Dawson doubles up on club racing championship titles
Louis Dawson claimed two club racing championship titles as the East Midlands Racing Association (EMRA) season was brought to a close.
Mallory Park, in Leicestershire, once again hosted the Race of the Year finale – and Highley ace, Dawson, ended his campaign with the Mallory Trophy and Supertwins championships on Sunday.
Five race wins in the Mallory Trophy had brought Dawson, 24, enough points to ensure the championship was already his.
Dawson was still keen to win the final race in style and go out on a high but at the start of the 16-lap race, it was Tamworth’s Ricky Tarren who took the lead.
Three laps in Dawson took the Aprilia into first place where he stayed for the next six – but by lap nine he was touring down pit lane and his race was over.
That left Tarren in the lead from Worcester’s Mikey Leeson and championship runner-up, Ashley King, from Tamworth, but Leeson crashed out two laps later.
The Tamworth riders were briefly first and second before Zac Corderoy, who had been making a charge from the back of the field, took the lead and claimed the win, ahead of Tarren in second, and King, third, to claim the win.
Dawson had also headed into the final round of the Supertwins championship 35 points behind Jamie Kelman.
Despite a run of eight straight wins, Dawson had only started racing his Aprilia 660cc machine in the EMRA championship back in July, which meant he had spent the second half of the year chipping away at Lelman’s lead.
Dawson knew he had to win the final race and hope Kelman would finish way down the field, which was not likely as he had run second to the Aprilia in every race.
The Highley flier took off at the front, as usual, and ran away from the field, lapping at more than two seconds faster than his rivals.
Kelman had held on to second but three-quarters of the way through the race he fell at the hairpin.
And with 50 points for a win – with points doubled for the season finale – it meant Dawson had also claimed the supertwin title.
Meanwhile, Richard Saunders, of Dudley, claimed the Minitwins class race from Darren Corkett, but it was not quite enough to prevent the Bedfordshire man from taking the title.
