County aces setting title pace

Will Bryant, of Ruyton XI Towns, near Shrewsbury, once again showed his huge potential after leaving rounds four and five leading the Formula 400 class.

The 25-year-old also came second in his first Newcomers 500 race, leaving Donington Park with three trophies.

“I had a decent weekend. It was my first visit to Donington so I had to learn the track fast to get up to race pace,” he said.

“On the Saturday I had two races with the Formula 400 class and, after qualifying fourth, I managed to maintain good lap times and finished third, which I was chuffed with.

“I also had my first newcomers race. I knew I had one close rival to beat and managed to stay with them for most of the race, finishing in second place.”

Two more races followed on Sunday in the Formula 400 class.

After starting fifth on the grid, Bryant finished third, again while improving his lap times.

“For the final race of the weekend I got off to a good start and chased down the second-place rider, Tom Harrison,” he said.

“I eventually made the move and got past but ran wide on the corner and almost crashed, so I lost the place again and finished third.

“I am now leading the Formula 400 championship and I have also gained enough race signatures to mean I no longer need to wear the orange bib.”

Shrewsbury’s Jon Wright also continued his fantastic form winning both races on his Honda CBR600 in the Pre Injection class, as well as smashing the lap record on Sunday, which bettered his second and third place finishes the day before.

Using new and untested tyres his Yamaha R6 in the Open 600 class on Sunday, the 42-year-old admitted to being a little more nervous than usual, after finishing Saturday’s two races in ninth.

“Starting 11th, I slipped back to 19th in race one on Sunday riding my R6 and had to pull my finger out in second, starting from 19th and finishing 11th.

“Bike confidence is slow to return and more track time is needed on this bike but I managed to win both races on the CBR600 and smash the lap record on Sunday.

“It made up for Saturday’s problems and point loss as I dropped from first to third on the last corner.

“Sunday I was busy battling with different classes of bikes, winning the second race by nine seconds, which was a brilliant end to the weekend.”

Chris Lewis, 63, from Pontesbury, continued his impressive form at Donington, completing a “really enjoyable, trouble-free weekend”.

“It was my first time racing there and I had 11th and 12th-place finishes on Saturday, and 11th and 10th on Sunday in the Formula 400 class on my Honda VFR 400, improving my lap time each time out.

“I was also the first Honda finisher in each race behind a gaggle of Kawasaki ZXR 400s.”

Another Donington débutante, James Evans, from Shrewsbury, also enjoyed a “really good weekend” after coming away with four top 10 finishes in the Open 600 series.

“I had two fifth-place finishes on the Saturday, followed by a sixth and ninth on the Sunday,” said the 32-year-old.

“I got quicker over the weekend setting my personal best lap time and the bike was going well after a sprocket change to improve acceleration before race one.

“It built my confidence each time on the Yamaha R6 and I’m looking forward to Tonfanau at the end month.”

Round six of the NG Road Racing championships takes place at Cadwell Park on June 3.