With just one round left to go Mark McLernon now has one hand firmly on the ATVs Only-backed ACU British Quad Championship trophy after he took victory at Sunday’s penultimate round at Dean Moor to stretch his series lead to 36 points.
With 75 points up for grabs from the three heats at the final round in October, the 21-year-old Ulsterman would need a minor disaster to be overhauled by the defending champion Paul Holmes, who started the day just ten points adrift of his rival but slipped further back after two crashes.
On a wet and miserable day more akin to November, McLernon topped qualifying and won the opening two motos before Leon Rogers made it a double celebration for Ireland by clinching his debut heat win in the series in the final race. That also gave Rogers second overall, as well as a dominant win in the Under 21 category.
Victory also earned McLernon the coveted Connor Smith Memorial Trophy, which he first won in 2014.
Rogers had shown his intent in the opening race
when he just nicked the Putoline Holeshot off the tricky, wet concrete start gate, but he was soon demoted by McLernon, who pushed on consistently and was never headed again.
At one point his lead was almost out to ten seconds, but as McLernon rode a measured last few laps the winning margin was cut to 3.4s, but he was never under threat.
In the early laps, Rogers was pursued hard by Holmes, who eventually slipped through into second place, then set the fastest lap as he set after the leader. However a crash on a step-up relegated Holmes to seventh at the flag.
After that Rogers rode a lonely race, with Luke Cooper working his way to a safe third spot, ten seconds behind.
Rookie Cup points leader, Dafydd Davies, had almost grabbed the holeshot before a little ‘nudge’ from Rogers pushed him wide and dropped him back to fourth. For much of race Davies impressed though holding off a freight train of more experienced riders, before he was forced out at two-third distance when his KTM cut out.
Carl Bunce and Justin Reid were then left to battle it out for fourth, with Bunce eventually getting the nod. The pair spent much of day locked in combat and are also split by just five points in the battle for third in the championship.
In race two Reid took his first holeshot of the year and held off a group, which included Bunce, McLernon, Holmes and Rogers for over half the race before his machine shipped its chain. He refitted it and eventually finished ninth.
The battle at the front though was a fascinating one with Bunce leading after Reid’s demise (and setting the fastest lap), then McLernon hitting the front just before the two-lap board.
Eventually the top five (which now included Cowan who had clawed his way into contention while the others were busy battling each other) were covered by just 4.3 seconds.
Crucially, with McLernon taking the win and Holmes not being able to find a way past Bunce, McLernon’s championship lead had become 27 points, which meant even if he DNF’d the final race he would leave Dean Moor top of the series.
McLernon did not need that security though. In race three he first grabbed the holeshot (he now has five for the season and leads the Putoline Holeshot league), before Rogers passed him two laps in over a tabletop.
Rogers, with the prospect of his debut win begging, promptly set the fastest lap and cleared off to eventually win by a comfortable four seconds.
McLernon however had the very close attention of Holmes for much of the race before Holmes eventually crashed on the final lap looking for a way through and was relegated to ninth place.
His demise promoted Reid to third, which was less than half a second ahead of Bunce, who in turn was eight seconds ahead of Cooper in fifth.
Rogers fine form ensured he took a maximum 75 points on the Willcock Holefomers-backed Under 21 class and he now leads the series by a whopping 46 points from Cooper, who was second on the day after going 2-3-2 in class. In race two it was Scotland’s Murray Graham who was runner up, which helped him to third overall.
In the Komfort Services Rookie Cup Davies ran out winner, despite his race one breakdown, after his rival Kyle Murphy suffered two separate punctures and was unable to overhaul him.
Reid won the Komfort Services Vet Cup class ahead of his shadow for the day, Bunce.
Results: ATVS Only British Championship Overall: 1 Mark McLernon (Honda), 2 Leon Rogers (Kawasaki), 3 Carl Bunce (Suzuki), 4 Luke Cooper (KTM), 5 Justin Reid (Can-Am KMX), 6 Paul Holmes (Yamaha).
Race one: 1 McLernon, 2 Rogers, 3 Cooper, 4 Bunce, 5 Reid, 6 Sheldon Seal (Yamaha).
Race two: 1McLernon, 2 Bunce, 3 Holmes, 4 Rogers, 5 David Cowan (Yamaha), 6 Lindsey Duke (KTM).
Race three: 1 Rogers, 2 McLernon, 3 Reid, 4 Bunce, 5 Cooper, 6 Cowan,
Championship points: McLernon 323, Holmes 287, Reid 258, Bunce 253, Rogers 216, Cooper 182
Willcock Holeformers Under 21: 1 Rogers, 2 Cooper, 3 Murray Graham (Honda), 4 Bailey Edwards (Yamaha), 5 Jake Smith (Honda), 6 Dafydd Davies (KTM)
Championship points: Rogers 327, Cooper 281, Davies 215, Harry Walker (Yamaha) 211, James Bevan (Yamaha) 200, Edwards 192.
Komfort Services Rookie Cup: 1 Davies, 2 Kyle Murphy (Yamaha), 3 Jamie Morgan (Yamaha).
Komfort Services Vet Cup: 1 Bunce, 2 Reid, 3 Duke.