BMCRC Round 8 - Cadwell Park 18 / 19 August 2012

Premier / Stock / Clubman 1000s...Hat-trick for Neeves to take the Title

BMCRC Premier 1000 championship leader Michael Neeves strolled to three wins at a blisteringly hot Cadwell Park over the weekend, extending his lead at the top of the standings to take the title. The Park Lane BMW S1000RR mounted rider qualified on the front row in third, with Stock 1000 rider and championship leader Dan Fowler ahead of him and Phil Crowe on pole. But it was Neeves who made the start in Saturday's race, while he was pursued from behind by Fowler, Jon Waghorn and Crowe. Crowe initially slotted into second, but a mistake saw him drop down the field, giving himself some work to do to get back into contention. That left Waghorn and Fowler to do battle for the podium and for the 25 points in the stock class. However, on lap eight, the race was stopped after Fowler crashed out on his MG Sear Plant Hire Honda Fireblade. Waghorn was awarded second and the leading Stock 1000, while Crowe battled back up to third and was the second Premier 1000. The leading Clubman was John Coughlan on his Bikersworld Aprilia in eighth.

Neeves completed his triple win on Sunday and all but cemented himself as the 2012 Premier 1000 champion. In the first race he slotted in behind Fowler early on, as it soon became apparent it was a two horse race at the front. Neeves eventually bettered the Stock championship leader, and took the win by two tenths of a second. Fowler was second and leading Stock 1000 and Neil Watson crossed the line in third on his Premier Honda Fireblade. Coughlan was again the leading Clubman in seventh. In the final outing the same duo escaped at the front, and Fowler led the way early on. However, it wasn't long before Neeves found his way past, securing his third win of the weekend by three tenths of a second.

Fowler was again second, while Michael Neeves' brother Ben bettered Watson for third and second Premier 1000. Coughlan wrapped up his third victory in the Clubman class with a seventh placed finish.

 Rookie 1000s...Championship goes down to the wire

The battle to be the 2012 Rookie 1000 champion will go down to the wire at Brands Hatch, as the top three all go into the final round in contention. Mark Fincham, who arrived at Cadwell Park third in the championship gave himself the best possible chance of winning the title at Brands, by taking all four wins in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The former Marine missed out on pole by three tenths of a second, but started the weekend from the front row in third. John Wilkinson took pole, and championship rival Michael Honey started second. Danny Campion, the third championship protagonist, qualified fifth. The weekend provided some thrilling racing at the front, and in race one with was Fincham, Honey and Wilkinson that escaped at the front, with Campion giving chase in fourth. Wilkinson lead initially, before Fincham and Honey moved into first and second, and began swapping the lead on every lap. Honey crossed the line to start the last lap in the lead, but Fincham made battled back to take his first win of the weekend by just over a tenth of a second, from Honey, Wilkinson and Campion.

Fincham took his second victory in race two, in a slightly more comfortable fashion. After battling with Campion early on, he eventually eked out a lead of over a second. Honey took second and Campion dropped to third.

In Sunday’s opener, Fincham and Campion again dueled at the front, before Fincham gapped the Yamaha R1 of Campion and took his third win. Campion this time did hold onto second, with Honey struggling a further 15 seconds up the road.

While Fincham completed his dominance in the final outing, Campion put a dent in his title hopes dropping out of proceedings on lap four. Fincham took the win from Honey and Bryan Parish. Heading to Brands for the final round, Honey leads the championship on 506 points, with Fincham now second on 494, just 12 points adrift. Campion is on 473.

Michelin Minitwins...Jones closes in on Couzens

In the BMCRC Michelin Minitwin series, Jesse Jones took pole and followed it up with four wins at Cadwell this weekend, narrowing the gap to championship leader Dan Couzens with two rounds to go. Jones, on his GSX-R faired Suzuki SFV650, qualified on pole, nearly two seconds ahead of Danny Imberg and Dan Couzens, and in race one he led from the off, securing his first win by two and a half seconds. Behind, position swapping ensued for the final places on the podium. Ashley Buxton, who started the second lap down in sixth, managed to fight his way through to second, crossing the line with a five second advantage over Charlie King in third. Couzens finished in sixth.

Jones was nigh on untouchable again in race two, and despite losing out to Buxton early on, he soon grabbed the lead, and stretched out an advantage of over one and a half seconds. He took his second win from King, with Couzens taking his first podium finish of the weekend in third.

In race one on Sunday it was a much closer run thing, with all three podium positions covered by less than a second. Jones took his third victory by just over half a second, as King just edged out Buxton for second. Couzens was just off the podium in fourth.

Couzens was back on the podium in third in the final outing of the weekend, but it was Jones who showed his class by taking his fourth victory. He now trails Couzens in the championship by 49 points. King was second in the final race and Buxton third.

BMCRC Rookie 600s...Doolan Rookie 600 Champion

Ben Doolan wrapped up the 2012 Rookie 600 title at Cadwell with one round to go, with a dominant display at the Lincolnshire circuit. Doolan took three wins and a fifth in the final race, enough to secure the championship ahead of the final round at Brands Hatch. After taking pole, he took his two wins on Saturday, both ahead of Mike Richards and Stuart Carter. On Sunday, he rode his Wonder Walls Honda CBR600RR to victory in race one, ahead of Carter and Richards, before he settled for fifth in the final race, allowing Carter and Richards to battle it out at the front. Carter took the win on his Yamaha R6, ahead of the Yamahas of Richards Peter Manger.

DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters...King brace marred by injuries

Steve King secured a brace of wins in the DFDS Seaways Yamaha Past Masters to keep himself in title contention, but the weekend was marred by the injuries sustained to three riders, two of them title contenders. In the weekend’s opener Graham Higlett took the win after he was leading when the red flags came out for an incident behind him at Coppice. Third in the championship Tony Hoare, coming off the back of a winning run at Cadwell Park and Brands Hatch, returned to Lincolnshire looking to repeat that form. However, he lost the rear of his TZR250 through the fast turn one, and after hitting the tarmac he was struck by the championship leader, Pat Herron. The red flags were immediately waved, with both riders rushed to hospital with chest injuries. Both will make a full recovery. Higlett took the win from King and Andrew Bown.

The delays on circuit meant three races were run on Sunday. However, the opener was red flagged early on, after Paul Henson crashed hard at Charlie’s. He too was transferred to hospital with spine injuries, but will make a full recovery. In the rerun King took his first win from Higlett and Dan Wright. He was pipped to the win in race three by his teammate, Dan Wright, with Ben Miles in an excellent third, but King took his second win in the final race, ahead of Wright with Miles again third.

BMZRC 250 MZs...Stimpson all-but seals title

Dean Stimpson was dominant at Cadwell Park earlier in the year, and he continued that form here this weekend, taking all four wins and all but cementing his name on the 2012 crown. Defending champion Andy Saunders did his best to challenge Stimpson, but a crash in race two saw his already fading title defense stutter further. Stimpson took his first win from Saunders and Dennis Nelson, but with Saunders out of contention in race two, Stimpson’s win came ahead of Jonny King and Chris Dowling.

On Sunday, Stimpson’s other two wins came ahead of Saunders and Chris Rogers on both occasions.

BMCRC F1 / F2 Sidecars...Three outfits share four wins in F1 class

Three different F1 sidecar outfits scored wins over the weekend at Cadwell, providing some close racing at the front of the field. The Holland pairing on the Suzuki LCR1000 took the win in race one, with Sam Ryder and Shelley Smithies taking the win in race two. On Sunday Mcvaigh and Robinson took two wins in the F1 class, one outright, but in race two they were pipped to the overall win by F2 outfit Tony Brown and Ryan Anderson. Brown and Anderson took also took the win in the first F2 race on Sunday, sharing two wins each over the weekend with the Longmore pairing on the Honda DMR600, who took both wins in the class on Saturday.

BMCRC Thunderbikes...Title fight goes to the wire

The 2012 BMCRC Bumpstop Thunderbike series will go down to the wire at the final round at Snetterton. George Hogton-Rusling took all four wins over the weekend, but on an Extreme Thunderbike, he doesn’t score points in the main Thunderbike class. Seb Kelly was second twice on Saturday, just extending the gap over Nelson, but a DNS in Sunday’s opener allowed Nelson to take 25 points and take over the series lead. He took another 25 points in the final race, with Kelly third overall and second in the main Thunderbike class.

Two-stroke GP Classics...Olding dominant at Cadwell

Mark Olding took five wins over the weekend, as the meeting played host to the race held over from the previous Brands Hatch. The grid was populated by YPM members, piggybacking with the class for some extra track time, with Graham Higlett, Ben Miles, Andrew Bown and Andy Davies getting on the podium.

BMCRC All Comers Open...Four winners from four.

Four different winners took the chequered flag over the weekend in the Open championship, with Dan Fowler, Steve Heneghan, Neil Watson, and Jon Waghorn on the top step of the podium.