2013 British Supermoto Championship, by NORAsport.com

Monday October 28, 2013 at 4:15pm

2013 British Supermoto Championship, by NORAsport.com

Round nine, Three Sisters, Wigan, Lancs

Words by: Dave Cornish

Photos by: www.motorsport.styleimage.co.uk

The 2013 British Supermoto championships reached its end of season climax at Three Sisters Circuit and with the 450 Elite title already secured by Chris Hodgson (Skyzone Pope KTM) it was still all to play for in the Elite Open and also the Michelin Cup and National titles. With some changeable weather conditions forecast, it was going to be a test of rider, machine and crucial tyre choice. Saturday's racing started off damp and grey but the track dried out throughout the day and luckily Sunday was mainly a slick tyre choice. TT star Connor Cummings was making his supermoto debut aboard a DCR Suzuki and former BSMC Champion Craig Venske was making a welcome return to supermoto aboard an NPS Honda.

450 Elite

Qualifying and Chris Hodgson (Skyzone) swapped places with Lewis Cornish (DCR/Nameplate Services) for P1 as James Addy (698 Racing) suddenly pulled a quick lap out of the bag to nab pole in front of Cornish and Hodgson with Chris Walker (698 Racing) rounding out the front row. Race one and Hodgson running a rear slick soon forced his way past pole sitter Addy who had opted for a wet set up. Cornish (who made a hurried change to a rear slick) slotted in behind Addy and he could see recently crowned 450 Champion Hodgson begin to stretch his lead. Meanwhile Richard Sharp (MWR), Dale O'Connor and John Earnshaw (698 Racing) were fighting it out for 4th position as Davey Todd (DCR/Nameplate Services) was gradually working his way through the field from a poor qualifying spot and was soon challenging O'Connor in 4th position. Cornish made his move past Addy for second and set about reeling in leader Hodgson. On the last lap he out braked the number one plate holder going onto the dirt and took a well deserved win from Hodgson with Addy 10 seconds adrift in third as Todd eased past O'Connor to take 4th place. Drama before the start of race two when Addy pulled out with a front puncture as Cornish took the holeshot but was passed by Hodgson and then Todd who were battling hard for the lead. Richard Sharp (MW Racing) looked comfortable in 4th but slowed as the race went on allowing hard charging Richard Blakeman (D3 Racing) and Graeme Norris (Norris Racing) to sweep by. At the front Todd looked threatening to take the lead but Hodgson narrowly beat the youngster to take the win. Cornish came home in third place as Blakeman fended off Norris for 4th from O'Connor and Sharp limped home in 6th. Cummings, Brad Hardy and Jamie Duncan just about crossed the line together after a mammoth battle for 10th place with the nod just going to the TT specialist. The 450 final saw Todd chase down Hodgson and make a move to take the lead. Cornish was battling in 5th with Norris and Blakeman. However Norris ran wide onto the grass and he was passed by both riders. Blakeman crashed under the pressure from Cornish who then moved up to third. Todd began to stretch his lead over Hodgson but Cornish couldn't close the gap to the leading duo. A recovering Blakeman was forcing his way back up the pack but was just headed over the line by an on form O'Connor in 5th place with Norris in 4th. Todd took a straight forward win from Hodgson with Cornish in third.

Overall: 1 Chris Hodgson (2013 Champion), 2 Davey Todd, 3 Lewis Cornish

Open Elite

With the Open championship still very much up for grabs it was Chris Hodgson who put down an early marker by taking pole from Lewis Cornish who edged out his team mate Davey Todd for second place on the grid but amazingly it was former Champ Craig Venske who rounded out the front row on his first supermoto race in over two years.

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, Cornish was trying every trick in the book to re-pass but with Hodgson in his wheel tracks he couldn't make the move. Eventually Todd cracked under the pressure and made a mistake over the tarmac table-top. Cornish grabbed the lead and gapped Hodgson in second place and Blakeman inherited third with Addy close behind him. Todd regained his composure and set about salvaging some vital points by passing several riders including Addy but just ran out of time to get any higher than 4th at the flag. Venske also caught Addy but failed to beat the Barnsley rider by a mere 0.01' across the line. Cornish took the win from Hodgson and Blakeman.

Race two was almost a repeat of the frantic race for the lead between the usual top three. With Todd, Hodgson and Cornish barely separable it was shaping up to be another classic battle but with so much action taking place right though the field the TV director didn't know where to film first. Blakeman was close in Venske's wheel tracks and looking for a way past but eventually the South African racer crashed on the dirt and was very lucky not to be seriously injured as Blakeman tried his best to avoid a collision but ran straight over him. O'Connor and Norris now had some breathing space in their fight for fifth place as Cummings got the better of Brad Hardy and Tim Johnson as he got more used to his RMZ and finished inside the top 10. Out at the front, Todd led Hodgson across the line as Cornish came home in third. Addy was next to finish as O'Connor narrowly fended off Norris for fifth.

A rain soaked track saw yet another tyre change as the riders lined up for the Open final. They say "save the best till last" and this the final race of the season didn't disappoint. Hodgson took the holeshot and led until Todd forced him wide at the end of the start straight, this allowed Cornish to follow him through and with no team orders it didn't take him long to make a move coming off the dirt section. With one hand on the title Hodgson in third had the best seat in the house as lap after lap Cornish and Todd traded places for the lead. Meanwhile Addy was having a lonely ride in 4th as O'Connor, Blakeman and Norris were having a heated battle and were soon joined by Cummings who was having his best race of the weekend. However all eyes were on the excitement at the front as Cornish's speed off the dirt section allowed him to come alongside Todd, several times he took the lead only for Todd to retake the position on the faster tarmac sections. With time running out Cornish once again came alongside but as Todd opened his throttle hard, his back wheel spun out and hit Cornish's front end which put Cornish on the ground. Todd kept it on the tarmac and took the race win from Hodgson as Addy caught a recovering Cornish but couldn't quite take the third spot from him. A strong ride from O'Connor in fifth kept him ahead of Blakeman and Norris with Cummings Sharp and Hardy rounding out the top ten. On the cool down lap Hodgson was in jubilant mood as he celebrated his third British Elite Championship clean sweep in a row.

Overall: 1 Davey Todd, 2 Chris Hodgson (2013 Champion), 3 Lewis Cornish

Michelin Cup

The Michelin Cup soon showed that Ashley Saunders (GB Racing) had the early pace as he took pole from Kayla and Tom Barrington (TKB) with Charlie Light (TKB) rounding out the front row. However in race one Tom Barrington had problems and stalled on the line which gave Saunders and Kayla the space to fight for the lead which eventually went in the favour of Saunders from Kayla and Light in third. Kayla Barrington had an easy victory in race two in front of Saunders with Marty Robbins taking third just ahead of Light. The final race was a repeat of the first race with Saunders, Kayla and Light rounding out the top three with Tom Barrington taking 5th place he'd done enough to take the 2013 Championship title.

Overall: 1 Saunders, 2 Kayla Barrington, 3 Charlie Light

Open National A

Keith Topliss (Killer Racing) headed the qualifying leader board from Kayla Barrington (TKB), Ashley Saunders (GB Racing) and Ben Williams (AF Racing) completing the front row as a still injured Lee Rudd (LR Designs/TRM) returned to the track in 11th on the grid in a bid to hold onto his championship lead. 15 year-old Kayla Barrington's smooth style suited the sometimes greasy conditions as she took the fight to Saunders and Topliss to take race one and race three victories to give her the overall win. Saunders took the race two win and thanks to a couple of runner up positions he was on the second step of the overall podium in front of Topliss. MX star Jamie Law made his return to supermoto worthwhile with a 5th overall 2 points behind Williams. Whilst Rudd took the 2013 title as he rode a very cautious day's racing but did enough to lift the Open National Championship.

Overall: 1 Kayla Barrington, 2 Ashley Saunders, 3 Keith Topliss

Open National B

Dave Blanks took a clean sweep of race wins to take the overall National B victory with fellow Southerner Grant Fraser taking the runner up position thanks to some top four placings in all three races. Kris Norris missed out on the podium by a single point as Andy Burgin once again made the National B podium in third place.

Overall: 1 Dave Blanks, 2 Grant Fraser, 3 Andy Burgin

2013 British Supermoto Championship Final Standings (provisional)

450 Elite

1 1 Chris Hodgson

2 712 Davey Todd

3 8 Lewis Cornish

4 54 Richard Blakeman

5 155 Chris Walker

6 217 Richard Sharp

7 41 Dale O'Connor

8 9 Graeme Norris

9 167 Michael Craig