CRAWLEY DOWN motorbike racer Matt Bailey kept his nerve to win the BEMSEE Championship's Supermono singles crown at Silverstone.

Bailey, 26, had slipped to third in the series over the last few rounds, having led the championship for most of the season.

Bognor's Mick Thompson only needed to stay on to claim his first title in 20 years of racing, but Thompson was dogged by bad luck as he came off in the wet in the first race and then his chain snapped in the second.

Fellow title rival Brian Greenfield stalled on the grid in race one and this enabled Bailey to claim enough points with a third and a fourth place to take class victory.

Bailey said: "I am disappointed for Mick, but delighted for myself. I have thoroughly enjoyed the season."

Hastings rider Gus Robbins missed out on the Rookie 600 title after suffering his worst weekend of the season.

Robbins, who was leading the class ahead of Silverstone, managed only two laps of practice after suffering a variety of problems and then had a chronic misfire in the two races.

He managed only a ninth and a 16th, which meant he conceded the title to his main rival, Clinton Wood.

Peacehaven's Richard Freshwater finished fifth overall in the Rookie 600 class after claiming fifth place in the final race on Sunday.

Woodingdean's James Filby finished the season on a positive note after some recent disappointments.

Filby finished 11th and 15th in the two Rookie 600 races, but also rode his new R6 in the Powerbike and Supersport classes for the first time. In the Powerbike class, he was 15th and 11th, while in the Supersport he was 19th and 22nd.

Uckfield's Andy Denyer defied the odds to claim victory in the second 250 Grand Prix race of the day.

Denyer suffered a big crash in race one, but friends got his bike in some sort of shape for the second race later in the day.

Denyer explained: "People were laughing at my bike as I went out for the start because it had a big dent in it. Nobody gave me a chance, but I got into the lead on the first corner and ended up winning by five seconds."

Eastbourne's Graham Bodimeade clinched second place overall in the 125 Grand Prix.

Bodimeade, who won the class last season, finished third in Sunday's first place and, although he came off in the second, he had already done enough to take runners-up spot.

WORTHING teenager Tim Crighton showed driving skills beyond his years at Brands Hatch last weekend.

The 16-year-old was racing in T-cars, the new British Racing and Sports Car Club-organised race series for drivers aged under 16.

Crighton took part in three sprint races and ended the meeting in third place in the Driver of the Day competition

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.