ACU Team Green Junior Cup and Senior Ninja series
Close racing characterised all four races in the ACU Team Green Junior Cup, with all four won by less than a second, with three riders on the top step over the course of the weekend, shared between Craig Dance, Zack Weston, and Oliver Arbon.
Just three tenths of a second covered the top four in race one, though it all came to a head in the closing laps after Dance initially pulled a lead of nearly a second and a half. However, in the final laps he was reeled in by the chasing trio, headed by Kade Watt.
At the end of the penultimate lap Watt was just under four tenths of a second behind leader Dance, but a lap later, as the chequered flag fell, he’d been shuffled back to fourth overall.
Dance held on to take the win, albeit by less than a tenth of a second, with Weston second. The lead Senior class rider - Phil Atkinson - was third, as Watt missed out on the overall podium.
Race one winner Dance picked up from where he left off in race one, and led from the off in race two. He held the lead until the final lap, before having the win snatched away from him by Weston.
Dance took second, ahead of top Senior runner Arbon, himself three tenths up on Atkinson as the top four were again covered by less than a second.
On Sunday Arbon doubled up to take both overall and Senior class wins.
With two laps to go in Sunday’s opener, after shadowing Weston from the off, Arbon took the lead on his TT Plumbing and Heating Kawasaki. Weston wasn’t done yet, and re-took the lead a lap later, before Arbon had another go on the final lap, stealing victory away.
Despite crossing the line in second, Weston took the Junior class win.
Behind, four riders battled for the third spot on the podium, with Watt holding off Atkinson, Joe White, and Robbie Park.
Arbon took his second win in race four, with half a second this time the difference between the top three.
Dance led the opening stages, but gradually dropped to outside the top-three, as Arbon moved forwards. Taking the lead just before the halfway stage, he took win number two by a quarter of a second, with Atkinson again second.
The Junior win went to Harley McCabe in third, half a second off the overall victory.
DART Motorsport MRO 600 and Clubman 600
Former MRO 600 championship runner-up and National Stock 600 regular Adam Hartgrove took three of the four wins available at Donington Park, with the other going the way of James Bull. In the championship standings, and despite no win for the second round in a row, Harry Fowle still extended his series lead over Ross Clarke.
Hartgrove was quickest in qualifying by over half a second, and won race one, and though Bull took an early lead in race one, Hartgrove soon hit the front and led to the chequered flag. Bull gave chase and kept him honest, taking the runner up spot, three tenths back of the winner.
Third overall went to EVO class winner Luke Wallington, with Fowle in fourth and the third MRO 600 rider across the line. Just half a second back, in fifth, was Clubman victor Henry Ross.
Bull again took an early lead in race two, but unfortunately crashed out a lap later. A strong start for Don Gilbert saw him inherit the lead, though as Hartgrove came on strong, he dropped back to fifth at the chequered flag.
At the front, Hartgrove pulled away to take the win by nearly three seconds, with EVO winner Wallington second, Fowle third, and Ross, in sixth, the leading Clubman rider.
It was hat trick completed in race three for Hartgrove, this time leading from start to finish to take a commanding win from Fowle and Bull. Ross in fifth and Wallington in sixth were the Clubman and EVO winners respectively.
A poor opening lap in race four scuppered hopes Hartgrove had of making it a clean sweep. He ended lap one down in 10th, and recovered to sixth by the end of the race.
At the front Bull and Wallington traded places, with Lynden Leatherhead in close pursuit, ready to pick up any pieces, should anything happen. Which it didn’t and Leatherhead finished third overall as less than a tenth of a second decided the winner.
The spoils went to Bull, with EVO winner Wallington second. Ross was again the Clubman winner, in eighth overall.
ProperlyProtected.co.uk MRO Minitwins
John Reynolds took three of the four wins available in the MRO Minitwins, with series leader David Twyford taking the other to take his season’s tally to 10.
Twyford took the opening win of the weekend after hitting the front on lap two. Reynolds was second and Mitch Ducran third. In 12th was Rookie class winner Toby Finnis.
After that, Reynolds took a trio of wins. He battled Twyford for the win in race two, the pair chopping and changing at the front, a tenth of a second splitting them in the end. Ducran was again third, holding off Barry Mantell for the final rostrum spot.
A lap one crash for Twyford didn’t make life easier for Reynolds in race three. Over the 10 laps his lead never exceeded a second, as Mantell, Darren Dowds, and Stacey Killworth all had a go at chasing him down.
Less than half a second was his advantage as the flag fell, with Killworth second and Dowds third. Finnis was in ninth and the Rookie winner.
Reynolds and Twyford resumed their scrap at the front in the final race, with Reynolds again edging it, though by less than a second. The pair had pulled away from the chasing pack, leaving Dowds and Killworth to fight for the final podium spot.
Less than a tenth of a second was all that settled it, with Dowds securing the bronze medal position. Finnis added another Rookie win to his collection, again in ninth overall.
Reactive Parts MRO Powerbikes and Clubman 1000
Josh Wainwright continued his impressive record of winning every race he’s finished this season, as he took his season’s tally to eight and closed in on Nicky Wilson at the top of the points table, moving into second place ahead of Jack Croucher in the process.
Wainwright won all three races at Donington after qualifying on pole, though three podiums for Wilson meant he still heads the championship standings.
Though he led race one from start to finish, Wainwright was pushed all the way by his title rival, half a second the split after seven laps of the Donington Park circuit.
In the 14-lap race two it was another two-horse race, as the duo continued their fight for supremacy. The lead changed hands, and in the final stages Wainwright was in front with Wilson in pursuit.
Unfortunately for Wilson he lost five seconds when Wainwright successfully negotiated backmarkers, while he got stuck behind. His race run, he ticked off the remaining laps to finish second.
In both outings Jon Railton finished third, with Thomas Bensted twice the Clubman winner.
In the final race of the weekend Wainwright made it three from three, with Railton going one better to take second place ahead, with Wilson third. Clayton Grover, in ninth, took the Clubman spoils.
L&W Contractors Rookie 600 and Rookie 1000
The 2023 Rookie 600 and Rookie 1000 championships were in danger of seeing runaway leaders at the top of the points table, but come the halfway stage of the championship and round four at Donington Park, those advantages at the top we’re eaten into.
Callum Manley leads the way in the 600 class, and was credited with the win in race one, from Toby Finnis, after Jason Gamble was hit with a 10 second penalty for a yellow flag infringement. He was classified third.
Gamble made amends in race two, and took the win by Manley by two tenths of a second, with Finnis half a second back again in third.
In the first two 1000 class races championship leader Karl Thompson could only muster a sixth in race one, before failing to make the start of race two.
In his absence, James Layton was victorious in race one, winning from Duncan Bedwell by a bit over a tenth of a second. Sam Cranstone, Thompson’s nearest title rival, finished third. Bedwell and Layton reversed positions in race two, with Paul Harris third and Cranstone fourth.
On Sunday Manley’s title bid faltered after he crashed out on lap four. Gamble went on to take another win, ahead of Brian Maher and James Collins. Gamble was again victorious in race four, with Finnis on the rostrum and Manley recovering to third.
Bedwell took a dominant win in race three in the litre bike class, six seconds up on Cranstone, who in turn was two and a half seconds up on Layton. Thompson was fifth.
It was a repeat podium in the final race of the weekend, with Thompson improving to fourth.
BMCRC F1 and F2 Sidecars
Despite a number of the club’s sidecar outfits packing up and taking part in the Isle of Man TT races, there was still a busy grid of riders and passengers out at Donington Park, including F1 championship leaders Simon Gilbert and Anthony Hildige.
And they took the F1 class win in all four races, but in each instance they were beaten to the overall win by Lee Crawford and Scott Hardie, the F2 pairing in dominant form over the weekend.
They won race one by 11 and a half seconds after qualifying quickest, and then beat Gilbert and Hildige in race two by over 16 seconds.
In race three the winning margin was over 25 seconds, before they won the final race by over 17 seconds, again with Gilbert and Hildige second each time.
The Laidlow sibling pairing of Andy and Jack finished third in all four races.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles and TBR Performance Thunderbike Extreme and Ultra
The Thunderbike Extreme and Ultra championships tightened up at the top after four races at Donington Park. Stacey Killworth saw his advantage eroded in the Ultra class, while Mantell dropped points in the Extreme series.
Morgan Creasey was quickest in qualifying and turned that into overall victory in race one aboard his K7 GSX-R1000 Suzuki. It was tight, though, and he crossed the line a tenth of a second in front of James Fearn. It had looked like Chad Hashmi would be the one to take the fight to Creasey, and finished third, just under a second off the win.
Just one and a half seconds covered the entire top five, with Alex Symon and series leader Killworth fourth and fifth.
Leading a trio of riders within half a second, Darren Korkett took the Extreme class win in sixth.
Fearn went one better in race two, and narrowly secured the win, half of a tenth of a second the gap between him and Creasey. Symon took an excellent third, with Killworth, who briefly led on lap two, in fourth.
Mantell was the leading Extreme rider home in 11th, with title rival Derek Cripps second in class in 13th.
The Ultra class again provided the entertainment on Sunday, with just over a second covering the top five. The lead changed hands between Creasey and Killworth early on, before Killworth dropped down to fifth by the end of the race.
With three to go, Hashmi came on strong and moved into the race lead, relegating Creasey to second. Symon took another third, ahead of Fearn and Killworth. The Extreme winner was Corkett, in 11th, taking the win by a tenth from Mantell in 12th.
Creasey was back on top in race four, ahead of Symon and Hashmi. The championship was blown open when Killworth failed to finish the opening lap, while Corkett took more points out of Mantell’s series lead. Corkett took the class win in eighth. Cripps and Mantell were second and third in class respectively.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Sport and Supertwins
For the first time in all four races in the combined Thunderbike Sport and Supertwin races, the winner was aboard a Supertwin machine, with a number of BMW F900R runners taking part for additional track time.
Nikki Coates took all four victories, and won race one from Thunderbike Sport championship leader Jeremy Hill. Hill was four seconds down on Coates, as the BMW rider pulled away at the front. James Kelly was second for much of the race, but Hill passed him in the closing stages to take the runner-up spot.
Kelly was second in the Supertwin class, James O’Mara third in class, just behind, with Alex Mann fifth overall and second in the Sport class. Reigning champion Adam Jamison was third in class and sixth overall.
It was an all-Supertwin podium in race two, with Coates winning from O’Mara and Kelly. Hill in fourth was the Sport winner.
After 10 laps of race three half a second split Coates and O’Mara in first and second, making it a Supertwin one-two, with Hill again the Sport winner in third overall, further extending his championship lead.
Coates’ perfect weekend was complete in race four with win number four. Another all-Supertwin podium saw O’Mara and Kelly on the rostrum again, with Hill again fourth to take a Sport class victory.
BMCRC Formula 400
After a steady start to the season, that saw him only accrue 25 points from one outing at Pembrey, Andy Gill turned on the form and won all four races at Donington Park.
He won from Haydon Smith in race one by a secure three seconds, before beating Nick Smith in race two, though this time half a second was his margin of victory.
Nick Smith was the Sub-64bhp class winner in third in race one, before his runner-up finish in race two gave him another class win. Kalvin Kelly was third.
A quarter of a minute passed after Gill took the chequered flag to win race three, before Haydon Smith crossed the line to take second.
Nick Smith’s retirement on the penultimate lap took him out of the running for the Sub-64bhp class win, with that accolade going to Alan Major, who also finished third overall.
It was win number four for Gill in the closing race of the weekend, with both Smiths - Haydon followed by Nick - on the podium in second and third. Nick Smith was again the Sub-64bhp class winner.
DFDS Yamaha Past Masters
Two wins and two second place finishes were enough for DFDS Yamaha Past Masters championship leader Kevin Wholey to extend his series lead over rival Doug Edmondson. The other winner over the weekend was Anthony Johnson, who won both of Saturday’s races.
Bar the opening lap, Johnson was never headed in race one, and took a comfortable win. Wholey was second, and Edmondson third.
In race two Johnson led every lap to double his win tally for the weekend, crossing the line just over a second up on Wholey, with Edmondson again third.
After a brace of runner up finishes on Saturday, series lead Wholey took two wins on Sunday to further extend his points lead over Edmondson.
He won from Johnson in race three, as Edmondson added another third place trophy to his weekend’s haul. Edmondson improved to second in the final race, just three tenths down on Wholey.
Finally ending the trio’s podium domination, Paul Whitby managed to overhaul Johnson on the final lap to clinch third place.
Illuminate Design BMZRC 250
With three wins and a second place finish Alexander Mann took 10 points out of Andrew Wales’s series lead in the Illuminate Design BMZRC 250 championship. Wales in turn was three times second, taking a solitary win over the weekend.
On Saturday Mann did the double, winning from Wale while Louis Kershaw was twice on the podium in third.
Wales’ win in race three undid some of the damage suffered on Saturday, though only marginally, with Mann second. Kershaw was again on the rostrum in third.
It was a familiar podium in the final race, with Mann back on top, taking another five points out of Wales’ championship lead. Wales was second, with Chris Kent third.
Inta Motorcycles Blue Haze GP and GPF
Alan Moreton looked unstoppable in the road-going Blue Haze GPF class at Donington Park, qualifying quickest and winning the first three races. Unfortunately his dominance was ended by retirement in race four, handing the win to Liam McCarter.
Moreton won from David Ball and Richard Hayward twice on Saturday, before winning ahead of McCarter and Lee Healey in race three.
Lasting just a lap into the final race, his retirement left McCarter to take the win, ahead of Mark Haigh and Healey.
In the GP class races Frank Swain took two wins, while Gavin Mills and Anthony Johnson shared a win apiece on Sunday.
Bruce Dunn was second in the opening race of the weekend, followed by Doug Edmondson. Edmondson then went one better to second in race two, with Rik Ballerini completing the podium.
Mills, who had qualified quickest on Saturday morning, won the first of Sunday’s races. He was joined on the podium by Swain and Johnson, before Johnson won race four. Swain took another second place finish, while Ballerini doubled his podium count with another third.