Monday July 18, 2016 at 1:30pm
Properly Protected MRO Minitwins
Richard Hickling extended his championship lead at Pembrey and round six of the MRO Minitwin series, the Think Cars-sponsored rider taking a brace of victories in the changeable conditions in south Wales.
Hickling started his weekend strongly, qualifying second fastest, the only rider quicker than the series leader in the wet session a flying Ryan Folkes, who set a time six tenths of a second faster than anyone else. Folkes and Hickling were joined on the front row by former champion Grant Robertson.
As the lights went out for the opening race on a drying track, it was the pole-sitter who assumed the race lead, with Hickling in hot pursuit. After shadowing the Carl Harrison Motorcycle Services-backed rider in the opening stages, Hickling made his move on lap four.
However, Folkes stayed in touch, and the race looked anything but a foregone conclusion, until a mistake on eight allowed Hickling to stretch his advantage to over a second. It was enough for him to avoid any challenges in the closing laps, as he crossed the line to take his first win of the weekend.
Second went to Folkes, with Robertson on the podium in third. Kurtis Butler, Hickling’s main adversary in the hunt for the 2016 championship crown, finished at the front of a four-rider battle for fourth place, while Daniel Singleton’s excellent seventh place saw him take the Rookie class honours.
A dry second race saw five riders all vying for victory as the race hit the halfway stage. Butler led the way, with Glynn Davies, Michael Yates, Hickling, and Folkes, all piling on the pressure.
Butler fended off the challenges, and as the race entered the final lap it had become a three-way fight for the win. In the end, just three tenths of a second separated the podium finishers, with Butler on the top step, flanked by Yates and Hickling. Singleton’s eighth place again handed him the Rookie win.
Rain greeted the riders when racing resumed on Sunday, catching a number of riders out, including Folkes, who crashed out of the lead in the opener on lap eight of 13.
Davies gladly inherited the lead, and kept his Suzuki SV650 upright to take 25 valuable championship points, the championship’s third place holder still in with a chance of taking the fight to the main protagonists.
Robertson took a lonely second place, with Hickling also taking 16 important championship points and further extending his advantage, as Butler struggled home in 10th place.
Singleton rode a superb race to take fifth overall, again taking win in the Rookie class.
The clouds remained but the circuit dried for the final race of the weekend. Hickling took his second win, but was pushed all the way by Davies, who claimed second place. Butler returned to the podium in third place, while Singleton capped a fantastic weekend with an excellent fourth place overall, giving him a clean sweep of victories in the Rookie championship.
Team Respro MRO 600s
Two wins in a weekend for the Team Respro MRO 600s series leader, Grant Newstead, was enough for him to extend his advantage in the championship standings over Joe Morphett, the Tinklers Motorcycles Yamaha rider coming into the weekend at Pembrey off the back of a six-race-long win streak.
Newstead turned that into a seven-race win streak in the weekend’s opener, turning pole position into victory after passing early race leader, Ben Cotgrove, on lap three. From there he was never headed, and cruised to victory by nearly four seconds.
Behind, Cotgrove claimed second and the Clubman championship win, while Rookie David Shoubridge took a fantastic third place overall his All Signs All Print Kawasaki.
Fellow Rookie, Callum Hammett, also enjoyed an excellent race to finish fourth overall, coming out on top in the battle with Simon Tucker, Mark Hughes, and Morphett.
Morphett recovered ground on Newstead in race two. A good start from his third row grid spot saw him move into second place early on. After following Newstead closely for three laps, he hit the front on lap four.
Over the next seven laps, Morphett pulled an advantage of over six seconds, taking a comfortable win over his championship rival.
Newstead took the points on offer for second place, knowing he held a healthy championship lead over Morphett, as Mark Piper showed some of the potential he’s demonstrated in flashes this season, taking third place and another podium finish. He also took the Clubman win, with Shoubridge’s fifth place handing him 25 points in the Rookie championship.
Newstead returned to the top step of the podium in the third race of the weekend, but was arguably fortunate to take the win, with Morphett leading the entire race before his race to an early conclusion on the final lap.
Piper took second place and another Clubman win, fending off the attentions of Cotgrove, who settled for third and second place in the Clubman class. The Rookie honours went to Callaghn Edser in fifth.
A shortened six-lap dash for the final race ended with Morphett taking his second win of the weekend, going someway to make amends for his DNF earlier in the day, however, he now has a mountain to climb to take the championship, with Newstead holding an advantage of over 100 points.
Newstead finished second, half a second back on the race winner, with Dominic Pettit out-dragging Cotgrove to the line for third place and the Clubman win. Shoubridge finished sixth and took another Rookie win.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Extreme
Coming into the weekend at Pembrey, Jason Byard had won every race so far this season in the Thunderbike Extreme. As a result, he held a 158 point lead before a wheel had been turned. Unable to be caught in one weekend, he was absent from the weekend’s proceedings in Wales.
That allowed Matt Hinnells to take three wins from the weekend’s four races onboard his Moremoto Aprilia.
Hinnells won the opening race ahead of Paul Newman and Ian Costello, whose podium also handed him the win in the Rookie class.
David Shelvey took the win in race two, a comfortable five and a half seconds ahead of race one-victor Hinnells, who came out on top in the dice for second place with David Abraham. Andrew Collins’ fourth place gave him the Rookie win.
On Sunday, Hinnells did the double, his first win of the day coming ahead of Shelvey by a narrow margin of half a second, with Abraham back on the podium in third.
Hinnells and Shelvey were again first and second respective in the final race, this time joined on the podium by Newman. Collins took a brace of wins in the Rookie category from the day’s races.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Sport
Just 50 points split the top six at the in the Steve Jordan Motorcycles-sponsored Thunderbike Sport class ahead of the fifth round of the series at Pembrey, with Andy Gill sitting at the top of the pile.
And it was Gill who started strongly, setting a time some two and half seconds quicker than anyone else in Saturday morning’s wet qualifying session, before going on to dominate the opening race, lapping consistently quicker than anyone else on circuit.
22 seconds further back, we had our first battle, with Tristan Revell and Jose Touceda swapping positions and scrapping all the way to the chequered flag. Revell claimed second place, with Touceda just two tenths behind him in third.
Benjamin Rowswell took the Rookie win in ninth place.
In race two Gill proved it’s not only in the wet where he holds a significant advantage over everyone else around the Pembrey circuit, as he stormed to his second win, taking the chequered flag nearly 25 seconds to the good.
Despite Gill’s dominant victory, there was still excitement to be had, as three riders squabbled over the two remaining podium positions. With two laps remaining Malvern May made a move stick on Shaun Wallis for second, holding him off on the run to the line, as well as Revell, the three riders all crossing the stripe within two tenths of a second. Hayden Wood took victory in the Rookie class in eighth.
Gill made it a perfect weekend on Sunday, taking two more wins, his first coming ahead of May and Touceda, before the pair reversed their positions in the final race. Tony Coe took two Rookie class wins.
ACU Team Green Junior Cup & Senior 300s
Pembrey marked the halfway point in the ACU Team Green series, and only served to tighten things at the top of an already intense championship. Charlie Farrer and Elliot Pinson arrived in wales in first and second respectively, with just two points between them, but with neither taking a race win, it allowed third and fourth place in the series - Joey Lambden and Luke Hopkins - to recover some ground.
The biggest winner from the weekend’s races was Lambden, as he took a hat-trick of victories, starting with a win in the opening wet race after a last lap move on Elliton Pinson.
Pinson was second with Brandon Payne in a lonely third place. Graham Haw’s fifth place gave him the Senior 300 win, as he crossed the line ahead of the leader in that championship fight, Monica Isaac.
A dry race two saw Hopkins recover from a disappointing race two, charging through the pack to hit the front at the halfway stage, before going on to take the win ahead of race one-winner Lambden. Pinson was back on the podium in third place, with Gareth Hopkins the leading Senior 300 rider in fourth place.
Lambden completed his hat-trick on Sunday, taking two wins and closing the gap at the top of the championship standings. He bettered Pinson and Hopkins in the two encounters, with Gareth Hopkins taking two more Senior class wins.
Chilton Motors BMZRC 250MZ
Chris Kent and Chris Rogers shared the spoils in the Chilton Motors BMZRC races at Pembrey, keeping series leader Peter Woodall off the top step of the podium in Wales.
The title favourite came close, mind, as three riders streamed across the line together in a close finish to the opening race of the weekend. Half a second split the trio, with Kent taking his first win of the weekend ahead of Rogers and Woodall.
The same three riders adorned the podium in race two, albeit with Rogers this time on the top step, as he held off Woodall for the race win. Kent, this time, was in a lonelier third place.
A wet start to Sunday’s action saw Kent return to the top step of the rostrum, as he took a comfortable victory. Joe Baldry and Robert Dessoy enjoyed a close race for second and third, with Woodall fourth and Rogers struggling in a relatively low eighth.
The weekend’s changeable weather conditions came good for the final race, which was won by former champion Rogers, with Woodall a close second and Kent third.
RKB-F1 & BMCRC F2 Sidecars
Gary Smith and Ryan Anderson were in dominant form in the RKB-F1 and BMCRC F2 sidecar outings at Pembrey and the fourth round of racing for the classes, taking all four victories to assume the F1 championship lead.
The duo’s opening win came ahead of the leading F2 outfit of Brian Ilaria and Lee Saunders, who added 25 points to their tally and extended their F2 series lead. John Bicknell and Dom Lewington finished third in their F1 outfit.
Bicknell was back on the podium in race two, this time with Andrew Haynes in the chair, as they finished second to Smith and Anderson. The F2 win went to Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse, as they finished on the podium in third overall.
Smith and Anderson’s third win came nearly 10 seconds ahead of the battle for the remaining podium spots, between the two F2 entries of Ilaria and Saunders and the Vannieuwenhuyse duo, before the F1 series leaders bettered the same F2 outfits in the final race, this time with Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse second and Ilaria and Saunders third.
EDIasia Formula 400s
Gary Smith and Andy Gill took two wins and two second placed finishes apiece in the EDIasia Formula 400s, with the results keeping Smith at the top of the series standings with a 35-point lead.
Smith’s advantage extended to 40 points after the first race, as he took a comfortable win on his SDC Kawasaki. Gill crossed the line in second place, with Matthew Scott in third. Carl Johnstone was the leading Sub-64 class runner in fourth, with Matthew Cole in 12th place and the leading Rookie.
In race two Gill claimed back the five points given away in race one, as he took his first win of the weekend on his RMKD Racing Kawasaki. Smith was second with Scott again on the podium in third place, as Darren Corkett claimed the Rookie class win.
Smith and Gill were first and second respectively in race three, while Emma Jarman - who qualified on pole but failed to make the start of both of Saturday’s races - came through the pack to finish on the podium in third.
Andrew Moxon made it three Sub-64 winners from three races, finishing fifth overall, as Paul Fisher was the Rookie class winner in 12th.
The same three riders climbed onto the podium in the final race, this time with Gill taking his second win and Smith second. Jarman claimed third. Carl Johnstone was the lead Sub-64 rider in seventh, just ahead of George Sheen who was the leading Rookie.
DFDS Logistics Yamaha Past Masters
Reigning champion Matt Barber was absent from the fifth round of the DFDS Logistics Yamaha Past Masters Racing Club championship, allowing Mark Taylor to extend his championship lead by 100 points as he took all four wins in changeable conditions at Pembrey.
Taylor qualified on pole, and after following Doug Edmondson for the opening laps of a wet race one, he made a move on lap four to hit the front. From there, he extended his advantage, and crossed the line six seconds ahead of Edmondson as the chequered flag came out. Scott Grant ended up in a lonely third place, ahead of the two-way dice for Clubman honours.
Marc Prentice prevailed, taking fourth place and the sub-class win, after a last lap move on Giles Harwood. Andrew Burscough just missed out on sixth place after a race-long battle for the position, but ended the race in seventh - sandwiched between Joe Baldry and Peter Mannering - and took the Rookie class honours.
The track dried for race two, and even though Grant was able to post similar lap times to Taylor, the race was won in the opening laps, when Taylor pulled the pin and pulled a gap of over five seconds in three laps. From there, he controlled the race, and took his second win ahead of Grant.
Last year’s Rookie champion finished second after escaping the battle with Edmondson and Harwood, leaving the pair to fight it out for the final spot on the podium. It went the way of Harwood, who also took the Clubman win. Burscough was the leading Rookie in 11th.
Two wins for Taylor on Sunday completed his perfect weekend, both coming ahead of Grant, who also set a new TZR250 lap record as he chased Taylor in race three. Wave Racing’s Edmondson was on the podium in race three, but was taken out of second place in the final outing by an overly ambitious Harwood at the hairpin on lap two. Mannering picked up the pieces, and although he couldn’t live with Grant, he took a well-earned third place.
Harwood was the Clubman winner in Sunday’s opener, with Prentice taking the gong in the final race, while Paul Middleton took a brace of Rookie wins.