BMCRC (Bemsee) – Round 4 Donington Park Race Report

The British Motorcycle Racing Club hit the halfway point of its 2024 season at the weekend, with round four taking place on the Donington Park National Circuit.

With pole position and four wins Anthony Johnson assumed the lead of DART Motorsport MRO 600 Championship, relieving Harry Fowle of top spot, who, by contrast, had a disappointing weekend, with a crash in race one and a DNS in race two. He recovered to an 11th and a seventh on Sunday.

Johnson was joined on the podium twice by EVO class winner Max Hardy and Joey Lambden on Saturday. Sunday saw Luke McRae – on his Bourne Photo Triumph – and Kawasaki-mounted Lambden take a second and a third each. Elijah Everton bagged all four Clubman wins.

In the three L&W Contractors Rookie 600 races James Lord took points out of series lead Aaron Hickmott with two wins. Hickmott took a single victory in the final race.

Josh Wainwright continues to be untouchable in the Reactive Parts MRO Powerbikes, carding another perfect weekend on his JW MOT Centre Honda Fireblade, as he extended his championship lead.

Stephen Draper took three seconds, the other going to Luke Wallington. Nicky Wilson was twice third on Saturday, before Steven Butterworth and Morgan Creasey took a bronze medal apiece on Sunday.

Butterworth also took all four Retro 1000 wins, and Creasy secured all of the Clubman class victories.

Wins in the L&W Contractors Rookie 1000s were split equally between Nathan Thompson, series leader Dan Chamberlain, and Matthew Whitney.

In the ProperlyProtected.co.uk MRO Minitwins there were the usual intense battles at the front. Reigning champion David Twyford took the points lead with three wins, the other victory going to David Lindemann. Darren Dowds, who arrived at the top of the points table, took three thirds but suffered a crash in race two. Oliver Arbon took the other third place finish of the weekend.

James Eggington was credited with all four Rookie Minitwin wins to maintain his title challenge.

There was a brace of wins to be had for ACU Team Green Junior Cup championship leader Luca Wilkinson at Donington, as he extended his lead in the standings. Though he suffered a DNF in race three, his nearest title rival, Marley Mackenzie, also crashed out over the weekend, and failed to finish on the podium.

Zack Weston and Senior Ninja runner Ben Brown picked up a win apiece. Daryn Busa also took a Senior class win, while Phil Atkinson picked up two class victories.

Two wins saw Andrew Wales extend his advantage in the Modality BMZRC 250 championship standings, with Chris Kent and Louis Kershaw also tasting victory.

In the club’s other two-stroke class, the DFDS Yamaha Past Masters, Kevin Wholey converted pole into four wins, and is already going to take some overhauling if he’s to be prevented from winning this year’s championship.

Andrew Saunders may have given himself reason to believe he can still win this year’s TW Suspension Thunderbike Extreme Championship. Despite two no scores at Snetterton he won both races he finished in Norfolk, and won three races this weekend at Donington, the other going the way of points leader David May.

In the Alf’s Motorcycles Thunderbike Ultra Steven Butterworth scored a hat trick of wins to extend his points lead, as Morgan Creasey also took a race win.

The Clothing Kings Thunderbike Sport category was dominated by Matt Wetherell, as he took maximum points on his Lamonde Racing GSX-R600 Suzuki.

The British Motorcycle Racing Club’s growing Supertwin class continues to expand. Though while the grid may have grown in numbers, there was only one rider on the top step of the podium all weekend, with James O’Mara picking up 100 championship points from the four races.

The next round of Bemsee’s 2024 championship takes place at Cadwell Park on 5-7 July.

Words: James Sharpe
Photos: Rachel Bourne (Bourne Photo)