The third round of this championship was held at the iconic Donington Park circuit which back on the 26th of July 2009 held the last 250cc Grand Prix. On that day Hiroshi Aoyama won the race on his 250cc Honda and he finished this season as 250cc World Champion. Second and third places on that historic day went to Alvaro Bautista and Mattia Dasini both on Aprilia machines.
Qualifying
This saw a great grid of 35 bikes out on the track and National 250cc competitor Bobby Varey returned to the championship after crashing out of the first round at Oulton Park and set the pace on his Fastline Superbikes of Preston backed T Z 250cc Yamaha in a time of 1 minute 15.48 seconds and a speed of 93.33 mph. Thomas Lawlor was second on his GTL Pensions backed T Z 250cc Yamaha with Ian Mackman in third also on a T Z 250cc Yamaha. Fastest in the N G 250cc Cup class was Sean Morrison on his R S 250cc Honda in a time of 1 minute 17.45 and a speed of 90.35 mph. second in this class went to James Seath with Tavis Vince in third both on TZ 250cc Yamaha's. Fastest National 125cc rider was Jack Worth on his R S 125cc Honda in a time of 1 minute 21.50 and a speed of 86.43 mph. Sian Brooks was second fastest with Simon Vanderplank in third again on R S 125cc Honda's.
Race One
This saw a great two way dice for the victory in the 250 National championship between Bobby Varey and Thomas Lawlor with the pair exchanging places all around the circuit for first and second throughout the exciting eight lap race. Bobby Varey took the victory from Thomas Lawlor by just 0.14 of a second. despite his second place Thomas Lawlor set the fastest lap of the race in a time of 1 minute 15.59 seconds and a speed of 93.19 mph. Ian Mackman took the final step of the podium with third place on his 2 Machs Motorcycles backed T Z 250. Phil Stead took the victory in the N G Cup class on his T Z 250cc Yamaha and on the fifth lap out of eight moved ahead of Travis Vince who held third place overall on the fourth lap. in the second half of the race Sean Morrison and James Seath passed Travis Vince for second and third places. Travis crossed the line in fourth place but set the fastest N G Cup lap in a time of 1 minute 17.08 seconds and a speed of 91.39 mph. The 125cc National victory went to Jack Worth who led from start to finish with Luke Scofield in second place who set the fastest lap of the race in a time of 1 minute 20.51 seconds and a speed of 87.50 mph. Third place went to Simon Vanderpl
Race two
Bobby Varey notched up his second National victory of the weekend when he led from start to finish. Thomas Lawlor put in a big effort to try and catch Bobby Varey despite being down in fifth place on his first lap. On the second lap out of seven he had moved up to second and closed in on the race leader by the end of the race and crossed the line just 0.016 of a second behind Bobby Varey and another fastest lap of the race in a time of 1 minute 14.69 seconds and a speed of 94.31 mph. Ian Mackman repeated his result from his first race with another third place. James Seath notched up his second podium of the weekend when he took victory in the N G Cup class, he was followed across the line by Sean Morrison who also set the fastest N G Cup class lap of the race in a time of 1 minute 16.80 seconds and a speed of 91.72 mph. Ian Parks took the final step of the podium. Luke Scofield led the National 125cc championship race from start to finish. A hard charging Jack Worth finished in second place along with the fastest lap of the race in a time of 1 minute 20.40 seconds and a speed of 87.61 mph. Simon Vanderplank made it two third places from two starts.
Race Three
Bobby Varey dominated the last National championship race of the weekend and again led from start to finish along with the fastest lap in a time of 1 minute 15.61 seconds and a speed of 93.17 mph. Thomas Lawlor had machine problems and despite finishing outside the points still currently leads the National Championship standings. Former 125cc National Champion Gavin Mills was another rider recovering from injury earlier this season along with bike issues. He notched up a strong second place on his Mills Racing R S 250cc Honda with some determined but smooth riding and Managed to stay ahead of last season's National championship runner up Chris Moore who took third place on his JL Exhausts/Silverstar/Outhwaite backed T Z 250cc Yamaha. The N G Cup championship race saw a three way dice between Sean Morrison, James Seath, and Ian Perks. These three led an eight N G Cup rider battle but at the flag it was Sean Morrison who notched up his first victory of the weekend. James Seath had to settle for second place but set the fastest lap of the race in a time of 1 minute 18.12 seconds and a speed of 90.18 mph. Ian Perks finished in third place. Jack Worth won the final 125cc National championship race along with the fastest lap of the race in a time of 1 minute 20.38 seconds and a speed of 87.63 mph. Luke Scofield had to settle for second place and Simon Vanderplank finished in third place.
Words by Paul Korkus