The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Aaron Clarke remains in the hunt for second place in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship after a fine fourth place at Silverstone.
The Draper Racing ace from Kirton continued his impressive recent form with another top ride in Northamptonshire and remains third in the overall standings.
The racing was transferred from the international circuit because of the problems with the track at the MotoGP round two weeks earlier – and took place on the short national track, which made things difficult for all riders as, being the first time on the short circuit, there was no set up from previous races.
Clarke began his race on Sunday from the third row and held station in ninth place for a couple of laps before making his move forward.
By lap ten of 22 he was up to fourth and involved in a fierce battle for second place. On lap 16 he made it up into second place, but was pushed back to third by Korie McGreevy one lap later and, with three laps remaining, he was demoted back to fourth by Aaron Clifford.
Despite his best efforts he was unable to make a pass on either rider and settled for a very close fourth place at the flag.
But he has reduced the gap to Joe Sheldon-Shaw to just one championship point in the chase for the runner-up spot and with two races left in the campaign he could easily end his season in second place behind champion and race winner Ryan Vickers.
Meanwhile, team-mate Philp secured his best qualifying of the British Supersport Championship season in fifth place and began the 18-lap sprint race on Saturday from the second row.
He was seventh on the first lap, but then began to slide down the order to tenth on lap six.
However, he was always very close to the riders ahead and was ready to make a move forward on the final lap when he was pushed wide at the last left hander and was overtaken by the three riders right behind him.
He crossed the finish line in 13th place, but because two riders ahead were in a different class, Philp was awarded 11th place and five championship points, which brings his total to 63.
Starting the feature race on Sunday from the fifth row, Philp was running in eighth place before dropping back as his Yamaha developed a problem. He retired out of 13th place on lap 14 at turn five with a blown engine.
It is a quick turnaround for the team as the next round is at Oulton Park this weekend (September 14-16).
