British Talent Cup: Belford takes title lead with Knockhill double

Evan Belford (City Lifting by RS Racing) stormed to two dominant victories at Knockhill. The 13-year-old broke the field in both races and leaves Scotland with the cup lead.

His teammate Johnny Garness secured two runner-up finishes to make it a perfect weekend for City Lifting by RS Racing. Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing) and Cormac Buchanan (Microlise Cresswell Racing) claimed the remaining podium spots in Race 1 and 2 respectively.

Casey O’Gorman (Microlise Cresswell Racing) was forced to sit out the races due to an injury sustained in practice. With the previous championship leader out of action, Belford inherited top spot. He holds a 22 points advantage over Garness with O’Gorman a further 14 points adrift in third.

RACE 1

Carter Brown (VSB Motorsport) was absent from the grid as a suspected brake failure on his out lap forced him to abandon his bike at Taylor’s Hairpin.

Belford shot into the lead from pole and instantly stretched out an advantage. The pack bunched up behind him with Troy Jeffrey (Stiggymotorsport), Lucas Brown (Amphibian Scaffolding / SP125 Racing) and Garness leading the battle. Brown, however, exited the race prematurely on Lap 3 when a crash coming out of the chicane sent him into the gravel.

Garness established himself in second and put a couple of bike lengths between himself and Jeffrey.  The #21 in turn increasingly had his hands full with Crosby and Buchanan. The duo edged in ever closer and made it a three-way battle for third at halfway distance.

Jeffrey gradually dropped pace, falling behind James Cook (Wilson Racing) into sixth and into the clutches of Bailey Stuart-Campbell (151S Racing) and Ollie Walker (Moto Rapido / SP125). Buchanan and Crosby meanwhile refrained from a fight between themselves and instead had their sight set on Garness ahead in second. The pair was within punching distance by Lap 17, leaving them three rounds to make a difference.

Unfazed out front, Belford took the chequered flag with an advantage of almost nine seconds for his first win of the season. Garness had responded to the threat coming from behind and capitalised on the chasing duo engaging in battle to secure second.

A last lap manoeuvre at Taylor’s Hairpin elevated Crosby into third and he just claimed the final podium spot 21 thousands ahead of Buchanan. Cook finished fifth ahead of Jeffrey who did well to keep Stuart-Campbell and Walker behind him.

RACE 2

Belford led into Duffus Dip from pole and was stalked by his teammate Garness. The City Lifting duo faced off in front while a three-way battle with Crosby, Buchanan and Cook raved behind them. Brown had a great start from the back of the grid and was up to seventh a few laps in.

Belford easily gapped his teammate and was running in a comfortable lead already with a third of the race gone. Garness had meanwhile fallen into the clutches of Buchanan and Crosby and the trio engaged in a fierce fight for second.

Garness kept frustrating his opponents with his weight advantage under acceleration. However, both Buchanan and Crosby capitalised when a lapped rider cost Garness momentum on Lap 12.

The trio stayed close together and Garness was back in front again courtesy of his top speed on Lap 17. Cook was lapping faster than any of them and closed in to make it a four-way battle. However, Crosby took himself out of contention on Lap 19 when he lost the front and went down at Scotsman.

Buchanan was aggressive through the corners but repeatedly beaten by Garness’ straight line speed. Cook meanwhile looked content to patiently sit behind the pair and leave an attack to the final lap.

Belford brought an untroubled 6.7 lead home for another dominant win. Garness and Buchanan rubbed fairings on the final lap and crossed the line side by side with the former narrowly ahead. Cook had to settle for fourth ahead of Carter who spectacularly bounced back from his DNS in Race 1.