Friday June 5, 2015 at 12:39pm
David Jones took a brace of victories at Oulton Park in the fourth round of the ePayMe sponsored MRO Powerbike series, with the Club running over two days with Friday testing and qualifying and Saturday racing due to the circuit’s noise restrictions.
Jones, riding a ZX-10R Kawasaki, showed he had the pace to win in varying conditions, taking his first win from pole position in the wet and his second in the dry.
After qualifying fastest by over a second, Jones then went on to dominate the opening race in difficult conditions. He made a blistering start, and pulled out a four second advantage on the opening lap, before doubling it after lap two.
Jones continued to pull out an advantage, while behind the battle for second place raged.
Ross Connolly and Daryl Dance put up a fight in the early stages before dropping off the pace, allowing Colin Parker and Peter Baker to pick up the fight for the order of the remaining two podium positions.
As the race wore on the battle continued, the duo swapping position constantly, pulling out a gap on the rest of the field in doing so.
At the front Jones had pulled out a 17 second advantage as he started his last lap, but as he took the chequered flag is advantage had dropped to just seven seconds, a mistake on the last lap costing him 10 seconds.
He still had a comfortable margin as he crossed the line to take the win, while it was Parker who came out on top in the battle for second place, crossing the line two tenths of a second ahead of Baker.
Mark Sykes finished as the leading Clubman rider in sixth place, with Tim Cornwall the leading BMCRC Rookie 1000 rider in 14th place, as he just got the better of fellow rookie Shane Herbert.
The second race of the weekend was a far closer affair at the front, with Jones made to work hard for his double victory.
After starting from pole Jones led across the line onto the second lap, but with Baker firmly in tow, before the former MRO Powerbike champion made a move for the lead and held the advantage onto the third lap.
And so it would continue for the duration of the race, the pair swapping places at every opportunity as they broke away from the chasing pack and went toe-to-toe for the race win.
It was Baker who led on the final lap of the race, but Jones found his way past and took the chequered flag by less than two tenths of a second with Baker second.
It was also a two rider dice for the third podium position, with Connolly crossing the line less than a second ahead of Parker.
Sykes was fifth and leading Clubman rider with Herbert this time the leading rookie in 18th.
Baker still leads the championship from Parker, while Sykes still leads the Clubman championship. Cornwall tops the rookie series.
DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters
Matt Barber was on top at Oulton Park in the DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters, taking both wins and continuing his dominant form from Silverstone.
Barber qualified on pole and showed his mettle by winning in both the wet and the dry.
In the opening race he took the win by half a second after Ben Miles reduced a six second deficit and was unlucky not to take the win, with Andy Davies third.
Steve Higerty was the leading Clubman rider in sixth with Lee Middleton taking the Rookie win after Scott Grant crashed out of third place and threw the Rookie class away.
Barber’s victory in race two was a more comfortable affair, taking the flag by over four seconds from reigning champion Graham Higlett, with Davies close behind in third.
Grant was the leading Rookie, coming from the back of the grid to sixth, with Sacha Gyte the leading Clubman rider in eighth.
Kawasaki Junior Cup
Harry Rowlings and Alex Murley took a win apiece in the Kawasaki Junior Cup, and finished second to each other in both races too.
Rowlings took the win in race one, getting to grip with the wet conditions and pulling out a four second gap. Murley was second with James Alderson third.
Murley and Rowlings reversed their positions in race two, but this time with just one tenth of a second between them after dicing for position. James Alderson took another third place.
In the Senior 300 class Carl Mitchell took the win in the first race before finishing second to Graham Haw in race two.
EDIasia Formula 400s
Andy Saunders took two wins at Oulton Park and 18 points out of Dan Ruth’s series lead, with the championship leader taking two third placed finishes.
In race one Saunders finished one and a half seconds ahead of Ryan Varley who took an excellent second place with Ruth third.
Ben Miles also took a superb Sub-64 class win on his TZR250 Yamaha, finishing in ninth place.
Saunders completed his double with a win in the second race, this time with former champion Richie Welsh in second and Ruth third.
Miles was again the leading Sub-64 rider, this time in 12th. In the Rookie 400s Scott Grant took both wins.
HOYL Insurance MRO Minitwins
Just eight tenths of a second covered the top three riders in the opening MRO Minitwin race of the weekend at Oulton Park, with just two tenths splitting the winner and runner-up.
Joe Buxton was the victor with Paul Wilby second as he bids to overhaul Richard Goode’s series lead, and Mason Williams third.
The second race again went the way of Buxton, two tenths of a second again the difference between him and Wilby in second. Matt Last came out on top in the battle for third.
Thomas Eustace dominated the Rookie Minitwins, qualifying on pole and taking both wins.
RKB F1 & F2 Sidecars
Ben Holland and Lee Watson were rampant in the BMCRC, RKB-sponsored sidecar races, taking both wins in commanding fashion.
The duo turned pole into a 26 second advantage and win in the first race, leaving Rupert Archer and Steve Thomas to take a lonely second. Both teams were effectively testing as they run in the British F1 Series, so no points or prizes here. The points finishers were headed by Gary Smith and Ryan Anderson who were a further 15 seconds back in third. Sean Reeves and Mark Wilkes were the leading F2 outfit in fourth.
Holland and Watson took the win in the second race by 12.5 seconds, with Reeves and Wilkes in an excellent second overall, taking the F2 class win. Smith and Anderson were third in their F1 Suzuki LCR machine.
Steve Jordan MC Thunderbike Sport & Thunderbike Extreme
The podium was identical in both races in the Thunderbike Sport class, with Chris Burrage taking both wins at Oulton Park, with Mason Williams second and Joe Buxton third on both occasions.
Seb Kelly was untouchable in the first of the Thunderbike Extreme races, taking the win by over 25 seconds. David May and Mark Lister were second and third.
Sadly for Kelly he couldn’t replicate that form in race two, finishing in relatively disappointing sixth.
That left Jason Byard to take the win from Chris Matthews and Daniel Stuart.
Lansdowne British GP Series
Mike Edwards took both of the wins in the Lansdowne British GP series aboard his Ripley Land sponsored Matchless.
Alex Sinclair was second in race one with Glen English third, before the pair reversed positions in race two.