Balmy weather and cracking racing at Three Sisters

British Supermoto
By britishsupermoto.co.uk
January 16 2006

The 2006 British Supermoto Championship season opener at Three Sisters was blessed with sunny weather and cracking racing, with Winstanley pushed all the way in both the SM1 and SM2 classes.

It was a near unbelievable twelve degrees at the normally very cold Wigan circuit for Saturday practice, with similar weather on Sunday race-day attracting a large crowd.

Going into the first round few were prepared to bet against local rider Matt Winstanley in either of the main classes, but he certainly didn’t have it all his own way. In qualifying he was beaten first by Rob Cross in SM2 and then KTM rider Ady Smith in the big bike SM1 class.

In all but one of the four main races he couldn’t hold the lead from the start, with first Hodgson then Ady Smith and Cross setting the pace. His class eventually shone through though and he mounted attacks on each of the early leaders, to finish with four wins from four starts in a masterful performance.

In the Juniors, the absence of Gennaro Dichello meant SM4 was wide open, and it was Lewis Cornish who performed best, holding off a determined Harrison and Gough in some very close racing. Early form suggests that this will be one of the most closely fought championships this season, with stars of the future battling for a share of the limelight.

SM1 Qualifying
On paper it looked like Matt Winstanley would not only take the SM1 and SM2 wins, but also set himself up with back to back pole positions in qualifying. It didn’t go to plan, however, with fellow KTM rider Ady Smith comfortably taking pole, and with third quickest Jay Smith more than two seconds of the quickest time.
1 Ady Smith; 2 Matt Winstanley; 3 Jay Smith

SM2 Qualifying
Again Winstanley didn’t have it his way in the small bike class, with Rob Cross going quicker, albeit by the narrowest of margins, and with young Chris Hodgson doing well to record the third fastest time.
1 Rob Cross; 2 Matt Winstanley; 3 Chris Hodgson

(SM2 Race 1) Valiant effort by McKee as Winstanley asserts control
Undeniably Winstanley was the favourite to make a clean sweep of all the races at the Three Sisters season opener. The first race of the day initially didn’t bode well, with Hodgson getting a flying start and rounding the first lap in the lead. David McKee then got past Hodgson and held off a charging Matt Winstanley for a further four laps, before succumbing to the “Wigan Whippet”. Winstanley eventually ran out a fairly comfortable winner by more than five seconds.
1 Matt Winstanley; 2 David McKee; 3 Chris Hodgson

(SM1 Race 1) Winstanley dominates the big bikes
Ady Smith briefly challenged Winstanley, but once the KTM rider took the lead he began reeling off a succession of quick laps to distance himself from the rest of the pack - to secure an easy win. The real battle was over second, between Rob Cross, Ady Smith and Jay Smith, with the action culminating mid-race. Ady Smith lost out the most, dropping from second to fourth, with Cross and Jay Smith benefiting by moving up a place each at the finish.
1 Matt Winstanley; 2 Rob Cross; 3 Jay Smith

(SM2 Race 2) Winstanley leads by example in race two
It took Winstanley a little while to get going, but once he did he never looked back. The second SM2 race saw him make a good start and finish the first lap in the lead, which he held to the finish. Despite the best efforts of McKee he was never really pressured, with Hodgson finishing a fairly distant third.
1 Matt Winstanley; 2 David McKee; 3 Chris Hodgson

(SM1 Race 2) Smith and Smith battle for the last steps on the podium
For once Winstanly had a bad start, scrambling to only hold down fifth place after lap one. Cross and the two Smiths, Jay and Ady, were the ones making a real battle of it at the front of the pack. Cross took the early lead, but was quickly caught by Jay Smith. Ady Smith dropped back in the early stage of the race, before charging through to finish second, following Winstanley who had recovered well to take the lead at mid-distance.
1 Matt Winstanley; 2 Ady Smith; 3 Jay Smith

Overall results:

SM1
1 Matt Winstanley, 50
2 Ady Smith, 35
3 Rob Cross, 33
4 Jay Smith, 32
= Lee Jones, 32

SM2
1 Matt Winstanley, 50
2 David McKee, 40
3 Chris Hodgson, 32
4 Ricky Higgs, 24
5 Richard Blakeman, 18

(SM4) Cornish to the fore in Junior SM4 class
Young Lewis Cornish laid down an early marker at Three Sisters, securing not only pole position but also the two race wins. George Gough must have been disappointed, just being beaten across the line in race one; as was Oliver Harrison in race two. In fact, the next four riders were separated by only one point at the end of the day, with Harrison taking second overall honours on a count back over Gough.
SM4 Overall: 1 Lewis Cornish; 2 Oliver Harrison; 3 George Gough

Catch all the action on the Internet:
You can see all the action from Three Sisters on the Internet via the Moto X website at www.motox.tv - check out their website for further details.