Mallory Park played host to the inaugural round of the brand new Thundersport GB Championships on Sunday, March 16^th.

Despite harsh winter conditions that made sure the track temperature never rose much above freezing and downpours that threatened to wash-out the event before it had even started, under the leadership of Dave Stewart and his team of marshals, the meeting ran very smoothly from start to finish.

The Dunlop/BSN grid girls braved the cold weather too, adding some much needed glamour to a particularly grey day.

"In the early hours of the morning I honestly doubted that we would be able to get the circuit suitably drained to allow practice to start at all. Huge thanks were due to the circuit maintenance staff who worked their socks off to pump out the standing water," said Stewart.

"By 9.30am we were ready to roll, and the first ever Thundersport race day was underway in distinctly soggy conditions. As the day progressed, the benefits of taking out the oak tree soon became apparent as four riders crashed heavily at the exit of the Lake Esses in separate incidents and all emerged uninjured. The downside was that until the grass grows it is hard work for the marshals keeping the racing surface mud-free, a task they tackled without complaint."

While the weather was disappointing, the racing was anything but. Across all classes various battles ensued with the Aprilia Superteens providing arguably the most the entertaining action. With many new riders making the switch from schoolboy motocross, it appeared that    someone forgot to tell them that road tyres don’t grip too well in the wet and it was testament to the skill of these young riders that there were only a handful of minor incidents. Superteen winners at the first round included Jack Blake, David Pearce and Kieran Sturley – expect more names to be added to the winners’ list over the season as the depth of talent coming through this class this year is nothing short of staggering – watch out Casey!

In the GP1 class, Kenny Gilbertson looked to be the favourite for the win, using the meeting as a shakedown test in preparation for his British Superstock campaign aboard the Astro Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R. Gilbertson opted to run wets on the drying track and led the race from start to finish – but only just. Yamaha R6-mounted Gary May had opted for dry tyres and chipped away at Gilbertson’s lead setting the fastest lap of the race and finishing just over a second off Gilbertson at the flag.

In the Thundersport 600 race, a depleted grid of just seven riders lined up for their 20-lap race. Race not admin’s Rob Hoyles got the holeshot and led for a few laps before making a mistake at the hairpin and allowing former British 250GP frontrunner, Gary May through. Fresh from the GP1 race, May was dialled into the circuit and cleared off to take the win with Hoyles fending off a determined Ashley Midwood to take second place.

Feedback from the riders was very positive and with top riders such as Leon Haslam and Danny Webb showing an interest in the series this new championship looks set to go from strength to strength.

Picture courtesy of