As we approach the half way point in the season, Snetterton in Norfolk is the venue for rounds eight and nine of the Thundersport GB Championship.
With Snetterton being the fastest circuit on our calendar, it seems apt that we begin with the GP1 Powerbike class sponsored by CIA Bike Insurance.
After attaining a Yamaha R1 to replace his hard worked R6, Gary May raced to victory number three of the year and leads the points table by just eight points from Peter Baker who is surely looking for victory at a circuit you could call his home.
Third overall is Rob Hoyles, and after a bad crash at Oulton Park where he dislocated his collar bone, Rob will be carrying injury into Snetterton and will need to be in close touch with May and Baker if he wants to revive his Championship hopes.
Joining the GP1 class are the Supertwins and Michael Price is keen to extend his lead over Brian Greenfield in the standings. With quite a few new additions to the class, this one is by no means over as they get to play with the big boys again.
The BSN.com Junior Powerbike class was looking predictable before Oulton Park as Rob Elsmere had continued to stretch his lead in the points table thanks to some stunning rides on his IN Competition Aprilia RRV550. But taking zero points from Oulton Park has all of a sudden brought a new young man into the frame as Sam Coventry's double victory took a huge chunk out of Elsmere's lead.
Joining them will be the Moto 450 class again and thanks to a great wet weather ride from Mike 'Spike' Edwards at Oulton, we saw the 450 take its first overall victory since its birth in 2008. Edwards will no doubt have Steve Tomes and Darren Smith for company and it's a warm welcome back to the saddle for Will Hodgson. Last years Champion has been out with injury since the final round of the season at Donington in '08 and it's great to have him back.
The Minitwins will also be out with the Junior Powerbikes and points leader Leigh Hutchinson will be desperate to take his first race win of the season. Tim Jones, Chris Boland, Richard Willshire and Andy Ward have all taken wins though and could all feature in a championship that's still wide open.
The Metzeler Formula 600 Championship came alive in the wet last time out as youngster Glenn Irwin grabbed victory from Christopher Mort and Darryl Cox, who all closed in on Michael Price going into Snetterton.
James Henry and Wayne Sutton will be looking for good results, and brothers Mike and James Edwards will be desperate to begin the second half of the season with some better luck than they've had so far.
The GiMoto Streetfighter 'A' and 'B' classes will be out in force together again at Snetterton as Andy Denyer looks to inflict yet more pain on Jamie Wilkins in the 'A' class. Wilkins has won all ten of the races he's completed but thanks to one non finish and three non starts, consistent Andy Denyer has overtaken Wilkins in the standings thanks to finishing every race on the podium so far this season.
In Streetfighter 'B' Barry Utting holds a slender lead over Ian Popplewell in the Championship thanks to a fair few wins each. Mark Morley in third, Martin Stanier fourth and Phil Page in fifth have all been podium bound so far but still hunt for that illusive win, whereas new kid on the block Craig Morley (son of Mark) has won the last four and is looking to become a Championship contender by the end of Snetterton this weekend.
On the back of a Championship round at the Donington World Superbikes a fortnight ago, Andy Reid's lead in the Aprilia Dunlop Superteens was cut after he faced his first DNF of the season at the Derbyshire circuit. Wayne Ryan's fantastic win and a second though has now moved him up to second overall, a point ahead of Connor Tagg and I fear Andy will have his work cut out yet again at Snetterton as Ryan, Tagg, Jackson and Davies all look super quick at the moment.
Another class blessed with a World Superbike round was the Pirelli Superstock 600s and Northern Irishman John Simpson took the double to take his first win since the very first race of the year at Mallory Park.
Championship leader Dan Miles, still holds a healthy lead over Tom Gazzard but cannot afford to get complacent in a championship that looks likely to encounter a few twists and turns.
The E2E Solutions GP3 class is currently being topped by 13-year-old Fraser Rogers after his immense sixth place finish from row six during the double points race at Oulton, meant that he gained 20 points over title rival Sam Hornsey who fell whilst in second in Cheshire.
Arnie Shelton and Simon Low are both still searching for that win to spark their season alive and the likes of Durham, Williams, Burman and Carne will all be searching for podium finishes, as will Andy Reid, whose win at Oulton Park shot him up to sixth overall.
Finally, the Bridgestone Thundersport 500 class take to the fast circuit with a new championship leader in Jonathan Harrison. John Butcher in second fell twice to gift the new leader a double win and provided Harrison can muster up some sponsorship, he will surely become a firm favourite for the race win. Matt Bainbridge in third has recently visited the podium on many occasions and I expect to see him in the hunt for his first win also.
With three days of action in Norfolk, including the full presentation on Saturday night and the Help for Heroes Charity auction following, all the great racing action, grid girls and the TV crew.... it won't be just the combine harvesters making noise in Norfolk this weekend.
