COOMBS WINS TITLE IN JUNIOR POWERBIKE THRILLER

Tony Coombs came to Donington on Saturday 44 points behind South African leader Clint De Tarnowksy knowing all he could do was ride his heart out and hope results went his way.  Few would have bet against Clint too, a relaxed and composed character around the paddock, De Tarnowsky was a hot favourite until disaster in the East Midlands.
With Coombs looking quick in qualifying, De Tarnowsky started the race on his tail and whilst pushing to get past Coombs, Clint came undone and fell leaving a whopping 25 points all for Tony to cut the gap to 19.
Racing to get the bike ready for the second outing, Clint then went out and fell again in race two after an accident on circuit which he couldn’t help, leaving Coombs to take the spoils again after some fine riding.
On Sunday at Mallory, Clint went from being favourite to long shot as Coombs chased the speedy Rik Ballerini during both races leaving a sore and deflated Clint to come home in third and lose a title he had led for so long in the distance.
Ballerini was clinical and looked impressive during his two wins but the glory went to Tony as he proved to everyone that pushing ‘til the end can sometimes pay off.
Hard luck for the Knight Road Racing team and Clint De Tarnowsky, who have all been great sports, but in the end some bad luck, some questionable decisions and an opponent on the top of his game, all mounted against his challenge and he now has to settle for second. Leon Jeacock who was absent from the races this weekend, will be delighted to know that his efforts this season have secured him third overall

JOY AND READ SEAL STREETFIGHTER CROWNS

Amongst the Junior Powerbikes were the Streetfighter classes as per usual and once again they supplied the crowds with some great racing. Steve Joy on his ‘Apache Customs’ KTM Duke finally put an end to a Championship that’s been his in waiting. Steve had to play second fiddle to a super quick Jamie Wilkins who cleared off on the Aprilia Streetfighter ‘A’ machine, but he didn’t mind at all as he even showed off his #1 plate in race two at Donington for what is touted as ‘his last race’. What a way to bow out!
With Rob Garland winning race one on Saturday and overall runner-up Steve Hodgson winning the last race of the year, they can all look forward to their own grids for next year as the numbers grow in this popular class.
In Streetfighter ‘B’, Sam Read knew a sensible ride would give him the Championship this weekend, despite an early scare alongside rival John Hardwicke in race one, he did just that and was crowned in race two after a consistent and hard fought season.
Phil Page ended the year on a high with even a late push for second overall, and with Mark Morley taking trophies away and finishing his campaign in fourth, he’ll wonder what might have happened if he’d have been running all year.

MAY TAKES SECOND TITLE AFTER AWESOME FINALE

Gary May’s domination continued this weekend as he won his second Thundersport title at Donington, the circuit he won the GP1 crown at.
Rob Hoyles, his brave Thundersport 600 rival, had matched May for pace almost all weekend and during race one, he even grabbed the fastest lap, but he was helpless to prevent Gary from winning. Even Jenny Tinmouth, Jonathan Lodge and Steve Tomes couldn’t catch May as becomes the only rider to have won two championships in separate classes this year.
Rob Hoyles pushed all the way though and despite finishing second, he did all he could and has been a worthy opponent all season long. An absent Ashley Midwood claimed the third prize overall as Cliffy Hamilton’s crash during qualifying, dented his chances of pinching it away on the last weekend.

DUDLEY TAKES FIRST WIN AS RENDELL TAKES THREE

Fireplace Warehouse rider Adam Dudley left it until the last race of the year to take his first win of the season, Dudley from Dudley added the win to his second and third from Saturday to eventually pinch the overall runner-up spot from Tom Weeden too.
Weeden’s crash in qualifying left him a little short of confidence and the 14 year old ended up losing grip on his spot, despite finishing second in the GP3 Cup. Ed Rendell though, added the ACU Clubmans trophy to his GP3 and GP3 Cup titles to make it three after both wins on Saturday to end the year on a high.
Adam Boyle won both GP3 Cup races on Saturday and Josh Eversfield was victor on Sunday, neither could stop Adam Robinson from claiming third overall though in the Cup. Good rides from Sam Burman and Shaun Winfield saw Sam taking fourth overall in the Championship, the highest finishing female in Thundersport GB, whilst Winfield grabbed some well deserved trophies.

SUPERTEEN WINS FOR RYAN AND PAULO

With Frazer Rogers sporting a black bike and the numero uno plate on his Aprilia on Saturday, he was kind enough to leave 12 year old newcomer Wayne Ryan to win race one and couldn’t stop Scotland’s Matt Paulo winning his first race of the year either in race two.
The champ had to take a step back as Ryan, Paulo, Andy Read and Bruce Winfield all looked better for the finale, with Winfield eventually taking second spot for the year ahead of a below par Shelton who was 13th in race one and made to settle for third overall.
On Sunday the top three all had some time off as the races weren’t for Championship points and again it was Wayne Ryan and Andy Read that took charge.
Read won race one, a bike length ahead of Ryan but then went missing in race two as Ryan stormed to race two victory and showing the crowds at the Race of the year where the future talent is coming from.
Josh Harland finished third in race one and Ben Gautrey and George Martindale were second and third in race two amongst a nine bike freight train.

EXPERIENCED WILLIAMSON WINS GP1 & SOT RACE

With a strong field including Kenny Gilbertson, Pete Ward, Billy Mellor and Phil Bevan, Francis Williamson rode his Ducati home to take Sound of Thunder glory, becoming the first SOT runner to take the overall GP1 victory too.
With Gary May, Lee Reveley and Lee Cutts-Bland absent, Gilbertson and Ward were favourites but neither could beat Williamson on his Ducati.
Elsmere and Kelly ended their campaigns with a fourth and fifth and Chris Norris grabbed a second in the SOT race, cementing third overall in the Championship

CHAMPION DAVIES CAN’T BE STOPPED

Having already won the title back at Pembrey, Mark ‘Dogs’ Davies romped home to take another win in the GP2 race, proving he was always the man to beat in the class.
With no Chris McAloran or Barry Utting, Nathan Pallett was already guaranteed third overall before he finished third in the race and Ant Hodgson in second ended the year with his personal best result.
With the class needing more entries to survive, could it have been the last time a 250 GP race is run by Thundersport GB?? With a list of classes lining up to enter the scene, lets hope it can survive.