ACU Team Green Junior Cup and Senior 300
Three races for the ACU Team Green Junior Cup and Senior 300 class around the Donington National circuit provided some of the closest racing of the weekend. With two winners from the three outings, the margin of victory in the final race was just one hundredth of a second, with the top four split by a second.
Fred McMullan started from pole, but Jack Kirsch led the opening racing lap of the weekend. He was soon passed by Lennon Docherty, who led the second lap, before McMullan worked his way to the front a lap later.
He held the position for two laps, but Docherty was soon back in the lead, and began to slowly pull out a small, but significant gap at the front. From there he was never headed, and took victory from McMullan, with Kirsch third, making it an all Junior Cup podium.
In fifth, Phil Atkison took the Senior class win.
Docherty doubled-up in race two this time by less than a tenth of a second, as he and Kirsch battled all race long.
The lead swapped throughout the 10-lap affair, and starting the last lap Kirsch held the advantage, but not to be denied, Docherty snatched victory to make it two from two.
Kirsch was second, with Owen Mellor crossing the line in third.
The battle for the Senior class win went down to the wire, and two hundredths of a second split Danny Huskington and Atkinson in ninth and 10th.
In the final race of the weekend Kirsch enacted his revenge on Docherty, with a last lap pass to take the win by one hundredth of a second, after overcoming a three tenth of a second deficit in just one circulation of the Donington National layout.
Half a second back McMullan completed the podium, three tenths up on Keo Walker in fourth, with Atkinson in eighth the Senior 300 winner.
Team Respro MRO 600 and DAR Motorsport Clubman 600
Four races for the Team Respro MRO 600s at Donington Park saw two winners share the spoils, as Stephen Draper and Michael Mills took two wins apiece.
In race one the top five were split by a second, but Mills ran out the winner relatively comfortably, half a second up on Steven Gagg, who took the Clubman win in second place overall.
Less than a tenth back, in third, was series leader Dawid Krawiecki, holding off Tommy Fielding and Stephen Draper.
Draper led race two from start to finish to take his first win of the weekend, as Gagg gave chase early on. As his race faded at the halfway stage, Mills relieved him of second place, but was unable to catch Draper out in front.
Draper, Mills, and Gagg was the finishing order, though Fielding came close to pipping Gagg to the Clubman class win, finishing a close fourth place.
Race three and Draper took his second win of the weekend again leading start to finish. This time he disappeared up the road, winning by over three and a half seconds.
Behind, Fielding finally secured a Clubman win, as he raced Mills for the runner-up spot, coming out on top by two tenths of a second. Mills’ third made it an all-Yamaha R6 podium.
On his A51 Racing machine, Mills took his second victory of the weekend in the final race of the weekend, as Gagg saw off Fielding to take his third Clubman win, the duo completing the podium.
Reactive Parts MRO Powerbikes and MSS Performance Clubman 1000
A second and two wins for Aiden Patmore gave him the 2021 Reactive Parts MRO Powerbikes title with a round to spare, with the gap to Nicky Wilson now insurmountable after three races at Donington Park.
Patmore set the second quickest time in qualifying on his TBR Performance BMW S1000RR, as Michael O’Brien set pole aboard his Yamaha R1, some half a second quicker.
And in race one the battle was between those two. O’Brien led for the bulk of the laps, with Patmore tucked in behind in second. After shadowing the pace-setter, Patmore made a move for the lead with three laps to go, and held the advantage onto the final lap, but O’Brien was able to strike back and snatch victory.
Wilson, Patmore’s nearest title rival, finished third. Kenny Fretwell was classified 13th and picked up the Clubman class win.
After opening his weekend’s account with a runner-up finish, Patmore went on to win twice to add 50 championship points to his tally and secure the 2021 championship.
In race two he slotted into third place in the opening laps, circulating behind Wilson and Tom Norton, but at a third race distance he passed them both and moved into the lead.
From there he began to pull away, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process, eventually extending his lead to nearly four seconds.
He took victory from Stephen Draper, who moved into the podium positions in the later laps, with Wilson narrowly holding off Tom Norton for another third place finish.
Nick Whitcher was the Clubman class victor in 13th, just ahead of Fretwell.
It was a runaway victory for Patmore in race three, as he stormed to the win by over seven seconds, leaving Wilson in his wake.
Wilson, on his Demon GP Suzuki GSX-R1000 finished second, surrendering any title hopes, with Norton third. In 10th place Fretwell was the Clubman winner, moving past Luke Dixon to top the championship standings with one round to go.
L&W Contractors BMCRC Rookie 600 and Rookie 1000
Seamus McGlynn secured the 2021 BMCRC Rookie 1000 title at Donington Park, with three wins and a second place enough to wrap it up with a round to spare.
He ran out a 10 second winner in race one, disappearing out in front in dominant form. Behind, however, he left three riders to fight over the remaining two spots on the podium.
Less than a second covered all three, come the chequered flag, with the gap between second and third just a tenth. Kawasaki-mounted Antony Hunter - the man closest to McGlynn in the championship - was second, ahead of Lee Grant and Michael Clarke.
It was a similar story in race two, with McGlynn winning by a healthy margin, leaving the others to scrap over the remaining podium positions. And in a similar vein, one second covered three riders looking to stand on the rostrum.
Clarke, this time, took the runner-up spot, a tenth of a second up on Hunter. Thomas Harrison missed out in fourth.
Any hopes of the cleansweep were dispelled in race three, with McGlynn unable to match Lee Grant’s pace at the front. Once the Grant’s Carpentry Yamaha rider hit the front, he steadily pulled away from the champion-elect to take his first win of the season.
McGlynn was second, ahead of Clarke.
Arguably, the best Rookie 1000 racing of the weekend came in the final race, as three riders slugged it out for victory.
The lead changed regularly, but in the end McGlynn levelled the score with Grant, pipping him to the victory. as Clarke chased them home in third.
In the 600 class Ross Clarke and Dan Burnham split the wins down the middle.
They took a win apiece on Saturday, with Clarke standing on the podium with Adam Gathercole and Ashley Coid in race one, as Burnham crashed out on lap three. Burnham, though, was the victor in race two, beating Clarke and Coid to the biggest trophy.
Half a second separated the pair in Sunday’s opener, Clarke bettering Burnham, with Thomas Garner this time third. Burnham collected 25 championship points in race four, finishing ahead of Clarke and Coid.
The results also meant Burnham moved ahead of Matt Pallett in the championship standings with one round to go.
ProperlyProtected.co.uk MRO Minitwins
Three wins from four starts in the MRO Minitwins saw John Reynolds put one hand on the championship with a round to go. But, in typical Minitwin fashion, those victories were anything but assured.
Reynolds qualified on pole at Donington Park, and led the early part of the opening race. He opened up a lead of a second, but that was swiftly bridged by Keith Povah, with Matt Wetherell also in tow.
Povah had a go at leading, but Reynolds responded, and took the chequered flag first, with Povah chasing close behind, and Wetherell third.
Aboard the Fins Motorcycles Suzuki SV650 Reynolds doubled-up in a shortened race two, after the red flags came out for oil and a faller as a result. Reynolds was classified as the winner by less than a tenth of a second in the four-lap restart.
Cameron Harris, doing his best to take points away from series leader Reynolds to aid his brother’s title bid, was second, ahead of Povah and Dan Harris, Reynolds closest challenger.
It was a hat-trick for Reynolds after race three, as he saw off Povah and the Harris brothers, before Povah kept his faint title hopes alive with a win in race four. Reynolds was second, Cameron Harris third.
Nicholas Baker took a trio of Rookie Minitwin wins, Shaun O’Reilly taking the other.
EDIasia Formula 400
James Seath will head into the final round of the season at Brands Hatch with a 90-point championship lead, almost guaranteeing him the crown, after two wins and two second place finishes at Donington Park in the EDIasia Formula 400s.
He finished second in the weekend’s opener, behind Mark Thomson, who won aboard his Flinstone Tyres Kawasaki. Third overall was Alan Cooper, who also took the Sub-64bhp class win on his Yamaha TZR250.
Seath and Thomson reversed positions in race two, as James Robinson, holding onto slim hope of taking the 2021 title, climbed onto the podium in third place. He finished just three tenths of a second up on Michael Stanley, whose fourth gave him the Sub-64bhp win, again on a TZR250.
Ovendon Earthmoving Kawasaki’s Seath made it back-to-back victories with another win in race three. He was joined on the podium by two of the Sub-64bhp runners, as Cooper bested Stanley for the class win, with Robinson fourth.
While Thomson won the fourth and final race, Seath’s second meant he again finished ahead of Robinson in third, all-but securing the 2021 title going into the final round.
The final Sub-64bhp class win of the weekend went the way of Cooper.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Extreme and TBR Performance Thunderbike Ultra
In the Thunderbike Extreme and Thunderbike Ultra races at Donington, Jack Sim wracked up three wins to be crowned the 2021 Extreme champion, while Josh Harvey’s brace of victories meant he sealed the Ultra class championship.
Harvey won both of Saturday’s races outright. Mark Wilby finished runner-up in race one, before Cecil Dinsmore crossed the line in second place in race two.
Andrew Saunders took the Extreme class win in third place in the first of the weekend’s races, with champion-elect Sim in fifth place overall and second in class. Wilby completed the overall podium in race two, as Sim took the Extreme class win in fourth.
Harvey missed out on the win in race three, as Wilby led from start to finish to take victory. Harvey chased him home in second place as Sim completed the podium, at the head of a four-rider battle for the bronze medal spot. The position gave him the Extreme victory.
Dinsmore’s DNF meant Harvey could begin to celebrate the 2021 championship.
It was a Wilby and Harvey one-two in the final race, this time with Dinsmore on the podium in third after crashing out of the race before. Sim finished fifth, as again four riders battled over the final podium spot, but he collected another Extreme class win to seal a deserved championship.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Sport
Jack Sim also celebrated winning the 2021 Thunderbike Sport championship a round early, with a dominant display that saw him cruise to four race wins.
On a Platform Lift Engineers Yamaha he claimed his first win of the weekend - and 14th of the season - by five seconds. Adam Jamison was second on another R6 machine, with Harrison Day leading a train of eight riders across the line in third, the 16-wheeler covered by just two seconds.
The margin of victory was 12 seconds in race two, as Sim took another win ahead of Jamison, with Elliot Fricker third.
In races three and four Sim won from Fricker, with Jamison third, with Fricker and Jamison now set to fight over second in the championship at Brands Hatch for the final round.
Chilton Motors 250MZ
There’s plenty left to race for in the Chilton Motors 250MZ series, with three winners from four races keeping things tight at the top; coming into the weekend 13 points covered the top three in the championship.
Chris Rogers sat at the top, but it was Peter Woodall who took the win in race one to close in on his title rival. Rogers was second and Andrew Wales third, less than a second covering the trio.
Sadly for Woodall his title hopes suffered a blow in race two, as he carded a DNF against Wales’ and Rogers’ podium finishes, the duo finishing second and third. The win, however, for the first time this season, went to Scott Grant.
Grant was back on the podium in race three, finishing second to Wales by a tenth of a second. In fact, just one second covered the top six, with Woodall recovering after his DNF to finish third, Alexander Mann was fourth, Rogers fifth, and Chris Kent sixth.
Woodall bagged another win in the final race to keep his title hopes alive, as another solid podium for Rogers kept him in charge, as Mann took third from Wales.
Blue Haze 250GP and 250GPF
In the road bike-based Blue Haze GPF class races at Donington Park Rik Ballerini’s results from the four races meant he was crowned the 2021 champion.
He qualified on the front row, in second place behind Billy Perkins, making his return to the class for the first time since the opening round. And it was Perkins who went on to win the first race in comfortable fashion.
Some 11 seconds back of the winner, James Seath finished second, with Ballerini in close proximity in third, but crucially ahead of title rival Denis Halil.
Perkins winning margin was even greater in race two, as he took the chequered flag over 20 seconds up on Seath, who grabbed another second place finish. Mark Haigh was third, with Halil beaten to fourth by Andrew Burscough. Ballerini was sixth.
The champion-elect took his first win of the weekend in race three, pulling away from Perkins on his Gecko Racing Suzuki RG to take victory. Yamaha TZR250-mounted Perkins was second, with Haigh a distant third on his Aprilia.
Halil’s retirement meant Ballerini had the title sewn up after race four, which he again won from Perkins, with Seath third. Halil finished fifth.
In the GP class races Phil Atkinson took three wins, with Ballerini - after swapping his RG for a Yamaha TZ250 - winning the other.
Atkinson won from championship leader Kevin Wholey, Stuart Hall, and Ballerini in race one, before Hall and Wholey swapped positions in race two.
Ballerini won race three, half a second up on Wholey, as he bids to keep his title fight alive. Atkinson was just another tenth of a second down in third, before winning race four from Hall and Wholey, as Ballerini faltered and crashed out.
DFDS Yamaha Past Masters
Scott Carson’s title bid took a severe hit at Donington Park, as he posted two DNFs from four races at the Leicestershire circuit.
He qualified on pole, but didn’t last a lap of race one, allowing Doug Edmondson to recover 20 points after he finished second - by three hundredths of a second - to Peter Branton. Less than half a second covered the whole podium, with Alan Cooper third.
David Ball’s eighth gave him the Clubman win.
Another second place saw Edmondson take another 20 points out of Carson’s lead - reducing it to just 15 points - as he finished runner-up again to Branton - as Carson crashed out of the lead on the final lap after coming through from the back of the grid.
Cooper was again third. Richard Haywood was the Clubman winner after Ball was demoted one position for overtaking under yellow flags.
Carson extended his series lead by 13 points across races three and four, winning race three - with Edmondson third - and finishing second in race four, with Edmondson again third.
Branton won race four after finishing second to Carson in race three. Haywood bagged two Clubman wins.
RKB-F1 and F2 BMCRC Sidecars
Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle wrestled their A&J Racing KTM 890-powered F1 outfit to three wins at Donington Park, before sitting out race four, allowing Michael Jackson and Jake Roberts to take the overall win, along with the F2 class victory.
17-time Isle of Man TT winner Molyneux was a guest competitor over the weekend, not taking championship points for his efforts.
Molyneux and Sayle set pole by over a second, and ran out overall winners in race one by eight seconds, finishing ahead the F1 pairing of Paul and Tom Kirby, while Gary and Daryl Gibson finished third overall and were the winning F2 outfit.
It was a repeat result in races two and three, though Molyneux and Sayle increased their winning margin to nearly 14 seconds, and then over 20.
Jackson and Roberts collected the F2 win and the overall victory in race four, ahead of the Kirby pairing, who picked up the F1 win. The podium was completed by Jon Bicknell and Pete Ensor.