Friday August 15, 2014 at 8:54am
MRO Minitwins
Grant Robertson reassumed control of the MRO Minitwin championship at the weekend, proving consistency is the key. On the prestigious Brands Hatch GP circuit, Robertson claimed second and a brace of fourth placed finishes, before storming to the win in the final race to move 19 points clear at the top of the standings.
In Saturday's dry races it was Matthew Truelove and Paul Wilby, who arrived at the Kentish circuit leading the championship by four points, who took the two race wins, Truelove taking the opening win from Robertson and Wilby, before Wilby took victory in a thrilling race two, crossing the line just two hundredths of a second ahead of Kurtis Butler. Harry Truelove finished third.
As promised, the rain arrived on Sunday, with the opening race of the day in wet conditions. In one of the closest races this season, the podium was split by three tenths of a second, with Matthew Truelove bettering Matt Last by one hundredth of a second, with Russell Taylor third.
On a fast-drying track, Robertson made it to the top step of the podium in the final race, storming to victory by nearly nine seconds. Matthew Truelove finished second, a tenth ahead of Jake Povah.
In the Rookie class, Oliver Read and Mason Williams shared the spoils with two wins each, with Williams taking over at the top of the championship.
Freshdrop BMZRC 250
Mark Taylor saw his championship lead diminish slightly at Brands Hatch, as Pete Woodall rode to three race wins and a second. Taylor, however, rode to the Racing Line Rider of the Day award on Saturday, coming from the back of the grid in race two the finish second in a full grid of 250 MZs.
Taylor retired from pole before race one even began, leaving Woodall to take the win from Chris Rogers and Andrew Wale, before Woodall again took victory in race two, but with Taylor coming from the very back of the grid to lose out on the win by just two tenths of a second.
Woodall took victory again in Sunday's opener from Wales and Taylor, before Taylor finally mounted to top step of the podium in the final race, a tenth of a second ahead of Woodall with Rogers third.
EDIasia Formula 400s
Colin Martin dominated the penultimate round of the EDIasia Formula 400s, taking all four wins, but the focus was on Steve Palmer and Francesco Cavalli, as they duped it out ahead of the season finale at Snetterton in September.
Cavalli took second in race one on a visibly slower machine, riding the wheels off it around the outside of his competitors at Paddock Hill, with Palmer third, however, Palmer's second and Cavalli's fourth in race two swung the championship pendulum again. Dan Ruth was third.
Sunday's opening encounter saw Martin again take the win, this time from Cavalli and Ruth, with Palmer down in 13th, but Palmer recovered in the final race to finish on the podium in third, but behind Cavalli in second. Just 17 points splits them going into the final round.
Mark Stephenson and Carl Johnstone took two wins each in the Sub-64 class, with championship leader Graham Higlett crashing and injuring his arm and shoulder in the Yamaha Past Masters series.
Tim Looker took three Rookie wins, with Harley Godzisz taking the other.
Morello Services MRO Powerbikes
Steve Murphy effectively watched his 2014 MRO Powerbikes come to an end, after a crash in race two left him out of the rest of the weekend's action.
Barry Chapman is now the odds on favourite for the crown, despite not taking a win over the course of the weekend.
Jonathan Lodge took the opening win from Chapman with Peter Baker third. Murphy finished seventh, before crashing heavily in the second race, resulting in a red flag.
With the race held over to Sunday, Colin Parker took the win in wet conditions from Daryl Dance and Steve Smith. With the third race also in the wet, Parker took his second victory, this time ahead of Roger Marsh and Michael Honey.
Parker was also awarded the Vince Bennett trophy, presented to the Powerbike rider with the best performances of the weekend, as judged by his wife Viv.
Chapman climbed the podium in the final race, but could do nothing about Peter Baker who took the win, with Smith third.
Roger Marsh claimed all four Clubman wins to narrow the championship gap to Honey to just three points.
Mark Sykes and Jack Croucher took two wins apiece in the Rookie races.
Team Respro MRO 600s
Tommy Philp put one hand on the Team Respro MRO 600 championship crown at Brands Hatch, taking all four wins and 100 points.
Sam Thompson and Chris Burrage finished second and third in both of Saturday's races, with James Puttrell the lead Clubman on both occasions.
Sunday's wet races also saw the podium positions repeated, with Philp showing his class in the difficult conditions to fend off Puttrell and Chris Beck, the pair one and two in the Clubman class.
Stephen Draper and Grant Newstead took a brace of wins apiece in the Rookie 600s.
BMCRC Thunderbike & Thunderbike Extreme
Ben Gallaway's double win on Sunday on the Brands Hatch GP circuit saw him take a step closer to the BMCRC, Steve Jordan Thunderbike Extreme championship crown.
Gallaway took both victories, both ahead of Jason Byard, with Dave Shelvey and Daniel Lawlor taking both thirds.
On Saturday Dan Shelvey took the opening win of the weekend ahead of Denzil Davies and Byard, with Byard taking the on Saturday afternoon, with Shelvey second and Davies third.
Steve Palmer took one win in the Thunderbike class, with Sam Wilford taking the other three with a best finish of fourth.
RKB-F1 & BMCRC F2 Sidecars
Pete Founds and Andy Taylor's three wins and a second in the RKB-F1 sponsored sidecar series kept them in touch of championship leaders Matt MacLaurin and Adrian Hope, with just two rounds remaining.
MacLaurin and Hope took the other race win in the F1 class and overall victory, with Wayne Lockey and Mark Sayers taking three wins in the F2 class with a best finish of third.
DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters
Champion-elect Graham Higlett came to Brands able to wrap up the DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters championship, such has his dominance been this season. However, after crashing at Surtees in race one, he was hit by the following Lee Finney, and the race was red flagged.
Higlett suffered nerve damage to his shoulder and arm, while Finney, only just returning from injuries suffered at Silverstone, came away with a broken collarbone.
The rerun race was won by Matt Barber from Andy Wheeler and Doug Edmondson.
Guest rider Neil Macqueen took a brace of wins on Sunday, with a race held over from Saturday's programme, before Barber took his second win of the weekend in the final race.
ACU National Junior Cup
Harry Rowlings took three wins in the National Junior Cup, with championship protagonist Joel Marklund taking the other.
Ryan Folkes, who was awarded the Sir Ben Ball trophy as the club's 'Tip for the Top' award, kept himself in the championship hunt with three second placed finishes.