Wednesday March 16, 2016 at 1:38pm
The British Motorcycle Racing Club got its 2016 season underway at the weekend (11-13 March), with an action-packed weekend at its home circuit of Brands Hatch.
BMCRC Rookie 600s
The club’s popular Rookie classes were again packed, with 38 riders lining up to take their first steps into racing in the Rookie 600 class.
Yamaha R6-mounted Callaghn Edser qualified quickest by half a second, with Mark Dyer and Michael Chaffin completing the front row for the first race of the season.
As the lights went out, Edser charged to the front from pole position, and started his year off in perfect fashion, taking a dominant win, crossing the line 13 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack, as the other two front-row sitters crashed out.
Dyer was the first to go, crashing out of fourth position on lap six, before Chaffin followed him out two laps later. After a poor start saw him down in eighth place, he had recovered to fourth, before dropping from contention.
The battle for the remaining podium positions was contested by Alex Laureys and Lee Button, with one and a half seconds the eventual margin between the two.
Race two was a far tighter affair, with margin of victory just half a second.
Laureys hit the front early on, with Button and Edser in tow. Edser moved into second place on lap two, before hitting the front on lap three. A mistake on lap four however saw him drop back to third place, and handed the lead back to Laureys.
From there on, Laureys was never headed, and took his first win of the year. Edser eventually re-passed Button and charged after Laureys, but to no avail, and had to settle for second place with Button third at the chequered flag on the Elite Spas Yamaha.
Sunday’s opening race saw Edser return to winning ways. Laureys held the lead in the opening laps, but after Edser made a pass on lap three, he went to take a comfortable win, crossing the line three seconds to the good after 10 laps of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
Laureys took another podium finish second place, with David Shoubridge taking his first podium of the season in third.
The final outing of the weekend saw some of the closest action of the opening round, as three riders went hammer and tongs for the win. Just a tenth separated the winner and second place, while the other main contender for victory crashed out with two laps remaining.
Shoubridge took the lead early on, but was soon embroiled in a scrap with Laureys and Edser.
As they charged across the line to start lap seven of 10, Edser held the advantage, with Shoubridge two tenths behind. He made the move for the lead, and held it for the next two laps. Edser’s race would come to an end on lap nine, however, as he pushed too hard to pressure Shoubridge.
Loitering behind was Laureys, who took full advantage of the drama and made a move for the lead. He held on on the final lap to take his second victory and an early championship lead, with Shoubridge crossing the line in second.
Callum Hammett was promoted to third following Edser’s error, crossing the line just three seconds further back.
BMCRC Rookie 1000s
Kyle O’Donovan took three of the four wins available in the Rookie 1000s races, with Mick Whalley taking the other.
O’Donovan qualified quickest, but was pipped by Whalley in the first race of the weekend. After leading for much of the race, O’Donovan lost out to Whalley on lap nine of 11, and was never able to regain the lead, with Whalley takin victory by four tenths of a second.
Third went to Mariusz Siemieniuk-Juzwiuk, who had a lonely ride onboard his Honda Fireblade.
The three remaining races all saw O’Donovan on the top step of the podium, as the Yamaha R1-mounted rider fended off the attentions of Whalley and Siemieniuk-Juzwiuk for the rest of the weekend.
His win in Saturday’s second race came three and a half seconds ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Whalley and Siemieniuk-Juzwiuk.
Sunday’s opener saw Siemieniuk-Juzwiuk and Whalley reverse positions on the podium, with neither able to get close enough to O’Donovan.
The final race saw O’Donovan complete his hat-trick, as Siemieniuk-Juzwiuk and Whalley crashed out together on the opening lap. That left Rafal Grzeda and Justin Bone to take their first podiums of the season, in second and third respectively.
Team Respro MRO 600s
The hotly-contested Team Respro MRO 600 series didn’t disappoint as it returned for the 2016 season, with three riders on the top step of the podium over the course of the weekend.
The most impressive of which was arguably Mark Piper, the youngster seeming to have come of age after qualifying quickest and taking the win in the opening race.
The former Kawasaki Junior Cup and MRO Minitwin contender was nearly four tenths quicker to set pole, before leading every lap of the opening race to take a commanding win, with Chris Burrage and Harry Truelove stuck together for much of the race in the battle for second and third.
Piper was also the leading Clubman, with Ross McLurg and Ben Cotgrove second and third in class, as they battled for 10th and 11th overall.
Less than a tenth covered the winner and second place in race two, with Burrage coming out on top in the battle with Piper. Matt Truelove finished third as his brother crashed out on lap six.
Piper was again the leading Clubman, as McLurg and Cotgrove again finished second and third in class, claiming 10th and 12th respectively.
Sunday’s races saw Matt Truelove take a brace of victories, his first coming ahead of Piper, who took another Clubman win, and Burrage, before he bettered Burrage and Harry Truelove in the final race as Piper crashed out.
Cotgrove and McLurg were second and third in the Clubman class in Sunday’s first race, before Hayden Platton took the Clubman honours in the final race, with Cotgrove and McLurg again second and third.
BG MRO Powerbikes
Seb Kelly scored a double win in the opening round of the BG-sponsored MRO Powerbikes, with Phil Crowe and Colin Parker the other victors.
Kelly took the win in the opening race after qualifying on pole, with Parker and Crowe following him across the line, before Crowe took the win in race two. He was joined on the podium by Parker and Daryl Dance, with Kelly in fourth.
In the Clubman class Luke Zuchowski took the win from Ashley Francis and Aldo Morello in race one, the trio taking 11th, 12th, and 13th. In race two Zuchowski was again the class victor, this time in 10th, as Morellow and Francis swapped positions in 12th and 13th.
Kelly returned to the top step of the podium in the opening race on Sunday, as he narrowly fended off Parker, the difference between them after 10 laps just two hundredths of a second. Former champion Peter Baker returned to the podium in third.
Zuchowski added another Clubman win and a ninth place finish to his tally, with Francis 10th and second Clubman. Third went to Andrew Burke in 14th as Morello crashed in dramatic fashion on the start finish straight.
The final race of the weekend saw Parker take the win ahead of Dance, with Stephen Draper on the box in third. Clubman honours went to Lee Barrett in seventh, with Jamie Tibble and Christo Bouzoukis second and third, and 10th and 11th overall.
ProperlyProtected.co.uk MRO Minitwins
The MRO Minitwin series, sponsored by ProperlyProtected.co.uk for the 2016 season, again showcased the exciting and competitive racing it has become known for in subsequent years, with multi-rider battles up front and narrow margins of victory.
Richard Hickling took the win in the opening race, as just three tenths of a second covered the podium finishers. Glynn Davies and Kurtis Butler claimed second and third.
Butler went two better in the second race, and took the win ahead of Hickling and Davies.
Butler and Hickling were first and second again in race three, as the pair crossed the line just one tenth of a second apart. Tyler Walsh completed the podium after a titanic batte with Daniel Moffa. After 10 laps of racing, just nine thousandths of a second was the difference.
The final race again saw Butler on the top step of the podium, with Glynn Davies making a return to the rostrum in second and Hickling in third.
In the Rookie Minitwins James Larter looked set to secure a clean-sweep of wins, but for a DNF in the final race. He took three wins in dominant form earlier in the weekend, with Kaine Sheriff benefitting in the final race to take the win.
Daniel Singleton and Sheriff were on the Rookie podium in race one, before Singleton and Stephen Edwards completed the Rookie top three in race two.
Later’s third Rookie win came ahead of Justin Sharp and Edwars, while Sheriff’s maiden win in the final race came ahead of Edwards and Ieva Baublyte.
EDIasia Formula 400s
Gary Smith and Gary Henning shared the spoils at the opening round of the EDIasia Formula 400 series, taking two wins apiece.
Smith, who qualified on pole, took the win in the opening race, ahead of Andrew Gill and Matthew Scott, while there was a welcome return for former champion Richie Welsh, who finished fourth.
Harry Rowlings, stepping up from the Kawasaki Junior Cup series, took the Sub-64bhp class win, with Carl Johnstone and Oliver Fooks on the podium.
Race two went the way of Henning, after his sixth in race one, as Smith failed to finish. Scott and Gill joined him on the rostrum, while the Sub-64 podium was a repeat of the order in race one.
Henning made it back-to-back wins, with victory in Sunday’s opener, as Smith charged from the back of the grid to finish an impressive second. Scott was back on the podium in third place.
Rowlings made it three from three in the Sub-64 class, with Fooks this time bettering Johnstone for second and third place.
The final race of the weekend belonged to Smith, who took the win by four seconds ahead of Henning, with Emma Jarman making it onto the podium in third place. Rowlings completed his dominance in the Sub-64 class, with Andrew Moxon and Fooks completing the podium.
In the Rookie class, Bob Masters and Adam Hartgrove were a class above, with Masters taking three wins and Hartgrove the other, the duo consistently faster than the rest of the field around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Andrew Lawrence took all four third place trophies up for grabs.
Freshdrop BMZRC 250
Peter Woodall took three of the four available wins in the Freshdrop-backed BMZRC 250 series, with Chris Rogers taking the other.
Rogers was the victor in the opening race of the weekend, the gap between him and Woodall less than a tenth of a second at the chequered flag, with Ryan Anderson joining them on the podium in third.
After that though, it was Woodall’s weekend, as he claimed a hat-trick of victories.
Rogers was second on all three occasions, the gap less a tenth of a second at the flag on two of them.
Joe Baldry took a brace of thirds, with Simon Finch taking the last spot on the podium in the final race of the weekend.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles / ELP Racing BMCRC Thunderbike Sport
Sponsored by Steve Jordan Motorcycles and ELP Racing for another year, the increasingly popular BMCRC Thunderbike Sport grid was full for the opening round of the 2016 season, with Colin Walkey doubling up and taking two wins from the weekend’s three races (with a fourth race postponed, to be held at a later meeting).
Walkey qualified on pole, and took the win in the opening race, crossing the line ahead of Emma Jarman and Andrew Gill.
Walkey was back on the podium in race two, but he had to settle for second place, as he lost out to Justin Kelly for the race win. Gill took another third place.
Race three saw Walkey back on the top step of the podium, as he and Kelly reversed positions from race one. Just two tenths further back was Adam Jamison, who scored his first podium finish of the weekend in third.
Simon Owen was the lead Rookie rider in each race.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles / ELP Racing BMCRC Thunderbike Extreme
In the Thunderbike Extreme class David Shelvey qualified in pole position, but he was unable to convert it into a race win, as Jason Byard left the opening round with four race wins to his name.
Shelvey was second on each occasion, and made Byard work for his victories, but ultimately he could do nothing to stop him.
Matt Hinnells and Ross Dunning took a brace of third placed finishes each.
Ian Costello took two Rookie class race wins, with Jason Gregory and Robert Marsh taking a win apiece.