Wednesday May 2, 2018 at 12:32pm
The British weather made it another tricky weekend for the British Motorcycle Racing Club, with heavy rain making it difficult for racers and marshals alike. However, while the April showers saw Saturday’s racing take place in the soaking conditions, the skies cleared enough for some dry action on Sunday. Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Sport Steven Topping extended his lead at the top of Thunderbike Sport championship standings, taking two wins while his nearest rival, Paul Holden, also took two wins but suffered a DNF in the weekend’s opening race. Holden qualified on pole, but scored no points in race one, allowing Topping to race unchallenged to victory and extend his championship lead. Topping’s advantage at the top of the championship standings was also helped by a DNF for Malvern May, who arrived at the Lincolnshire circuit holding third in the points table. In a fairly spread out field Duncan Grove claimed second place, some 10 seconds adrift from Topping, with Ben Doolan third. Holden was back in action in race two but had his work cut out, coming from the back of the grid on his Moremoto Racing Yamaha. A storming start saw him complete lap one in seventh, before advancing into the podium positions on the second circulation. A lap later he was second, the position he would hold until the chequered flag. However, he gave another five points away to Topping, who again enjoyed a solitary ride at the front to take another win. Third went to Grove, who was less than a tenth behind Holden, after lapping three seconds quicker than the runner-up on the final lap to close right in. Dry weather and the two early championship favourites starting side-by-side on the front row of the grid provided more of a spectacle on Sunday. Despite leading race one from start to finish, it was anything but a foregone conclusion for Holden, as he was shadowed closely by Saturday’s double winner. It was only in the final few laps of the race Holden was able to break the tow, and take victory. Topping finished second, ahead of Thomas Watson. The final race was even tighter, with Holden and Topping swapping the lead throughout. Topping led lap one, keen to make it a hat-trick and pull away further in the championship chase, but it only took another lap for Holden to assume the race lead. He held the position until the halfway stage, when Topping attacked and took back control of the race. It lasted until the final lap, when Holden snatched back the lead and with it the race win, reducing the damage he suffered on Saturday. He sits 33 points behind Topping in the championship. Ducati-mounted Malvern May finally made it onto the podium after a tricky weekend, finishing third. Team Respro MRO 600 Wins were shared in the Team Respro MRO 600 class, with Michael Rose and Tommy Philp both taking a brace of victories. Andrew Smith was the pole-sitter for race one, but Rose took early control of the race, pulling two and a half seconds on lap one, before clearing off into the distance to take a dominant win. Ben Wotton was second and the Clubman class winner, with Matty Whelan third on the sole MV Agusta on the grid. Clearly in a different league to everyone else in the wet conditions, Rose took another win in race two in sublime fashion. The Yamaha R6-mounted pilot pulled an incredible of six and a half seconds on lap one alone, starting the race from pole. It was 10 seconds after just two laps. He was then able to manage proceedings from the front, and take his second win by 13 seconds. 5 Club Racing Kawasaki’s Smith was second and the Clubman victor, with Whelan again third. After a DNF and a 10th place from Saturday’s wet races, both of Sunday’s victories went to Tommy Philp on his Draper Vent Yamaha. Starting from the fourth row, Philp barged his way to the front to hold a slender lead at the end of lap one. From there, he was able to steadily increase it and take the win, in the end by over 10 seconds ahead of Aaron Clarke and Rose. Clubman spoils went to Wotton in fourth. It was another start-to-finish win for Philp in the fourth and final race of the weekend, again with Clarke second at the chequered flag. Josh Harvey made it an all Yamaha podium on his NR Racing machine with Philip Baker picking up the Clubman win in seventh. Dawid Krawiecki was victorious in both of Saturday’s races in the L&W Contractors-sponsored Rookie 600 series to briefly take charge of the championship standings. However, a DNF in Sunday’s opener undid all of his hard work, as Michael Attwood re-assumed the series lead with a win. Kier Armstrong took the win in the last race of the weekend. DFDS Yamaha Past Masters Peter Branton may have taken three of the four wins on offer in the DFDS Yamaha Past Masters championship over the weekend, but the talk of the class was Doug Edmondson’s wet weather masterclass. Edmondson - who qualified on pole in the treacherous conditions - was untouchable in race one (the only race to take place on Saturday, with a timetable reshuffle resulting in three races on Sunday), his best lap time some six seconds faster than anyone else’s. As he took the chequered flag, Branton, who finished second, wasn’t even over the Mountain, Edmondson winning by over 40 seconds. Third went to Denis Halil with Lee Huff the Clubman winner in fourth. Rookie spoils went to Geoff Mook with an 11th placed finish. With race two postponed until Sunday morning, it meant it took place on a damp but drying track. Triple winner from the opening round, Branton, ran out the winner, with Edmondson second and Scott Grant third. Huff was again Clubman winner in seventh, with 10th enough for Mook to take the Rookie win. Branton was victorious in the remaining two races, with Edmondson second on both occasions. Grant and Ben Miles took a third place finish each. Douglas Beacock was the Clubman winner in both races, finishing ninth and eighth, with Mook adding two more Rookie trophies to his collection. Reactive Parts MRO Powerbikes and BG Products Clubman 1000 Anthony Johnson kept his place at the top of the Reactive Parts MRO Powerbike standings with a double win at Cadwell Park, the other win going to former champion Colin Parker. Johnson, who hadn’t finished off the podium so far in 2018, started from the front row but it was Clubman championship challenger Aidan Patmore who started from pole. However, it was Parker who took the win after a tense last lap that saw him snatch the win from long time leader Paul Wilby. Wilby led from the start, while Parker came from the second row to second on track and closed in on the race leader. Just three tenths of a second split the pair going into the final lap, but Wilby set a lap time nine seconds slower than his best as things got tight between the two as they battled for the 25 championship points. Parker ran out as winner in the end, with Wilby second and pole-man Patmore third. Wilby was the Clubman winner. Sunday’s races saw Johnson pick up two wins to extend his championship lead, with reigning champion Joe Morphett second twice. Wilby and a returning Michael Neeves shared a third placed finish each. Wilby took the Clubman win in race two, but a DNF in the final race saw Patmore take the honours in the final race in fourth place. Chris Drinkald took a brace of wins in the Rookie 1000 class in Saturday’s wet weather, but it was series leader Peter Gunn back on top of the box in Sunday’s races, the BMW man twice a race winner in the L&W Contractors-backed championship. Team Green Junior Cup and Senior 300 Three wins from four races kept Elliot Pinson well in charge at the top of the Team Green Junior Cup championship standings, while Jamie Kelman retained the Senior 300 championship lead despite a less than perfect weekend. Pinson and Kelman finished first and second in race one, the pair extending the lead in their respective championships, and the Junior and Senior winners. Senior 300 runner Michael Stone finished third. Pinson then backed it up with another win in race two, but it was Charlie Stone who took the Senior win with brother Michael third, as Kelman failed to complete a lap. The first of Sunday’s two races ended with an all Senior 300 overall podium, as Michael and Charlie Stone finished first and second, with Kelman third. Pinson’s day started badly with a DNF. The Junior Cup win went to Harvey Claridge in sixth. However, Pinson was back on the top step of the podium in the final race, coming from the back of the grid to beat Senior 300 championship leader Kelman. Michael Stone finished third. Chilton Motors BMZRC 250 Early season runaway championship leader Mark Taylor took two wins and second in the Chilton Motors BMZRC 250 races, putting the disappointment of crashing out of race one behind him to remain comfortably at the top of the leaderboard. Taylor qualified on pole, but crashed out of second place while battling with Chris Rogers for the race lead, allowing the former champion to cruise to a 21 second win. The runner-up spot went to Graham Garriques, with Andrew Wales third. Having set a lap time that saw him again start from the front row, Taylor made amends for his race one spill, and stormed to victory in race two. Second this time went to Chris Kent, with Wales again third as Garriques and and Rogers fought over fourth place. The reigning champion was back on the top step of the podium in race three. The 82 machine led the early stages, before briefly relinquishing the lead to Rogers at the halfway point. Retaliating immediately, Taylor re-took the lead and pulled away, taking his second win of the weekend and seventh of the season. Rogers was second, and Kent third. It was another two-horse race at the front in the final outing of the weekend, with Taylor and Rogers again the two protagonists. This time is was Rogers who took the victory, with championship leader Taylor second and Kent third. RKB-F1 and F2 sidecars Sean Reeves and Paul Thomas continued their 100% F2 class win record at Cadwell Park, with not only four class wins, but four overall victories to boot. The duo led an all F2 podium in race one on their Velocity V1 LCR Honda, with Brian Ilaria and Sarah Sotoke second and Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse third. The F1 win went to Craig Clarke and Craig Andrew Clarke and saw them extend their championship lead. The same trio of outfits filled the three podium spots in race two, however, this time it was Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse in second, as Ilaria and Stokoe narrowly held off Rémy Guignard and Frédérique Poux. The F1 class was won by Martin Kirk and Shelley Smithies in their LCR Yamaha. It was three from three on Sunday morning for Reeves and Thomas, and they were again joined on the rostrum by Belgian paring of Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse, who claimed second. John and Nigel Lowther took their first podium of the weekend in third, as Kirk and Smithies took another F1 win. Reeves and Thomas cemented their dominance on the weekend’s action with a fourth win in the final race, as Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse took another second place. Craig Clarke and Craig Andrew Clarke made it onto the overall podium in third, and took their second F1 win of the weekend. BMCRC Rookie Minitwins While the Properly Protected MRO Minitwin championship skipped April’s Cadwell Park meeting, the Rookies were in action, with three riders tasting victory. Christopher Evans was the first, holding off the attentions of championship leader Charlie Crawt throughout the opening race, ahead of third place Jordan Waring. Crawt and Evans then reversed things in race two, with Waring again third. On Sunday Waring went two better and recorded a brace of victories, one ahead of Crawt and Evans, the second ahead of Robert Franklin and Crawt. Crawt still leads the championship.