Iddon & Hodgson are crowned Champions at Silversto

THE final round of the British Supermoto Championship held at Silverstone on a heavily modified Stowe Circuit, saw some decent weather, with both the Saturday afternoon qualifying and Sunday's racing held in breezy, but otherwise almost perfect conditions.

After a clean start to Race 1, Sam Warren (SR Off Road Aprilia) claimed the holeshot and led from Matt Winstanley (Robinsons of Rochdale KTM 610) with Iddon back in 4th place. Iddon was quickly up to 3rd and challenging for second when he again crashed spectacularly, this time as a result of a breather problem on his machine, which led to oil on the rear tyre. He remounted to finish a distant 13th as Warren cruised to an easy victory ahead of Winstanley and Ady Smith (UK KTM 640). With two races to go, the title still hung in the balance between Iddon & Winstanley.

From Race 2 onwards however it was clear that a mechanical mishap was the only reason that Iddon wasn't already champion. Warren again got the holeshot ahead of Winstanley, but Iddon who had to start in 13th place, simply picked the other riders off one by one, setting fastest lap after fastest lap and winning both the race, the Open Championship Title and the Overall Title in the process.

In race 3, the new British Champion appeared to be making a statement as he left the start and simply vanished into the distance, although Warren's consistent results on the day; 1st, 2nd & 3rd give him the day's overall victory. Ady Smith once again proved that age is a mind thing with yet another podium finish on the day and an excellent 4th place overall in the Open Class Championship ahead of many young and talented riders.

Final Open Class British Championship Positions:

Christian Iddon 468 points

Matt Winstanley 448 points

Sam Warren 438 points

Ady Smith 411 points

Craig Venske 345 points

In the smaller engined 450 class, Chris Hodgson (Robinsons of Rochdale KTM 450) was leading the 450 title chase prior to Silverstone, but Ricky Higgs (Aprilia SXV450) was right in his wheel tracks and qualifying saw Higgs edge ahead by just 1/100th of a second. However, the Staffordshire based ex-motocross rider lost out to Hodgson on the day and ultimately for the title by dint of Hodgson's electric starts which saw him claim 3 x wins against Higgs's 3 x 2nd places.

3 other riders also had a mathematical chance of claiming the title at Silverstone; Keith Farmer (SMRacing Rocket Centre Aprilia UK SXV450) who had a poor result in race 2 then didn't participate in race 3, Lee Jones (Buff Aprilia SXV450) who rode very well throughout the weekend but was penalised for a jump start in race 3 and the very personable George Clements (Honda CRF450) who was just off the pace of the Aprilias in front of him.

The British 450 Supermoto Championship battle produced great variety, with five different winners separated at times by a hairs breadth. Amazing therefore, that no Japanese Marques featured highly in the final championship positions, when 450cc four stroke singles are a staple export from the Far East.

Final 450 Class British Championship Positions

Chris Hodgson 388 Points

Ricky Higgs 378 points

Keith Farmer 338 points

Lee Jones 317 points

George Clements 294 points

2007 Championship winners:

2007 Overall British Supermoto Champion: Christian Iddon

2007 Open Class British Supermoto Champion: Christian Iddon

2007 450 Class British Supermoto Champion: Chris Hodgson