Norasport Championship from Three Sisters

Easter weekend saw the start of the 2008 Norasport National Supermoto Championship.

The first event was hosted at the Three Sisters Circuit, and while most of the country shivered under a blanket of snow; the opening race day took place under a bright blue sky.

In the youth Racing Oliver Harrison and Jordan Holliday made the most of last season’s race experience, to qualify as the fastest two youths on the grid, and these two would finish in the same first and second positions in all three races.

James Compton had two third place finishes and Scott Pitchers had fourth place in race one, but was unable to start due to machinery problems in race two; leaving Scott Wright to take fourth position in both this race and the final race.

Lee Cunliffe, Simon Bentley and Lewis Cornish, were the top three riders over the line in race one of the 250cc Championship.

In race two Lee Rudd managed to take second place from Simon Bentley, and Owen Connell took another fourth place finish closely followed by James Moore.

By the final race Lee Cunliffe had secured himself maximum points on the day. Lee Rudd had an excellent day with two second place finishes, even though he was racing back to back in the 450 championship which logistically could have been be a nightmare.

450 National Championship:
 
Dave George had a clear win in race one of the B group to see him move up to the A group for race two with Richard Pepper, leaving Kevin Spence to take pole going into race two.

Stephen Booth won the second race but took Kevin Spence through to the A group final as the second place finisher in this second race. Nick Gemzoe had been in the top five all day, and managed to take the final win of the B group race from Matt Barnett-Vincent. 

While Kevin Haycock and Paul Plevin had a battle for sixth spot, with Haycock being the victor.

While in the 450 A group Andy Mitchell had the clear lead in race one, but midway through the race Lee Jones made a move to put himself in the winning position, leaving Andy in second and James Addy in third spot.

Going into race two and this time Andy Mitchell ran a perfect race to finish first, with Lee Jones battling hard throughout the race in second, and James Addy close behind in third.

The final race was re-run, after Lee Jones fell whilst in the lead. Andy Mitchell then took the hole shot on the restart, but James Addy made a move after a couple of laps which would secure him the third and final win on the day.

David Farmer finished third, with Richard Sharp having had a really good a day finishing in fourth, closely followed by Darren Pearson.

This left Andy Mitchell leading the points, with James Addy only four points behind.

National Open Championship:

The D group riders started race one with a hint of snow in the air, and Neil Barclay who was leading the race lost his bike momentarily on the dirt; but by Lunar’s he had clinched back the lead from Lee Machin.

He then continued to pull out a lead and reach the finish line seven seconds in front of James Hopkinson.

Lee Machin capitalised in race two with a clear win as Callum McGuigan just missed out again on a move but had an excellent third place finish.

In the final race Callum was rewarded for his consistent riding, with the winning trophy.

Kevin Spence had an excellent move up during the days racing to finish with a second place in the final, with Gary Haxby finishing in third to also take home a trophy.

Next out was the C group and Richard Blackburn led the race with a good margin from Rob Dickens and Paul Plevin, in the last few laps Rob Dickens and Paul Plevin, exchanged places with second place only being settled coming out of Lunar bends with Dickens taking second place away from Plevin.

Martin Desborough just held onto the lead from Mark Smith as they came over the line in race two a whisper apart, with Joe Edwards in a very respectable third place.

The final race saw Joe Edwards on pole position, but David Hinch took to the lead followed by Al Dickens.

Midway through the race Al Dickens took the lead from Dave Hinch and led the race until lap six when Dave took back the lead into Lunar bends.

In the last lap a sudden hailstorm brought Joe Edwards down onto the grass as Al Dickens tried unsuccessfully in the sudden poor conditions to pass the jubilant winning Dave Hinch over the line.

Sam Beattie had a scary moment in the dirt but still held onto his third spot for the majority of the race, but over the line the honours went to Neil Barclay who had stated the day in the D group.

In the B Group Jack Fay had an excellent race with a clear lead throughout followed by Robert Drake and Brad Davey; as the top six were almost inseparable for the whole race.

In race two the top four riders battled throughout the race, but it was Brad Davey who clinched the lead from David Perry, Nick Gemzoe and Neil Crayston. While in the final race the track conditions had changed, and a cold damp track led many riders changing over to wet tyres.

The conditions must have suited Andrew Kenningley who took a very confident win, and Neil Crayston was always in the running, and he took home second place. John Earnshaw also made the best of the track conditions to secure himself a trophy also with his third place finish.

Christian Iddon took the honours for race one of the A group, and although Andy Mitchell had a good race it was Carl Shield who took second place; leaving Andy in third.

Christian Iddon and James Addy both lost places at the start of race two leaving Carl Shield to hold onto the front of the race unchallenged with Richard Blakeman in second place from Lee Cunliffe and Kev Drayton.

Christian Iddon then moved towards the front of the pack, though he too had to work hard for the positions, and in the very last entry into Lunar bends he reclaimed the lead from the unfortunate Carl Shield who had run a faultless race at the front of the grid.

James Addy secured third place followed by Scott Woodacre and Lee Cunliffe.

In the final race Carl Shield led from Andy Mitchell, Scott Woodacre, James Addy and Kevin Drayton, and these five led a large gaggle of riders from sixth position down.

The front of the grid was fairly uneventful as Carl Shield had another excellent race and couldn’t be touched by Andy Mitchell or Scott Woodacre.