BMCRC - Round 03 – Snetterton

The third round of the season for the British Motorcycle Racing Club took place at Snetterton in Norfolk over the weekend, and despite wet qualifying sessions for most, bright and sunny conditions made for some great racing.

ProperlyProtected.co.uk MRO Minitwins

After missing the club’s visit to Silverstone in April, the MRO Minitwins returned to action at Snetterton, with Stephen Perfitt boasting a healthy 24-point championship after four races.

At Snetterton he had another good weekend, taking three runner-up finishes and a third, but it was David Twyford who went home happiest after taking all four race wins.

Twyford qualified 12th, with Dan Harris taking pole position, and in race one came through the field to hold second starting the penultimate lap, just over two seconds down on the leader, Perfitt.

In just one lap he reduced it almost to zero, and after making a move for the lead on the last lap, he still managed to pull out a one second advantage.

Perfitt crossed the line in second, in front of Kevin Lilley.

After having work to do in race one, race two was a relative breeze for Twyford, who led from start to finish on his MHP Suzuki SV650 to win by over nine seconds, setting a best lap time some two seconds quicker than anyone else.

Despite Twyford being a cut above his rivals over the weekend, there were battles throughout the rest of the field. Perfitt took another second place and while Harris was never able to make a move, he kept the series leader honest throughout, the pair finishing second and third while six thousandths of a second split Nik Baker and Lilley in fourth and fifth.

The seven-lap opening race on Sunday saw Twyford make it three from three, this time by nearly five seconds, again leading from the front.

Perfitt had another battle on his hands for second place, and after running in the silver medal position all race, he was pipped on the last lap by Alex Mann, relegating him to third.

After two comfortable races at the front for Twyford, Perfitt did everything he could to prevent the clean sweep, and after following Twyford for three laps, the championship leader hit the front on lap four.

He held the position for two circulations, but on the last lap he was pipped to the post by Twyford, the gap just five hundredths of a second. Lilley was third, just in front of Martin Cooper and Baker.

In the Rookie Minitwin races Brandon Wright was equally successful, winning all four races to take the championship lead.

DART Motorsport MRO 600, GP2, and Clubman 600

Ash Barnes dominated the weekend’s MRO 600 and GP2 races at Snetterton, winning all four on Barney Racing Yamaha R6 after qualifying on pole.

Barnes was in a different league all weekend, winning race one by 25 seconds. He was victorious in race two by nearly 20 seconds, by 12 in race three, and by 22 in race four.

In the first race it was a fairly processional affair, with Clubman Owen Mellor taking second, four seconds up on James Bull, who in turn was nearly nine up on Dawid Krawiecki.

While Barnes disappeared up the road in race two, the battle behind was more intense. Bull held second place early on, but was passed by Harrison Crosby. He was unable to respond but kept the pressure on, the pair finished second and third by three tenths of a second. In fourth, Mellor was again the Clubman winner.

A red-flagged and shortened race three saw Bull and Crosby again fighting over second place, this time with Mellor in the fray. Bull took the runner-up spot, a tenth of a second up on Crosby when the race was stopped. Mellor was half a second back in fourth, and again collected another Clubman victory.

Race four will not go down as a classic, and ended with Barnes 22 seconds to the good in front of Crosby, himself over five seconds ahead of Bull.

Mellor was again fourth, and again the Clubman winner, but over 16 seconds back of the podium battle.

DFDS Yamaha Past Masters

The DFDS Yamaha Past Masters series skipped the club’s season-opening round at Brands, and came to Snetterton for the second round of its season after getting things underway at Silverstone in April.

There were three winners from the four races, with the biggest margin of victory just four tenths of a second. That came in race one, when pole-sitter Kevin Wholey took the victory on his Twistgrip Motorcycles-supported TZR250. Alan Cooper picked up two wins, with the fourth going to Anthony Johnson.

After leading the opening lap of race one, Wholey was pushed back to second by Johnson. Johnson would then go on to lead the race until the final lap, when not only did Wholey re-take the lead, but Richard Hayward - who had sat in third for the duration of the race - pinched second by six hundredths of a second, demoting Johnson to third.

Less than two tenths of a second covered the entire podium in race two, as Cooper took the first of his two wins. On a second Twistgrip Motorcycles TZR, he started the final lap in third place but passed Hayward and out-dragged his teammate, Wholey,  to the line to win by four hundredths of a second. Hayward was just over a tenth back in third.

The teammates were at it again in race three, with an even closer drag race down Snetterton’s long home straight ending with the pair covered by one hundredth of a second.

The result went to Cooper, who had been battling Wholey throughout the race, with Hayward again on the podium in third, just slightly too far adrift to get involved in the fight for the win.

After missing out in race one Johson took victory in the final race of the weekend, with the race brough to a premature conclusion after the red flags came out.

Scott Grant grabbed the holeshot and led for two laps before relinquishing the lead to Johnson, who was in the lead when the race was stopped.

Grant was classified second, with Cooper third and Wholey fourth.

ACU Team Green Junior Cup and Senior Ninja series

Just two points separated Dylan Mellor and Lennon Docherty in the ACU Team Green Junior Cup ahead of the third round of the series at Snetterton, but after three overall third place finishes and an outright win, Docherty left Norfolk with the series lead.

Mellor’s weekend started atrociously, with machine problems meaning he failed to complete a lap in qualifying, and he started race one from the back of the grid.

The race at the front quickly became a three horse affair, with Docherty having to contend with Maximus Hardy and Senior Ninja championship leader Phil Atkinson.

Hardy led the bulk of the laps, but was usurped on the final lap by Atkinson, who took the overall and the class win, with Hardy collecting the Junior Cup spoils.

Ben Jolliffe was just off the back of the leading group, taking fourth, before six riders took the chequered flag in the space of two seconds, one being Mellor, in seventh.

Not to be beaten a second time, Hardy led every lap of race two to take the win, with Atkinson just pipping Docherty to second place, taking another Senior Cup win in the process.

Mellor’s weekend took another unfortunate turn when he failed to make the start, dropping further valuable points.

On Sunday Atkinson took his second overall win of the weekend, and three class wins to maintain his perfect record for the season, as the same three again battled for victory. Hardy took second and the Junior win, just a tenth of a second behind Atkinson, and just over a tenth in front of Docherty, who was third. Mellor retired after four laps.

Docherty finally took his win in the fourth race of the weekend, as the trio at the front became a quartet. He kept his head to lead across the line every lap, and took the overall and Junior Cup victory by less than a tenth of a second.

James O’Mara ended the weekend on a high, finishing on the podium in second place, with Hardy third and Senior winner Atkinson fourth. Mellor finished seventh.

Steve Jordan Motorcycles BMCRC Thunderbike Sport

Adam Jamison was fastest in Steve Jordan Motorcycles BMCRC Thunderbike Sport qualifying, but it was Matthew Fedrick who took all four race wins, with Jamieson second on each occasion.

Jamison led the opening lap of race one before being passed by Fedrick on lap two. Jamison was able to remain in touch, but he was unable to respond, and could only follow Fedrick home.

Rookie Tommi Caldwell finished in a safe third.

It was another two horse race in race two, this time with Fedrick leading the early stages, as Jamison gave chase. Looking to reverse the result from race one, Jamison hit the front on the penultimate lap but Fedrick was able to retaliate and took his second win, with Caldwell again third.

On Sunday the same pair were back at it at the front, and in race one trade the lead throughout the seven laps.

Despite Fedrick taking the win on track the result was disputed pending review of a possible jump start. In the end the result stood, and Fedrick made it three from three.

Third went to Tony Russo, with Caldwell crashing out on the opening lap.

The usual order was resumed in the fourth and final race, with Fedrick winning from Jamieson, narrowly, as Caldwell recovered to take another third place finish.

RKB-F1 and F2 Sidecars

The British Motorcycle Racing Club’s popular sidecar F1 and F2 sidecar classes again welcomed British Championship wildcard appearances, though they were exempt from scoring championship points.

Despite the guests, it was the club pairing of Luke Williams and Anthony Hildige that qualified on pole on their LCR Yamaha F1 machine.

They then converted that into a podium in race one, finishing just behind the BSB pairing of Harry Payne and Mark Wilkes.

Another British Championship pairing of Rupert Archer and Phil Hyde completed the podium, with the leading F2 outfit Gary Gibson and Tom Christie finishing fourth on their Rowtec-supported CES Suzuki.

Payne and Wilkes were again victorious in race two, ahead of Archer and Hyde. The leading club runner across the line was the F2 duo of Gibson and Christie, while the winning F1 outfit was the GB Precision Engineering LCR Yamaha of series leaders Gordon Pottinger and Dave Dodd.

Archer and Hyde tasted victory in race three from Sean Hegarty and James Neave, another national championship pairing.

Behind, Gibson and Christie took the F2 win and finished on the overall race podium in third. In sixth Pottinger and Dodd took the club’s F1 class win.

Original pole-sitters Williams and Hildige finally made it back onto the podium in the last race of the weekend, and even better, on the top step. On their F1-class Yamaha they were joined on the podium by the BSB outfits of Archer and Hyde and Hegarty and Neave.

Reactive Parts MRO Powerbikes and Clubman 1000

Josh Wainwright extended his Reactive Parts MRO Powerbike championship lead at Snetterton, taking all three race wins on his JW MOT Centre Honda Fireblade.

In the eight lap-opener he started from sixth as Nicky Wilson led the way. He was second on lap two, but it wasn’t until lap five he was able to get to the front and make it stick. He pulled a gap, and took the win by nearly four seconds.

Wilson took second, but he was under pressure from pole-sitter James Edwards, who finished third. In 11th, Luke Wallington was the leading Clubman 1000 finisher.

It was a lights-to-flag victory for Wainwright in race two, as left four others to fight over the two remaining podium spots.

Trading positions for eight laps and covered by just over one second was veteran Peter Baker, Edwards, Luke Dixon, and Sam Smith.

Seamus McGlynn picked up 25 Clubman championship points in 11th.

Wainwright made it three from three in a red-flagged race three, after McGlynn crashed heavily.

Baker and Smith were classified in second and third, with the Clubman spoils going to Michael Clarke, in 11th.

EDIasia Formula 400

Reigning champion James Seath set the fastest time in qualifying but he could only watch championship leader and former class champion Richie Welsh extend his series advantage over the course of the weekend.

Welsh picked up all four race wins, with Seath taking second to every one.

Welsh ran out the race on winner by 12 seconds, with Seath second and Carl Johnstone third, a result that gave him the Sub-64bhp victory.

While Welsh and Seath finished first and second in race two, the margin of victory was significantly less. At the flag four tenths of a second was the difference, while Haydon Smith beat Johnstone to third, which also gave him a Sub-64bhp win.

It was a repeat podium in race three, though in a fairly processional manner, before Welsh and Seath finished one-two in race four, split by a second. Johnstone took third, meaning he and Smith shared the Sub-64bhp wins over the weekend.

Illuminate Design BMZRC250

Four wins were split three ways in the BMZRC 250 championship, supported by Illuminate Design, with Alexander Mann taking a brace on Saturday, followed by Scott Grand and Christopher Rogers taking one apiece on Sunday.

And the typically close MZ racing was exhibited again at Snetterton.

One of the most dominant victories came in race one, when Mann managed to break free to win by a second from Rogers. The pair also managed to escape the attentions of the chasing field, and left four riders to fight over the final rostrum position.

Come the chequered flag less than half a second split the four of them, as they all drag raced each other to the line after the final turn.

Grant claimed it, out-sprinting Peter Woodall, Andrew Wales, and Chris Kent.

In race two Mann again had about a second in his pocket as he took the chequered flag from Grant, Woodall, and Rogers, a wheel’s width barely separating the trio.

There was no let-up on Sunday, and trying to pick a winner was again futile.

In the opening race of the day the top were covered by half a second, as Grant took his win of the weekend from Rogers, Mann, and Woodall, before Rogers and Mann reignited their two-way duel in race three, pulling clear of the group to duke it out for the win.

Rogers pinched by a tenth, with Grant third, himself a tenth up on Woodall but the pair nearly 10 seconds adrift of the win.

L&W Contractors BMCRC Rookie 600 and Rookie 1000

Luke Wallington got his Rookie 1000 championship challenge on track after missing the opening round of the season, taking three wins from four races.

In the opening race it was Anthony Brandish who led early on, before being passed by championship leader Lee Healey and Wallington at the halfway stage.

Healey assumed the lead, but only led a lap after Wallington set the fastest lap of the race to catch and pass him. From there, Wallington held it to the flag, winning from Healey and Brandish.

Wallington’s second win was more convincing, and he beat Brandish and Healey by nearly 10 seconds.

The blemish on Wallington’s weekend record came in race three after he crashed out of the race lead, handing victory to the following Brandish.

Healey was back on the podium but in third, behind Alfie Coker.

It was back to winning ways for Wallington in race four, as he pulled away at the front to win by over 11 seconds on his Yamaha R1. Brandish and Coker completed the podium, with Healey fourth.

In the 600 races it was a similar story, with four wins going to three riders, with Henry Ross winning the opener before Callum Paton won race two.

On Sunday Michael Shepphard collected a brace of victories to extend his championship lead.

Inta Motorcycles Blue Haze GP and Taymar Motorcycles Blue Haze GPF

In the Blue Haze GP - the class for Grand Prix two strokes - Stuart Hall took three wins, with Bruce Dunn taking one victory.

Hall won from Phil Atkinson twice on Saturday, with Phil Ellis and Dunn both standing on the final step of the podium.

Dunn narrowly beat Hall to the top step of the podium in Sunday’s first race, with Atkinson third, before Hall took his third win in the final outing of the weekend.

Hall and Atkinson filled the remaining podium spots.

In the road bike-based GPF races David Abraham qualified on pole and took three wins, with Richard Hayward taking the other.

Hayward was second in race one, behind Abraham and in front of Liam McCarter.

In race two Hayward bettered Abraham by just two hundredths of a second with McCarter third.

Abraham was twice victorious on Sunday, and in race one he comprehensively beat Peter Moore into second place, with McCarter third and Hayward fourth. He then bested James Seath and Derek Cripps in race four.