Thursday September 19, 2013 at 8:58am
BMCRC Round 8 Cadwell Park September 14/15
EDIasia Formula 400s Welsh Crowned King At Cadwell
Richie Welsh was crowned EDIasia Formula 400 champion at Cadwell Park, with the popular rider from Hull and 2012 runner-up sealing the deal with a round to spare after finishing every race he started.
With a race cut from the programme after a huge oil spill in qualifying, which saw all 2.2 miles of the Cadwell Park circuit undergo a massive clean up operation, Welsh went into the races with a 133-point advantage over Chris Camps with just 175 to play for.
Camps gave himself the best chance of fighting for the championship by qualifying on the front row on the thesportsinjuryclinic.org backed Kawasaki, while Welsh played itself in the difficult qualifying conditions, qualifying seventh and on row three.
But fate was on the side Welsh on his NM Tuning powered Yamaha FZR400, and as he hit the front on the opening lap, Chris Camps dropped out of contention, handing the championship to Welsh.
As the red flags came out on lap five for an incident involving Mark Leaning, Welsh had managed to fend off the challenge from Italian Francesco Cavalli for long enough to take the win and seal the 2013 championship, extending his series lead to 158 points with 150 up for grabs.
In Sunday’s opener, Cavalli shot into an early lead and gapped the chasing pack. However, he crashed out of a commanding lead on lap on lap five, leaving Paul Ellerker, Gary Smith and Daniel Ruth to contend for victory, while Welsh sat out proceedings after sealing the championship.
Ellerker eventually took the win, crossing the line just four tenths of a second ahead of Smith, with Ruth two seconds further back.
Nick Anderson and Emma Jarman scrapped it out for the final win of the weekend as the rain worsened, the pair of them opening up a gap of over 30 seconds on the chasing pack come the chequered flag.
Anderson just bettered Jarman, with Robin Homewood coming out on top in the fight for third.
BMCRC Rookie 600s & 1000s 2013 Rookie Champions Crowned
Both of the Bemsee Rookie 600 and Rookie 1000 championships have been decided, with James Puttrell finally cementing himself as the Rookie 600 champion and Adrian Averre wrapping up the Rookie 1000 title.
Puttrell had dominated most of the Rookie 600 season, taking 15 wins before the Cadwell Park meeting. And such was his series lead, that the youngster was crowned champion before turning a wheel on the Lincolnshire circuit.
With the cancellation of Saturday’s second race due to work on track to clean up a huge oil spill, Puttrell’s 187 point lead was enough to secure the title, with just 175 left to race for.
But like a champion, Puttrell rode to two wins and a second in the Rookie 600 races, while also taking a 10th, sixth and a seventh in the hotly contested MRO 600 series.
In the Rookie 1000s, Averre took two seconds and a win to be crowned champion, the Aprilia mounted rider extending his series lead to 150 points with 100 available at the final round at Brands Hatch. His nearest challenger, Colin Clune, had a steady weekend with two eighths and a ninth and couldn’t prevent Averre from taking the title with a round to spare.
DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters Stimpson Takes Second Title In Two Years
After a dominant season in the DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters series, Dean Stimpson took the win in Saturday’s race at Cadwell Park, his 16th of the season, to confirm himself as the 2013 champion.
The reigning BMZRC 250 MZ champion has been untouchable throughout the 2013 campaign on his Newvic Property Services sponsored TZR250, the young rider from March proving himself as a real talent along the way, including beating Mike ‘Spike’ Edwards as he made a guest appearance in the class at Oulton Park.
At the same meeting, Richard Sawyer was also crowned as Clubman champion, the 2012 Rookie champion confirming what many saw as a foregone conclusion. Despite crashing out of Saturday’s race, two fifths on Sunday, two thirds in class, were enough to take the title.
After his second in Saturday’s race where he saw off Andy Davies’s challenge, Ben Miles took the win in Sunday’s opener from Doug Edmondson, before Edmondson took the win in the final outing with Miles second. Marc Prentice took a brace of thirds on Sunday in his first outing of the season.
BMZRC Freshdrop 250MZs MZ Title To Be Decided On One Race
The 2013 Freshdrop 250MZ title will be decided on the results from one championship race at Brands Hatch, as the class has one race left to run this year after the abandoned meeting at Snetterton earlier in the season.
Mark Taylor boasts a 15 point lead in the hunt for the championship, despite not finishing ahead of former champion and his nearest rival Chris Rogers in any of the three races at Cadwell Park
Rogers did everything he could to keep his title hopes alive in the opening two races, taking two victories, but Taylor remained in touch in second. Lee Wainwright and Peter Woodall took a third apiece in the opening two races.
In the soaking wet conditions for the final race, Wainwright took the win ahead of Rogers and Taylor, but it was enough for Taylor to retain the championship lead, taking a 15 point lead to Brands Hatch.
The BMZRC class will have four races at Brands Hatch, but with only one counting toward the final championship standings.
MRO Minitwins Brands Showdown To Go To The Wire
The MRO Minitwin championship is set to go down to the wire, with the final round at Brands Hatch gearing up to be a huge showdown between to the two title favourites, Simon Schug and Luke Harris, while Adam Cross kept himself in touch and isn’t out of the running, either.
Schug arrived at Cadwell Park with a 65 point lead over Harris, but after he failed to score a single podium, Harris was able to close the gap going into the final round. Harris’s championship hopes were also buoyed after Schug failed to finish a rerun race from the abandoned Snetterton meeting, meaning just 11 points now separate the two of them.
Grant Robertson continued to impress and secured his first ever pole position, and followed it up with his first overall win of the season in race one from Harris and Joe Buxton. Robertson also took another win the Sunday’s opener, again bettering Harris with Cross third.
A broken clutch lever meant a DNF for Robertson in the final race, but he managed to secure a second in the Snetterton rerun race, just losing out to Cross with Harris third. Harris took the win in the final race with Cross second and Steve Topping third. Cross is just 51 points off the series lead with 100 available at the final round.
National Junior Cup Top Youngster To Be Decided At Brands
Cadwell Park threw up even more surprises in the chase to be crowned champion in the 2013 National Junior Cup, with both championship contenders suffering highs and lows over the weekend.
Callum Grigor entered the weekend with a 22 point lead over Max Alexander, and his championship hopes received a huge boost in race one, as he took second while Alexander crashed out of contention on lap two. Stefan Hill took the win with Mark Piper third.
However, the pendulum swung in favour of Alexander in race two, as he took the win from Thomas Lodge, with Piper again third, as Grigor dropped from contention on lap three, while Stefan Hill crashed on the warm up lap.
Alexander further managed to narrow the gap to Grigor at the top of the championship, taking second in the final race with Grigor taking fourth; the gap between the two riders just 10 points going to Brands Hatch.
Hill took the win with Piper completing a hat-trick of third placed finishes.
Bumpstop Thunderbike UK & Thunderbike Extreme
Both the Bumpstop Thunderbikes and Thunderbike Extreme classes will be decided at the final round at Brands Hatch, with nothing separating Adam Nelson and Martin Cooper in the Thunderbike class, and 42 points between Steve Jordan and Dan Couzens in the Extreme class.
Nelson took the win in race one and fourth overall, just ahead of Cooper who was fifth, but a DNF in race two and a 10th in the final race gave Cooper the opportunity to close the gap completely, taking two wins in class including the overall win in the final race and third overall in race two.
In the Extreme class, all momentum sits with Jordan going into the final round after he took three wins in the class, including two wins overall. Couzens was second to him on two occasions, with Dan Wright taking second in the final race with Couzens third in class. Wright was also third in race one.
Morello Services MRO Powerbikes Baker Closing In On Another Title
Peter Baker looks set to secure another MRO Premier class title at the final round at Brands Hatch, despite surrendering nine points to Sam Coventry over the course of the weekend at Cadwell Park.
25 points separate the two riders heading into the final round, in what has been a two-horse race all season.
Baker took the win in race one from Coventry with Michael Honey third and leading Clubman, before Coventry took the win in the second outing, but Baker could only manage third behind Colin Parker. John Coughlan took fourth and was the leading Clubman.
Baker returned to the top step of the podium in the final race, but was pushed all the way by Coventry, the pair finishing over 20 seconds ahead of third, which went the way of Parker. Honey was fourth and again leading Clubman.
Honey heads to the final round with an 83 point lead in the Clubman class with 100 to play for, and looks set to secure the 2013 Clubman championship.
Team Respro MRO 600s Buxton Crowned Clubman Champion
Ashley Buxton was crowned Clubman 600 champion at Cadwell Park, and all-but crowned Team Respro MRO 600 champion in the process, taking a win, a second and a fourth in the three races, and three wins in the Clubman class.
After qualifying on pole, Buxton just missed out on the win in race one, having to settle for second place behind Aaron Clarke on the Vale Livestock Kawasaki, with Tommy Philp making a return to Bemsee action in third.
On Sunday, Buxton took the overall win in dominant fashion, taking the chequered flag nearly nine seconds ahead of Philp, with Clarke on the podium again in third.
Buxton crossed the line in second place overall in the final race of the weekend, but a 10 second penalty for a jump start saw him relegated to fourth overall in the results. Clarke took his second win of the weekend, with rookie champion James Puttrell taking an excellent second place, ahead of Philp in third.
Buxton will be looking to seal the MRO 600 championship at the final round at Brands Hatch.
BMCRC RKB F1 & F2 Sidecars Nicholls Closing But Capewell Set To Be Crowned Champion
The RKB supported BMCRC F2 sidecar championship crown looks set to be heading home with Wayne Lockey and Luke Capewell, despite their nearest challenger Dean Nicholls closing the gap at Cadwell Park.
Nicholls, without usual passenger Ashley Moore, drafted in Paul Skinner to sit in the chair, and the duo took a win, a second and a third in the three races, and also nabbed second in a rerun Snetterton race.
Their 81 points haul bettered the 67 obtained by Lockey and Capewell over the weekend, who despite taking a win, a second and a third, were let down by a 10th placed finish in Sunday’s opener.
However, Lockey and Capewell head to Brands with an 88 point advantage with 100 up for grabs from the four races.
Tony Brown and Ryan Anderson secured the F1 championship with two rounds to spare, and went to Cadwell Park with everything wrapped up.
Ben Bygrave and Calum Lawson took the win in Saturday’s opener, before Brown and Anderson took victory in a race held over from the abandoned Snetterton meeting earlier in the year.
Sunday’s wins were shared between Bygrave, with Calum Lawson as passenger, and Bruce Munro and Jones, who took victory in the final race.