Formula Darley – Double Joy for Turner

Paul Turner raised his arms in celebration after fighting his way back into the lead and then holding off the final corner challenge from Brad Vicars to take the win in the opening Formula Darley race by just 0.08 of a second.

Grabbing the hole-shot on his Carole Nash-supported Kawasaki 650 Turner continued to lead for the next four plus laps. But on their equal capacity steeds Brad Vicars, James Ford and Ross Richards were all snapping at his heels until this group divided into two separate battles late on.

Never far apart the hard riding Vicars eventually forced his Suzuki ahead of Turner at the end of lap five only for the Congleton-based rider to respond and regain the position which he then successfully defended against Vicars’ last ditch effort to snatch victory.

“I think Brad might have missed a gear coming out of the hairpin on the last lap which gave me the opportunity to pass him on the straight. But I knew he’d have a go back on the brakes into the last corner” said Turner.

“I stayed wide so I could cut back underneath him if he ran deep and knew this would give me good drive in the sprint to the line.

“It feels a long time ago since I last won a race and after all the work that has gone into the bike recently there was a lot of relief at the finish.”

Turner was again quickest off the line in race two. And while Vicars eclipsed pole position man Antony Porter’s 650cc Suzuki on lap two to go second on the road Turner made the break to secure a repeat result by a more comfortable 1.72 seconds.

Meanwhile having been beaten to third by fellow Kawasaki pilot Ford in race one Richards stayed ahead of his rival throughout race two to reverse this earlier finishing order.

Sound of Thunder and Mini Sound of Thunder – Twin Wins for Hill

Turner, Vicars, Richards and Ford also clashed in the Mini Sound of Thunder events in which just 0.67 of a second covered the quartet at the end of race one as Richards led the train home, while in race two Vicars beat Richards to the class win by a mere 0.04 of a second.

The action was just as close at the head field where Ducati 1098-mounted Steven Hill battled his own Triumph 675 each time in the hands of Tim Poole.

Pursued by Poole throughout race one Hill collected the opening Sound of Thunder win by 0.31 of a second before 0.19 of a second separated the pair at the end of race two after Hill took advantage of Poole being baulked on the final circuit.

“Fortunately for me Tim had to pull out of a last lap pass on a back-marker at Townley’s which slowed him into the hairpin and allowed me to get by” advised Hill. “Then my bike had the legs on his down the straight and coming across more back-markers at the final corner Tim couldn’t re-pass."

Pre 98’s - Pearson Still Perfect

Reigning up to 1300cc Pre-98 class champion Shane Pearson continued his perfect start to the defence of his title by guiding his Suzuki 750 to another brace of wins.

In a re-run opening race Pearson ran third throughout lap one before he firstly picked off Ken Davis (Yamaha 1000) and then Ian Morgan (Suzuki 750) on each of the next two circuits to seal win number one, while a sixth lap pass in his place-swapping duel with earlier runner-up Davis proved decisive in Pearson registering win number two.

“I snapped the bike in half at Donington last weekend so I really wanted to win today to thank Daz Morris of Melted Sliders for the work he has put in repairing it. And also the family who have bought me a new helmet and leathers after mine were wrecked in that crash” commented a still battered and bruised Pearson.

Other Classes – Medhurst in Pole Position

Jamie Medhurst put himself in pole position to lift the Curtis Milner Trophy that will be decided at June’s double-header round by taking the first leg win in the day’s second Formula 600 outing after earlier steering his Kawasaki to victory in a red-flagged race one.

Rob Hodson was second in that first race on his Yamaha but had to settle for third in race two following a race-long battle with brother Jamie on his similar machine.

The Hodson name did, however, appear at the very top of the results sheets twice after their father Jim won the opening Peak Cup race and the second Open Solo event on his 1000cc Kawasaki.

Now Suzuki 1000-powered, Tim Poole won the other Peak Cup and Open Solo contests, narrowly defeating Hodson in the Peak Cup event, while on his 750cc Suzuki Andy Soar was second in the first Open Solo engagement for which Hodson missed the call while sportingly helping another rider in the paddock.

Jamie Pearson twice passed the chequered flag first overall on his Suzuki in the combined Pre-Injection and Steel-Frame 600 races while Yamaha 250 pilot Chris Moore did likewise in two intensely contested Lightweight and Classic events.

Both sidecar victories were comfortably taken by Ben and Tom Birchall on their LCR 600 ahead of the Molyneux Rose 600 outfit of Roy Hanks/Julie Hanks-Elliott.