Credited by many as being one of the best British Grand Prix’s ever, this weekend’s action included seven other very important races as the Thundersport GB series had their support classes out throughout the four day event.

Bridgestone Thundersport 500
Having set the pace during qualifying, Darlington’s Jonathan Harrison won his seventh race in a row at Donington Park, extending his championship lead to 45 points.

He didn’t have it all his own way though, his closest rival John Butcher pushed him all the way in the race and just lost out on the double points victory on the final few corners, leaving him to play second fiddle for the fifth time on the bounce.

Further behind, Wayne Bridges celebrated his first podium since round one at Mallory Park in March, after he successfully saw off challenges from Matt Bainbridge, Jordan Whatling and Chris Pickersgill.

GiMoto Streetfighter A & B
Mick Corrigan grabbed pole in the GiMoto Streetfighter class but was forced to retire after an incident in turn one, sent him into the gravel trap on the first lap.

This left Andy Denyer to take the win after he fended off a late challenge from Jamie Wilkins who’d made his way from 14th on the grid to take second, but Denyer extends his championship lead in the standings whilst Carl Marsden took third.

In Streetfighter ‘B’, new entrant Mike Russell powered to victory with an unstoppable win ahead of series leader Barry Utting and Chaz Beale third. Craig Morley finished fourth to close in on Ian Popplewell in second overall, who fell on lap two at his favourite circuit.

BSN.com Junior Powerbikes
Rob Elsmere qualified pole and took victory in the Junior Powerbike class, extending his championship lead over Alex Hutchinson who finished half a bike length behind Elsmere on his Aprilia, but the overall win went to Mike Edwards onboard his Suzuki Moto 450, after the experienced rider roared to victory in the wet conditions.

In the Minitwin class, Leigh Hutchinson finished fifth overall to take his first victory in the class for 2009. Finishing ahead of friends Clive White and Chris Boland, Leigh now leads the championship ahead of Tim Jones, who struggled in the race.

E2E Solutions GP3
Sam Burman took her first ever pole position in Thundersport GB this weekend but was unable to convert it during the race as Adam Blacklock won his first ever GP3 race onboard the new Red Cougar bio fuelled British machine.

Blacklock had built an early lead with no reply from his competitors during the 15 lap battle with Tom Weeden finishing second and moving into the top five in the championship and Fraser Rogers came home in third after starting from the back of the grid in 36th and flying through to take a podium, extending his championship lead to 33 points.

Dunlop Aprilia Superteen Challenge
Australian Matt Davies took win number five of the season at Donington to move into the top five of the overall standings at Donington, whilst Wayne Ryan took a solid second ahead of Lee Jackson in third.

Danny Murphy had been set for a podium finish, but a crash on the final corner left him with no points to show for his efforts, as Connor Tagg finished in fourth and championship leader Andy Reid took fifth.

With double points up for grabs, Wayne Ryan’s second place finish moves him to within five points of series leader Andy Reid now, the closest the championship has been since round one.

CIA Bike Insurance GP1
Jonathan Rea’s brother Richard was pole for the GP1 race that was awash with rain just after the Moto GP race at Donington Park.

He was untouchable during the race too as he lived up to the expectations by winning the race by a considerable distance ahead of Joe Dickinson on the Norton Rotary 588, who had earlier seen off a challenge from his brother Lee on the same machine, before Dicko senior retired due to a mechanical failure.

Third place was Tony Keilty as he won the battle for the final podium spot ahead of Glenn Shaw, whilst the likes of Rob Hoyles and Gary May finished in a lowly ninth and tenth, after they made the wrong tyre choices for the wet conditions.

In the Supertwins, Clint De Tarnowsky came home in fifth overall to win the Supertwins double points affair, he guided his Ducati home ahead of Michael Price who ended up second and Brian Greenfield who was back on the podium in third.

Metzeler Formula 600
British Championship rider Jenny Tinmouth was pole for the Formula 600 race, as 30,000 spectators stayed to watch the final two wheeled race to take place on the current Donington Park circuit.

During the race though, it was all about one young man, as 19-year-old Glenn Irwin rode to a superb victory, miles ahead of his opponents, moving into the top eight of the championship with his second win of 2009 in tricky conditions.

Further back, Tinmouth and Gazzard were battling it out for the remaining podium slots, but when Jenny fell on the final lap, Gazzard was delighted to take second overall on a bike that he usually races in the Pirelli Superstock class.

James Henry eventually took third, after he passed Chris Mort and Michael Price with no time to spare to take his first podium since Cadwell Park round two, moving him up to fourth overall in the standings.