Rockingham, situated 2 hours North West of London in Northamptonshire and sporting both a tight infield section and fast banking, played host to its first BSB round last season and saw the title race between John Reynolds and Steve Hislop dramatically decided when the two collided during the first event. Reynolds was subsequently handed the championship whilst Hislop was left to contemplate "what might have been".

This season's championship battle is hotter than ever with as many as 5 different combatants gracing the top tier of the podium. Although Hislop's main rival from last year is failing to reproduce, on a regular basis, the same sort of title winning performances this season, Sean Emmett and Michael Rutter are proving to be more than worthy replacements.

For those readers more familiar during recent weeks with 'World Cup' vernacular and who are presently attempting to divide their attentions between bike racing and said soccer tournament, you will be pleased to know that Australasia fielded an unchanged line up for Round 7 at Rockingham, with the only alteration to the team sheet being that of David Johnson's machine manufacturer.

Due to David experiencing serious Visa issues during the weeks leading up to Rockingham, his team decided to sit out the meeting leaving him to seriously ponder his future. He's since decided to return home after Round 8 at Scotland's 'Knockhill' in an attempt to have the problem properly resolved. "I hope to be back from Australia for Thruxton (Round 9) as there is a 4 week break between meetings. I didn't expect to be racing here as my team thought I would be home in Australia. 'Jack Lilley Racing' offered me the chance to ride the Triumph 600 at the last minute, so I took it. I need the points" said the 20 year old from Adelaide.

QUALIFYING

Dean Thomas was hoping to improve markedly on his Brands Hatch weekend, where a very promising qualifying result unluckily failed to translate into any more than a few points on race day, whilst good friends, Glen Richards and Paul Young would again try to pilot their respective machines toward the higher echelons of Saturday's qualifying reckoning.

It was Thomas however who guided his 'Phones 4 U' sponsored Dienza Ducati to the top spot after the opening official session which prompted him to declare, "That was great but we'll go faster in the next one!"

A prediction that came true and might have left him on pole, had 6 other riders not gone even quicker during a frantic last few minutes of session 2, relegating him to 7th and a second row start. "I'm still happy. Anywhere on the front 2 rows will do. I am confident of doing mid' to high 10s on my race tyres," smiled the rider from Port Macquarie.

After 2 sessions of timed qualifying followed by the grid deciding Superpole it was Glen Richards once again ruffling the feathers of several more seasoned Superbike campaigners, defiantly putting the outdated 'Hawk Racing' Kawasaki into 5th, behind the 3 Ducatis of Emmett, Hislop and Rutter. "I'm able to get into the corners quicker whilst they get out better. There are no straights here long enough for the bigger bikes to pass me though, so I should do well," were his comments after the session.

Eventual pole sitter and defending series champion John Reynolds (Crescent - Rizla Suzuki), producing the sort of performance that saw him win at the same track last year, was the only rider to register a sub 1min10 sec' lap and was looking to be the man to chase come the next day's green light.  One fact was for sure; whoever the eventual victor on Sunday, we were assured of a titanic battle!

Meanwhile Simon Crafar followed up a solid qualifying result with a less than characteristic Superpole to be in 12th whilst the 'Grafters Recruitment' Pirelli shod Suzuki of reigning Superstock champion Paul Young, slid its way into 21st .

In the 600 Supersport class, Sydney's Jason Boyle was out to prove why he was one of Australia's brightest talents in 2000 and a steady ride in the first of two thirty minute qualifying sessions went a long way to doing so. An excellent 16th place on the grid, (17 positions better than last week at Brands Hatch) was the result of consistently improving with every pass of the timing monitor. A characteristic that is fast becoming Jason's hallmark as the season progresses from one difficult and unfamiliar track to another.

Unfortunately the second session was not so productive for Jason and the 'Europcar' team as an incident best described as "a track safety issue debacle" (that could have resulted in far worse repercussions), caused him to lose his front brake lever in the opening laps. Although Boyle was uninjured he was prevented from bettering his time from the opening session and would commence Sunday's race from the 5th row of the grid.

Triumph powered David Johnson was praying that he could again maintain his top 3 position in the Junior Superstock championship standings, but after placing 16th after qualifying, things were not going to plan. "If I go any harder I'll crash," mused the affable young Aussie.

SUPERBIKE RACE 1: 22 LAPS

A bright and sunny day had been turned on for the masses of spectators who came to see their heroes in action. Bleary eyed from the night before, I awoke 'eager' to see the Aussies do well!  The grid was marked in the pit lane as opposed to the main straight in a measure to eliminate a melee approaching the opening chicane, and as a result everybody got away well.

As everyone fought and jostled for position it was (ex-courier) Sean Emmett on the IFC Ducati who led the pack around the first time followed by Rutter (Renegade Ducati) and the 'Flying Haggis' (as Hislop is affectionately referred to here) on the Monstermob Ducati.

Out of the Aussie and Kiwi contingent, Thomas was faring best in 4th with Richards not far away in 6th. Crafar was 8th and Young 15th. After watching Paul in the morning warm up my suspicions that the team and he had found one of the missing ingredients was vindicated, and he was looking again like the rider who dominated the Superstock class last year.

On lap 3, Steve Plater (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) whilst hounding the back of Dean Thomas for 4th spot, got over eager and high-sided coming onto the Nascar banking in to the main straight. As a result the pace car intervened and the pack slowed. Dean Thomas was at this stage enjoying 4th place and challenging the 3 in front; a result that out performs his best placing for the season of 7th at Donington Park.

Soon after the pace car departed, Richards began throwing all he had at John Reynolds at the only proper right hander on the track in a valiant attempt at gaining 5th spot.

Meanwhile, Crafar ran on at the second chicane relegating himself and the 2nd of the Virgin Yamahas to 20th. Youngy benefited from Simon's excursion by gaining another valuable position on the track and was showing the crowds some awesome late braking manoeuvres to be up to 13th by lap 11.

Two distinct packs had emerged by half race distance. Emmett, Rutter, Hislop and Reynolds in the battle that the punters in the stands had come too see, followed 4 seconds behind by the trio of Thomas, Shane Byrne (Renegade Ducati) and Glen Richards.

By the end of race 1, Rutter had managed to take a half second victory from Hislop and Emmett respectively, but the real interest for me was in the minor placings.  Byrne finished 4th with Thomas 5th, number 1 plate carrier Reynolds 6th and Adelaide's Glen Richards 7th.  Paul Young crossed the line 4 seconds behind the recovering Crafar in a remarkable 12th position, enjoying his best result of the year.

When I asked Richards about his thoughts on Race 1, he was satisfied but said, "for the next race we're going to alter the ride height to try and give the bike more rear grip" .

Crafar said that after squandering a good position in the 1st race that he hoped to give all of his fans, "something to cheer for in the next race," and commented on his season thus far by saying, "I've had to alter my riding style dramatically this year and I think I'm finally cracking it".

SUPERBIKE RACE 2: 22 LAPS

The scorching afternoon heat beamed down on the track and spectators alike and I was again using my powers of wishful thinking, praying that we could at last see an Aussie victory. Michael Rutter ( son of F2 World Champion and 8 times Isle of Man TT winner Tony Rutter) however, had other plans. He was hoping to snatch 'the double' and put more pressure on the championship leaders.

A good start was experienced by all as the regular front runners lived up to expectations and filed past the main straight grandstand for the first time. Thomas 4th, Richards 6th, Crafar 7th and Young 17th.  Steve Plater meanwhile, riding heavily strapped was producing a gritty display and fighting with the leaders.

Glen Richards (Hawk Racing Kawasaki) had a huge moment entering the 1st chicane in the early laps, raising the crowd collectively to its feet. It was an amazing recovery to even remain seated on the bike, but not satisfied with providing the day's gymnastics display, he set upon clawing his way back to 8th place behind Crafar (Virgin Yamaha), and did so within a handful of laps.

Dean Thomas (Phones 4 U -Dienza Ducati) was showing those watching, how to best force a 2 year old Ducati to follow closely behind the factory's most recent exponent, by holding down 3rd.

Plater was no doubt hoping that he didn't emulate his first race antics, but again crashed heavily . This time losing the front end but getting to his feet unhurt.  Crafar threw the 2nd of the Virgin bikes down in the same lap leaving the hopes of the team firmly with South Africa's Shane Norval.

Hislop ran off the track whilst leading and was forced to make a brave and determined comeback if any points were to be had. He did just that and by setting the new lap record, stormed back to within 1 second of Dean Thomas by the finish.

Rutter completed the double (only the third for the series this season), Emmett came home in 2nd and Dean Thomas finished with an outstanding podium placing 3rd.

Young picked up another position courtesy of more amazing late breaking antics and came home 11th whilst Richards gained his best result of the season with a gutsy and at times, unorthodox 6th place finish. He was all smiles when informed of his lap time for the event. It was the 2nd quickest of the race only bettered by the winner, Michael Rutter.

Dean was understandably elated with his result saying, "I couldn't have won it. I tried to pounce every time they made a mistake or we came up to a back marker, but the 10hp I'm giving away to those guys makes all the difference out of the turns."

Paul's 'Grafters Recruitment' team were in unanimous praise of their man and hoped that this would be the catalyst for the rest of the season and that more similar results would follow.

600 SUPERSPORT RACE: 17 LAPS

Scott Smart won the 600 race in dominant fashion beating home the Monstermob Ducati of Stuart Easton. All of our hopes for Australian glory relied on the capable shoulders of Jason Boyle on the 'Europcar R6 Yamaha' and he was determined to come up with the goods. Starting from 19th on the grid he would need a good start to be with the group in front, that the team strongly suspected were beatable.

Unfortunately a faulty clutch, evident from the opening lap, was to play a leading role in his result. Jason battled gallantly to a 15th place finish and 1 championship point. Jason was naturally disappointed when I spoke with him after the race saying, "I was confident of a top ten finish today and I was having to try so hard into the corners to compensate for the lack of drive I was getting out of them, that I even got forearm cramps".

It was certainly not the way Jason had hoped his weekend would end but found solace in the fact that he is rapidly finding the synergy he needs with the R6 and that it's only time before a podium worthy performance is seen from him.

JUNIOR SUPERSTOCK: 15 LAPS

David's meteoric rise to motorcycle racing success can be in part attributed to his background in BMX and the skills he learnt from it (A sport in which he reached the ranking of 2nd in the World). I am certain however, that he was never planning to use his dirt skills on a 600 Supersport machine to such effect as he needed to at Rockingham. On 5 separate occasions, David and the 'Jack Lilley Triumph' left the track for wild 'seat of your pants' excursions. These trips onto the grass meant that after challenging early in the race for a top five finish, David finished 13th and gained only 3 of the points that are proving to be a very valuable commodity at this stage of the season.

Later I was to find out that although it looked from my position near the pit wall that David's problems were attributed mainly to his bike's lack of handling, it was in fact due to the bike sporadically falling into a false neutral.  Possibly a weekend David will not be remember with much fondness, after earlier in the weekend being reprimanded for speeding in the pit lane.

The series now takes a well earned week off, before heading North to 'Knockhill' in Scotland for round 8. I will be there, 'pen at the ready' to bring you more action from the 'main event and supporting classes and to let you know how the Aussies and Kiwis fare.

Richard Kemp 67.