Event 2: TKM/Honda, Rissington

Harry Yardley-Rose stated his intent for the weekend in qualifying and continued his early pace into the first heat with a victory ahead of Zak Oates and Oliver Stewart, with yet more frustration for the exceptionally fast Morgan Kidd who suffered a front fairing penalty dropping from 4th position to 8th. It would be Dominic Kilmister who would benefit finishing ahead of Ben Watson and Spencer Lane, but with leading seed Connor Kearney out on the first lap we knew we were in for a strong fightback.

Yardley-Rose continued into the second day still on top form and grabbed another win ahead of Oliver Richardson and Morgan Kidd who just squeezed ahead of Louis Harvey at the finish line. Zak Oates asserted his authority on the final heat with a brilliant victory in front of Oliver Stewart with Dominic Kilmister and Oliver Richardson close behind.

The finals would play out as a straight duel between Harry Yardley-Rose and Zak Oates with some great opposition from the drivers with them in the top six. Despite six lead changes and a strong attack from Oliver Stewart, it would be Yardley-Rose who clinched his first final win of the season just ahead of Oates and Stewart. Oliver Richardson would finish just ahead of Harvey Roffe with Kilmister and Kidd close behind.

The roles would be reversed in the second final up front, but not until Oliver Stewart had made an even stronger assault on the victory. Eight lead changes between three drivers eventually saw Zak Oates emerge in front of Yardley-Rose and Louis Harvey as Morgan Kidd was handed another post-race penalty despite brilliantly finishing fourth on the road just a shave ahead of Oliver Stewart.

After Chris Whitton’s dominance at PF International, the rest of the field were eager to settle the score so when Adam Sparrow bagged pole position with Whitton down in a lowly 34th we knew we were in for a treat especially with the whole field covered by just over a second. Sparrow converted his pole position into a heat one victory ahead of Matthew Allnutt and Lee Whittingham, with James Pashley, Alex Page and Matthew Taylor rounding out the top six.

The next day Sparrow made it two out of two with Lewis Wadley inches from beating him. Whittingham grabbed another third place chased home by Kyle Sproat and Joseph Reeves-Smith with Allnutt again in the top six. Wadley then clinched a win of his own in the final heat ahead of Sproat and former champion Harry Moore, as Spencer Stevenson, Ryan Cole and reigning champion Joe Fowler re-emerged at the front of the field to complete the leading six over the line.

Despite his early form Adam Sparrow was jumped at the start by Lee Whittingham and despite a brief return to the top spot couldn’t match his early weekend pace, but once Lewis Wadley hit the front on lap 9 it would become a lead he would never lose. Kyle Sproat then passed Whittingham too to claim another podium finish, whilst behind Whittingham at the flag there were some valuable high scores for Matthew Allnutt, Ryan Cole and the heroic comeback from Chris Whitton with Sparrow falling to a lowly 9th.

In the second final Wadley’s initial challenge from Whittingham sadly declined and as the Precision Racing driver edged into an unbreakable lead it would be Adam Sparrow and Chris Whitton who delivered big recovery drives to accompany Wadley on the final podium of the weekend. Cole, Taylor and Whittingham would emerge in the top six behind them, but with Wadley proving his point from a pair of victories, Whitton holds a crucial 12 point advantage over Ryan Cole heading to Fulbeck.