Round One Silverstone March 2011
With fantastic spring weather and an all new purpose built supermoto track at the Silverstone Circuit, the rider’s skills were tested at the first round of the British Supermoto Championship. The riders complemented the demanding, technical but flowing circuit which was complemented with a good off road section with a suitable jump to match and most riders settled quickly into their groups. The quality of racing throughout the weekend was a fitting start for the opening round of the season for a title championship.
Quads
Quads were the first to show, with a strong contingent from Ireland. Craig Kilner started the first race well and held the front spot for the majority of the race, but Cathal McCarten took to the front towards the end of the race and stretched out a healthy lead for his first win of the day. Craig held onto second place with third placed Terence Machin a good way a drift on a very tight circuit for the quad boys. In race two Cathal had the second win of the day but this time Terence took second place on his 450 machine. The rest of the top five were made up of the open class machines of Matt Lawry, Cole Forsythe and Craig Kilner. Cathal took the final race of the day taking all three wins; with Terrence Machin once again second and in the final it would be Cole Forsythe in third. Matt Lawry had a mixed bag with third fourth and fifth placed finishes on the day. Some good close racing was enjoyed by all, with lots of smiley faces at the end of the day.
Quad Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Cathal McCartan 2. Terrence Mackin 3. Colin Forsythe 4. Matt Lawry 5. Craig Kilner
Junior 250
Ben Stafford has made a move to a 250 KTM with D3 Racing for 2011 and made fine work of a clear win in the first 250 race, from Ryan Rudd and Neil Crayston. While Davey Todd and Stuart Sharp battled it out over the fourth place position. In the second race Ben had an early fall leaving him with, some places to make up while Ryan Rudd made the most of being alone at the front. Ryan had a comfortable lead as Neil Crayston, Davey Todd and Stuart Sharp battled for second. But Ben Stafford was on a charge and soon moved up to second, but with a huge amount of ground to make up he would see Ryan cross over the line in first place, while he had to settle for second. Neil Crayston then led Davey and Stuart over the line in third. In the final race Ben got past Ryan and took to the front spot and slightly extended his lead. Ben would set the fastest lap in every race and go on to take first place in the final with Ryan Rudd finishing second and Stuart Sharp having an excellent final race to finish in third place in front of newcomer Davey Todd and Neil Crayston. Davey had his first ride in the championship this weekend and would use his experience on Saturday to race again in the National class on Sunday, well done that man.
250 Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Ben Stafford 2. Ryan Rudd 3. Neil Crayston 4. Davey Todd 5 Stuart Sharp
In the first junior race Thomas Booth Amos won despite a fall during the race, and Ashley Rudd finished in front of Matt raven in third. Tom had an excellent second race finishing just off the 250 pace and had a good lead from second placed Ashley Rudd and then Matt Raven. Thomas would complete the days racing with this third win of the day followed by Ashley Rudd and Matt Raven leaving Daniel Drayton and Matt Carter in fourth and fifth place as they were in race two.
Junior Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Thomas Booth Amos 2. Ashley Rudd 3. Matt Raven 4. Daniel Drayton 5. Matt Carter
450 Michelin Cup
Douglas Cunningham set the fastest lap in all three of the Michelin Cup races, and despite dominating the day and taking the first two wins it would be Andy Mitchell with the final win of the day with Douglas only three seconds adrift. James Barrette finished third in the first two races but could only take seventh in the final, leaving Bradley Hardy taking a coveted third place after moving up a place each race. There were many more consistent riders on this group with Scott Marsden and James Wood both finishing in the top five at this round. Many more riders were having their individual battles in this class and it looks as though there will be many challenges to come, with Ryan Metcalfe, James Wood, and Scott Marsden also featuring along with the top three.
450 Michelin Cup Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Andy Mitchell 2. Douglas Cunningham 3. Bradley Hardy 4. Scott Marsden 5. James Wood
450 Elite
The Elite group started as a very close pack of riders but soon began to spread out with Craig Venske dominating the race, by the last pass on the penultimate lap James Addy had Craig in his sights but would remain separated by three tenths of a second over the line. Chris Hodgson started strongly and had a comfortable ride in third place with Ben Robb confidently crossing the line in fourth. Richard Sharp rode well and kept David Hartley at bay while Richard Blakeman was lucky not to loose a position when he had a fall in the dirt.
In to race two and an early mistake from Craig Venske dashed his hopes of a second win. Craig stalled going into lap two and lost five positions, leaving Chris Hodgson taking up the mantle and pulling away at the front securing the second race win. The top five remained tight and despite Craig making it back to third position and setting the fastest lap in the final race, another slight mistake left him with a sixth placed finish. James Addy never left Chris Hodgson and he took another second placed finish with Ben Robb having an excellent race in third place. Richard Sharp and Richard Blakemen also were inseparable this race and took a well deserved fourth and fifth place finish with only have a second between the two.
Chris Hodgson had the lead in the final race but a fall in the dirt offered the lead to Craig Venske and he went on to take a clear win. James Addy set the fastest lap and continued to pressure David Hartley for the rest of this final race but despite a very close margin James would finish in third place. Chris Hodgson fought back to fourth while Richard Sharp and Chris Walker were battling battling behind the top four riders. Richard took fifth place while a last lap incident left Chris finishing in eighth. The day had mixed fortunes for many but James was likely to inherit healthy points along with Craig this round.
450 Elite Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Craig Venske 2. David Hartley 3. James Addy 4. Chris Hodgson 5. Richard Sharp
Open Clubman
A sunny start to the day ensured optimum conditions for the riders and James Wood made a fine start to the season with the opening win on Sunday morning, with birthday boy Rob Dickens taking second and Paul Plevin third. Paul secured the second win this time closely from Kris Norris with Rob Dickens adrift in third. The next close battle was for ninth with Tim Johnson, Lee Marchant and James Wood only separated by a second. In the final race Paul Plevin had an early fall leaving Kris Norris with the final win of the day and Rob Dickens took second. Andy Morley had been in the running all day and took the third placed trophy with Dan Spencer moving up to fourth from James Wood in fifth. Lee Peet and Elliot Rickman battled for fourteenth while Gavin White and Paul Maskell could hardly be separated for sixteenth. This is going to be a closely contested class with interesting results each meeting.
Open Clubman Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Kris Norris 2. Rob Dickens 3. Andy Morley 4. Dan Spencer 5. James Wood
Open National
James Barette took a clear lead from Sam Gilbody in the first National Race and Oliver Kemp made up a couple of places to finish in third spot pushing an early leader Brad Hardy down the fourth and Dave Jolly in fifth. James Barette couldn’t repeat his success in race two and Oliver Kemp went on the set the fasted lap and secured the second win in the national race from Sam Gilbody who was once again in second spot and these two had a clear lead from Harry Kampz in third position. Paul Reynolds and Bradley Hardy were locked in battle for sixth place with Karl Geary and Neil Crayston close behind. In the final national race Oliver Kemp would win once again with an eight second lead from Dave Jolly who had not seen silverware for a while. Sam Gilbody found himself in third but would still take a trophy. The top three were a good way in front of Karl Geary in fourth while Paul Reynolds was pressuring Michael Craig for the fifth place position. James Barette had set the fastest lap as he chased Bradley Hardy and Neil Crayston who finished in eighth
Open National Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Oliver Kemp 2. Dave Jolly 3. Sam Gilbody 4. Karl Geary 5. Michael Craig
Open Elite
An enthusiastic crowd gathered to watch the Open Elite races, Craig Venske had the strongest start in the first Elite race closely followed by Chris Hodgson and James Addy but a mistake from Chris would leave him battling to get back up the pack and James would move through to second spot. Craig and James would find a cushion up the front from Richard Sharp and David Hartley and this would be the top four finishing positions. James was upping the pace in a quest to catch Craig at the front, though there was some very close racing throughout the pack, Chris Walker and Douglas Cunningham were chasing Kevin Drayton for tenth early in the race; and were closely followed by Robert Hartley. Chris Walker suffered machinery problems and Douglas Cunningham moved up to tenth place followed by Chris Hodgson who had set the pace in qualifying leaving Kevin in twelfth. Also locked in battle were Ben Kirkman, Dean Wingate and Chris Lambourne as they chased Simon Bentley in fifteenth place. Lee Williams had a bad start but moved up seven places throughout the raced to finish in sixth. Race two and Craig Venske set the pace from James Addy and David Hartley. The top six riders were very close for the first few laps but there were many fallers this race altering the race positions. David Harley fell but did pull back to fifth. Craig Venske had a clear win with Chris Hodgson in second and Richard Blakeman had an excellent race to finish in third from James Addy in fourth. Mid pack battles increased as fallen riders moved back up through the pack. Both Lee Williams and Richard Sharp had a couple of falls while Lewis Cornish moved up from fourteenth to tenth.
Another fast race once again in the final and Craig Venske came under pressure from Chris Hodgson who was not letting up, while Richard Blakeman lost ground allowing James Addy in to third position from David Hartley. Richard Blakeman made it up to fifth and Ben Stafford in sixth came under pressure from Lee Williams. There were far more mid pack battles again this race with Lee Rudd, Lewis Cornish, Robert Hartley, Chris Lambourne and Graeme Norris having various battles throughout the race. Richard Sharp had a day of mixed fortunes but came back to finish twelfth place in the final. Back at the front of the grid Craig Venske fell in the latter stages of the race and Chris Hodgson took a well deserved win four seconds clear of James Addy. Craig finished in third with David Hartley fourth from Richard Blakeman.
Lee Williams redeemed his earlier race problems to take sixth place from Ben Stafford. Ben showed it was the right move this season to the Elite class with seventh place consistently in every race. Chris Walker had the worst luck this round and was no stranger to either the tarmac or machinery gremlins, so the season was looking up for him. This group is going to give value for money racing for the prestigious title of top man.
Open Elite Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Chris Hodgson 2. James Addy 3. Craig Venske 4. David Hartley 5. Richard Blakemam