Wednesday October 6, 2010 at 10:10pm
Emphatic Sawford takes title plus Martin clinches NG Cup crown
The Fraser’s of Gloucester and Dunlop backed 250GP ACU National Championship was clinched by Bedfordshire’s Andrew Sawford at a sunny Thruxton at the weekend.
Picking up a very close 2nd place in round 13 at the Hampshire circuit, it was enough to gap the pursuing pack by 25 points, and with only Silverstone remaining later this month – and 25 points available, the St Neot’s Motorcycles Yamaha mounted Sawford will take the title on wins in the unlikely event of a DNF. Somerset’s Alex Kenchington took the Thruxton race win in a high speed wheel to wheel battle with Sawford.
It was Kenchington who claimed pole position on board his Dennis Trollope Racing TZ Yamaha during a morning which saw practice activities somewhat disrupted by the thick Hampshire fog. Once things got going, local teenager Scott Pitchers, another local rider Nick Sansome, Sawford and Melksham’s Darrell Higgins all briefly took turns at the top of the qualifying table. At the end of the session though, Kenchington sat firm and Pitcher’s put his Honda in 2nd on his last lap with Sansome 3rd Sawford 4th. Higgins Championship challenger Ant Hodson, 2009 NG Cup runner up Jonathan Stamper and Dan Jackson filled out row 2 and another local man Dave Hampton, the reigning NG Cup Champion made it a strong start to the day in 9th with the second of the Sansome twin’s Christopher in 10th.
Heading the NG Cup qualifiers was the favourite to collect the Championship – Adrian Martin on board his Graham File Tuning / J&RB Racing TZ. Peter Henry Cox was next up and Chippenham’s Paul McCullagh was 3rd with Sian Brooks and the Spyre Ltd Honda in 4th – still re grouping after surviving a scare in free practice, when another rider highsided right in front of her exiting the Club Chicane section.
As the lights went out for round 13, Sawford and Kenchington got the drop and the two set about gapping the pack in their battle to keep each other within range. On lap 4 Kenchington took the lead, but the pair remained as one as they lapped at an average of well over 100mph in close formation. Scott Pitchers headed the chase and also in the frame was Dan Jackson who, for a change made a great start. Darrell Higgins, the MDJ Racing / TSM Yamaha of Ant Hodson and the Exactweld TZ of Mark Linton all took turns at the front of the pack.
Kenchington 25 and Sawford – the pair have become quite attached during the latter part of the Championship !!
By mid race Hodson settled into 3rd and looked set to do enough to take the title race to Silverstone, setting up a 3 way showdown between Kench, Sawford and Hodson. But on lap 8 Mark Linton squeezed his TZ through almost on the grass on the outside of the start straight relegating Hodson to 4th. At this point, as long as Sawford came home 1st or 2nd, he was Champion.
At the flag it was Kenchington who held strong to take his 2nd win of the year only 1 second ahead of Sawford, then all eyes switched back to the chicane to see Linton collect a superb 3rd with Hodson in 4th – handing the title to Sawford. Another brilliant ride from 16 year old Scott Pitchers saw him come home in 5th and Darrell Higgins picked up 6th on board his Dennis Trollope TZ. Dave Hampton made it a great day for the locals in 7th as did Nick Sansome in 8th, Dan Jackson’s Team Sigie TZ dropped to 9th and Jonathan Stamper brought his Graham File Tuning TZ home in 10th. Kenchington’s win moves him to 2nd in the Championship only 3 points ahead of Hodson, who led the title race for the majority of the season. Silverstone will be a tense affair for the runner up spot.
The NG Cup Championship was also Adrian Martin’s to wrap up here, which he did in another dominating display collecting 15th on the road, the NG Cup race win along with the 2010 title. He headed off a strong challenge from Peter Henry Cox who, felt he could give Martin the run around at the super fast Thruxton however, a poor start put paid to his chances of challenging the dominating Martin. Third in the cup was Chippenham M/C’s TZ mounted Paul McCullagh. This was a great ride from McCullagh considering the scale of his start straight accident only 2 weeks ago at Oulton, and was only forced from 2nd spot on the last lap by a hard charging Henry Cox. Martin’s main title challenger Sian Brooks was 4th home, disappointed to miss out on a podium for only the 4th time this season.
The Dunlop Performance of the Day award went the way of Mark Linton who, despite only qualifying in 11th, rode an aggressive and calculated race to 3rd, and was the rider to make the most progress throughout the 10 lap battle. Linton collects his complimentary rear GP tyre from series supplier Dennis Trollope, with thanks to Dunlop Motor Sports.
Championship:
Sawford 228, Kenchington 203, Hodson 200, Mechem 98, Jackson 93, Grinling 92, Linton 90, Higgins 73, Hampton 73, T Davies 69.
NG Cup:
Martin 250, Brooks 198, Henry Cox 181, McCullagh 167, Goddard 103, Smithson 84, Harrison 82, Murphy 70, Skaife 47, Trattner 46.
Next Round and Championship Finale 23rd October – Silverstone National