2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round 8 – Silverstone National

Images Dave Yeomans

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Supersport Race One

Lee Johnston makes it two wins in three races in an action-packed Quattro Group British Supersport Sprint race. Storming off the line, Perie was the early race leader ahead of Currie, Johnston and Kennedy. However, disaster would strike series leader Jack Kennedy on lap four when he and Harry Truelove crashed out of action.

With no one able to break away, it came down to the final lap as Johnston, Charlie Nesbitt and Perie battled it out. Coming down to the run to the line, Johnston was able to claim his second win of the season by just 0.035s. Joining him on the podium was Bradley Perie and Rhys Irwin, who took his first podium.

Charlie Nesbitt was the first of the GP2 machines, second overall, while Mason Law was sixth overall, just one space ahead of Dan Jones.

British Supersport / GP2 Race One Results

Supersport Race Two

It was an action-packed Quattro group British Supersport race at Silverstone, with Charlie Nesbitt leading fellow GP2 rider Mason Law over the line. It was Ben Currie who grabbed the holeshot, but the opening stages saw a close battle of six riders.

Working his way forward, Nesbitt took over front running at the halfway point, with Mason Law following him through. As those two edge away at the front, it left a battle for the Supersport win, with Bradley Perie and Lee Johnston traded places.

Coming down to the final lap, Perie was able to take the win ahead of Johnston, with Rhys Irwin completing the Supersport podium.

British Supersport / GP2 Race Two Results

Quattro Group British Supersport Championship Standings

Quattro Group British GP2 Championship Standings

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Superstock 1000

New Zealand’s Damon Rees was involved in a large crash into Copse corner during the closing minutes of the Superstock 1000 Qualfying session and suffered a broken humerus in multiple places, four broken ribs, a bruised lung & two fractured vertebrae. Although the injuries are quite substantial, he is in good spirits and is already looking forward to starting the road to recovery. 

Tim Neave narrowly took pole position, topping qualifying by just 0.042s. South Australia Billy McConnell was second, ahead of Fraser Rogers who completed the front row. Luke Mossey lead the second row with Taylor Mackenzie fifth and South Aussie Levi Day sixth.

Superstock 1000 Race One

Tim Neave converted his pole position in the Pirelli National Superstock class into a race win, narrowly beating Billy McConnell and Luke Mossey over the line. The 22 lap race was a thrilling battle with five riders fighting for the podium.

With Neave, McConnell and Mossey all taking their turn to lead the race, Neave was able to move into the lead on the penultimate circulation and hold on to take the win.

Alex Olsen was fourth, while series leader Tom Neave was fifth.

Road Racing star Ian Hutchinson claimed eighth ahead of Levi Day while Tom Ward rounded out the top ten.

Brayden Elliott finished 16th ahead of Kiwi Shane Richardson.

Pirelli National Superstock Championship Race One

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Pirelli National Superstock Championship Race Two

Alex Olsen powered his way to a fourth victory of the season, beating series leader Tom Neave by 0.3s. It was Neave who led for the early stages, but Olsen was able to find his way through in the closing stages and edge away to take the win.

Fraser Rogers completed the podium in third, having set the fastest lap of the race, ahead of South Australian Billy McConnell.

Tim Neave was fith ahead of Ian Hutchinson and Lewis Rollo.

Levi Day unfortunately recorded a DNF while countryman Brayden Elliott carded a 21st place result.

Kiwi Shane Richardson crossed the line just outside the points in 18th place.

Pirelli National Superstock Championship Race Two Results

Pirelli National Superstock Championship Standings

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Pirelli National Junior Superstock

Jack Nixon cruised to victory in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock class, taking the win by over three seconds. The Santander Salt Yamaha rider was unchallenged on his way to victory, but it was a battle behind for the remaining podium positions as Asher Durham narrowly beat Joe Talbot by just 0.047s to claim second.

Eugene McManus was fourth ahead of Aaron Silvester, Franco Bourne and Charlie Farrer.

Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship Race Results

Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship  Standings

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HEL Performance British Junior Supersport with Motocourse Race One Results

British Junior Supersport Race Two

Adon Davie grabbed a thrilling victory in the second HEL Performance British Junior Supersport race, clinching the win by just 0.037s. The action-packed race was initially red flagged on the opening lap, and on the restart it was race one winner Cameron Dawson who held the early lead, but it was a race long fight for the lead coming down to the final lap.

It was Davie who took victory on the final run to the line, with Dawson second and Lucca Allen third.

HEL Performance British Junior Supersport with Motocourse Race Two Results

HEL Performance British Junior Supersport Championship Standings

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Honda British Talent Cup Race One

The penultimate round of the Honda British Talent Cup promised it could be pivotal, and after a dramatic Race 1 at Silverstone that may already be proved half true. As drama hit for key contenders for the crown, it was Ollie Walker (Moto Rapido / SP125 Racing) who came through to take his first win, getting some deserved reward for running at the front after late heartbreak in a few recent rounds. Second was another first as Sullivan Mounsey (iForce Lloyd & Jones) stood on the rostrum for the first time after another standout ride, with Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing) taking his second podium in third place once the dust settled in the wake of the shake-up.

It started with what’s become the standard at lights out as Johnny Garness (City Lifting by RS Racing) took the holeshot from pole, with Casey O’Gorman (Microlise Cresswell Racing) slotting into second and an early breakaway forming as the duo were joined by Mounsey, points leader Evan Belford (City Lifting by RS Racing), Carter Brown (City Lifting by RS Racing), James Cook (Wilson Racing) and Jamie Lyons (C&M Motors Ltd / Tooltec Racing).

It didn’t take long for that first bout of huge drama though. Heading into Maggots, Lap 3 saw Belford suffer a moment and the points leader tagged closest competitor O’Gorman as, shockingly, both the top two in the standings went down. Riders ok, but the door suddenly wide open for those on the chase to capitalise.

So then there were five, with Garness leading with a small margin by the next lap around. But he wasn’t allowed to escape and the chasers soon closed in, with someone else closing in too: Walker. He and Crosby were on a charge and well in the mix in the front group by a third of race distance run.

On Lap 8, more drama. Cook overcooked it right after taking the lead, the number 34 sliding out and losing his shot at glory. The group that had gone from seven to five to seven again had become a six-rider freight train – with Mounsey in the lead.

Lap by lap, so it remained. A classic group battle between the six looked set to roll on right to the end and that it almost did, although Lyons and Crosby lost a little touch with the front four in the last few laps. but even more drama was to come, with Saturday delivering an absolute rollercoaster.

Heading over the line to start the final lap, it was Garness in the lead and Brown fighting off both Walker and Mounsey. But Brown was able to tag back onto the leader and by Luffield, he was close enough to attack – and went for the outside. Locked together initially, there was then contact as the number 74 tagged Garness and it was Garness was forced to sit it up and run on, the number 57 out of the race.

In the aftermath of that, Walker and Mounsey swept through to finish 1-2, both putting in their best races yet and hitting some impressive milestones – having been right there in the battle throughout. Brown crossed the line in third after that final drama of the race, seemingly having made some big gains, but the final final drama of the day was still to come for the number 74. For the incident with Garness, he was given the equivalent of a Long Lap penalty, a three-second time penalty, and drops to fifth – losing the chance to gain a much bigger chunk of points.

The duel between Crosby and Lyons went all the way to the wire and became the fight for third after the penalty for Brown, and the number 15 just took it by 0.075. So Lyons is forced to settle for fourth, and Brown completes the top five in the classification.

Sixth saw Troy Jeffrey (Stiggymotorsport) hold off Harley McCabe (MLav VisionTrack Academy) by half a second, but both impressing and Kiyano Veijer (Microlise Cresswell Racing) likewise as the Dutch rookie took P8. Josh Bannister (Dunsley Heat Racing) took his best finish by far in ninth, beating Harrison Dessoy (Thorneycroft56 Racing) by just 0.046 as he, in turn, held off Lucas Brown (Amphibian Scaffolding / SP125 Racing).

Honda British Talent Cup Race One

Honda British Talent Cup Race Two

Sunday saw Silverstone host another classic Honda British Talent Cup battle, with Carter Brown (City Lifting by RS Racing) coming out on top this time around – and taking the points lead with it. He struck late to take it and Jamie Lyons (C&M Motors Ltd / Tooltec Racing) followed him through to get back on the box at Silverstone, with the podium completed by Johnny Garness (City Lifting by RS Racing).

There was some drama from the off or rather before it for Race 1 podium finisher Sullivan Mounsey (iForce Lloyd & Jones), with problems on the grid forcing the number 4 to start from the very back of the grid. And after their drama on Saturday, both Casey O’Gorman (Microlise Cresswell Racing) and Evan Belford (City Lifting by RS Racing) were down in P18 and P20 for take two, making it quite a proposition for the duo heading in at the top of the standings as well.

At lights out it was Garness who got the best start, not from pole this time around but the number 57 still taking the holeshot in 57 style. Race 1 winner Ollie Walker (Moto Rapido / SP125 Racing) slotted into second with Brown in third, but it was a big group from the off as the three were joined by Lyons, Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing), Rhys Stephenson (Rocket Racing) and James Cook (Wilson Racing).

On comeback watch though, after only a handful of laps the three riders somewhat out of position had been absolutely storming through. By Lap 4, O’Gorman was at the head of the group chasing to catch the lead gaggle, up into eighth, and the 67 cut the gap quickly. Next it was the turn of Mounsey – up from 31st and the very back – as he led Belford and tucked in to push forward, both also managing to bridge that gap before long.

As the group gained three though, it started to lose one, with Cook beginning to fade by mid-race. However, the freight train fight for the lead was only hotting up, now nine-riders strong, with phase 1 of O’Gorman’s charge completed as he took over at the front.

Heading onto the final lap it was still the number 67 in the lead, with Brown threatening just behind and Lyons in third as Garness shadowed. And the key move came from Brown. The number 74 lined it up and made it stick, with that tiny door opening more than enough invitation for Lyons too. Both sliced past O’Gorman and crossed the line just ahead, but there was an extra kicker for the number 67 too: on the drag to the line, Garness managed to pip him by just 0.009.

The 25 points for the win put Brown on top as the number 74 bounces back after a ore contentious Saturday at Silverstone, with Lyons finding rostrum form again and Garness making his slipstream prowess work to perfection once again. From P18 on the grid though, a 14-place gain and still 11 points off the top of the table is a stunner from O’Gorman.

The battle for fifth was a couple of tenths further back by the line, but it was won by Mounsey as he gained a whopping 26 places. O’Gorman impressed from P18 to thousandths off the podium, but Mounsey, who has one podium and had a second best result this season season of fourth, stormed to fifth position from the very back of the grid – not only taking one of his biggest points hauls of the year, but keeping his head when pressure came knocking.

Crosby was a tenth and a half further back, with Stephenson’s impressive Sunday seeing him take P7, denied by just 0.047. In the end, Belford put together an impressive comeback from P20 but lost out in the group, taking P8 and losing the points lead to Brown. Walker completed the freight train, with Cook a bit further back and the number 34 completing the top ten.

Another day, another rollercoaster, and another shake-up. Sunday sees Brown head into the finale as the points leader, with six in hand over Belford, but O’Gorman is now only five further back too. Garness and Lyons remain in mathematical contention too. Who’ll take the crown in 2021? We’ll find out next time out as Donington Park Grand Prix layout puts the Honda British Talent Cup on the line in a few short weeks!

Honda British Talent Cup Race Two Results

Honda British Talent Cup Championship Standings

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Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup Race One

Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup Race Two

Josh Day bounced back from his DNF on Saturday to take a narrow victory in the second race. Launching off the line, Day and Elliott Pinson were in close contention throughout the six laps. Coming down to the final corner, Day was able to out drag Pinson to line, taking the win by just 0.060s. Chris Walker took third, ahead of Shoubridge and Jones.

Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup Race Two Results

Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup Championship Standings

Source: MCNews.com.au