Cumbrian Dan Stewart took his Wilcock Construction CBR1000 Honda to the big bike double by taking wins in the Switchgear Systems Powerbike and Phoenix Open finals. Each time was beating Tom McHale, Chris Barns and Phil Bevan to the flag. His Phoenix Open win in the NG Clubs prestige class was by near on 12 seconds, consistently lapping a second or so quicker than his rivals and setting a new lap record in the process, beating the time set by Geordie-boy Chris Burns back in 2009.
Dan was using this Oulton meeting to get into the groove for his upcoming TT challenge, a circuit that has seen him top privateer and a top 6 finisher in the Senior TT in the past with a lap at over 126mph. This year though not only is Dan taking in the short circuits and the Isle of Man but is also part of the Honda Racing Team Jackson World Endurance set up where he is partner to John McGuiness and Connor Cummins at the 12 and 24 hour international events.
Dan also racked up a second place in the Simon Consulting Open 600 this weekend on his CBR600 but was bettered by Oulton star Chris Mort on his Wyatts/Crewe Honda Centre CBR. NG regulars James Harrison and Sean Montgomery followed them home. The 600 series has closed right up with the absence of series leader Scot Adam, Keenan Armstrong and defending champ Max Symonds who is taking time out to concentrate on his upcoming University Exams.
“Warrior Will” …..Full of fighting spirit
At still just 15 years old Kent schoolboy William Caines took wins in both the Bluebell Lakes GP45 and EDP Photo News 500cc open on his Fire Systems Services RRV450 Aprilia. He fought off a strong challenge from Matty Rangeley and Daniel Booth, both on similar RRV’s to take his third win of the year in the GP45 series after doing the double at Brands Hatch. In the 500 he also had the challenge of Dave Hampton on the Single Cell Racing 450 Tigcraft. In bright but not ideal conditions after morning rain had washed the track William also set a stunning new GP45 lap record. To say that Will is full of fighting spirit of no exaggeration as the Beckenham boy had to survive a rare liver cancer when he was just 2 years old, with treatment and operations that resulted in him losing 80% of his liver. At the age of 9 he got his first taste of racing with a race bike as a Christmas present….and has been hooked ever since. His plans to follow in the steps of his race heroes Casey Stoner and Cal Crutchlow, look a distinct possibility. He certainly has shown the fight to achieve his goal.
Hodson picks up another win as his rivals falter.
Two time 250GP National champion, Chris Martin had after back to back titles decided to tackle the Italian 250 series in 2015, but the series has stalled a little so Martin the former World 250cc GP runner and Gearlink 600 BSB rider returned to the British series. In qualifying he showed exactly why he is a double National champ by taking the pole by almost 3 seconds over Phil Atkinson and Ant Hodson. Come the race Martin made his customary lightning start and after lap one had over two seconds over his rivals, but then made a very uncustomary error at Old Hall, running onto the grass and was dumped off his Dave Dean RS250 Honda. This left Atkinson and Hodson rubbing their hands but just two laps later Atkinson’s TZ ground to a halt along the Avenue. Hodson with his FCL TZ Yamaha controlled the rest of the race with Darrell Higgins having his best ride for over a year with second place, closely followed by Dave Hampton. Top NG Cup runner was Manxman Paul Metcalfe on his 250 Aprilia.
The rest of the action on track.
Phil Webber racked up his fourth win in a row in the 700 Pre Injection class on his PWR 600 Honda. Phil headed home defending champ Chris Hobbs who mercilessly fought through to second after starting from the back of the grid after a crash at Old Hall in the qualifier. The big pre injection class saw another win for Mike Hobbs on his DCI R1 Yamaha. Paul “Potchy” Williams took the 1300 Streetstock win on his BMW despite complaining about the handling set up and braking performance on his number 2 bike after dumping his best-bike in qualifying for the Powerbikes. Potchy was hunted down by Martin Lowe in the later stages who’s second place saw him retain the series lead, although by just one point in this very tight class. Thomas Williams had the best of his rivals in the 700 Streetstocks bettering Justin Collins and Murray McConnachie.
Aaron Silvester continued his winning run on his Stralia Race Tech SV 650 in the Mini Twins over Paul Wardell with solo racer/sidecar passenger Ian Cunliffe in third. The Super Twins had a win for Barry Furber on his SV over Tom Blackwell. Blackwell started strongly but his bike seemed to fade as the race went on which was reflected in his lap times.
Sound of Thunder runner Peter Carr was pleased to see the back of the morning rain over Oulton, as the team struggled to find a good wet weather set up for the 675 Triumph Daytona. In the damp morning qualifier series leader Carr just did not have the pace to stay with the Ducatis of Steven Hill (1098) Ben Broadway (899) and David Irons (1198). However in the clear and dry in the afternoon Pete found his feet to win by over 12 seconds, getting the better of Ben Broadway and James Stacey
Metcalfe Motorsport RS125 Aprilia rider Charlie Atkins took the F125 as he and Max Cook stormed away from the opposition. 2015 series leader Caleb Smith had (…..by his standards) a below par day with fifth place on his RS125 which looked off the pace all day….despite this he still leads the series. Liam Delves bounced back from an early morning spill in practice to take another 25 points in the 125GP class on the Moto Engineering Honda.
Yamaha FZR Formula 400 star Tim Bradley secured his place at the top of the points table after five rounds with another win over Ben Harrison who knocked six seconds of his 2014 time despite a knackered gear shift to grab second place over reigning champion Daniel Tilley who took third.
Double champs on track for third title.
Two times NG sidecar champions Jim Hamilton and Mick Fairhurst are back at the top of the CSC backed Sidecar points table in 2015 on the Jebs Performance Engineering LCR Suzuki. After practice it looked like Mike Cookson and Alun Thomas might challenge them but they spun out at Shell Oils and were left with an un-repairable outfit. Hamilton’s ride in the final was not all plain sailing though, after leading for the first three laps they were pressured into a mistake by the chasing pairings of John and James Saunders, John Shipley and Ian Cunliffe, and Nev Jones and Giles Stainton. After regrouping Jim and Mick got back to the front before the red flag drew the race to a premature halt after James Saunders was flung out of the chair at Hizzy’s. Nev Jones took top F2 outfit on the Lincoln Refrigeration 600 Suzuki as they just held off a late charge by John Shipley and Ian Cunliffe
Performance gets rewarded.
As with every meeting the club singles out one rider for the performance of the meeting, this time round it was William Caines who took his 450 RRV Aprilia to wins in both the GP45 and 500 open events. He also set a new NG class lap record in the GP45 to boot!!!
Words: Russ Gardner
Images: EDP - www.edpphoto.co.uk