COLIN Parker was crowned the BG Products MRO Powerbikes champion at the final round of the British Motorcycle Racing Club’s 2016 season at Brands Hatch.
However, the much-anticipated nail-biter everyone had expected didn’t happen after Parker’s rival Peter Baker was denied the chance to finish the full weekend after crashing out on Saturday.
Parker headed into the final round with a 24-point lead over reigning champ Baker, and set about keeping himself ahead by winning the first race. Baker was second with Joe Morphett third, while the Clubman win went to Chris Lay.
A crash from Parker in the second race looked set to reduce the gap dramatically, as Baker was suddenly in a position to claw back a decent amount of points.
But it wasn’t to go his way, as two laps later he too tipped off, ending not only his race but the weekend. It meant the title was now Parker’s, and freed up Sunday for him to just enjoy himself on track.
And with the pressure off he made it two clean wins. Morphett added another podium finish to his weekend’s collection in opening race, taking second place ahead of John Butler, as the Clubman class honours went to Tom Norton.
The final race was also red flagged for an incident involving Morphett, and was restarted with Parker taking another win, ahead of Steve Heneghan and Butler, as Norton again took the Clubman win.
Parker cemented his title with a margin of 79 points in the end, while Jamie Tibble had already secured the Clubman class title with a round to spare.
Click here for full weekend results
Images: John Manclark/Karen Burrows
