Norasport.com British Supermoto Championship-Round two, Rednal Raceway, Shropshire
Words by: Dave Cornish - Photos by: Peter Barlow
The Technically demanding Rednal Raceway circuit hosted round two of the televised 2013 British Supermoto Championships sponsored by ‘want to live afloat.com’ and once more the on track action delivered an exciting weekend of top level racing.
450 Elite
Setting the early pace on the dry track was reigning champion Chris Hodgson (Skyzone) who took pole by almost a second in front of Richard Blakeman (D3 Racing) who narrowly edged Lewis Cornish (Nameplate Services/DCR) into third with Cornish’s team mate Davey Todd (Nameplate Services/DCR) rounding out the front row.
Race one saw Hodgson pull into the lead as the chasing pack battled with each other in the scrap behind the #1 plate holder. Chris Walker (698 Racing) made the most of a fantastic start as Richard Sharp (MWR) battled with Cornish, Blakeman and Todd which allowed the two front runners to edge away from the pack. Cornish caught Sharp napping and made his move up to third but ran out of laps to make any further progress. Meanwhile Hodgson looked on top form and took the win by 3.7 seconds from Walker and Cornish. Race two and Hodgson took the holeshot keeping out of trouble as Blakeman, Todd, Cornish, Sharp and Walker took it in turns to lead the chasing pack. Once again Hodgson enjoyed a clear track ahead as his rivals fought for position, eventually Cornish forced his way through and began to pull away with Blakeman in close formation. Hodgson took the chequers first with Cornish closing the gap to 3 seconds and Blakeman leading Sharp over the line. A wet final race had the Rednal dirt dragging onto the tarmac to make race conditions extremely tricky but Hodgson had the advantage of an early lead which helped to keep his goggles clear. Blakeman took advantage of Cornish’s stall at the dirt section hairpin to move up to second place as Todd some 25 seconds adrift looked comfortable holding off the attentions of Sharp and Sam Gilbody (GB Racing) who was having his best ever Elite class race. Cornish's goggles were streaming a roll of film which allowed Blakeman to pull a few seconds gap and finish runner up behind Hodgson. Cornish held a safe third place to take the overall runner up spot with an unbeaten Hodgson on the top step of the podium and Blakeman in third place.
Open Elite
No surprise in Sunday's Open Elite qualifying it was soon clear that Chris Hodgson was the one the others were chasing as he took pole from Todd, Cornish and Sharp rounding out the front row. Race one and it was Hodgson into the lead once more as the pack thundered into turn one as Cornish, Todd, Blakeman all had poor starts which really mixed up the early running order. Hodgson put on a masterclass of supermoto as he controlled the gap to second for the 11 lap race. Cornish broke clear of Blakeman and Todd but didn't have an answer to the number one plate holder's pace as he trailed Hodgson across the line with Blakeman in third. Despite Todd putting in similar lap times to the leading pair a stall on the dirt gave him too much to do but he finished a safe forth ahead of Walker, Sharp and Gilbody. In race two Hodgson had yet another dream start as Cornish bogged on the line allowing the row behind past. Wasting no time Cornish then retook all the positions he'd lost within three corners to head up the chase after Hodgson. Todd made the break from the pack alongside Cornish and the two team mates set off in pursuit of leader Hodgson. With the leading three riders lapping in the 1:10s Sharp, Blakeman and Graeme Norris (Norris Family Racing) were all left fighting it out for forth place. As Cornish closed down on Hodgson the British Champion matched his pace and maintained a 3 second gap to cross the line in first place ahead of Cornish and Todd. A wet final race was declared as once more the pack powered into the first right hand turn, no surprises when Hodgson emerged leading the pack but by half race distance Cornish was lapping half a second faster and was soon in his wheel tracks. For several laps Cornish seemed to be biding his time to take the lead but he suddenly slowed and threw off his goggles which allowed Hodgson to ease away at the front. Todd saw Cornish's problems and redoubled his efforts and it looked as though he'd catch his team mate. However Cornish saw his advantage getting smaller and put in a quick final lap to take the runner up spot 4 seconds behind race winner Hodgson. The overall Open Elite podium positions were Hodgson, Cornish and Todd, it looking like the 2012 Champion's rivals are going to have a tough time on their hands this season.
Michelin Cup
The Michelin Cup soon showed that Tom Barrington (TKB) had the early pace as he took pole narrowly ahead of Ashley Saunders with Keith Topliss (Killer Racing) almost a second adrift and Tom Booth-Amos completing the front row. Race one saw Barrington take a comfortable win as Saunders dropped back with a broken gear lever after lapping over a second faster than any other rider, this allowed Booth-Amos to take the runner up spot 9 seconds behind Barrington but 4.5 seconds ahead of Topliss. The race two results were a carbon copy of race one with Kayla Barrington (TKB) taking forth ahead of Alan Henderson. In the Michelin Cup final race Saunders put his problems behind him as he eased away to take the race win from Tom Barrington and Booth-Amos.
Open National A
The last round winner Lee Rudd (LR Designs/TRM) could only manage second place on the qualifying grid as Australian Nameplate Services/DCR rider Russ Gurd took pole.
Drama in race one as Rudd jumped the lights and incurred a 10 second penalty, Gurd wasn't aware of this as he crossed the line second in front of Tom Barrington. In spite of the time penalty Rudd still managed to take third place. Race two and Rudd made no mistakes but only just managed to hold off Gurd and Tom Barrington to take the win by the narrowest of margins. Into the final race and it was Rudd and Gurd out at the front with Tom Barrington 11 seconds adrift. The Aussie getting more use to his bike and track took the race win by 2.6 seconds from Rudd and Tom Barrington, sister Kayla Barrington and Neil Crayston (D3 Racing).
Open National B
Kris Norris (Norris Family Racing) was the star of the Open National Bs with a pole qualifying session and a pair of race wins. Paul Reynolds took race one win and some consistent rides from Andy Bugin were enough to see these rider finish in these overall positions.
Elite
1 Chris Hodgson Skyzone Pope KTM
54 Richard Blakeman D3 Racing
724 Davey Todd Nameplate Services/DCR
155 Chris Walker 698 Racing
8 Lewis Cornish Nameplate Services/DCR
217 Richard Sharp MW Racing
9 Graeme Norris Norris Racing Husqvarna
Michelin Cup
151 Kayla Barrington TKR
67 Keith Topliss Killer Racing
240 Neil Crayston D3 Racing
126 Alan Henderson
141 Tom Barrington TKR
331 Ashley Saunders
Open National A & B
37 Ross Gurd Nameplate Services/DCR
3 Lee Rudd LR Designs TRM
3 240 Neil Crayston D3 Racing
4 67 Keith Topliss Killer Racing
151 Kayla Barrington TKR
141 Tom Barrington TKR
10 Paul Reynolds