Oliver’s Mount Spring National Cup Scarborough 2015
A heavy shower greeted officials, competitors and early morning fans at the Spring National Road Races on Saturday although by the time practice started it had stopped raining and the Mount was beginning to dry out.
A practice incident mid-morning curtailed the session and an early lunch was taken.
When practice resumed the sun was shining and although breezy, conditions were much improved and with practice and qualifying completed the first race, the Junior A Final 1st leg got underway at 2.45pm.
Dean Harrison had pole position, although it was Lee Johnston who took the hole shot into Mere Hairpin and at the end of the opening lap of six it was Ivan Lintin, Dean Harrison and Lee Johnston who headed the field with just a second separating all three.
The end of the second lap Johnston had taken the lead by 0.255 of a second from Lintin and Harrison now third.
Lintin was back in the lead a lap later and by lap four the gap was .0300 of a second and at the flag it was Ivan Linton 0.487 of a second ahead of Lee Johnston and Dean Harrison, followed by James Cowton, Daley Mathison and Mick Goodings.
The Junior B Final 1st leg was next, with Darren Cooper taking the lead after one lap of six, followed by Chris Cook and Seamus Elliott, the leader’s advantage being 1.714 seconds.
Lap two Elliott had moved into second and was just 0.344 of a second adrift of race leader Cooper. Frank Gallagher slotted into third.
Half-distance and it was Seamus Elliott in front by 2.066 seconds from Cooper with Gallagher still third.
Lap four and the advantage between Elliott and Cooper had increased to 3.966 seconds and at the flag the advantage was Seamus Elliott, five seconds ahead of Darren Cooper and Frank Gallagher, followed by Chris Cook, Adrian Harrison and Andy McPherson.
Race three was the first leg of the Super Lightweights, with Ivan Lintin taking the hole-shot into Mere Hairpin and led at the end of lap one, one-third of a second ahead of James Cowton with Ryan Farquhar over one-second behind in third.
Lap two and Cowton had taken over at the front and held three-quarters of a second lead over Lintin with Farquhar still third. Lap three and positions remained the same although Lintin had brought the gap down to 0.3 of a second.
Throughout the final three laps Cowton pulled away to take the chequered flag by 6.5 seconds, with Farquhar third.
Next up was the first leg of the F2 Sidecars. Conrad Harrison got the hole shot into Mere Hairpin but it was Dave Molyneux who headed the pack, with Steve Ramsden third. The lead had extended to 2.8 seconds after the second lap as positions remained the same. At half distance it was up to 6.7 seconds and at the flag it was 16.541 seconds from Conrad Harrison and Steve Ramsden.
Race 5 the 1st leg A Final of the Spring Cup with Guy Martin in pole position. Lee Johnston however got the hole-shot into Mere, but it was Ryan Farquhar who lead from Guy Martin by half-a-seconds, with Dean Harrison third, followed by Lee Johnston, Ivan Lintin and James Cowton.
Lap two and Guy was in front half a second ahead of Ryan with Dean third, with no change in fourth to sixth. Lap three, and Guy was still half a second ahead, but Lee Johnston was third as Dean Harrison headed to the paddock to retire. The top six were completed by Lintin, Cowton and Steve Mercer.
Lap four and the gap between the two leaders was now 0.707 of a second, as Lee Johnston made his way to the pits, so it was Martin, Farquhar, Lintin, Cowton, Mercer and Mark Goodings. Lap five and Guy had increased the lead to 2.2 seconds.
At the flag it was Guy Martin 3.496 seconds from Ryan Farquhar, Ivan Lintin, James Cowton, Steve Mercer and Mark Goodings.
Race six the Spring Cup B Final 1st leg with Davy Morgan getting the hole-shot and held the lead by 1.39 seconds from Alan Bonner and Jay Bellers-Smith in third a similar distance behind.
Lap two and the lead was down to 0.602 of a second. At half distance the gap was back up to 1.119 seconds.
At the conclusion of the penultimate lap the distance was down to 0.694 of a second, with Paul Gartland moving into third.
At the chequered flag it was Davy Morgan by 1.698 of a second from Alan Bonner and Paul Gartland third.
The second leg of the F2 Sidecars followed with Moly taking the lead and staying front until the fourth lap when it was red flagged and a results declared at the end of the third lap. Molyneux, Harrison and Ramsden
The Lightweights 1st leg was next, Alistair Haworth was declared the winner after two red flags. Seamus Elliott was second and Paul Owen third.
The penultimate race of the days was the Classic F1 & F2 1st leg. Jamie Coward was first into the Mere Hairpin followed by Ryan Farquhar. At the end of the lap it was David Bell from Ryan Farquhar and Peter Boast.
By the end of the second lap Farquhar was leading by 2.5 seconds from Bell and Boast.
Jamie Coward moved into third on the half-distance lap and at the conclusion of the penultimate lap he was up to second 6.4 seconds behind the race leader Ryan Farquhar with Bell still in third.
At the flag, it was Ryan, James and David, the gap between the top three 6.666 seconds and 9.440 seconds.
The final race of the day the first leg of the Senior class had Guy Martin in pole. Once again it was Lee Johnston who got the hole-shot from Guy Martin, but it was Dean Harrison who had 1.5 seconds advantage over Guy Martin with Lee Johnston another half-second down. Ivan Lintin, Ryan Farquhar and James Cowton completed the top six.
Lap two and the lead had increased by another one second. At half distance another second had been added to the lead.
By lap five the leaders advantage had been reduced to 3.101 seconds with Lee Johnston in front of Ivan Lintin demoting the latter to third.
Dean Harrison took the race victory by 2.533 seconds, with Lee Johnston third another second down. Ivan Lintin, Ryan Farquhar and James Cowton completed the top six.
Spring National Road Races -Sunday
Overcast but dry conditions greeted competitors and enthusiasts for the second days Spring National Road Races at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough.
With the morning practice over, and the weather providing intermittent rain and almost freezing conditions the first of the days races the second leg of the Lightweights which was won by Nick Anderson from Paul Owen and Peter Boast.
The second leg of the Sidecars followed, with Steve Ramsden taking the lead into Mere Hairpin, but it was Conrad Harrison who was leading at the end of the first lap of six, by 9.228 seconds followed by Ramsden and Dean Lindley third.
Lap two and the gap had doubled to 18 seconds whilst Tony Thirkell moved into third.
Half distance and the gap was 24 seconds with just 0.4of a second between second and third.
Lap four and with 36 seconds between the first two compared with 0.1 of a second between second and third and at the end of the penultimate lap Thirkell mod moved up to second with Lee Crawford taking third place by 0.0200 of a second.
At the flag it was Conrad Harrison followed by Tony Thirkell by 0.4 of a second with Lee Crawford third.
Next up were the F1 & F2 Classics 2nd leg, with David Bell taking the hole-shot but it was Peter Boast who was leading at the end of the first lap with Ryan Farquhar second and Bell down to third.
A lap later Ryan had a 1.5 second advantage over Peter Boast with David Bell still holding third.
Half distance and the lead was up to 2.600 seconds as positions remained the same.
By lap four the gap had increased to 5.50 seconds and at the flag on lap six Ryan Farquhar had an advantage of 14.263 seconds over Peter Boast with David Bell third.
The second leg of the Spring Cup A Final saw Ivan Lintin take the hole-shot from Guy Martin and Dean Harrison, but it was Daley Mathison who had the lead at the end of lap one by half-a-second from Tom Weeden and Ivan Lintin.
Guy Martin was fourth, followed by Guy Martin and Daniel Hegarty. Dean Harrison was 13th.
Lap two and three-quarters of a second separated Mathison and Weeden, with Lintin another eight seconds down. Lap three and the gap was now 2.881 seconds with Lintin now 11.624 seconds adrift in third.
Mathison had added a further three seconds to his lead by the end of the fourth lap, as Weeden also increased the distance between himself and Lintin to 10 seconds. Harrison was now up to 8th. Lap five and Weeden had reduced the gap to just 7.872 seconds.
At the chequered flag it was Daley Mathison ahead of Tom Weeden and Ivan Lintin with Guy Martin Daniel Hegarty and Bruce Birnie completing the top six.
The overall winner was declared as Guy Martin.
The Spring Cup B Final second leg was next, Michael Sweeney took the hole-shot and at the end of the opening lap it was Sweeney who had a 0.214 of a second lead over Rodger Wibberley and French newcomer Nicolas Pautet
Half distance and just 0.854 of a second was the gap between Sweeney and the French rider, with Wibberley now third. Lap 4 and Nicolas Pautet was now leading by 1.300 seconds from Sweeney and Wibberley. Lap 5 and Sweeney was leading from Rodger Wibberley with Adrian Harrison now third, the Frenchman having slid off on Sheene’s Rise on the lap.
At the flag Michael Sweeney took the victory by 0.001 of a second from Rodger Wibberley and Stephen Degnan third.
The fourth leg of the F2 Sidecars were next and once again it was Conrad Harrison and Lee Patterson who had a start to finish victory, this time by 12.7 seconds ahead of Dean Lindley/Rod Bellas and Lee Crawford/Luke Capewell.
Race 18 the Junior A Final second leg. Pole position holder James Cowton got the hole shot into Mere Hairpin followed by Daley Mathison and it was Mathison who led at the end of the first by 3.5 seconds from Dean Harrison, with Daniel Hegarty third followed by Ivan Lintin, James Cowton and Tom Weeden.
Lap 2 and the lead was up to 5.300 seconds between Mathison and Harrison with Lintin now third, followed by Hegarty, Cowton and James Neesom. However Harrison pulled into the paddock at the start of lap three, so at the end of the lap it was still Mathison ahead of Lintin and Hegarty.
Lap 4, Mathison’s advantage was 3.766 seconds over Lintin, but Lintin had closed the gap by 3 seconds from the previous lap. Hegarty was a further 5 seconds down.
Lap 5, the penultimate lap and another half a second had been shaved off the leader’s advantage, with Hegarty falling further away from the second-placeman Linton.
At the flag it was Daley Mathison from Ivan Lintin and Dan Hegarty with James Neesom, James Cowton and Mark Goodings.
The Junior B Final 2nd leg, race 19, was won by Darren Cooper with Ben Rea second and
The penultimate race of the day and the event was the second leg of the Super Lightweights saw James Cowton leading at the end of the first lap from Ivan Lintin by 0.169 of a second and Daniel Hegarty holding third.
Lap 2 and Ivan Lintin had the lead by 2.6 seconds from James Cowton with Daniel Hegarty still third.
Half distance and positions were the same although the lead had extended to 3.354 seconds. Lap 4 One, two, three the same top three and the same on the penultimate lap although the gap had increased to 4.687 seconds.
The red flag was shown during the fifth lap and the race was declared at the end of the fourth lap, with the results going to Ivan Lintin from James Cowton and Daniel Hegarty.
The final race of the day, the second leg of the Senior class started with just seven riders, Ivan Lintin, Daley Mathison, Mark Goodings, Dean Harrison, Mick Goodings, Dave Hewson and Franck Petricola.
Lap one saw Dean Harrison 0.3 of a second ahead of Daley Mathison with Ivan Lintin third.
Lap 2 and the gap was up to 1.048 seconds, lap – lap 3 and it was back down to 0.855 of a second. The gap was down to 0.365 of a second as Dean and Daley started their last lap.
At the all important chequered flag the victory went to Dean Harrison by a mere 0.205 of a second from Daley Mathison with Ivan Lintin third.
“To be honest, I was surprised to be doing the lap times I was doing in Saturday’s dry races and to push Guy and have boys behind me who’d been testing in Spain was very pleasing. The gearing wasn’t right on the Twin for all the tight hairpins but I got a solid third and was pleased with the top end speed so with a few more things to try I think we’ll be there or thereabouts. Unfortunately, the weather on Sunday was really cold and wet and with so much work to do and so many important meetings coming up, I didn’t feel it was the worth the risk to go out in what were pretty awful conditions.”
“I was pleased to get the two wins on Kevin Pearson’s bike but it was that cold on Sunday, my hands went numb after three laps and I couldn’t feel the handlebars. When it’s like that, it’s so easy to make a mistake and for other riders to do the same so I opted out of the remaining races to head home and start preparing all the bikes for the Tandragee. No one can help the weather and like I say, it was a productive meeting so I’ll be looking to move things forward with the bikes and be that bit closer to where I want to be next time out.”
