The season finale and what a day, final championships positions on the line. The atmosphere was tense but optimistic and all riders gave it their all. The conditions were near perfect after a torrential downpour on the Friday finally giving the track the moisture it needed. A special thank you to all the officials, marshals and timing team who have made the season happen, its been a hot one this year and the results have been even hotter.
The auto class saw a full gate of little rippers raring to go. Some looking to get the first win, holeshot or complete their first race. George Foames and Caden Robinson split the race wins. Race three had the closest finish of the day. Foames won by 1.7s, and Robinson held off Nicky Layt for second place by only 0.202s, so the top three were covered by under two seconds. Robinson set the fastest Auto lap of the day, a 1:57.592, with Harrison Gale Hesse bagging the official Holeshot of the day in Race 2. Arlo Cottrell was the biggest mover in the class, gaining four places in race one (15th to 11th) and five in race two (17th to 12th). The final podium for the day was super close with Foames on top, Robinson in 2nd, and Layt 3rd with Louie Hutchings tied on points.
The 65s saw Taylor Clarke had a storming victory in the second race of the day, coming back from last after a first corner crash - an incredible performance. The 65s saw some impressive saves on the finish jump, with both Alfie Hayden and Ollie Smith pulling some superhuman moves to keep the bike in the right direction on landing. Henry Heard stayed consistent all day with solid 2-2-2 finishes. The fight for the last podium place was also close all day, with Travis Hardy securing third closely followed by Arlo Reeve and Alfie Hayden joint on points in 4th and 5th. However it wasn’t just at the front where the action was, the closest finish of the day was race one's battle for 15th, where Henry Clarke held off Max Green by just 0.098s.
Small Wheel 85s had a real battle on for the championship - the support for these riders was great to watch. Harry Rennie won all three races, but none of them came easily. The opening race was the best race of the day. Rennie and George Hutchings swapped the lead on laps 2 and 3, and Rennie crossed the line just 0.615s ahead. He also set the class's fastest lap, a 2:02.067. Roman Drew rode the comeback of the day in race two, climbing from 15th on lap one to finish 4th. He then led race three from the start, until Rennie passed him on lap 3. Drew finished only 1.752s behind. Further back in race two, Ollie-Jay Ward beat Chase Miller to 7th by 0.027s, the smallest winning margin of the whole meeting. Overall it was Rennie on 135, Hutchings on 124, Max Miller on 118 and Drew on 116.
Another class with a close championship to be fought for, the results showed a two-rider fight between visitor Jack Stanford and Alfie Burkhil, plenty of chasing and changing of positions between these two and all smiles at the end of the day. However the battles were deeper than the results, with lots of grit and determination in each race, Cieran Rendell finished in podium positions in races two and three, climbing from 7th to 3rd in the final race. Bentley Russell took third overall on 110, one point ahead of George Goodwin. Another class of close races with race one having Goodwin, Finley Smith and Russell crossed the line within 3.2 seconds of each other.
Written by Nikki Badley Images - Fin Stead