Tuesday November 3, 2015 at 12:27pm
Richard Hickling was crowned the 2015 HOYL Insurance MRO Minitwin champion at Snetterton, in a dramatic season finale which saw three riders fighting for the title.
Hickling arrived at the final round holding third place in the championship standings, with Paul Wilby at the top of the table and Mason Williams in second, but a dry qualifying saw Wilby start the strongest, setting the fastest lap to start from pole, with Hickling and Williams joining him on the front row.
When it came to the opening race however, the rain had arrived. Wilby hit the front from the off, pulling out a gap of over one second by the end of the second lap. On lap three however, a mistake from Wilby cost him time and allowed Williams to pass him for the race lead, the pair were then split by less than a tenth of a second as they started the fourth lap.
Hickling had also joined them at the front as the race hit the halfway point, but it would soon become a two horse race, as Wilby crashed out. In doing so he cost Hickling time, and in the end he would ride to a lonely second place while Williams took the win and the championship lead.
Third went to Jake Povah after a thrilling dice with Tyler Walsh.
If the first race was eventful, the second race packed even more drama.
Povah hit the front on the opening lap and led the way with new series leader, Williams, in tow. Williams assumed the race lead on lap two, but turned the championship on its head when he crashed out on the third lap. That handed the lead back to Povah, until he crashed out of contention with just over two laps to go.
Eventually Hickling assumed the race lead, and held it until the chequered flag, while Wilby stormed from the back of the grid to take second place and keep his championship aspirations alive, topping the standings with two races to go. Third went to Walsh.
Hickling had now taken second place in the championship, and with Williams ruling himself out of Sunday's races after his crash, it was a straight fight between Wilby and Hickling with just eight points between them.
Hickling started strongly on Sunday, taking the win in Sunday's opener. He was pushed all the way to the chequered flag, but by Jake Povah. Wilby took third place, meaning it would go to the wire and the final race. With Hickling now holding a one point championship lead, it was a case of winner takes all.
And it was Hickling who emerged triumphant, taking the race win with Wilby second. The pair were tied together in the opening stages of the race, but a blistering lap from Hickling at the halfway stage saw him pull out a gap of over a second. He then confirmed his place as champion, setting the fastest lap of the race on the final lap to take the win.
Wilby was second with Povah third.
In the Rookie Minitwin class, Thomas Eustace was already crowned champion, while Darren Dowds took three wins, the other going to Mark Williams.
Kawasaki Junior Cup & Senior 300s
Alex Murley wrapped up the Kawasaki Junior Cup at Snetterton, but he was made to work for it by Harry Rowlings, who cut his 38-point championship deficit to 11 points after four races.
Rowlings started strongly and took the win in the opening race by 11 seconds. He was also helped by James Alderson who got between Rowlings and Murley to take second, with Murley third.
The same three riders stood on the podium after race two, in the same order, further helping Rowlings close in on Murley's championship lead.
Race three was when Murley all but confirmed himself as the 2015 NJC champion. After a hard-fought, race-long battle at the front, Murley pipped Rowlings to the chequered flag by six hundredths of a second, with Alderson third, just a tenth further back.
Harry Rowlings did all he could in the final race, taking the victory by five seconds, but Murely's fifth place and fourth in class was enough for him to take the championship win.
Gareth Hopkins took two of the Senior 300 class wins before 2015 champion Carl Mitchell signed of his season with a brace of victories, taking two wins.
ePayMe MRO Powerbikes
Peter Baker sealed another ePayMe MRO Powerbike championship title at Snetterton, but not without a fight from Colin Parker.
Parker, who trailed Baker by 71 points arriving at the final round, always had his work cut out, but was buoyed by the fact that there were 125 points to play for, with an extra race in the programme after a race was abandoned at Silverstone earlier in the year.
And it was Parker who started strongly, taking the win in the opening race with Baker some 17 seconds adrift in second place. Rookie Matthew Streeter put in an excellent ride to finish third, with Jack Croucher fourth and the leading Clubman.
Parker then took the win in the second race and the held over race from Silverstone, while Daryl Dance put himself between Parker and Baker on both occasions to take second with Baker third.
Streeter took another Rookie class win while Ross Barnes took a Clubman win, before Clubman champion Mark Sykes took a Clubman win in the the Silverstone race with Lee Barrett taking the Rookie honours.
Unfortunately for Parker it all came undone in the final two races on Sunday. After finishing fourth in the penultimate race, behind Dance and Baker with Streeter again on the podium as a rookie in third, he crashed out of the final race, handing the title to Baker.
Baker finally took a race win at the final round and capped off his season the right way, with Seb Kelly and Dance on the podium.
Alan Smith and Stephen Draper took a Clubman win apiece.
FreshDrop BMZRC 250
Mark Taylor claimed the 2015 FreshDrop BMZRC 250 championship, albeit with a DNF in the final race.
Taylor's weekend started almost perfectly. Despite missing out on the win, he finished second to Christopher Rogers and ahead of Greg Wright, but Peter Woodall, his nearest rival, failed to finish.
Woodall came from the back of the grid in race two to finish second and beat champion-elect Taylor, who finished third, while Rogers took another win, but Taylor reversed the points damage in the third race, taking the win ahead of Woodall with Rogers third.
Taylor's DNF in the final race was not the way he would have wanted to see out a championship winning season. That allowed Rogers to take another win ahead of Woodall, with Wright third.
RKB-F1 & F2 Sidecars
In the RKB-F1 Sidecar championships Gary Smith and Ryan Anderson had already cemented their 2015 F1 title. However, the F2 championship was still to be decided.
Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse arrived at Snetterton with a 43 point advantage in the F2 championship, but suffered a disastrous weekend at the Norfolk circuit.
The opening race saw and all F1 overall podium, with Ben Bygrave and Tony Belsey taking the win ahead of Smith and Anderson and Gordon Pottinger and Dave Dodd.
Matt Dix and Shaun Parker took the F2 win in fourth while Simon and Tom Christie, the only other outfit capable of winning the title, finished second in class, compared to the Vannieuwenhuyse duo's fourth in class.
If race one was bad for the Belgian pairing, race two was worse, with Christie and Christie on the overall podium in third and F2 class winners, with the Vannieuwenhuyses again fourth in class, their points lead cut to 24 points.
The overall race win went to Bygrave and Belsey with Smith and Anderson second.
On Sunday Christie and Christie continued their challenge for the F2 championship, finishing third overall and first in class again in the opening race of the day. Smith and Anderson took the overall win from Pottinger and Dodd, while Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse finished fifth in class.
The margin at the top had been cut to 10 points going into the final race. Christie and Christie were bettered by Dix and Parker for the F2 win, something that would mean they missed out on the title by just one point. With Vannieuwenhuyse and Vannieuwenhuyse fifth in class it meant they were crowned 2015 F2 sidecar champions.
The overall race win went to the F1 champions Smith and Anderson, with Pottinger and Dodd second and Dix and Parker third overall.
DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters
With the title already decided, it was just pride at stake in the DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters.
Newly crowned champion took off at the front in the opening race along with Neil MacQueen. Unfortunately the pair were both collected by a crashing Sacha Gyte, the newly-crowned Clubman champion losing the front on the opening lap at Montreal.
That allowed Graham Higlett to take the win after battling with Doug Edmondson, who finished second, with Andrew Davies third.
Barber came from the back of the grid in race two to take the win, with Davies again on the podium in second, and Edmondson third.
The final two races saw Higlett and Barber take a win apiece. Higlett bettered the new champion to take the win in race three, with Davies third, before Barber took the final win of the season, crossing the line just half a second ahead of Higlett with Davies again third.
Scott Grant was crowned the class' Rookie champion.
Team Respro MRO 600s
Three different winners adorned the top step of the podium in the four MRO 600 races at the class' final round at Snetterton.
John Lea took the win in the opening race - which was restarted due to a red flag - crossing the line one and a half seconds ahead of new champion Joe Goggins. Joe Morphett was third and leading Clubman.
Morphett went two better in race two, taking the overall win as well as the Clubman honours, with fellow Clubman Grant Newstead second and Shane Smith third.
Dominic Pettit, who was crowned Rookie champion at the final round, took the Rookie class win in the opening race, with Hayden Platton taking the Rookie spoils in race two.
It was an all Clubman podium in Sunday's opening race, with Newstead taking the win ahead of Morphett and an impressive Mark Piper, while Rookie honours went to Pettit.
Pettit then cemented his place as Rookie champion with a third overall in the final race, as Newstead took another win and Clubman win, with Morphett second.
ELP & Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Extreme
The opening race at the final round for the Thunderbike Extreme saw the class rerun a held over race from Silverstone earlier in the season.
The win went to Paul Newman with Matt Last second and David Abraham third.
That left four races with a full grid, and Jon Waghorn stormed to victory in all four races.
He saw off Newman and Ben Doolan in the first race, before bettering Dave Shelvey and Newman in the second outing.
On Sunday it was Shelvey and Rookie Josh Harvey that joined Waghorn on the podium in the opening race, before the final race which again saw Waghorn and Shlevey first and second, with Alan Wood third.
ELP & Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Sport
In the Thunderbike Sport class there were four different winners from the weekend's four races.
Chris Burrage took the win in the opening race ahead of an enthralling battle for second. Just a tenth of a second covered the three riders fighting over two podium places, with Steve Costin coming out on top and taking second place, while Jake Povah bettered Tyler Walsh for third.
Povah went one better in the second race, taking the win, albeit by just six hundredths of a second, with Steven Topping second. Emma Selway rode to a lonely third place.
The Topping - Povah battle resumed on Sunday, and victory was decided by another small margin in the opening race. Three tenths of a second split the pair at the chequered flag, Topping this time coming out on top with Povah second, while Costin returned to the podium in third place.
The final race of the season saw Colin Walkey step onto the podium for the first time over the weekend, as he took the win.
Povah was back on the podium in second place this time, while Burrage also rounded the season off with a podium, taking third place at the flag.