Ten points cover the top three teams in the ACU/Sorrymate.com National Endurance series after Team Traction Control (Steve Mercer/Ben Neeves) won the sixth round of the championship at Pembrey on August 10 and 11.
The victory for Team Traction Control lifted them to just one point behind IBL Racing (Mark Clark/Jesse Trayler), who was third home. Go Racing Developments (Gregg Allsop/Andy Carpenter) finished a lap down on the winners in the three-hour race, but only 24 seconds ahead of IBL Racing.
Macca and Edge Racing (Gary Johnson/Nick Edgeley) was fourth home overall and first in the National 600 class. Just behind them, fifth overall, was another National 600 team, Pit Stop Racing (Peter and Marc Dilks).
Peter Dilks caught and overtook Johnson in the final session after it started spitting with rain, but Johnson responded and passed him back. Dilks crossed the finishing line ten seconds down. That was enough to cut the gap on leaders, Team sorrymate.com (Colin Norris/Warren Verweh), to 20 points.
They finished third in the class after an eventful meeting, which included a seven hour round trip home for Verweh to collect parts and Norris unexpectedly having to go out on track for the final six minutes after Verweh’s bike developed a misfire.
TDM Racing (Terry and Mick Merritt) won the Clubman 600 Endurance class and now lead their closest rivals, Thunder Chickens (Mark Gibson/Ellis Hadley), who were second in the class, by ten points.
TANC 2 Racing (Grant Berry/Chris Mason) was first Clubman 1000 Endurance team over the line, ahead of R. Soulson2wheels (Aaron Davies/Justin Dearsley).
The victory increases TANC 2 Racing’s lead over Fire IT Racing (Andy Goddard/Louis Turner-Laurent) to 49.
Michelin Power Cup
Greg Allsop (Yamaha) won all three Michelin Power Cup 1000 races and cut the lead of series leader, Tony Keilty (Kawasaki 1000), to 68 points.
Allsop was first big bike home Saturday’s 15-lap Superpole, grabbing third place over the line over eight seconds clear of Keilty, who was fifth over the line.
Allsop was first big bike over the line in the next three races, piling on the points and resurrecting his slender hopes of winning the 1000cc title.
Wayne Humble (Yamaha) moved to the top of the Michelin Power Cup 600 championship after finishing second in the first two races and winning the third.
Humble was leading Superpole until his brake lever fell off, allowing pole-setter Richard Charlton (Yamaha) to take victory.
Charlton won race two.
Charlton’s hopes of a hat trick were dashed in race three when he slid off, gifting Humble victory.
Keilty leads the 1000cc class on 338, 68 ahead of Allsop.
Humble now tops the 600 points’ table on 313, eight more than William White and ten ahead of Charlton.
Motogrande 600
Steve Bridle (Suzuki) had some good results in the Michelin Power Cup races and he also went well in the Motogrande 600 class.
He qualified on pole and went on to take three third places and a second to stay top of the points’ table on 231.
James Edwards (Yamaha) romped home to victory in all four outings.
Edwards now has 214 points, 17 behind Bridle.
Paul O’Connor (Triumph) had four top-four finishes to climb to 193 points and stay in contention.
Motogrande 1000
Andrew Haines (Yamaha) stayed top of the Motogrande 1000 championship, despite mixed fortunes. He is now on 198, 15 ahead of Benjamin Fortt (Kawasaki). It was a tough day for Graham Hornby (Honda). He suffered the second of his weekend’s three crashes in his first Motogrande race.
He scored only 25 points in the next three races and slipped back to third in the standings, 18 down on Haines.
Welshman Julian Hughes (Kawasaki) was the star of the class, qualifying on pole and winning the first three races.
MotoSolo
Graham Hornby (Honda 1000) knew he had hurt his shoulder when he crashed in practice. What he did not know till much later was that he had broken his right collarbone!
Despite the pain Hornby battled through to second place in both MotoSolo races to stretch his lead in the series to 19 points over
Colin Norris (Yamaha 600), who had two third places.