F350/Post Classic Championship Final Mallory Park
- Details
- Category: F350 and Post Classic
- Created on Wednesday, 09 November 2011 19:06
- Published on Wednesday, 09 November 2011 19:06
- Written by Super User
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The final races of the seaon were held at the Festival of Sidecars recently, Pat Gallagher/Sean Rooney (Derbyshire Suzuki) may have sewn up the Post Classic Championship before the this round, but they still featured strongly during the weekend in some very competitive races.
In the F350 class, Gordon/Julie Jones (TZ350) only needed a points scoring finish to take the title but they went out in style, taking a couple of wins in the process. The battle for second spot in the F350's was a close one between Dave Cheesmond/Smudge Taylor (BSK Windle) and Merv Noble/Keith Brotherton (350 Ham-Yam) with the result going in Cheesmond's favour after some dramatic action.
In the first race on Saturday, Gallagher made his customary flying start but he was robustly challenged by Tony and Neil Wheatley (Ireson TZ750) on the first two laps. Stuart Mellor/Mick Fairhurst (Martek TZ750) got into their stride on lap three, passing Wheatley and closing in on the leaders. Mellor eventually passed Gallagher on lap five and pulled away to win by five seconds. Wheatley took a well earned third place, two seconds in front of german visitor Enrico Wirth and stand in passenger Pete Burgess (Baker Suzuki).
In the F350 class, Wattie Brown/Brian Taylor (TZ350) made a flying start and were never headed. Jones had a calculated ride to take second place and clinch the championship.Alan Longshaw/John Longbottom (Ireson Banshee) made the most of their recent improved reliability to finish third, twenty seconds adrift. Has Cheesmond saw Noble retire on lap one, he rode a steady race to fourth to take one step closer to second in the championship.
Track conditions changed for race two as showers had left the circuit damp and slippery. This suited Gallagher and he rode a faultless race from flag to flag, finishing eleven seconds in front of Wirth, who was thoroughly enjoying his first visit to Mallory Park. Mellor's outfit struggled to find enough grip but he managed to take third spot some thirty nine seconds behind the winners. He spent most of the race in close company with Chris/Gary Fairhurst (Kawasaki 1100) who finished fourth, three seconds behind the two stroke.
Wattie Brown looked as if he might repeat his race one performance as he led the F350 pack on lap one, ahead of Longshaw and Cheesmond, but Cheesmond, who was revelling in the conditions, had other ideas. He closed rapidly on Brown, taking the lead on lap four.
The two outfits circulated in close order for the rest of the race, but Cheesmond made sure of the victory and second place in the championship. Brown was only 0.5 seconds behind and comfortably ahead of Paul Owen/Phil Parkes (Shelbourne TZ350). Owen had retired in race one with a faulty ignition but he managed to borrow one from Noble, who finished fourth.
For Sunday's races, Gallagher gave ex-F350 passenger Justin Sharpe a ride and they blitzed race one with a fine victory. There was a fine battle for second place between Fairhurst, Wirth and Mellor, with positions being swapped throughout the race. Mellor eventually pulled out a gap, taking second four seconds in front of Wirth, with Fairhurst going out with sticking throttles. In the F350 class, championship winner Jones led from the start, with Cheesmond in hot pursuit. Cheesmond took the lead on lap eight, but this was short-lived as he missed a gear on the start/finish straight, allowing Jones back into the lead.
Jones took the flag some three seconds ahead with Owen a good third, eight seconds back.
The track had dried out for the final race of the weekend and lap times were much faster. In the Post Classic class, Gallagher's lead was brief as he retired with a misfire. Mellor was happy to take over the lead, but Wirth thought differently, moving to the front on lap five and taking the victory by 1.3 seconds. Ed Taylor/Ian Breakwell (Suzuki GS1000) were happy to take third place just ahead of Fairhurst.
Jones showed why he is F350 champion with a commanding ride where he was never seriously challenged. Noble took second place six seconds back and this made up a little for missing out on second in the championship. Longshaw had another consistent ride to third place well ahead of Cheesmond. Yet again, the two classes have provided a season of closely competitive racing with great co-operation between the teams off the track and friendly rivalry on it!