Tuesday July 21, 2015 at 12:52pm
ELP / Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Extreme & Thunderbike Sport
Seb Kelly took three wins at Pembrey in Wales in the Steve Jordan and ELP sponsored Thunderbike Extreme and Thunderbike Sport series, at round six of the BMCRC 2015 championships.
Riding the Go Racing Developments-prepared Suzuki, Kelly qualified on pole position at the short but fast Welsh circuit, and backed it up with three wins from four races over the course of the weekend.
Kelly, who arrived with a healthy 76-point championship lead, raced from his pole position grid spot in the opening race to take victory, but it was a far from comfortable affair.
Dave Shelvey, who qualified third on the grid, hit the front early on, and held the advantage through the opening laps with Kelly in tow in second. The pair quickly gapped the rest of the field, and it soon became a two-horse race for victory.
After following through the opening stages, Kelly hit the front on lap three, and while Shelvey stuck with him, he was never in a position to make a move stick, and in the end was only able to chase Kelly across the line in second place, the pair one and two in the Thunderbike Extreme class.
Some 20 seconds back, Joe Buxton crossed the line in third overall, but took the win in the Thunderbike Sport class. Matt Last's fourth place earned him third in the Extreme class, while the Sport class podium was completed by Emma Jarman and paddock-favourite Alan Russell.
Despite race two's podium replicating that of the first race, the story was quite different. This time Kelly bolted at the front, and with Shelvey dropping back from his second place grid spot off the start, it enabled Kelly to pull a gap at the front.
Shelvey eventually progressed into second place, but crossed the line nearly eight seconds back of winner Kelly, the pair still first and second in the Thunderbike Extreme classification. Buxton was again third, this time made to work hard for his Sport class win, with Emma Jarman just half a second back in fourth. Last was fifth and rounded out the Extreme podium with Russell sixth and completing the Sport top-three.
A wet start to Sunday's proceedings made for an enthralling battle at the front of race three.
Kelly hit the front from the start and led the way early on, with Russell and Buxton giving chase, while Shelvey made life difficult for himself, dropping right down the field on the opening lap, completing his first circulation down in 11th.
After lap two Kelly still led the way, but with Last making progress into the top three behind Russell. They were soon joined by Anthony Copley, the rookie looking to make gains at the front of the field in the difficult conditions, but he unfortunately crashed out on lap nine.
All the while the battle for second place changed hands, Kelly was pulling a gap at the front, and Shelvey was carving his way through the field. With three laps to go Kelly held a four second advantage over Shelvey, who had progressed to second, with Last a tenth further back in third.
And it was on lap 10 that Last made his move on Shelvey and set his sights on the race win, reeling in Kelly at a rate of two seconds a lap, before making a pass on the final lap. Last took the win and Shelvey, who also caught and passed Kelly on the last lap, took second. Kelly was third and three riders made up the Thunderbike Extreme podium.
Alan Russell and Joe Buxton were one and two in the Thunderbike Sport class and finished fifth and sixth overall, with Emma Jarman's eighth earning her third in class.
With a dry track for the final race Kelly returned to winning ways and stormed to victory, crossing the line 12 seconds ahead of Shelvey. Buxton finished third overall and took the Sport class win with Jarman fourth and second in class. Denzil Davies finished fourth and was third in the Extreme class with Andrew Gill taking third in the Sport class, finishing eighth overall.
Kawasaki Junior Cup / Senior 300
The wins were shared for Alex Murley and Harry Rowlings in the Kawasaki Junior Cup at Pembrey, with the pair taking two victories each.
Murley opened his account in race one on Saturday, but was pushed all the way by Rowlings as less than two tenths of a second split the pair at the chequered flag.
The gap was similar in race two, with Murley again taking the win with Rowlings in tow for the duration of the 10-lap race.
Third in the opening race went the way of Graham Haw before Carl Mitchell made it onto the podium in race, both claiming a win apiece in the Senior class.
A wet opening race on Sunday saw Rowlings take his first win of the weekend, as he took a comfortable victory of over five seconds from Mitchell, who took the Senior win. Murley finished third, eight and a half seconds behind the race winner.
Sunday's final race saw Rowlings and Murley again engage in a thrilling fight for the win, this time with the gap a mere two hundredths of a second. Rowlings took the win with Murley second, as Mitchell again finished third and took another Senior class win.
DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters
Graham Higlett took his first wins of the season in the DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters class, the reigning champion taking three of the four available at Pembrey.
Higlett stormed to victory in race one, crossing the line nine seconds ahead of this year's flying rookie sensation, Scott Grant. Third went the way of Doug Edmondson with Marc Prentice fourth and the leading Clubman rider.
Higlett made it two from two after the second race of the day, this time with Edmondson and rookie class winner Grant swapping positions on the overall podium. Sacha Gyte came through from the back of the grid to take the Clubman win.
A wet race on Sunday morning saw Edmondson and Gyte do battle at the front for victory, with just two tenths between them in Edmondson's favour as the chequered flag came out. Grant, showing his ability in tricky conditions too, took third. Gyte took the Clubman win.
As the track dried for the final race, Higlett returned to winning ways and completed his hat-trick of victories. Gyte was again second and leading Clubman with Grant third.
EDIasia Formula 400
Dan Ruth's hat-trick at Pembrey further extended his series lead in the EDIasia Formula 400s, with Emma Jarman finally climbing onto the top step of the podium in the final race of the weekend after three second places.
Mark Thompson joined Ruth and Jarman on the podium in race one after finishing third on his Kawasaki ZX-R400, before Will Jones bettered him to third in race two.
Adam Green and Sam Holme took a Sub-64 class win each on Saturday with Matty Whelan taking both rookie wins.
Ruth and Jarman again finished one-two in race three with Thompson again third. Davie Harviek this time took the Sub-64 win with Whelan the leading rookie rider across the line in 10th.
Jarman went one better in race three and took the win. After setting her bast lap time on lap four she put the pressure on Ruth who crashed out a lap later. Thompson finished second with Graham Higlett taking his first 400 podium of the weekend in third. Whelan took an excellent fourth place and another rookie win with Harviek fifth and the leading Sub-64 rider.
The Pembrey round also saw the running of the race held over from Silverstone earlier in the year. Ruth was again victorious with Jarman second and Thompson third. Keith Povah took the Sub-64 win and Whelan added another rookie win to his tally.
FreshDrop BMZRC 250
The weekend was somewhat overshadowed for the BMZRC riders, after the sad passing of one of its riders. Phoebe Stockford was involved in an accident on a track day at Pembrey prior to the weekend's racing. Unfortunately the 21-year-old succumbed to her injuries, but the club's riders paid tribute with a parade lap during the meeting.
With four races taking place over the weekend, it was Peter Woodall and Chris Rogers who shared the spoils. Woodall took the win in the opening race ahead of former champion Rogers and Mark Taylor in third.
Rogers and Woodall reversed positions for race two, with just two hundredths of a second between them, with Joe Baldry on the podium in third.
Rogers took his second win of the weekend on Sunday morning with Woodall again just behind him in second place. Chris Dowling finished third.
Woodall took his second win in the final race with Rogers only completing three laps before retiring. Taylor finished second, with Dowling third.
HOYL Insurance MRO Minitwins
Richard Hickling dominated the MRO Minitwins at Pembrey, taking all four wins. He also took the win in the re-run race that was held over from Silverstone.
Race one saw him take the win ahead of Mason Williams and Joe Buxton, before Buxton went one better and finished second in race two, but he didn't have an answer to Hickling, who took victory by half a second. Paul Wilby finished third.
On Sunday Hickling and Buxton again diced for the win, and again Hickling crossed the line first, this time two tenths of a second ahead of Buxton with Williams third.
It was a Hickling and Buxton one-two in the fourth race of the weekend, this time with Kurtis Butler third. The same three stood on the podium in the same order in the race carried over from Silverstone.
Thomas Eustace took all four rookie class wins available to him over the Pembrey weekend.
RKB-F1 & F2 Sidecars
Gary Smith and Ryan Anderson took all four RKB-F1 and F2 sidecar race wins at Pembrey, the pair untouchable over the course of the weekend.
After qualifying on pole they crossed the line nearly 13 seconds to the good in race one, Gordon Pottinger and David Dodd behind them in second place and Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse third and the leading F2 outfit.
All three outfits stood on the podium again in race two. Smith and Anderson's win came 10 seconds ahead of Pottinger and Dodd, who crossed the line just four tenths of a second ahead of Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse, who were again the leading F2 pairing.
Smith and Anderson and Pottinger and Dodd took the top two spots on the podium in both of Sunday's races. In the first race Simon and Tom Christie finished third and took the F2 class win, before Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse made it back onto the podium in the final race.
Team Respro MRO 600s
Dale Thomas and Joe Goggins took two wins apiece in the MRO 600 series, Thomas taking both wins on Saturday while Goggins finished second on both occasions, before Goggins took both wins on Sunday.
Stephen Draper finished third to Thomas and Goggins in both of Saturday's races, and also took the Clubman class honours on both occasions.
Draper finished second in Sunday's opener, and took another Clubman class win, with Goggins taking the overall victory. David Tinkler finished third and second Clubman.
In the final race Goggins took victory ahead of Joe Morphett and Grant Newstead, the pair taking a one-two in the Clubman classification.
Benjamin Cotgrove took both rookie class wins on Saturday, before Jamie Tibble and Dominic Pettit took a win apiece on Sunday.