Silicone Engineering Kawasaki’s Dean Harrison won the feature Bob Smith Spring Cup race at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough on Sunday after a short rain shower immediately prior to the race left the field contemplating what tyre choice to make.

By the time the riders came to the line for the 8-lap race though, the sun was shining once more but Harrison’s arch rival Lee Johnston (Ashcourt Racing Yamaha) was missing due to an issue with his front brake calliper whilst Jim Hind (ILR Kawasaki) and Paul Jordan (BE Racing Yamaha) headed back to the pits after the warm-up lap.

That made Harrison’s task slightly easier but the opening two laps saw Davey Todd (Wilson Craig Honda) glued to his back wheel with Mike Norbury (DC Racing Kawasaki) and Rob Hodson (Dafabet Racing Kawasaki) not too far behind in third in third and fourth respectively.

The Bradford rider upped the pace soon afterwards though to pull clear and he eventually won by 4.77s with Todd also pulling clear of Norbury who continued to enhance his road racing credentials in the final podium position.

Hodson took a solid fourth and it was newcomer Darryl Tweed (Stewart Racing Yamaha) who finished fifth after Jamie Coward retired his KTS Racing Supertwin on the penultimate lap. Tom Weeden, Joey Thompson, David Bell, Steven Haddow and Dan Forbes completed the top ten after Mike Browne retired the second BE Racing Yamaha just before half race distance.

The opening eight-lap Supersport 600cc race was expected to be another Johnston versus Harrison affair but this time fortunes were in Johnston’s favour after Harrison crashed out, without injury, on the third lap.

That left Johnston with a near ten-second lead over Dominic Herbertson (Cowton Racing Honda) and Hind who were locked in battle for second with Norbury fourth, Haddow fifth and Thompson in sixth. At half race distance, the top four remained the same but Thompson was now up to fifth and Todd, who’d started from 17th on the grid, up to sixth.

At the head of the field, Johnston was able to ease his pace in the closing stages to take an eventual win by 2.38s with Herbertson successfully holding off the close attentions of Hind albeit by just a tenth of a second.

Norbury had a relatively lonely ride into fourth with Todd claiming a good fifth at the chequered flag having overtaken Thompson on lap five. Browne, continuing to impress on his Scarborough debut, also moved ahead of Thompson to finish sixth with Hodson, Tom Weeden and Haddow completing the top ten.

The second 600cc race was cut to five laps following a number of delays in the schedule and when it got underway Johnston, Jordan and Browne were all missing from the fray. That paved the way for Harrison to take control and once his lead was up to 4.1s, he was able to ease his pace in the closing stages to eventually win by 3.4s.

The battle for second was initially in Herbertson’s favour but Hind moved ahead on lap three to take a good second and Norbury followed him through on the final lap to take third and push Herbertson back down to fourth.

Thompson and Weeden finished fifth and sixth with Hodson in seventh and with Todd retiring at the end of the penultimate lap, Haddow, Forbes and Callum Ward filled out the remaining top ten places.

Harrison had to work harder for his victory in the opening Classic Superbike race and found himself down in third after three laps with David Bell (Turnbull Yamaha) leading the way from Hodson (Greenall Racing Kawasaki) and Norbury on the second Greenall machine.

Harrison moved up to second at half race distance as less than a second covered the leading quartet but a lap later Harrison was in charge once more, aided by a new lap record, he won by 5.8s. Hodson and Norbury completed the podium with Bell, Jordan (Mistral Racing Kawasaki) and Sam Johnson (Yamaha) rounding out the top six.

The second Classic Superbike encounter was the final race of a busy weekend around the woodland venue and with Harrison opting out of proceedings, Bell and Hodson disputed the win. Fought over just three laps, Hodson came out on top by 0.784s with Norbury taking yet another third place ahead of Jordan, Furber and Johnson.

Earlier, the opening Supertwins A race was red flagged twice before being re-run over just three laps and it was missing the two ILR Patons of Ian Lougher and Hind, the duo pulling off the grid after the warm-up lap, and also Hodson (Dafabet Racing Kawasaki) who retired on lap two.

When it did finally take place, it was a start to finish victory for Coward (KTS Racing Kawasaki), the Hebden Bridge rider taking the chequered flag by 5.3s from Adam McLean (VRS Racing Kawasaki) with Norbury having another lonely ride, this time for third. Dan Ingham, Barry Furber and Ryan Whitehall completed the top six.

The second race was also held over three laps but with Coward absent, it was Hind who came through for a popular victory. It was close though with McLean just 0.447s adrift and Lougher only a further six tenths back. Norbury, Ingham and Furber finished fourth to sixth after Herbertson dropped back on the final lap.

Herbertson and Matthew Rees won the Supertwins B races though with Lee Crawford/Scott Hardie dominating both F2 Sidecar races whilst other race winners were Neil Kernohan (Supersport B), Joey Thompson (Ultra-Lightweight) and Russell Brook (Support).