Honours were shared between Lee Johnston, Dean Harrison and Dominic Herbertson at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough on Saturday with all three taking a Supersport 600cc heat victory ahead of Sunday’s Spring Cup finals.

With early morning rain disappearing, conditions were dry for the opening 5-lap heat and it was Johnston (Ashcourt Racing Yamaha) who led from start to finish, coming home ahead of Mike Norbury (DC Racing Kawasaki) and Jim Hind (ILR Kawasaki).

Johnston, starting from the middle of the front row, grabbed the lead on the run into Mere Hairpin and was never headed whilst pole setter Norbury and Hind were also comfortable in second and third. Johnston’s eventual winning margin was 2.3s with Norbury 2.7s clear of Hind.

The big battle was for fourth with front row qualifier Dan Forbes (Suzuki) locked in battle with circuit newcomer Darryl Tweed (Stewart Racing Yamaha) and Paul Jordan (BE Racing Yamaha). Jordan eventually took fourth from Tweed and Forbes whilst Davey Todd, having only his second Scarborough outing and first since 2017, took seventh on the Wilson Craig Racing Honda.

The second encounter saw a battle royale between Herbertson (Cowton Racing Honda) and Scot Steven Haddow (Kawasaki) with positions changing frequently. Haddow looked like he had the upper hand but Herbertson overhauled him on the penultimate lap to take an eventual win of 0.7s.

Tom Weeden took third with Tom Robinson, Paul Marley and Dan Harrison completing the top six. Former BSB rider Chris Burns, making both his Scarborough and road racing debut, took 13th on the second Wilson Craig Honda.

With conditions getting better all the time, the third heat proved to be the quickest as Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) romped to victory. Aided by the fastest lap, 1m50.975s, the Bradford rider came home 11.8s ahead of impressive newcomer Mike Browne with Joey Thompson in third.

However, both Browne (BE Racing Yamaha) and Thompson (Thompson’s Kawasaki) were relegated to third and fourth after receiving a 10s penalty each for jumping the start and that promoted Callum Ward (Yamaha) to second with Rob Hodson (Dafabet Racing Kawasaki) and Martin Morris (Obsession Engineering Kawasaki) taking fifth and sixth respectively.

Luck was against Thompson in the opening Lightweight race too when problems with his Yamaha on the final lap saw him relinquish the lead and finish second behind Phil Harvey’s Honda. Johnston set the fastest lap of the race on the Ashcourt Racing Honda as he fought his way through from the back of the grid to take third on the sixth and final lap from Nick Anderson.

There were also two heats for the Supertwins with the first 5-lapper seeing a dominant 8.1s win for Jamie Coward (KTS Racing Kawasaki). Veteran Ian Lougher (ILR Paton) held second for four laps before Adam McLean (VRS Racing Kawasaki) overhauled him on the final lap, the Northern Irishman back at the Scarborough for the first time since 2017. Mike Norbury, Dan Ingham and former Newcomers Manx Grand Prix winner Thomas Maxwell, another Scarborough debutante, took fourth to sixth.

The second heat saw Jim Hind (ILR Paton) get the verdict from Rob Hodson (Dafabet Racing Kawasaki) by the narrow margin of 0.439s with Mark Purslow in third ahead of Barry Furber on one of the new MT07 Yamaha’s. Herbertson retired from third on the penultimate lap.

The opening Classic Superbike race saw Harrison first past the chequered flag once more after overhauling David Bell on the second lap, the Silicone Engineering Kawasaki rider pulling clear of Bell’s OW01 Yamaha by 10.57s at the completion of the six laps. He also set the fastest lap of the day at 1m50.824s.

Hodson (Greenall Racing Kawasaki) held third for the first four laps before team-mate Norbury pushed him back to fourth and it was Jordan (Mistral Racing Kawasaki) who took fifth ahead of Barry Furber (Suzuki).

Lee Crawford/Scott Hardie (LCR Suzuki) took a comfortable F2 Sidecar race win, their task made easier with a second lap retirement for Conrad Harrison/Andy Winkle (Bellas Honda), with Steve and Matty Ramsden and John Lowther/Matthew Rostron filling the podium places.

Neil Kernohan (Logan Racing Yamaha) took the Supersport B race by 3.6s from Harry Jackson and Ryan Whitehall.