Wednesday August 3, 2016 at 12:40pm
BG Products MRO Powerbikes
The seventh Bemsee round of 2016 marked two-thirds distance in the BG Products-sponsored MRO Powerbike series. After five rounds of racing, Colin Parker arrived at Cadwell Park with a slender 24-point lead over Peter Baker in the championship standings. However, it was an exercise in damage limitation for the Global Robots Yamaha rider in Lincolnshire, as he failed to trouble the podium in any of the weekend’s races.
The four race programme was unfortunately cut to three, as an oil spillage from another class led to a major delay in proceedings. And it was probably to Parker’s benefit, as his championship rival, Baker, stood on the podium twice, including the top step in the final race.
After qualifying on pole position, however, it looked like the man to beat was Phil Crowe, as the BMW S1000RR-mounted rider set a time four tenths faster than anyone else.
In race one, Crowe turned that pole position into a comfortable victory. After pulling out a gap of a second on the opening lap, Crowe extended it to five seconds by the end of lap four. From there, he managed the gap, and took the win.
The battle for the remaining two podium places was fought by three riders, with David Jackson, Billy Mellor, and Baker vying for position.
With Crowe disappearing into the distance, Jackson settled into second position early on with Baker occupying third. However, the former champion was soon deposed by Mellor on lap two. He then set his sights on Jackson in second, and made the move a lap later.
Mellor and Jackson slowly dropped Baker, and it was soon a two-horse race. Mellor looked like he had enough in hand, but a last lap move from Jackson saw him snatch second, as he got the rub of the green when back-markers came into play, with Mellor being forced to settle for the final step of the podium.
Baker claimed fourth place, ahead of his championship rival Parker, while Jamie Tibble’s eighth place gave him the Clubman win.
The second race of the weekend saw Crowe take another win, this time in an even more dominant fashion. Taking the holeshot. he was never headed, storming to a nine-second victory. Jackson also made a strong start, and after just one lap looked comfortable in second place. Unfortunately for him, he crashed out on lap two.
Baker slotted into second after Jackson’s exit, but was coming under pressure from Stephen Draper, while Michael O’Brien was still in the hunt for second place, despite losing out to Baker on lap two and Draper on lap three.
As the race hit the midway point, Draper relieved Baker of second place, but it was short lived, as the reigning champion stole the position back two laps later. He pulled the pin, and pulled out a gap of a second to take the runner-up spot and his first podium of the weekend. Behind, a last ditch drag to the line by O’Brien wasn’t enough to grab third away from Draper.
Nibble continued his run of results in the Clubman class, this time taking seventh place overall and another win.
The final outing was tinged with controversy, as Crowe again shot off the line, pulled a gap of over nine and a half seconds over the course of the race, and crossed the line to complete a hat-trick of victories. However, he was adjudged to have jumped the start, and was handed a 10-second penalty.
That gave Baker the win by less than half a second, with Crowe awarded second place. The final spot on the podium went to O’Brien, with just two tenths of a second splitting him and Jackson. Tibble made it three Clubman class wins with another top-10 finish in ninth place.
Colin Parker finished fifth in the final race, and now trails Baker in the championship standings, the gap between the two a singular point. Tibble extended his Clubman win-streak to 11, and already has one hand on the class title.
In the BMCRC Rookie 1000s, Rafal Grzeda was untouchable and bagged all three wins, while Mariusz Siemieniuk-Juzwiuk clawed back 15 points on Kyle O’Donovan in the championship chase with three second placed finishes to O’Donovan’s brace of thirds and a fourth. The championship still remains O’Donovan’s to lose, with just three rounds remaining and an advantage of 129 points.
ACU Team Green Junior Cup & Senior 300s
Four points split championship leader Elliot Pinson and Joey Lambden on arrival at Cadwell Park, while Luke Hopkins was only 31 points further back of Lamden and 11 ahead of Charlie Farrer in a series that looks set to go down to the wire.
The racing at Cadwell backed up that notion too, as less than two seconds covered the top four riders in Saturday’s race.
With one lap to go, it Lambden who led the way, looking to take over at the top of the series standings. He was leading the way from Luke Hopkins Pinson, while Senior 300 runner, Gareth Hopkins, held fourth.
But a last lap scrabble saw that order change completely, with Pinson going from third to first to take the win and extend his series lead. Luke Hopkins took second, with Gareth Hopkins third and the top Senior contender, as Lambden slipped to fourth, surrendering 12 points to Pinson.
Lambden's title hopes took a bigger dent in race two, the youngster only completing one lap before dropping out of the race.
Pinson took the win, but by the narrowest of margins, as Luke Hopkins’ last lap was the fastest lap of the race, and saw him recover one and a half seconds in one lap. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough, and he missed out on the win by a mere seven hundredths of a second.
Gareth Hopkins’ third place gave him the Senior 300 win, as he fended off the attentions Brandon Payne, who finished fourth the the third Junior rider across the line.
The final race was again decided by just seven hundredths of a second, and again it was Pinson who took the win ahead of Luke Hopkins. Hopkins had led the entire race, hitting the front early on and leading every lap until the final circulation, when Pinson snatched victory by another narrow margin. Lambden recovered some championship points by coming through to finish in third place, but is now tied on points with Luke Hopkins.
A fifth place in the final race gave Gareth Hopkins a clean-sweep of victories in the Senior category.
Chilton Motors BMZRC 250s
Chris Rogers clawed back a handful of points on the Chilton Motors BMZRC series leader, Pete Woodall, at Cadwell Park, but with just two rounds remaining, the title is still Woodall’s to lose.
Rogers took all 75 points on offer from the three races, in his bid to close down the series leader. His first win came in dominant fashion, as he cruised to the win in race one. After hitting the front on lap two, Rogers left the rest of the field in his wake, crossing the line over 11 and a half seconds to the good.
Behind, Woodall was a lonely second place, with pole-sitter Andy Saunders in an equally lonely third place.
The second race was a far closer affair, as this time only a second covered the entire podium. Saunders led the way through the opening stages of the race, fending off the attentions of the pursuing Rogers. But eventually Rogers found a way past, and from there defended the lead until the chequered flag.
Woodall was back on the podium in third place, and recovered from a sluggish start to catch Saunders throughout the second half of the race. After losing two seconds in the first two laps, he eventually narrowed the gap to two tenths of a second, but couldn’t make a move for second place and had to settle for the bottom step of the podium.
Rogers hit the front on the opening lap of the final race, but was soon passed by both Woodall and Saunders, with Saunders leading the way as the trio broke away from the rest of the field and started the third lap.
It was all change a lap later, as Woodall assumed the lead, relegating Saunders to second, and then third, as Rogers found a way past. Rogers then pushed his way back to the front, only to be demoted to third again a lap later.
On the penultimate lap, however, he made his way back into the lead, and from there held off both Saunders and Woodall to take the win. Woodall was second, with Saunders third.
DFDS Yamaha Past Masters
After winning all four races at Pembrey, Mark Taylor continued his winning run at Cadwell Park, taking the win in both Saturday’s race and Sunday’s opener.
Tricky qualifying conditions ended up with Taylor setting a pole time over three seconds quicker than anyone else, and his hopes of a race win were boosted by the fact that reigning champion, Matt Barber, crashed on his first flying lap and was starting from the back of the grid.
Barber’s weekend got worse in the opening race, too, as a dice with Giles Harwood ended with them both on the floor at the Old Hairpin, after a coming together on lap three.
For Taylor though, his nearest challenge came from Andy Bown, the former Rookie championship runner-up pushing him all the way. On the final lap Taylor benefitted the most from the back-markers, and took the win, with Bown second.
Third went to Sacha Gyte, who held off reigning Rookie champion, Scott Grant, crossing the line just a tenth of a second ahead of the youngster.
Marc Prentice took the Clubman win in seventh, with Mark Ewens’ 12th place handing him the Rookie win.
Taylor’s domination continued in race two, and a poor start from Bown that saw him drop as low as seventh off the front row, meant Taylor went relatively unchallenged en route to his second win of the weekend.
Scott Grant looked like the closest man to push Taylor, but, unable to match the championship leader’s pace, had dropped two and half seconds back of the race leader. A coming together with a back-marker on the penultimate lap at Hall Bends also ended his race prematurely, handing second to Bown.
Barber came from he back of the grid to finish third, with Harwood’s fourth place giving him the Clubman win. Ewens added another Rookie win to his tally in 12th.
As the grid formed for the final race, Taylor was notable by his absence, as a technical problem prevented him from joining in time for the warm up lap. Problem sorted, he joined the back of the grid, and after a lightening start and some hard passes, was up to second on lap one. Unfortunately over enthusiasm at the Old Hairpin saw him crash out, handing the win to Bown who rode unchallenged to victory.
Barber took second, and a series of fast laps in the closing stages saw him gain ground on Bown, but ultimately he ran out of laps and had to settle for the runner-up spot. Third went to Grant, who rode from the back of the grid to the podium.
Harwood was again fourth and the Clubman winner, while another 12th place gave Ewens his third Rookie win.
Team Respro MRO 600s
Freddy Pett was in dominant form in the MRO 600 series at Cadwell Park, while series leader, Grant Newstead, struggled to make an impression at the front of the field.
In a damp qualifying, Newstead set the third fastest time of the session, while the fastest time was set by Clubman rider Ben Cotgrove. Dry conditions for the opening race, however, didn’t suit the series leader, and he struggled to a ninth place finish, while Cotgrove gave away five points to Clubman series leader, Dominic Pettit, as Pettit finished third overall with Cotgrove fifth.
The start of the show was Pett, who set a best lap time a whole second faster than anyone else on track, and took a commanding win by over 12 seconds. Second place went to the Richard Steadman, with Clubman winner Pettit, third.
The first race on Sunday was again the Pett show, this time his fastest lap was not far off two seconds faster than anyone else, and he cruised to another victory.
Pettit was back on the podium in second, and took another Clubman class win to extend his advantage at the top of the series, as Steadman finished third.
A repeat performance in the final race gave Pett his perfect score, as the podium mirrored the day’s earlier race. Clubman class winner Pettit held off Steadman, the pair second and third respectively.
David Shoubridge’s three wins in the Rookie class handed him the series lead, with three rounds to go.
EDIasia Formula 400s
There was a change at the top of the EDIasia championship standings, as a bad weekend for Gary Smith at Cadwell Park saw Andy Gill turn a 35-point deficit into a three-point advantage with two rounds to go.
However, the weekend’s races belonged to former champion Richie Welsh, who took all three wins on his Yamaha FZR400.
Welsh stalked Gill in race one, sitting by the RMKD Racing Kawasaki, until he made a move with three laps to go. From there he pulled the pin, and took the win by nearly four seconds. Paul Ellerker finished third after Jarman retired at two-thirds distance, while an impressive Harry Rowlings finished sixth overall to take the Sub-64bhp class win, just ahead of the overall series leader, Smith. Daniel Moss took the Rookie class honours in the points in 15th.
A three-way battle for the race win in the second outing ended with Ellerker crossing the line to take the chequered flag first, but he was later handed a 10-second penalty for a jump start. That promoted Welsh onto the top step of the podium, with Gill again on the podium in second.
Matthew Scott was awarded third place, with Smith fourth. Rawlings’ seventh place gave him another Sub-64 win, with Adam Hartgrove earning the Rookie win in 17th.
Welsh earned his third and final win of the weekend all by himself, hitting the front on lap three and holding the lead all the way to the flag. Gill was second with Ellerker back on the podium in third.
Another seventh gave Rowlings a perfect weekend in the Sub-64 class, as Hartgrove took another Rookie win in 14th.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles BMCRC Thunderbike Sport
Andrew Gill extended his lead at the top of the Steve Jordan Motorcycles-backed Thunderbike Sport series at Cadwell Park, with a win and two second place finishes.
Gill took the win in race one ahead of Richie Welsh, as Adam Jamison came out on top in his battle with Paul Ellerker for third place.
Gill finished second in both of Sunday’s races, as his Formula 400 adversary, Welsh, took a brace of victories. Hitting the front on lap three, Welsh led the way to the chequered flag in Sunday’s opener, but was chased all the way to the chequered flag by Gill, as just half a second split the pair at the line. Jamison again came out on top in a tight scrap for third place, this time bettering Jack Wallis.
Welsh dominated the final race, leaving Gill to ride to a lonely second place finish. Wallis claimed third place, after Jamieson retired on the opening lap.
Benjamin Roswell took both of Sunday’s Rookie class wins, after Thurstan Green took the class win on Saturday.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles BMCRC Thunderbike Extreme
Jason Byard took one step closer to the 2016 BMCRC Thunderbike Extreme championship crown, the May Construction Suzuki rider taking all three wins at Cadwell Park.
Byard took his first 25 points with a win ahead of David Abraham and Paul Newman, as Ian Costello picked up the Rookie win.
Sunday’s first race then saw Byard better Chris Matthews, with Abraham back on the podium in third.
The final race ended with Byard crossing the line just three tenths of a second ahead of Matthews, the pair again finishing first and second respectively, with Matt Hinnells getting himself onto the podium in third place on the Moremoto Aprilia.
Ian Costello backed two more wins in the Rookie classification to close in on Adam Norton and Andrew Collins at the top of the championship standings.
RKB-F1 BMCRC Sidecars
Despite qualifying on pole position, F1 series leaders Gary Smith and Ryan Anderson failed to make the grid for Saturday’s race, leaving Barry James and Jack Tritton to take the win in commanding fashion, the pairing crossing the line a whopping half a minute ahead of Simon Gilbert and Carl Morgan, who took the win in the F2 class.
The F1 outfit of Shawn and Anthony Hildige took third overall, and clawed back 20 points on Smith and Anderson, reducing the gap at the top of the championship to 40 points.
James and Tritton again took the win in the first race on Sunday and with it the F1 class win, with Gilbert and Morgan again the F2 victors in second place. Third went to Simon and Tom Christie, who took second in the F1 category.
The final outing of the weekend ended with James and Tritton sealing a dominant weekend with another win, as Christie and Christie went one better finish second. Gilbert and Morgan’s third place handed them another F2 class win, making it three for the weekend.