Thursday October 10, 2013 at 12:06pm
MRO Minitwins
Luke Harris was crowned 2013 MRO Minitwin champion at the final round of the season, with the title going down to the wire at Brands Hatch.
Harris arrived at the Kentish venue and home circuit of the British Motorcycle Racing Club 13 points behind series lead Simon Schug, but the youngster turned out four impressive displays to take the win in all four races.
Schug on the other hand failed to finish on the podium, and could do nothing to prevent Harris claiming the 2013 crown.
Race one saw Harris keep the opposition at bay to lead every lap on his KH Brickwork Suzuki, fending off the challenge from Neil MacQueen and Joe Buxton to take the win. Grant Robertson came out on top in the battle with Adam Cross for fourth, with Schug fifth at the flag, surrendering his championship lead.
Harris took the win in race two after a titanic battle between the front runners saw the podium places covered by less than a second, with two riders dropping out of contention as they fought for supremacy.
As the lead three charged into Druids on lap six, Roberston saw a self-admitted overly ambitious move up the inside spell the end of his race, as he lost the front and crashed out. Joe Buxton, who dropped out of second place on the last lap, joined him in the list of non-finishers.
Harris took the win, from Cross and Neil MacQueen, with Schug fourth.
Two wins on Sunday made sure of the championship for Harris, as Schug could only manage a seventh and an 11th placed finish from both races.
MacQueen and Cross took second and third in the first race, with MacQueen second again in the final outing, ahead of a four rider scrap for the final podium place, which saw Robertson round off his season with a hard fought third place from 12th on the grid.
National Junior Cup
Calum Grigor was crowned National Junior Cup champion at the final round of the series at Brands Hatch, taking the championship by 41 points in the end.
Grigor arrived leading Max Alexander by just 10 points, but Grigor’s title hopes received a boost when Alexander crashed out in race one. Grigor took second behind Thomas Lodge, with Ryan Folkes third.
Alexander made the grid for race two, and signalled his intent with a race win, bettering Lodge by just a tenth of a second with Grigor third.
However, a DNF in Sunday’s opening race spelled the end of Alexander’s title bid, as Lodge took another win, with Grigor second and Folkes third.
Grigor ended his season with a disappointing DNF in the final race of the season, but Mark Piper, who has showed continued progression throughout the season got his reward with a well-deserved race win, just holding off Folkes with the gap less than a tenth of a second at the line. Lodge took third.
MRO Powerbikes
Peter Baker became the 2013 Morello Services MRO Powerbike Champion at Brands Hatch, despite the former champion finishing behind Sam Coventry in three of the four races.
Baker took a fourth, two fifths and a third from the four races, with Jess Trayler making an appearance in the class and taking two wins on Saturday, with former champion Rob McNealy taking two seconds. Coventry and Barry Chapman took a third apiece.
On Sunday, Trayler took another brace of victories, beating McNealy in race one with Chapman third, before Baker got himself on the podium to celebrate his championship in race two, taking third place behind Chapman with Trayler again on the top step of the podium.
Michael Honey was crowned Clubman 1000 champion after taking all four wins in the class, his best finish a sixth coming in the final outing.
Jack Croucher took three wins in the Rookie 1000 class, with 2013 Rookie champion Adrian Averre standing on top of the podium in the opening race.
While he had to settle for second in the championship, Sam Coventry was awarded the magnificent AMC Trophy, which was contested over all three rounds that the Club held at the Brands Hatch circuit.
All riders in the MRO Powerbikes or MRO 600 class, including Clubman are eligible for the Champion of Brands competition. Coventry was awarded the trophy, as he recorded the highest points haul across the three meetings.
BMZRC Freshdrop 250MZ
Mark Taylor sealed the BMZRC Freshdrop 250MZ championship, with just one race at the final round counting toward championship points.
Chris Rogers took the win in the held over race from the abandoned Snetterton meeting, but Taylor’s third place was enough to secure the title. Chris Dowling took second.
Sunday’s races saw the class compete for the King of ‘Z’s trophy, which was awarded to Taylor, a win and a second. The other win went to returning 2012 champion and 2013 Yamaha Past Masters champion Dean Stimpson.
Thunderbike & Thunderbike Extreme UK
Adam Nelson was crowned Thunderbike champion at the final round of the series, with Martin Cooper, his nearest challenger, absent from proceedings.
Nelson took a second and a fourth in the class in Saturday’s races, as David May took both wins with a fourth and fifth overall. Steve Parrott took a pair of thirds, with Colin Walkey second in race two.
May, Parrott and Walkey occupied the podium places in Sunday’s races, Parrott and May taking a win each with Walkey twice third.
In the Thunderbike Extreme class, Steve Jordan arrived leading the championship by 45 points, and was crowned 2013 Thunderbike Extreme champion, taking four second placed finishes from four races.
Couzens, Jordan’s who finished second in the championship, took four wins, but it was only enough to take 20 points out of series leader Jordan. Dave Shelvey took four third placed finishes.
MRO 600s
Ashley Buxton showed his class at the final round of the Team Respro MRO 600 championship season, taking three wins and a second and cementing the 2013 MRO 600 championship in the process.
Dave Heal took the win in the opening race with Buxton second, with Seb Kelly having a strong ride to third place on the Go Racing Yamaha R6, before Buxton took his first win of the weekend in race two, ahead of Heal and Jed Angles. Buxton was also the lead Clubman in each race on his Yamaha R6.
Buxton did the double in both of Sunday’s races, and also took the win in the final held over race from the snowed off meeting at Snetterton earlier in the season, enough to secure the 2013 Clubman 600 championship, too.
Heal and Sam Thompson took second and third in both of Sunday’s encounters, with Ali Black and Martin Turner second and third in the Snetterton rerun.
2013 Rookie 600 Champion James Puttrell showed his class as he mixed it with the MRO regulars, taking all four wins in the rookie class, with his best finish a fifth place in the final outing.
DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters
Dean Stimpson had already been crowned DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters Champion at the previous round at Cadwell Park, but that didn’t prevent an exciting finish to the end of season action.
Saturday’s action saw Stimpson and Ben Miles share the spoils, the pair dicing throughout the duration of both 10-lap encounters, while Pete Moore kept his faint Rookie championship hopes alive with a third in race one, but his season-long bad luck continued in race two, when he was knocked off at Druids in a three-rider scrap for third place by eventual Rookie champion Matt Barber, who took third at the line.
Famed for their social antics as much as the close on track action, the end of season hog roast saw the club come together on the Saturday night, but woolly heads or not, Sunday’s action was just as close.
Stimpson and Miles renewed their battle at the front in race one, closely followed by Rookie champion Barber, before Miles fell at Graham Hill on lap seven. Stimpson won from Barber and 2012 champion Graham Higlett.
The final race of the season saw Barber and Miles escape at the front, the rookie desperate for a so far elusive race win. The pair battled throughout, but going into Graham Hill on the last lap and Barber ran wide, scuppering his chances for victory. However, a 10 second jump start penalty for Miles saw Barber take a well deserved win, with Miles second and Doug Edmondson third.
EDIasia Formula 400s
James Caswell-Cox was crowned the EDIasia Formula 400 Sub-64 Champion at Brands Hatch, despite a DNF in the opening race. He took a fourth in race two and two third placed finishes in class in Sunday’s races.
His bid for the championship was aided when his nearest challenger, Graham Higlett, was disqualified from the Sub-64 results from race two onwards for a technical infringement.
The Formula 400 Rookie championship was also decided over the final round, with Yamaha Past Masters Rookie Champion, Matt Barber, sealing the crown on his Yamaha TZR250.
In the main race action Colin Martin took victory in race one from Chris Camps and Gary Smith, before former MZ Champion Andy Saunders took an impressive win in race two, fending off Martin and Camps. New champion Richie Welsh sat out proceedings.
Saunders then took both wins on Sunday, both ahead of Martin and Daniel Ruth.
BMCRC RKB F1&F2 Sidecars
Kev Cable and Guy Pawsey were dominant in the RKB sponsored F1 sidecars, taking all four wins at the final round of the season.
The pair were untouchable all weekend, however, Tony Brown and Ryan Anderson, the 2013 F1 champions, were absent from proceedings.
In the F2 class, Wayne Lockey and Luke Capewell were crowned F2 sidecar champions, but it was Dean Nicholls and Paul Skinner who impressed over the weekend, taking three class wins, including a third overall in race one.
Lockey and Capewell took a win in Sunday’s opener to secure the championship.
2-Stroke GP
A guest class with the British Motorcycle Racing Club for the final round of the 2013 season was the Two-Stroke GP series, which saw a number of riders filling the grid from the Yamaha Past Masters series.
Jonathan Stamper dominated proceedings, winning all four races. There were podiums for Yamaha Past Master champion Dean Stimpson, who took second in race one ahead of Andrew Sawford, and third in Sunday’s opener. Sawford was second in the second race on Saturday with Adrian Martin third.
Sawford was again on the podium in race one on Sunday taking second ahead of Stimpson, and made it a clean-sweep of podium finishes with a third in the final race, as Martin just bettered him for second.