SALTBURN motorcycle racer Davey Todd was in superb form at the opening round of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Silverstone last weekend, coming so close to taking a podium place in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship race.

Having impressed on a couple of outings in the series last year, Todd is planning a full campaign in 2016 and it got off to a fantastic start when he topped the early free practice sheets aboard his Morello Racing Kawasaki despite the wet conditions last Friday. He then qualified in seventh place to start from row three, but it was in Sunday’s dry and live televised race that the 20-year-old impressed.

Charging through the field to run with the leading bunch, Todd was as high as second at one point, but he was edged out on the final couple of corners to cross the line in fourth place, missing out on a deserved first podium by a tenth of a second after 10 laps around the full 3.66-mile Arena GP track.

Local riders were also in the points in other classes, including Knaresborough’s Dan Linfoot, who led the opening MCE British Superbike Championship race on his factory-backed Honda Fireblade. He eventually finished fifth and followed up with ninth place in the day’s second race.

Burnopfield rider Chrissy Rouse had a late call-up to the CECS/Mission Racing BMW team in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship and was impressive on his debut. Qualifying on row eight of the grid, the County Durham rider made great progress in the race to claim 13th at the flag and secure his first points in the series.

In the same race, Newcastle riders Barry Teasdale (GreenChem/BHR BMW) and Josh Corner (NEI Motorsport Kawasaki) finished 24th and 25th respectively, with Hutton Rudby’s Neil Bainbridge (KLM/Hare Kawasaki) 33rd in the 11-lap race at the home of the British Grand Prix.

In the Ducati Tri-Options Cup, Middlesbrough’s Rik Rooney qualified in 23rd place before retiring from both races on his Highsparks Racing Panigale 899.

AFTER a couple of unsuccessful events which resulted in retirement since taking delivery of their Proton Neo Satria Millington, Northallerton pairing Graeme Bell and Russ Radford bounced back to take fourth place overall on the TJS Self Drive Alan Healy Memorial Stages Rally at Cadwell Park, in Lincolnshire, last Sunday.

The duo were contesting the latest round of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship, in association with MSVR. They had scored good points in the opening rounds before being forced to miss some and, after a trouble-free day in the Clarion Homes-backed car, the pair claimed third in class as a bonus.

Also in action was Kepwick’s Peter Stephenson and Welsh co-driver Patrick Walsh, who took eighth overall and sixth in class in their Able UK-sponsored Subaru S6, while Bedale starlet Joe Cunningham and Northallerton co-driver Marc Fowler brought their 1400cc coach2.com-backed Vauxhall Corsa home 21st overall, just missing a class win by two seconds, but maintaining their challenge for class honours in the title race.

Pickhill co-driver Kari Bates guided John Marshall to second in class and 26th overall in their MG ZR, two places ahead of Middlesbrough’s Rob Burke and Bishop Auckland co-driver Steve Perry, who ended up 13th in class in their Subaru. Ripon crew Tim Gray and Ant Randall took 30th overall and fourth in class in their 1600cc Ford Puma, while Saltburn driver Alan Hick, along with Guisborough co-driver Phil Hewson, took 41st overall and 11th in class in the Peugeot 206.

Two places further back overall were the Chandler brothers, driver Andrew, from Northallerton, and co-driver Richard, from Thirsk, who finished fourth in class in their 1300cc Ford Escort Mk2.

Paul Swift, from Darlington, in his Smith and Allan-backed IFA Ford Escort Mk2 he was sharing with Welshman Carl Williamson, clouted a chicane on the first stage and broke the steering. Although they joined the rally in the afternoon, they were not classified as a finisher.

SS3 saw the demise of Redmire pair Andrew and Rachel Foster in their Vauxhall Nova, as well as the Mitsubishi Evo 6 of Durham driver Pete Gibson and Consett co-driver Chris Dodds, who blew the differential. Leeming Bar’s Dave Johnstone saw his recent good luck come to an end when the steering broke on the Peugeot 205 he was sharing with Pickhill’s Bruce Lindsay on SS5, while disaster struck on the last stage for New Marske driver Mike Thornton and co-driver Dave Scrimgour, from Guisborough, when they lost a wheel from their Ford Escort Mexico and struck the barriers.

REDCAR SG Petch Bears’ speedway season hasn’t got off to the best of starts, with another fixture lost to the weather. Last Thursday’s match against Workington Comets was called off due to torrential rain during the afternoon, which made the track unsafe, and will have to be re-scheduled.

The Bears, who were without the injured Jonas B Andersen, lost the return leg at Workington last Saturday night. The highlight was their new reserve rider, Lee Payne, who scored three points against a strong Comets team.