Brendan Roberts seals National Superstock Championship at Croft

Brendan Roberts clinched his sixth win of the season. © Paul Sturman. Taking pole position, setting the fastest lap and also the race win, 21 year old Brendan Roberts secured the Metzeler Racetec National Superstock Championship this sunday at Croft with three rounds of the series still remaining. With a huge 76-point lead going into Croft he only needed a strong finish to take the title, but Roberts had other plans and wanted to ensure that he meant business and took another race win, his sixth victory of the season.

With the race being declared as wet and not having a morning warm up or a wet session, the riders were given two sighting laps before being thrown straight into the 16-lap race. A steady start for Roberts saw him slip back to fourth place but he was soon finding his feet in the damp conditions and began to move forward through the field.

A battle with Irishman Marshall Neil proved interesting for the initial laps of the race allowing front runners Steve Brogan and Aaron Zanotti to make a break from the chasing pack. A tidy manoeuvre on lap three saw Roberts move up to third and he was soon hunting down Championship contender Zanotti, a tidy pass on him into turn one on lap 10 enabled Roberts to move a step closer to clinching the title.
A strong pass on Brogan down the start/finish straight on lap 12 saw the Grantham based rider take to the front and bridge a gap of nearly two seconds in the remaining four laps and seal a confident win.

Brendan Roberts commented: "What a weekend, I surprised myself during practice and qualifying with the times I managed. I feel riding with the Europeans in an even tougher series has helped me out 100% and its starting to show. To get me to where I am now I couldnt have done it without the support of my family and friends. A big thanks has to go to Jonny and Chris from Moto-Direct for taking an interest in my career and Niall Mackenzie for his advice and friendship since I've been in the UK." (Carly Rathmell)

Daniel Cooper opened up a 17 points lead over Michael Wilcox as he won the British 125GP Championship race while Kenny Gilbertson won the Metzeler Racetec National Superstock Cup race and Graeme Gowland headed off series leader Tom Grant in the Virgin Mobile Cup.

19-year-old Pete Spalding sealed the Supersport Cup Championship after taking his ninth Cup win of the season from nine races plus an outstanding fourth position overall in the Supersport Championship.

After qualifying in a strong 14th position the youngster was keen to gain a strong result to finally seal the Cup Championship Title. Completely dominating the series, the Honda CBR600 rider once again stole the show and gained another fantastic result to add to the stunning fifth position he gained at Knockhill.

Pete Spalding said: "It's been an amazing year and now I have sealed the Championship I can relax a little more and just get on with the racing at not have to think about the results at the final rounds. The whole Centurion Team have worked exceptionally hard all weekend and all year and they deserve this title more than anyone, I would like to thank everyone for all their continued support and help. The race was fantastic and it was a great feeling battling for a Championship podium with Leon. I just hope things continue to get better and better for the remainder of this season and for next year." (Carly Rathmell)

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