Some of the racing was nothing short of spectacular at Donington Park last weekend as the world famous circuit played host to yet another memorable Thundersport GB event as the series made its second round visit to Derbyshire.
With the Bikesport News Superstock 600 class yet again providing us with some mouth watering action, the Aprilia Superteens had to be crowned 'pick of the bunch' after four races that you couldn't take your eyes off, including the final encounter of Sunday which saw 15 Aprilia 125 riders, all in contention for the win.
With the sun burning down on the circuit and lap records getting obliterated at every opportunity, it left many of us drooling at the prospect of what round three will have in store for us when we travel to Anglesey next month.
Racing Lines rider Steve Tomes showed what a bit of experience can do for you this weekend at Donington as the veteran rider took four wins from four in the Bridgestone Thundersport 500 Championship.
Under constant pressure from Abroath rider Andy Lawson, Tomes managed to survive all of the Scotsman’s advances to give us a possible insight into who may be fighting for the title come the end of the season.
Colin McCabe was on the podium twice on Saturday, whilst Colrai Racing’s Darryl Harrison also visited the rostrum twice on Sunday after title contenders Luke Tansley and Roki Read, both fell on Saturday to scupper their chances of success.
With the grids once again overflowing, there's no shortage of talent out on circuit but with Tomes and Lawson in this sort of form, it's very difficult to see past the two former Champions as the 'good fun' racing series got serious over the four races.
In the Alto Digital Thundersport GP2 class, a host of former Superteens lined up on their Aprilia 450’s and 400’s to get an early grip on their championship chances at round two.
But once again they were joined by H&S Contractors rider Ricardo Ballerini at the front, as experience proved vital once again in these races.
For the first race on Saturday, Ballerini had met his match as Australian rider Matt Davies rode the guest Aprilia 450 to victory ahead of improving Jake Dixon with Rik in third, but in race two after an epic battle with Davies and Josh Daley on the ZXR400, Ballerini took his third win of the season so far, crossing the line 0.226 seconds clear of the pair of them.
On Sunday though, Ballerini declared war on the younger generation as his plan to start well and clear off into the distance worked perfectly. He left the field for dead during the early stages and in the end secured a classy win ahead of Connor Tagg, who had climbed up from 14th and had run out of laps to mount a challenge on Ballerini.
For the final race, Ricardo shot off once more into the lead but this time his plan was a little floored as he allowed fellow Kawasaki rider Josh Daley of Pobsport Racing to catch him in the closing stages and ultimately snatch victory as well as the new lap record, a result that made up for missing the earlier race due to problems with his brake lever.
Dixon was in contention for most of the weekend with a third in race three but Connor Tagg took the second race rostrum on Sunday with another fine display from the third row of the grid.
In the Minitwins, Ian Popplewell made it four out of four wins to take his tally to eight out of eight for 2011. With no Lawson in the class or his mate Clive White, the likes of Leigh Hutchinson and Wayne Bridges will need to find a few extra seconds if they’re to catch Poppy on the Kawasaki this year.
In the Euro F600 Sidecars, the series is crying out for challengers to the early season runaway leaders. Nick Crowe’s Racing team consisting of Simon Neary and Dipash Chauhan cleaned up at Donington Park to make it six from six this term.
In race one, Gordon Shand and Lee Barrett pipped Atkinson and Knapton to second in a tasty scrap on Saturday and despite Crowe’s team, sponsored by Dave Hudsperth Carpets, giving the opposition a chance in race one on Sunday after a rare poor start, Neary and Chauhan reigned supreme again as Dips urged British Champion and former World Champion Tim Reeves to come out of retirement and ‘catch us if you can’.
There is rumour that one or two outfits are saving themselves for the TT this Summer before they join the series later in the year but if they leave it too late, we could be crowing Simon and Dips as the Champions elect before they even head over to the Island.
Conrad Harrison and Lee Patterson made it into third on Sunday twice after a DNF on Saturday but it looks as though they’ll be involved in a mighty battle for second or third overall this year.
The Aprilia Superteens entertained spectators and all in pit lane this weekend at Donington Park, after four superb races left us none the wiser as to who will be crowned the future Champion.
In race one, after the usual freight train completed ten laps of the Derbyshire circuit, Birmingham’s Alistair Dayus took his maiden class victory ahead of Championship leader Tom Oliver and Newcomer Joe Francis.
This was after pole sitter Ross Twyman went AWOL on lap eight, leaving the fight for victory to just the six machines.
In race two, Stcokport’s Ben Luxton decided to pull the pin on his opponents and whilst swapping paintwork with Colchester’s Tom Oliver, he pounced on the victory to limit the damage that a consistent Oliver has been spreading, with Dayus this time third ahead of Francis, Jones and Coomber.
On Sunday though it really was anyone’s guess as to who would win. Both races consisted of at least twenty wheel battles for the win and it only left you feeling sorry for those that would be leading one second, and then find themselves in tenth on the next corner.
After a slightly questionable first round at Mallory though, Dayus took his second ever victory to sling himself in the pot as a championship contender, whilst Bradley Jones collected his second Superteen podium ahead of Ross Twyman who looked relieved more than happy, after setting the pace during qualifying.
In the final race, and this really is one to watch on British Eurosport, at one point we had 15 bikes all within a shout of victory and when you think that Max Symonds posted the fastest race lap but only managed eighth overall, it gives you some idea of the competition.
In the end though, a delighted Harry Coomber prevailed to take his second race win of the year and a massive 25 points ahead of Dayus in second and Tom Oliver in third, whose consistency could be key this year, extending his Championship lead again.
In the Bikesport News Superstock 600 class, the top riders had quite a roll to play if they wanted to produce the spectacle that we got at Mallory a few weeks ago, and they didn’t disappoint.
With Nick Anderson under the weather, former Superteen rider and GP125 competitor Adam Robinson almost took his place as one of the main acts this weekend though, as the tall youngster from Helmshore battled it out with MWI Motorcyles rider Paul Wishart and GTE Hornsey Racing’s Tom Meehan.
In race one, elbows were out and the battle commenced as we witness a monumental fight for the win. With Meehan out of the running and almost guaranteed third, it meant that it was between Wishart and Robinson to claim their first ever Stock 600 victories with Thundersport GB and as they exited Goddard’s, they were side by side.
On the line though, Scotsman Wishart, who had only seen the circuit on TV before Friday, took the win 0.2 seconds ahead of Robinson who in turn, collected his first ever Superstock podium and looked frighteningly fast on a stock Triumph that isn’t pumping out a lot of BHP.
In race two on Sunday though, Meehan wanted in on the action and whilst Anderson struggled to keep McHale at bay in fourth, Wishart and Robinson squared up alongside the blinding orange machine of Meehan and the swords were drawn.
14 Superb laps passed us and as they crossed the line, Meehan not only won, but nearly crept into the 1.11’s as he smashed the lap record and took the win to extend his early Championship lead, finishing ahead of Robinson and Wishart.
In the final race of the day though, Meehan was up to his old tricks and as the leaders came around to complete lap four, Meehan wasn’t there and was forced to watch from the marshal’s post as he witnessed Wishart and Robinson, round three.
Across the line though, Robinson it was that collected his first race win since his 70cc days, ahead of Wishart, who at the expense of Meehan, ended the weekend as the new series leader with Megabikes.ie rider and popular paddock character Nicole McAleer collecting a well deserved third.
In the Motorbike Accident Law Formula 600 races, RLR Motorsport’s Sam Hornsey was unstoppable at Donington.
With Ben Field giving it everything to take a solid second in race one ahead of Rich McNeill, and the likes of Josh Wainright and David Jones teaming up with Field and McNeill on Sunday to attack Hornsey, nobody could catch the Bucknell rider, as he ended the weekend with a new lap record and the Championship lead.
In the Morello Services GP1 races, a host of top class riders lined up to challenge each other this weekend in three hotly contested races.
With Peter Baker destroying his Morello Services Suzuki on Saturday, we turned our attention to Ian Mackman on the Kemtile Suzuki as the talented rider chased down defending Champion Phil Crowe to win race one, with Dave Jackson finishing in third behind Crowe but ahead of a vastly improved Alex Heaton on the KRR Ducati.
In race two, Crowe was leading again before making an error to allow his off circuit pal Dave Jackson to take all the points with Mackman in third, but in the final race of the day, Crowe got the victory his efforts deserved in the end, finishing ahead of Jackson, Mackman and Heaton again, who could well find himself on the top step for team KRR by the end of the season at this rate.
In the Supertwins, despite Lee Reveley claiming a usual win on the Saturday, he was stunned on Sunday as KRR rider Scot Adam pushed through to take a couple of fine wins and leave Reveley scratching his head.... Could the double Supertwins Champion finally be properly fought for the title? Watch this space!
Finally to the LMB Streetfighters and once again Keith Smith and Barry Utting stole the headlines in classes ‘A’ and ‘B’.
Mick Riddle was the only man to challenge Utting all weekend in the ‘B’ class, whilst Smithy out front is desperate for his old mate Andy Denyer to return so he can have a proper scuffle for the 'A' title.
In the ‘C’ class for the Supermoto’s, Marc Hughes won both races on Saturday before seeing his Dad Tony Hughes take the double on Sunday..... Could we see a father/son fight for the title!!?? Or will Brad Davey and Duncan MacMillan have a say before the year is out?
Photo (c) PLJ Photo
Watch 2-hours of Thundersport GB action from Donington on Thursday 28 April at 9pm (BST) on Motors TV.
www.thundersportgb.com
Follow Motors TV on Twitter, Facebook and You Tube
International
