Riders battle horrendous conditions to secure positive results

Hednesford's Kurt Wigley also enjoyed his best weekend so far in the British Supersport series while Caolan Irwin maintained his fourth place in the National Superstock 600 standings, riding for the Brownhills-based Astro JJR team, with a fourth-placed finish.

But it was Cannock-based Rich Energy OMG Racing rider McConnell who stole the show in the opening National Superstock 1000 race as he adapted best to the changeable weather conditions to take his maiden win of the season.

With qualifying scrapped after Saturday’s downpour, the Aussie star lined up seventh on the grid but took advantage of the mixed conditions on Sunday morning to scythe through the pack.

Overtaking five championship rivals in one remarkable lap, with four remaining he found himself more than two seconds behind the leader but began clawing time out Lewis Rollo's advantage.

On the final lap the deficit had been reduced to just 0.2 seconds and after patiently waiting to pick his spot, McConnell seized his chance into the Esses, pulling a comfortable gap to claim his first win with Rich Energy OMG Racing.

He followed up his race win with a fifth in the second, to sit fourth in championship, 55 points behind the leader, with one round to go.

The OMG Racing also celebrated a return to their status as leading the BMW team after Luke Mossey claimed an 11th and ninth-placed finishes in the main the BSB races, to sit 11th in the championship, while team-mate Hector Barbera finished 18th, 15th and 14th, which leaves him 16th in the standings.

GR motosport rider Stacey, 17, from Eccleshall, enjoyed his best weekend so far in the main BSB series claiming a superb 13th-place finish in race two, as well as a 19th and 16th.

He said: "This weekend I just outside the top 10 battle but we are getting there.

"That’s definitely the hardest I’ve ever rode that bike but I still feel very reserved at the moment as I still don’t know how much I can push. All I can say is watch this space."

Wigley, 24, was finally able to show his class, finishing sixth and ninth in the two supersport races, which saw him climb to 10th in the standings.

Michael Rutter and the rest of the Black Country-based Bathams Racing crew were back in National Superstock 1000 action at Donington for round five of the championship.

A combination of wet conditions and changes to the race weekend schedule made for a lack of much-needed time to solve the technical issue, which had forced team rider Dan Linfoot to retire from the race last time out at Oulton Park.

Due to the slower pace and wet conditions putting less stress on the bike, Linfoot – who has stepped in for the injured Richard Cooper – finished seventh, three seconds off a podium, by far his best result for the team so far.

However, in the dry second race, when lap times were some 13 seconds a lap faster, the same mechanical issue manifested itself again and Cooper finished in a distant 12th position.

Rutter, from Brierley Hill, who has decided not to race so far this year, said: “It feels like deja-vu, to have another race weekend when we've been chasing an electronic issue on the bike, which is having a big effect on the its performance.

"The weather conditions really didn't help, not least because we lost an entire qualifying session, which we really could have done with.

"The wet race was okay, but the second race was painful to watch our bike struggle as much as it did for pace.

"We just need time and laps with the S1000RR to get to the bottom of the issue, and we also need patience."

Astro JJR racer Damon Rees struggled during the weekend, finishing 19th and then suffering a DNF in race two, dropping to eighth in the National Superstock 1000 standings while team-mate and fellow New Zealander, Shane Richardson, faired better taking a 13th and 17th, which leaves him 17th in the same championship.

Mcauley Longmore, from Willenhall, enjoyed a good weekend at Donington in the British Junior Superport class, claiming a 19th and 23rd-place finish, but Kidderminster's Ben Taylor suffered two DNFs in the same class.

Stourbridge's Martin Kirk was back in British Sidecar action with passenger Shelley Smithies, taking a 15th and eighth-placed finish, which leaves him 11th in the championship.

The final rounds of BSB, all the support series and the British Sidecar championship take place at Brands Hatch, October 16-18.