Thursday August 25, 2016 at 3:36pm
ACU Team Green Junior Cup / Senior 300s
Elliot Pinson left Brands Hatch with a marginally extended championship lead at the top of the ACU Team Green Junior Cup standings, as Luke Hopkins moved ahead of Joey Lamden into second spot.
There were 49 points between series leader Pinson and Lamden coming into the weekend on the Brands Hatch GP circuit, but it was Hopkins, who was just a further three points behind, who started the weekend looking to make inroads into Pinson’s championship lead.
There was nothing to choose at between the championship’s three main protagonists, as they pulled away from the rest of the pack in the early stages of race one. Holding third after the first couple of laps, Hopkins passed Pinson to sit second.
The order was without change until the final lap, which started with Lambden in the lead, with a relatively big margin of nearly a second, the highest gap there had been at the front all race. However, Hopkins set the fastest lap of the race on the final circulation to reel in Lambden, and snatched victory by less than a tenth of a second to add 25 points to his championship tally and assume second in the championship.
Lamden’s second place still saw him put four points into the series lead of Pinson, with the title favourite crossing the line in third place, just another tenth of a second behind Lambden.
Pinson responded in the best way in race two, and after dispelling Hopkins on the opening lap and a brief exchange of the lead with Lambden, he hit the front and stayed there at the halfway stage, but was chased all the way to the chequered flag by Lambden, who also snatched back second place in the championship.
The margin of victory in the Senior classification was just as narrow in both of Saturday’s races with Gareth Hopkins and Sarah Jordan taking a win apiece. Less than a tenth split the pair in race one, as they squabbled over fourth place, with Hopkins taking the spoils. He was bested by Jordan in race two, the gap even smaller and five hundredths of a second, the battle again for fourth place overall.
The theme of narrow margins of victory continued on Sunday, as Luke Hopkins again executed a last lap move for the lead, this time on Pinson, to take his second win of the weekend. As the pair drag raced to the line, there were just three hundredths of a second that separated them. Hopkins took his second win and moved back into second place in the championship, as Pinson took second. Lambden, claimed third place to keep his champions challenge on track.
In the Senior class, Gareth Hopkins added another win to his collection to extend his series lead over Monica Isaac, who herself was involved in a titanic battle for fifth place. The position went to Junior runner Patrick Byrne, but just over a second covered the six riders down to 10th place.
The final race of the weekend saw Lambden's title aspirations take a severe hit, as a DNF meant he scored no points. Lambden's plight was made worse by Pinson’s dominant victory, meaning he added a further 25 points to his advantage at the top of championship. Luke Hopkins’ second place gave him 20 points, allowing him to pull away from Lambden and cement second place in the series standings, with one round to go.
Third overall went to Byrne, who was also third in the Junior class, as he crossed the line ahead of Senior winner, Gareth Hopkins.
DFDS Yamaha Past Masters
The 2016 DFDS Yamaha Past Masters title was decided with a round to spare, with Mark Taylor clinching the championship at Brands Hatch, despite not winning a race on the GP circuit.
Taylor - who is also the reigning BMZRC 250 champion - held a 120-point lead over 2015 champion, Matt Barber, coming into the weekend, and did what was required to ensure he lifted this year’s gong at the first attempt. Three second placed finishes and a third were enough to keep his championship lead at over 100 points, with just one round to go, while Barber did all he could to keep his title defence alive, with three wins and a third.
But it was neither Taylor or Barber that started the weekend on top, as Doug Edmondson, starting from pole position, took the win in race one. Edmondson slipped to second in the early laps, circulating behind the champion-elect, but hit the front on lap three.
From there, he stretched his advantage, eventually pulling out a lead of over two seconds to take the chequered flag and 25 points, as he bids to secure third in the championship, currently held by Scott Grant, who failed to finish the opening race.
Behind Edmondson, Taylor and Barber raced for second place. Taylor held the advantage for the duration of the race, with Barber never able to make a pass. With a tenth of a second between them at the line, the gap was close, but the four-point difference in Taylor’s favour moved him one step closer to the championship crown.
Giles Harwood took the Clubman win, after a battle with Pete Fishwick for fifth place, with Mark Ewens continuing his run of from from Cadwell Park, taking the Rookie win.
With his title defence on the verge of crumbling, Barber did all he could in the final three races of the weekend, taking a hat-trick of victories and setting a blisteringly fast new lap-record for the class on a TZR250 along the way.
His first win came ahead of Taylor and Edmondson in race two, but it was in race three the record was set, his fastest lap a whole 1.6 seconds faster than anyone else in the same race. It gave him the win, as Taylor again finished second ahead of Edmondson.
Taylor’s third place in the final outing was enough to secure the championship, despite Barber’s third win of the weekend, the points difference standing at 105 with 100 left to play for. Edmondson made it another podium finish in the last race, taking second place.
Harwood added three more Clubman wins to his name, with Ewens sweeping the Rookie wins.
BG Products MRO Powerbikes
It was all change at the top of the BG Products MRO Powerbike championship at Brands Hatch, as Colin Parker took over at the top of the standings from Peter Baker, with Baker crashing out of proceedings in the final race.
The weekend had started strongly for defending champion Baker, who, despite missing out on pole by less than a tenth of a second, led race one from start to finish to take the win, extending his championship advantage to seven points, as Parker crossed the line behind him in second place.
Third place in the opener went to Michael O’Brien, with Jamie Tibble the leading Clubman rider in fifth place.
Races two and three saw Baker cross the line in second place, with O’Brien taking the two wins. Crucially for Baker, however, he finished ahead of Parker in both outings, with his nearest championship challenger taking a brace of third placed finishes.
Clubman honours went to Tibble in both races, as he all-but secured the 2016 Clubman crown.
The final race of the weekend, however, saw Baker surrender his series lead, as he crashed out of contention on lap four, along with the weekend’s double-winner, O’Brien.
That handed victory to Parker, who gladly obliged and with it a 10-point lead at the top of the championship.
Stephen Draper finished second, with Clubman winner Tibble on the overall podium in third.
Kyle O’Donovan put one hand on the BMCRC Rookie 1000 championship trophy at Brands Hatch, taking a brace of wins. Mick Whalley was the victor in the weekend’s other two races.
RKB-F1 & F2 Sidecars
After four races around the Brands Hatch GP circuit, there were three different pairings that stood on the top step of the podium in the RKB-F1 and F2 sidecars.
Barry James and Jack Tritton took the overall win in race one, onboard their F1 class LCR Kawasaki. Second went to Rob Biggs and Ben Ransley, with Matt MacLaurin and Steve English third, rounding out the all F1-class podium.
Simon Gilbert and Carl Morgan took the F2 win in sixth place.
Saturday’s second race saw MacLaurin and English return to the podium, this time on the top step, as they bettered Biggs and Ransley and series leaders, Gary Smith and Ryan Anderson. F2 class honours again went to Gilbert and Morgan, as they bid to close down F2 championship favourites Brian Ilaria and Lee Saunders.
Sunday’s racing action opened with a win for Biggs and Ransley on their LCR Suzuki, as they crossed the line nearly four seconds ahead of James and Tritton and MacLaurin and Adrian Hope, who replaced NAME English in the chair, making it an all F1 overall podium. The F2 win was picked up by Tim Reeves and Sam Christie.
James and Tritton returned to the top step of the podium in the final race after a dominant display, the pairing comfortable seeing off MacLaurin and Hope to take the win. Smith and Anderson finished third overall and third in the F2 class, while Reeves and Christie were again victorious in the F2 class.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Sport
Andrew Gill wrapped up the Thunderbike Sport championship at Brands Hatch, despite not finishing on the podium over the course of the weekend, his best finish a fourth place in race three. However, he left the Kentish circuit with an unassailable lead, with a points lead over the 100 point threshold he needed with one round to go.
At the sharp end, David May and Mark Trowell shared the spoils. May was the victor in both of Saturday’s encounters, coming out on top after a blistering last lap. Setting the fastest lap of the race along the way, he overturned a one and a half second deficit to snatch the win from Colin Walkey by just three tenths.
Paul Witherington completed the podium in third, with top Rookie, Benjamin Rowswell, sixth.
May and Walkey were again first and second across the line in race two, with Trowell third. Hayden Wood was the leading Rookie in 11th.
On Sunday, Trowell took the win in the opener, with May back on the podium in second place and Trowell third.
In the final race May returned to the top step of the podium, taking the win after hitting the front with two laps to go. Trowell was second, as third went to Povah.
Rowswell added two more Rookie wins to his collection, with sixth and seventh from the two races.
Steve Jordan Thunderbike Extreme
The Steve Jordan Motorcycles-sponsored BMCRC Thunderbike Extreme series also saw its champion crowned a round early, with Jason Byard dominating the weekend’s proceedings.
The class only managed to run three of the scheduled four races, due to the red flags coming out twice during the attempts to run the first race on the schedule, resulting in it being struck from the programme. However, Byard took all three available wins, and with them extended his championship lead to 128 points with 125 to play for.
Beard took his first win of the weekend ahead of David Shelvey, with Matt Hinnells, the man second in the championship, third.
Denzil Davies took a brace of second places on Sunday, unable to put a stop to Byard’s dominance, while Shelvey and Hinnells took a third place finish apiece.
Three Rookie class wins for Ian Costello handed him a five point advantage in the Rookie championship, ahead of Adam Norton.
Team Respro MRO 600s
Three winners in four races made for exciting action in the Team Respro MRO 600 series, as a Dominic Pettit double on Sunday also put him in the driving seat for the Clubman championship crown.
Pettit was also the leading Clubman rider in both of Saturday’s races, taking two second placed finishes. With two rounds to go, it’s hard to look past him for the title.
In the first race of the weekend, Pettit finished two tenths of a second adrift of David Tinkler, setting the fastest lap of the race on the final lap in a bid to best his fellow Yamaha R6-mounted adversary. Third went to Burrage, onboard his Seton Tuning Yamaha.
Less than a second covered the top five in race two, with Pettit missing out on the top step of the podium by another fine margin, this time just one tenth of a second the difference between him and winner Burrage.
Tinkler was again on the podium in third, as he was chased across the line by Joe Morphett and Ben Cotgrove.
On Sunday, Pettit took his first victory in relatively commanding fashion, hitting the front on lap three before taking the win by over one and a half seconds. Tinkler finished second with Cotgrove third.
Fine margins were restored for the final race, Pettit taking his second overall and fourth clubman win of the weekend. Tinkler was again second, albeit by just two tenths of a second, while MRO 600 championship leader Grant Newstead took his only podium finish with third place.
In the Rookie 600 class David Shoubridge bagged all four wins to further extend his series lead.
Chilton Motors BMZRC 250
Peter Woodall left Brands Hatch just four points shy of winning the 2016 BMZRC 250 championship, after winning all four races.
His nearest championship challenger, Chris Rogers, finished second in three of the four races, finishing third in the weekend’s opener. Greg Wright finished ahead of him in second in the first race, before adding two third place trophies to his weekend’s haul.
The other third place finish went to Andrew Wales in the first race on Sunday.
Peter Woodall was also awarded the Gavin Sherwood trophy, and heads into the final round with a 96 point advantage in the championship.
EDIasia Formula 400s
The EDIasia Formula 400 championship chase will go down to the wire at the final round at Snetterton, after Smith overturned Gill’s slender series lead with four second placed finishes at Brands Hatch, while the Rookie championship was wrapped up by a dominant Adam Hartgrove.
Such was Adam Hartgrove's dominance in the Rookie class, that he took all four wins at Brands - his first despite a 10 second penalty for a jump start - and bagged this year’s Rookie 400 championship crown with a round to spare.
In the main championship, Gill boasted a three-point advantage coming into the weekend, but surrendered his championship lead in the first race, finishing third with Gill in second, meaning Gill assumed the series lead by a single point.
The win went to Chris Burrage, who led from start to finish, while Harry Rowlings’ ninth place gave him the Sub-64 class win.
Barrage was again victorious in race two, with Smith adding another 20 points to his championship tally in second place. Dan Ruth finished third, with Gill crossing the line in fifth behind Richie Welsh.
Rowlings was again the leading Sub-64bhp rider, finishing in 10th place.
Sunday’s opener saw the same finishing order for the top five as Saturday’s second race, with Burrage notching another win, with Smith second and Ruth third, with Welsh and and Smith fourth and fifth.
In the final outing Burrage completed his dominant weekend with another win, as Smith bettered Ruth by less than a tenth of a second at the chequered flag to take another second placed finish. Gill was fourth, and now trails Smith in the championship chase by 28 points with four races to go.
Harry Rowlings took two more wins in the Sub-64 class, and will go head-to-head with Carl Johnstone at Snetterton for the title.
Properly Protected MRO Minitwins
Richard Hickling further put himself in the driving seat for the 2016 MRO Minitwin title at Brands Hatch, stretching his advantage to 64 points by finishing ahead of Kurtis Butler in all four races, bagging three second places and a win.
Hickling finished second in both of Saturday’s races, with Butler crossing the line directly behind him in third place. The wins went to Glynn Davies, his first by four seconds. Behind him, Hickling bettered Butler by a narrow margin of half a tenth of a second, as second to sixth place were split by just one second.
Race two was a tighter affair, with the top six all covered by just half a second at the chequered flag, in one of the most exciting spectacles of the weekend.
On Sunday, Davies scored another win, taking the chequered flag first in race one, with Hickling and Butler second and third.
Hickling took his win in the final race, battling with Davies at the front until Davies crashed out on the penultimate lap. Butler was second, with James Plummer on the podium in third.
In the Rookie Minitwin class, Ieva Baublyte and James Larter took one win apiece on Saturday, with series leader Daniel Singleton bagging two wins on Sunday.