Bemsee – The weather gods above Cadwell Park didn’t get the Memo

If summer was meant to be in full swing no one told the weather gods above Cadwell Park at the weekend, which hosted the fifth round of the British Motorcycle Racing Club’s 2024
season. So much so, that with the forecast looking terrible for Saturday and a risk of losing track time, it was agreed to combine each class’s two races into a longer, feature race to reduce down time.

As expected, a soggy start to Saturday’s proceedings saw qualifying sessions take place in
wet conditions, and much of the day’s racing on a wet or drying track.

Making his first appearance in the Properly Protected-sponsored MRO Minitwins
Championship this season, Phil Atkinson qualified on pole position, ahead of championship
hopeful Darren Dowds.  However, just two races were able to get underway over the weekend, and it was series leader David Twyford who claimed the win in the first red flagged race, and won the second outing to extend his championship lead. Atkinson bagged a podium, ahead of Dowds in race one, while David Lindemann and Kevin Lilley finished second and third in race two.

In the first race on Sunday, the action was cut short for a multi-rider incident over the
Mountain on lap one. 11 bikes were involved. With swift action from the club’s medical and
marshall teams, the delay was minimal, and, thankfully, all riders were able to walk away,
with one taken to hospital for checks, only to return to the circuit later that day.

In the three Rookie Minitwin races Robert Bryant grabbed a brace of victories, the other
going to Liam Wood. The Supertwins were also in action, with Tommy Downes twice a winner, the third win of the weekend going to Ilias Iatrakis. Phil Atkinson was also on pole by over a second and a half in the wet Team Green Junior Cup and Senior Ninja qualifying, and he won race one ahead of fellow Senior runner and championship rival Ben Brown. Luca Wilkinson was the Junior winner.

Wilkinson and Kade Watt shared the Junior class wins on Sunday, each taking an overall
race win, with Atkinson and Alex Mann collecting a Senior win apiece.
Three riders stood atop the top step of the podium in the BMZRC 250 class, with Alexander
Mann, Andrew Wales, and Gordon Ryan all taking a win. In the other 250cc two-stroke
class, the DFDS Yamaha Past Masters, Kevin Wholey continued to dominate and extended
his championship lead with two wins, though he had to watch David Ball take the win in a
first race peppered by showers.

From the smallest bikes in the paddock to the biggest, there were two Reactive Parts MRO
Powerbikes races over the weekend at Cadwell Park, with Scott Stone winning both outings
in the windows of dry track time, on his Beaumont Racing Yamaha R1. Fellow Yamaha pilot
Rafal Kisyk and Honda-mounted Morgan Creasey took a Clubman win each, and Daniel
Mercer was twice a Retro 1000s winner on his Honda Fireblade.

In the DART Motorsport MRO 600 Anthony Johnson was a triple winner on his Inta
Motorcycle Services Ltd Yamaha R6, including winning race one by nearly half a minute.
Michael Mills, Luke Macrae, and Joey Lambden stood on the podium at different stages over
the weekend. In the Clubman class Elijah Everton took two wins, and Jake Kourti one.
In the Rookie classes, Dan Chamberlain extended his championship lead with three wins in
the 1000s, and James Lord took two 600 class wins, the other going to Blake O’Hare.

A wet opening race in the Clothing Kings Thunderbike Sport ended with series leader Matt
Wetherell extending his winning run and his championship lead. He then won in the dry on
Sunday, taking him to 12 wins in a row. However, that came to an end when he was beaten
to the win by Josh Harvey in a wet race three. Thunderbike action in the Extreme and Ultra classes also took place in changing conditions.

In the TW Suspension Extreme class Ian Ashby won a dry opener, before championship
leader David May pipped him to the win in a wet race two. Back in the dry conditions in race three, Ashby took another dominant victory.

Wins were also split in the Alf’s Motorcycles Ultra class, with championship hopeful Morgan
Creasey winning twice in the dry. He also finished runner up in the wet to Tyler Donovan by
less than a tenth of a second. Current Helix Homes / RP Course Formula 400 championship leader Andrew Gill was absent from the proceedings at Cadwell Park, though his nearest challenger, Kade Watt didn’t enjoy the best week to capitalise.

Jake Donkersley won the opener, half a tenth ahead of top Sub-64bhp class winner Mark
Haigh. Haigh then went on to take the overall win in the other two races. In the Sub-64bhp
class, Steve Rapa was on course to take points out of Watt’s series lead, before failing to
complete a lap of the final race, in which Watt finished third in class to retain his
championship advantage.

Despite the conditions the club’s F1 and F2 sidecars were able to enjoy some Cadwell Park
track time ahead of the Sidecar Revival Festival at the same venue on 3-4 August.
Three pairings all stood on the top step of the rostrum over the weekend. Luke Williams and Jason Pitt took the F1 and the overall win in race one, before Chris Wright and Paul Bailey took the overall and the F1 win in race two by less than two tenths of a second. The final sidecar outing of the weekend ended with Simon Gilbert and Francie Muldoon taking the chequered flag first, and the F1 win.

Out of the three races the F2 wins went the way of Greg Lambert and Andrew Haynes, Mark Hegarty and Alex Ludlow, and finally Lambert with Tony Jevans in the chair.
The club also hosted the Lansdowne Classic Series for the weekend, which saw Tony
Perkin win race one, before Daniel Jackson did the double to win both of Sunday’s races.

The next date in the Bemsee diary is the Sidecar Revival Festival on 3-4 August, at Cadwell
Park.

For Press Features please email Kerrie McFadden : info@FirstTurnMedia.co.uk

Photography : Rachel Bourne