Team Respro MRO 600s
Sam Cox got his season off to a flyer at Brands Hatch, the former Minitwin front-runner and now Triumph-mounted rider winning all four races at the opening round.
Cox started from pole, but Ashley Buxton took the race lead early on, chased by Chris Burrage on the Seton Tuning Yamaha. However, Burrage's challenge would come to an end, as he dropped out of the running on lap five.
Behind Buxton, Cox was closing, followed by 2013 Rookie 600 champion James Puttrell. Cox found a way to the front on lap eight and took the win followed by Puttrell, who bettered Buxton on the last lap, claiming Clubman win too.
Cox took the win in race two by seven seconds, with good fortune playing its part. A close battle at the front saw Mason Law leading the way, with Cox, Puttrell and Buxton all involved. Puttrell crashed out on lap five, before Buxton and Law saw their race ended early on lap seven. Ali Black inherited second position behind Cox, who took the win with Ben Gallaway third. Black was the lead Clubman across the line.
On Sunday Cox completed his perfect weekend, coming from fourth in race one to take the lead on lap five and the win from Black and Burrage, before bettering Buxton in the final encounter by just over a second, with Burrage again third. Black took the win in both races in the Clubman class.
In the Rookie 600s, Grant Newstead took the win in race one, ahead of Glen Turner and Stephen Draper, but could only manage a fifth in race two, as Darren Ibbertson took the win, from Turner and Michael Hall.
Based on the Saturday performances, Glen Turner was awarded the new Vincent Fox Memorial Trophy on Saturday evening for “Rookie 600 Best Performance”.
On Sunday, Newstead returned to winning ways before finishing second in the final race. Turner and Adam Alexander were second and third in race one, before Hall took the win in race two with Ben Smith third.
Morello Services MRO Powerbikes
Gatecrashing Saturday's races in the Morello Services sponsored MRO Powerbike series was former Bemsee rider Danny Buchan, with the MSS Performance Kawasaki rider taking both wins. Former champion Rob McNealy took second in race one with Jesse Trayler third, before the two swapped positions for the second race.
With the three not scoring championship points, Barry Chapman and Jon Waghorn received top point-scoring honours in each race. Michael Honey was leading Clubman rider in both, with ninth and 10th placed finishes.
On Sunday morning Waghorn took the win from Honey, again leading Clubman, with Chapman third.
Trayler took to the grid in race two and took the win, just six tenths of a second ahead of Chapman on his Morello and Steve Jordan sponsored BMW. Steve Murphy took his first Powerbike podium in third.
In the BMCRC Rookie 1000s, Jack Croucher took two wins from both of Saturday's races, with Jason Loomes second on both occasions. Lukasz Zuchowski and Mark Rusted shared the bottom step of the podium.
Zuchowski tasted victory in race one on Sunday, finishing ahead of Croucher and Rusted's enthralling battle for second place. Rusted was back on the podium in the final race, finishing behind race winner Loomes, with Croucher third.
MRO Minitwins
Mark Piper, one of the most improved riders in last year's National Junior Cup series, qualified on pole for the first Minitwin round of the season. However, his high was short-lived, crashing out of second place on lap four of race one, leaving three riders to sort out the order of the podium.
Just four tenths of a second covered them in the end, Adam Cross taking victory with Grant Robertson just six thousandths of a second behind. Russell Taylor claimed third.
The same riders finished on the podium in race two, Cross again taking the win ahead of Taylor, with Robertson this time third.
Ruled out of Saturday's second race, Piper made the grid for Sunday's opener, only to drop from contention on lap eight from 12th place. With the race red flagged, Taylor was awarded the win ahead of Cross and Paul Holden. There was disappointment too for Robertson, caught out by the conditions he crashed out at Paddock Hill on lap one.
The final race was a masterclass from Matt Hinnells, dealing superbly with the tricky conditions. Pulling out a gap of over three seconds, the race was eventually stopped on lap six.
Hinnells was awarded the win with Holden second and Taylor third.
Ben Body was in dominant form in the Rookie Minitwins, taking both wins on Saturday. While he unfortunately didn't complete the opening lap of Sunday's first encounter, he recovered to win the final race. Steve Costin took the win on Sunday morning, adding to two second placed finishes he amassed over the rest of the weekend.
National Junior Cup and Senior 300 Series
2014 saw the return of the National Junior Cup, supported by Kawasaki UK, and also the introduction of the Senior 300 class.
Two wins, a second and third meant Mark Piper got his title challenge off to the right start, but he looks set to face stiff competition from the likes of Ryan Folkes and Joel Marklund.
Folkes, qualifying on pole, took the win by 11 seconds in race one, with Piper second and Marklund third. Race two was a far closer affair, with the podium split by less than half a second. Piper took the win from Marklund with Alex Murley third. Folkes dropped from the running on lap five.
On Sunday, Piper took his second win of the weekend with an eight second gap to Folkes in second and Murley in third, before Folkes returned to the top step of the podium in race two, fending off the challenges of Murley and Piper.
Chris Rose was the highest placing Senior 300 runner in each race, with a sixth and fourth on Saturday, followed by a brace of fifths on Sunday. Also lining up on the grid for the four races was Grand Prix star Cal Crutchlow's father Derek. The experienced racer and popular figure in many racing paddocks over the years managed a best finish of seventh place, as he gathers licence signatures ahead of the Classic TT on the Isle of Man later this year.
EDIasia Formula 400s
Former BMZRC champion Andy Saunders took three wins from four in the EDIasia Formula 400s, and left Brands Hatch leading the series.
Former 400 champion Colin Martin qualified on pole on his David Simon Tuning Kawasaki, just ahead of MSS Performance-backed Saunders and 2013 champion Richie Welsh. All three stood on the podium in race one, with Saunders taking the win from Martin and Welsh, with the order repeated in race two.
Another former champion put himself in the mix on Sunday in the form of Steve Palmer. The 2011 champion held off the challenge from Saunders to take the win. Daniel Ruth finished third, while Richie Welsh suffered the disappointment of crashing out on lap four.
Welsh recovered for the last race of the weekend, coming through impressively to take second place, while Saunders took his second win of the weekend and Palmer finished third.
In the Rookie 400s, Andy House took three wins and a second, finishing behind Andrew Pitt in the final race.
Freshdrop BMZRC 250MZs
Mark Taylor started his season off in superb fashion, taking three wins and a second at Brands Hatch in the Freshdrop sponsored BMZRC 250MZ series.
Taylor just missed out on the win in race one, crossing the line three tenths behind Chris Dowling, with former champion Chris Rogers third.
However, Taylor would benefit from the misfortunes of both Dowling and Rogers in race two, both riders crashing out on lap eight. The race red flagged, Taylor was awarded the win ahead of Pete Woodall and Reece Baldwin.
Taylor took a brace of wins on Sunday to leave Kent with the championship lead. His victory in race one came ahead of Andrew Wales and Peter Mannering, before Dowling and Rogers recovered to stand on the podium in race two in second and third respectively.
RKB-F1 BMCRC F1 and F2 Sidecars
The BMCRC Sidecar championships, sponsored by RKB-F1, provided some of the closest racing of the meeting, with the F1 outfit of Matt MacLaurin and Adrian Hope taking two wins and a second.
They duo took the win in race one from Mick Bleackley and Ben Ransley, with Kevin Cable and Guy Pawsey third. Wayne Lockey and Mark Sayers were the leading F2 outfit in fifth.
In race two the F2 outfit of with Dean Nicholls and Paul Skinner took the win ahead of the F2 machine of John and Susan Longmore. Bruce Munro and Paul Jeffrey took third and the victory in the F1 class.
After a DNF in the second race on Saturday, McLaurin and Hope recovered to take second place in Sunday's opener, finishing behind Bleackley and Ransley. Lockey and Sayers took their second F2 win of the weekend with a third place overall.
And all F1 podium in the fourth race saw McLaurin and Hope take their second victory, ahead of Tony Brown and Ashley Hawes with Cable and Pawsey third. Brian Ilaria and Lee Saunders finished fifth and took the win in the F2 class.
2-Stroke GP Series
Four different winners adorned the top step of the podium in the 2-Stroke GP Series, with Jonathan Stamper finishing 16 seconds ahead of Al Pirie and Tom Snow in race one, before three different riders made the rostrum in race two. Mark Parbury took the win ahead of Nigel Palmer and Ewan Hamilton.
Hamilton again made the podium in race one on Sunday, finishing half a second ahead of Dean Stimpson, riding his old Yamaha TZR250 after mechanical issues with his Aprilia, with Tom Snow taking another third placed finish.
Stimpson then put in one of the performances of the weekend in the final race, taking the win on his TZR250 against the more race-orientated bikes on the grid. Losing out down the straights, Stimpson made three consecutive passes around the outside at Paddock Hill Bend, eventually taking the win from Snow and Hamilton.