Full report from Kathryn Drayton

Beautiful weather signalled the second round of the British Supermoto Championship at the Rowrah Circuit in Cumbria which saw some spectacular racing on Saturday with the Youth, 250 and 450 classes out on the fast twisty circuit. Sunday morning brought wet practice for the Open classes and the track remained wet for the rest of the day, but the exciting racing continued despite the difficult slippery conditions.

250
Ben Stafford had the fastest lap in race one for the 250 class, and came over the line in first place followed by Lee Cunliffe; Owen Connell and then Malachi Mitchell Thomas. There was a turnaround for race two as Ben Stafford fell leaving Malachi to take the second win of the day from Lee Cunliffe in second place once again. Stuart Sharp would move up from sixth place in race one to take the third place finish in race two. Michael Ford also moved up three places from the first race to finish in fourth position.
In the final race of the day a return to racing for Lee Cunliffe and he held onto an early lead extending this over the course of the race, finishing six seconds in front of Malachi. Ben Stafford came back well in the final race which saw him take third place from Stuart Sharp for a trophy in the final. Stuart had his best finish of the day with a fourth in the final and Ben Stafford took away a Muck Junkie award for his efforts at round two.

Junior
Ryan Rudd was the fastest junior on the track, while Ashley had an early fall and had to make up time, this left second spot open for Jack Raines and then Daniel Drayton who took third place finish in race one. Dylan Henderson struggled at the start of race two stalling his machine and Daniel Drayton also stalled in the dirt so both riders lost time on the track. Ryan Rudd finished in the top spot again in race two. In the final race of the day Ryan was once again the victor and Jack Raines took second place for the third time while Ashley Rudd made it back to take a third place finish, and Loris had a consistent day with three fourth place finishes.

250 Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Lee Cunliffe 2. Malachi Mitchell Thomas 3. Ben Stafford 4. Stuart Sharp 5. Owen Connell

Junior Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Ryan Rudd 2. Jack Raines 3. Ashley Rudd 4. Loris Hunt 5. Dylan Henderson

450 Clubman
Phil Gee started the day with the first win in the clubman class, and then had to settle for second place followed by a third in the final, while Ben McKlusky started on a fourth place finish and went onto win in both the second and third race of the day. Chris Lambourne has been in top three all day with two third placed finishes and then second place in the final race. Michael Craig and Steve Ellis were right on the back of the top three riders all day hoping for a podium finish. Neil Crayston who finished the final race in sixth position had earlier enjoyed a second place finish in race one, and James Moore improved his times over the day to finish his last two races in the top ten along with Alan Cragg and Paul Plevin.
Sam Roberts had led a pack of riders in race two but Ryan Metcalfe moved past to finish in eleventh place and in the final race Scott Maller led a close battle but kept Gary Paul at bay to hold on to fourteenth place.

450 Clubman Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Ben McClusky 2. Chris Lambourne 3. Phil Gee 4. Michael Craig 5. Steve Ellis

450 Elite
It was a mixed bag for the first 450 Elite race with multiple fallers seeing both Andy Mitchell and Graeme Norris retiring from the race. Matt Winstanley took the first win followed by Craig Venske and George Clements, and the top four had really carved out a lead, but as the race neared the end the introduction of back markers split the group, and Lee Jones having had been so close would not be able to challenge the top three any longer and finished the race in fourth place. Chris Hodgson and David Hartley both got a really good start and finished well in fifth and sixth place respectively. Lee Williams worked his way through to eighth place and Chris Walker came back to finish in eleventh, while Lewis Cornish fell twice following an excellent qualifying and finished in sixteenth place.
After stalling on the line and then falling later in the race Sami Salstola had to retire from race two.
Matt Winstanley however was on form and pulled out a clear lead in the second race from Craig Venske and Chris Hodgson, and despite Lee Jones putting in the effort to move up to fourth he finished in sixth over the line. Lewis Cornish regained form in the second race and finished in a very respectable eighth place, and Richard Blakeman had the best of a three man battle to finish eleventh followed by Lee Williams and Lee Rudd. There was an all action fifteen lap final which saw Craig Venske, Chris Hodgson and Matt Winstanley battling at the front. Craig had the early lead but Chris Hodgson went though on lap five to take the lead and hold on tight. Craig had to concede his position to Matt midway through the race while Chris and Matt split away at the front. Lee Jones made his way through to fourth and held on to that position until the finish line. Plenty of riders fell in the dirt section including Lewis Cornish and Craig Richardson leaving them well down in the results. Dale O’Connor led a great battle to take twelfth place at the finish line closely followed by Lee Rudd and Oliver Harrison. While over the line it was Chris Hodgson from Matt Winstanley and Craig Venske, though in the points it would be Matt who took the spoils as a birthday treat. He also took away a tyre at the presentation for the best “move out the way” move of the day. George Clements had great finishes with two fifth places and a third while Andy Mitchell had to be the most improved ride of the day to finish in eighth place, and consistent Richard Blakeman took his second ninth place of the day.

450 Elite Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Chris Hodgson 2. Matt Winstanley 3. Craig Venske 4. Lee Jones 5. George Clements

Open Clubman
Ricky Grimshaw sat on pole for the first Clubman B race and despite a good start, within one lap he had lost ground leaving Rob Dickens to take to the front. Another lap later and Rob had lost then the lead to Kris Norris who would go onto win the first race and with his efforts to get into second place Streaky Joe would be the second move up to the A group for the remaining races. Ricky Grimshaw put his position to good use to win the second race unchallenged with Rik Nuttall five seconds behind and Rob Dickens secured third place. The top three riders were clear of Ryan Metcalfe and Kyle Wingate who were close over the line in fourth and fifth positions while David Wiseman unfortunately had to retire form the second race. In the final race Kyle Wingate would lead in the early part of the race but Rob Dickens would come back to take the final win of the day with Kyle in second and Ryan Metcalf who had been consistent all day finished in third. Martin Bennett had his best race of the day to take fourth and Michael Ford improved taking fifth, and securing his second sixth place of the day was Andy Nuttall.

Despite Scott Wright leading the first race it, was James Wood who would take the first win of the Clubman A race. Paul McNamara was having a really good day and finished in third position well clear of Paul Plevin who made it up from sixth to fourth over the course of the race and Harry Kampz also made up three places to come over the line in fifth. Sam Gilbody had a really good start and finally finished in sixth. James Wood then led the second race from Paul Plevin and Scott Wright and Grant Cunningham had made it up to fifth place early in the race. Neither James Wood or Paul Plevin would finish in the top five of the second race however, as the win went to Scott Wright with Grant Cunningham up to second place with Paul McNamara once again in third place and then Stuart Sharp was in fourth leaving Sam Gilbody to take the points for fifth position. The final race of the day and Scott Wright had done the hard work taking his second win of the day, while Stuart Sharp had improved over the day to finish second, Grant Cunningham had third and Sam Gilbody had moved up one place in each of the races finishing fourth in the final and just missing out on a trophy position. Bradley Hardy made a massive move up to secure fifth place over the line leaving Jon Sigsworth, Dan Spencer and Lee Head battling it out for seventh place while Joe Edwards had an excellent finish in tenth place after his B group start.

Open B Clubman Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Rob Dickens 2. Kyle Wingate 3. Ryan Metcalf 4. Martin Bennett 5. Michael Ford

Open A Clubman Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Scott Wright 2. Stuart Sharp 3. Grant Cunnighan 4. Sam Gilbody 5. Bradley Hardy

Open National
In the Open National races Phil Gee took the early lead from pole position in the first race and Dean Wingate took second place straight from the start, Kevin Drayton was in third place but was pressured by Ben Kirkman from very early in the race. Ben Stafford had an excellent qualification and was in fifth place during the race. Ben Kirkman then moved up to third place in the fifth lap as Phil Gee and Dean Wingate both made themselves room at the front and Ben Kirkman also stretched out a lead in third place from Kevin Drayton who came under pressure late in the race from Ben Stafford who had Simon Walker close on his tail for sixth. In the second National race Kevin Drayton a great start taking the early lead but Ben Kirkman was also hungry for the win and there was little room for manoeuvre at the front and Ben Kirkman had the best of the late breaking to slip past Kev and take the lead. Phil Gee also got through into second and when Kevin Drayton went down later in the race Dean Wingate would be unable to start his machine in time to capture any lucrative points. Ben Stafford as another casualty of the slippery conditions and could not maximize on points either. The final positions were Phil Gee, Ben Kirkman and Simon Walker in third. Graeme Norris made the most of the second race finishing in fourth with Robert Hartley in fifth. Phil Gee would lead the final National race of the day with Ben Kirkman having a really good race in second but he was finding it difficult to make up ground on Phil. Graeme Norris finished upright over the line in third with a jubilant Simon Walker taking fourth position leaving Kevin Drayton in fifth. Lee Metcalfe had another great meeting making the best of a battle with Robert Hartley and Dean Wingate who made up ground from his start at the back of the grid, to finish the race in eighth place while Malachi secured his second ninth place finish of the day.

Open National Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Phil Gee 2. Ben Kirkman 3. Graeme Norris 4. Simon Walker 5. Kevin Drayton

Open Elite
There were some notable absences in the Open Elite group with James Addy a victim of volcanic ash and Carl Shield suffering a fracture to his foot. Chris Hodgson capitalized on his win from Saturday with a win in the first Elite race as he was hounded by Matt Winstanley, these two broke clear at the front and although Craig Venske held third for most of the race a mistake saw him in eleventh place in the last few laps, this allowed Lee Jones to take third place unchallenged and Andy Mitchell came over the line in fourth having a much better days racing. George Clements had led a really close pack of four riders for the whole race coming over the line to finish in fifth place, though David Hartley dropped off the pack and then Sami Salstola lost his sixth place position over the line to Lee Williams.
In the second race of the day Matt Winstanley led the race and Chris Hodgson couldn’t hold onto second place which was taken by Lee Jones who was having an excellent weekend. Craig Venske this time had the better of the four man battle as he secured fourth place followed by George Clements and David Hartley with Chris Walker having an excellent second race to finish in seventh place. Neither Ben Robb or Sami Salstola would finish the second race with Ben having fallen twice.
The final race and Matt Winstanley would lead the race this time from Craig Venske and Lee Jones who pulled out a clear lead from Chris Hodgson who was on a charge then George Clements, Chris Walker and Lee Williams who had fallen in the second race. As the race progressed Matt would stretch a lead from Craig with another cushion to Lee Jones then a closing gap back to Chris Walker. Jamie Duncan led Sami Salstola, Ben Robb and Lewis Cornish with a mid pack battle for ninth position. By the twelfth lap Lewis had made up three places to lead this battling pack before Sami sat him up a lap later to take the position at the finish of the race. Back at the front and Matt was riding clear of the pack and Lee Jones couldn’t mount a challenge on Craig Venske for second place so he would take third place. Chris Hodgson couldn’t complain about his fourth place finish as he maximised on points for this round. George Clements had a run of fifth place finishes all day and Chris Walker had his second seventh place finish of the day, while Andy Mitchell had a much better run in the Open than in the 450 championship a day earlier.

Open Elite Finishing Positions Final Race
1. Matt Winstanley 2. Craig Venske 3. Lee Jones 4. Chris Hodgson 5. George Clements