BTC: O’Gorman and Garness triumph on Donington Park National Circuit

Three races on the Donington Park National Circuit brought the British Talent Cup over the halfway point of the season. Casey O’Gorman (Microlise Cresswell Racing) claimed two wins at his comeback from injury while Johnny Garness (City Lifting by RS Racing) secured the third victory on offer.

Kiyano Veijer (Microlise Cresswell Racing) was on top form and bagged his first podium while James Cook (Wilson Racing) too featured on the rostrum. The championship protagonists Carter Brown and Evan Belford (both City Lifting by RS Racing) had a tough meeting and failed to score big points.

Belford continues to head the table standings, but Garness moved up into second and holds a 13 points deficit. Brown sits third with 27 points separating him from top spot.

RACE 1

Garness stayed in the lead from pole ahead of Belford, Cook, O’Gorman and Brown. The quintet gained some breathing space and processional completed the first couple of laps. A chasing duo of Veijer and Jamie Lyons (C&M Motors Ltd / Tooltec Racing) somewhat stayed within touch, but the rest of the field swiftly fell out of the picture.

Undisputed in P1, Garness stayed out of trouble and began to gradually grind out an gap. Punches were exchanged behind him though as Belford, Brown and O’Gorman contested for positions. Cook struggled to quite keep up with the pace but hung on to the group.

At halfway distance, Garness looked comfortable with his advantage up to a second. O’Gorman had established himself in P2 and was determined to close the gap. He dragged the RS Racing teammates with him and by Lap 14, the quartet was back locked together. But again, position fights allowed Garness to gain breathing space and this time he wouldn’t let it go.

Things got too close between Belford and Brown coming down through the Fogarty Esses, forcing the latter through the gravel. He did well to even stay on his bike and re-join the track, but he was out of contention in fifth.

P2 was set to go down between Belford and O’Gorman, but Cook, who found some great late-race spirit, also added his name to make it a three-way battle. No love was lost and O’Gorman took the inside line to prevail through the Craner Curves on the final lap. Belford attempted a last corner lunge on Cook for third but misjudged it and went through the gravel at the last corner.

RACE 2

Garness shot off the second row to steal the holeshot into Redgate. He was shadowed by O’Gorman while behind the duo, Cook, Belford and Brown ruffled each other’s feathers early on.

O’Gorman was glued to Garness’ heading into McLeans and a neat move gained him the lead on Lap 3. Brown had taken charge of the chasing group and reeled the breakaway pair back in. He briefly claimed P2, but Garness retaliated.

It looked that O’Gorman and Garness had superior pace and could have gapped the field. However, as they exchanged the lead between them, a group of six managed to stay within touch.

Halfway through the race, Veijer was on the move and picked up positions as far as up into second. However, a yellow flag infringement meant he was given a long lap equivalent penalty of two seconds. Brown and Belford too received two second penalties for cutting a chicane. Accordingly, three riders in the front pack were effectively out of contention without knowing it themselves.

A group of nine led by O’Gorman went into the final lap. Brown was his first chaser and went for a move down the inside that caused contact between the riders. O’Gorman nearly lost his bike but got drive out of the Fogarty Esses that saw him over the line first.

Brown and Veijer took the flag in second and third respectively, but their penalties sent them into seventh and eighth. The revised results meant that Garness finished runner-up while Cook completed the podium.

RACE 3

Garness again rocketed into Redgate first followed by Belford and Cook. Bailey Stuart-Campbell (Team 151s) was in contention as well and swiftly engaged in battle.

A 10 rider group emerged at the front, led in turns by Cook and Garness. Belford looked comfortable sitting right behind the duo while fairings were rubbed further down the pack. Positions swapped and changed, keeping the pace relatively low.

From Lap 8, Garness and Cook managed to gain a few bike lengths with O’Gorman now leading the charge. He successfully reeled them back in and engaged in a fierce battled with Cook. That allowed Garness to break and his advantage was up to over half a second at half-race distance.

Cook sat behind O’Gorman to close the gap and a trio formed at the top. O’Gorman claimed P1 with an inch-perfect manoeuvre through McLean’s on Lap 13, but Cook retaliated straight away. Yet again, the scrap closed the field and Garness was the eventual profiteer, back in P1 on Lap 15.

11 riders went into the final stages closely together and it was anyone’s race. Veijer, Garness, Stuart-Campbell, O’Gorman and Ollie Walker (Moto Rapido / SP125 Racing) emerged at the top and the podium positions were to be decided between them.

O’Gorman swept past his teammate going into the last lap and gained some space that he brought over the line. Stuart-Campbell briefly claimed P2 but had to surrender to both Veijer and Garness through the final sector.