula 400 class, opening up an 86 point lead over Martin Parkhouse.
Practice on the Saturday starts at 9.0am, with racing underway at 10.45am. Practice on Sunday begins at 9.0am, with the races starting at 10.40am.
Adult admission is £12 on each day.