SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD Northallerton Enduro rider Robbie Wallace was once again in action on the Motoconnection and Putoline Oils sponsored Yamaha YZ125, where he was competing in round five of the Perkins Slade Ride Off Road Enduro Championship last weekend.

The event was held at Hatcliffe, in the Lincolnshire Wolds, and it was a surprise that competitors only had a short shower to deal with as it turned out a hot and sunny.

The track, a mix of woodland trails and fast grassland, was in perfect condition. The two-hour race kicked off with Wallace keen to make a fast start with the intention of riding flat out for the first two laps to hopefully get a lead and break away. Off the start line he was third into the first corner and having walked the track the day before he had picked his favoured lines well as by the end of the first lap he was in the lead with a 20 second advantage.

With the track lapping at around seven minutes and Wallace going well, by lap three he had extended his lead to 45 seconds. Having broken the tow to the pack behind him, he got into a smooth rhythm as with the air temperature around 24 degrees it was important to keep hydrated from his backpack to avoid early exhaustion.

By the halfway stage Robbie had extended his lead to two minutes and was feeling comfortable when he clipped a rider he was lapping which sent him off into the undergrowth. Fortunately there was no damage to his Yamaha and he was able to remount, restart the bike and carry on. This excursion dropped him about 20 seconds so he set about regaining time.

By the two hour mark Wallace had pushed the gap back and went on to win the race by two minutes, thus extending his championship lead to 21 points. The next outing is the British Sprint Championship Rounds seven and eight at Westwood near Barnsley next weekend.

HEXHAM rider Graeme Gowland thrust himself firmly back in contention for the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship with a super double victory at Snetterton in Norfolk last weekend.

Riding the Smiths Triumph 675R, he followed up a close win on Saturday with victory in front of 40,000 fans on Sunday to move into second place in the standings behind Australian team-mate Billy McConnell going into next weekend’s action at Knockhill in Fife. It was the former Spanish Supersport champion’s first win in the class for four years and gave the British manufacturer their first victory at the track in recent years.

There was success in the class for Newcastle rider Josh Corner who claimed a third place in the Motorpoint Supersport Cup class on Saturday but his MJJ Motorsport Kawasaki developed a gearbox problem on Sunday which saw him fail to make the grid after problems on the warm up lap. Fellow Newcastle rider Joe Burns fared even worse when he was forced to pit on the opening lap of the Pirelli Superstock 1000 race before rectifying the problem only to crash out a couple of laps later after rejoining the race.

WAKEFIELD’S Mark Asher took his eighth career victory by the mere margin of 0.111 seconds over Thirsk driver Giles Potter in last Sunday’s opening round of the Powerline Surveying Ironman Kart Championship held at Teesside Autodrome. Newcomer Phil Simpson from Leeds made it a Yorkshire treble with third place just 0.242 seconds further back. 2012 champion Asher also took pole position but fastest lap went to a hard charging Ben Oates. Oates had engine trouble on the grid and limped round the first lap, so from there it was a recovery drive to seventh overall from last place but with a fettled kart he set a blistering time almost 1.8 seconds under the pole time.

Nineteen time race winner Colin Peacock, from, Stockton had a lucky escape with a blown rear tyre in qualifying before a solid drive to fifth overall in the race behind Redcar’s Ste Allan, the pair nose to tail for much of the event.

The new multi class structure means the champion could come from one of three weight based classes which removes the need for ballast and keeps battles going throughout the field. Series sponsor Jason Smith had an awful day breaking down twice but his ever optimistic smile was still present at the finish.

CROFT CIRCUIT is revving up to host its biggest event of the year next weekend when the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship visits Yorkshire and marks the halfway stage on the 2014 BTCC calendar.

The stars of Britain’s premier motor racing championship will be back again at Croft and there are discounted advance tickets still available for race day or throughout the weekend.

All accompanied children aged 15 and under are admitted free and all car parking is free also.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 01325 721815 or online at www.croftcircuit.

co.uk