Motorcycles and news

Upcoming British star Hodgson reigns supreme in Red Bull KTM Cup
Fresh from a podium finish in the last Junior Euro Cup race at St Wendal in Germany young British Supermoto talent Chris Hodgson took the overall victory in the KTM series first visit to these shores.

The weekend started well for Hodgson as he was quickest in the Saturday qualifying session over Martin Kraus and Mikael Stambeck with the next best Brit, Scott Woodacre in sixth. With the four quickest riders going through to a Superpole shootout on the Sunday it was Hodgson who once again showed everyone a clean pair of heels ­ this time by almost two seconds over his nearest rival.

In race one Hodgson took the holeshot and the first lap lead comfortably holding his position through to the chequered flag as he finished six seconds ahead of Martin Kraus with Baptiste Rhiems in third.

The second outing for the Red Bull KTM Euro Cup riders proved to be an absolute thriller with Rheims rounding the first lap in fifth while Hodgson had a horrid start and was way back in thirteenth. They both then mounted a stunning fightback with Rhiems clawing his way upto first place with just a few laps to go with Hodgson carving through the field to move into second behind Rheims on the same lap. They then had a great tussle over the final three laps before Rheims beat Hodgson across the line by two tenths of a second.

Red Bull KTM Junior Euro Cup
Superpole: Chris Hodgson
Race 1: 1. Chris Hodgson, 2. Martin Kraus, 3. Baptiste Rheims
Race 2: 1. Baptiste Rheims, 2. Chris Hodgson, 3. Adrien Vandommele
Overall: 1. Chris Hodgson 45, 2. Baptiste Rheims 41, 3. Gino Rea 24

Winstanley edges out Iddon in Sunday SM1 showdown
With Aprilia mounted Christian Iddon sitting out the SM1 proceedings on the Saturday it was left to the veteran Ady Smith to take the challenge to fellow KTM rider Matt Winstanley as he finished second to the ‘Wigan Whippet’ in qualifying and both feature races with Lee Jones keeping the main two protagonists honest by locking out third.

Everyone was looking forward to the two great rivals of Iddon and Winstanley locking horns on the Sunday for some classic Supermoto racing and they didn’t disappoint. It was Winstanley who drew first blood in qualifying snatching pole by just a few hundredths of a second.

In race one though it was Ady Smith who grabbed the holeshot and the lead keeping Winstanley and Iddon at bay for all of three laps before the latter blasted past both the KTM’s on the one lap as Winstanley was relegated to third. It wasn’t until the final third of the race that Winstanley once again got past Smith as he hunted down Iddon. He ran out of laps though and Iddon held on for a well deserved first race win.

While the first race was a thriller the second outing of the afternoon for the big bike class was a more straight forward affair with Winstanley making the early break from a chasing Iddon and Smith. Winstanley was never headed but there was plenty of action behind him as Iddon lost second briefly to Smith who then succumbed to Lee Jones for a few laps before coming back to take the final podium position.

SM1 Weekend Wrap-Up
Round 6, Saturday 21st October
Pole: Matt Winstanley
Race 1: 1. Matt Winstanley, 2. Ady Smith, 3. Lee Jones
Race 2: 1. Matt Winstanley, 2. Ady Smith, 3. Lee Jones
Overall: 1. Matt Winstanley 52, 2. Ady Smith 40, 3. Lee Jones 32

Round 7, Sunday 22nd October
Pole: Matt Winstanley
Race 1: 1. Christian Iddon, 2. Matt Winstanley, 3. Ady Smith
Race 2: 1. Matt Winstanley, 2. Christian Iddon, 3. Ady Smith
Overall: 1. Matt Winstanley 47, 2. Christian Iddon 45, 3. Ady Smith 32

Mixed bag in SM2 as McKee, Hodgson and Higgs share the spoils
The SM2 class for smaller bikes proved to be a bit of a ‘mixed bag’ over the weekend with the big names of Winstanley and Iddon dropping in and out of the four race schedule.

It was Christian Iddon who opened the scorecard on the Saturday round by taking pole position over Matt Winstanley while young Gennaro Dichello was third quickest. In race one though it was David McKee who took the win from Red Bull KTM rider Hodgson while Iddon didn’t figure in the equation.

In race two on a sunny Saturday Iddon and Winstanley were at it once again with Iddon emerging victorious after holding off McKee for most of the race before he dropped to fifth at race end leaving Winstanley to move up to second while Higgs once again came home third to pick up second overall on the day.

With Iddon and Winstanley focussing on SM1 on the Sunday it was left to the young pretenders to squabble over SM2 on the Sunday as ‘man of the moment’ Chris Hodgson snatched pole by a very narrow margin from KTM rider Richard Darlington.

Sunday’s race one was a three way battle between Hodgson, McKee and Darlington with McKee holding down the lead for the start of the race before being pushed out by Hodgson who made his way up from third passing Darlington on the way to the win. Race two had its own drama with McKee dictating the race pace from the front while Hodgson, Darlington and Ricky Higgs battled for the minor placings.

SM2 Weekend Wrap-Up
Round 6, Saturday 21st October
Pole: Christian Iddon
Race 1: 1. David McKee, 2. Chris Hodgson, 3. Ricky Higgs
Race 2: 1. Christian Iddon, 2. Matt Winstanley, 3. Ricky Higgs
Overall: 1. David McKee 36, 2. Ricky Higgs 32, 3. Matt Winstanley 30

Round 7, Sunday 22nd October
Pole: Chris Hodgson
Race 1: 1. Chris Hodgson, 2. David McKee, 3. Richard Darlington
Race 2: 1. David McKee, 2. Chris Hodgson, 3. Ricky Higgs
Overall: 1. Chris Hodgson 47, 2. David McKee 45, 3. Ricky Higgs

Clean sweep by Cornish turns the tables in SM4
While Matt Winstanley has now wrapped up both the British SM1 and SM2 titles its still very much ‘game-on’ in the SM4 class for Juniors as heading into the Three Sisters double Ryan Blandford held a slender lead over Lewis Cornish and Oliver Harrison.

Coming out the other side of a four race marathon Lewis Cornish now holds the upper hand by virtue of a stunning performance which saw him take the win in every race as well as pole position on both days. Ryan Blandford had an up and down weekend by contrast and could only manage a 76 point haul which saw him slip to second while Oliver Harrison faired the worst moving from equal second to third and is now more than 30 points in arrears of Cornish.

SM4 Weekend Wrap-Up
Round 6, Saturday 21st October
Pole: Lewis Cornish
Overall: 1. Lewis Cornish 52, 2. Ryan Blandford 40, 3. Oliver Harrison 32
Round 7, Sunday 22nd October
Pole: Lewis Cornish
Overall: 1. Lewis Cornish 52, 2. Oliver Harrison, 36, 3. Ryan Blandford 36