Title rivals Barry Burrell and Kieran Smith celebrated a win apiece in today’s BMW F 900 R Cup heats as the fight for the championship runs into tomorrow’s final race.
K Smith started Heat One from pole, but it was title rival Bobby Varey who got the best start and hit the front. Smith wasn’t about to let him clear off and by the end of the opening lap had already taken the lead.
The lead swapped between Varey, Smith and Thomas Strudwick during the race and it came down to a last lap move from Smith, who made a lunge into Hawthorns to move ahead of Varey, holding it to the line to take victory ahead of Varey, with Strudwick third, C Smith fourth and Kenny Macleod fifth.
Heat Two brought more drama in what quickly became a three rider battle between points leader Burrell, Nikki Coates and Josh Corner.
Coates started from pole but Burrell made a flying start to lead into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Coates was soon back ahead as behind, Josh Corner made up for a poor start to soon find his way past wildcard Davey Todd into fourth place.
It looked like Corner was going to cause problems for the championship contenders as he got himself between Burrell and Coates on the penultimate lap and was looking set to make a dive for the lead.
But it all went wrong on the final lap as Coates tried to get back past and keep himself in the championship fight. As he dived up the inside, the pair collided and both crashed out into the gravel.
This left Burrell with a clear run to the line to take the win as Todd was second with Dale Thomas third, Mason Johnson fourth and Aaron Daykin fifth.
Heat One result:
1. Kieran Smith (GP Titan Tech by Bathams)
2. Bobby Varey (Bobby Varey Racing) + 0.030s
3. Thomas Strudwick (GiBi Racing) +0.621s
4. Christian Smith (SCH Motoprep by Bathams) +0.679s
5. Kenny Macleod (True Heroes Racing) +4.370s
Heat Two result:
1. Barry Burrell (Halliwell Jones)
2. Davey Todd (BMW UK) +1.011s
3. Dale Thomas (DT Racing) +7.752s
4. Mason Johnson (Dunsley Heat Racing/Racefastners) +13.388s
5. Aaron Daykin (Alexander’s Financial Planning Racing) +14.007s