Wright seals podium championship spot during dramatic final round

Pete Wright's final round in the No Limits 600 Cup simply could not have gone any better as he outperformed even his own wildest expectations during his debut campaign in the solo class.

Having dominated sections of the endurance championship for the last few years, the Tividale decided to switch his attention to the cup competitions.

And the switch proved to be a masterstroke as he was only bettered by the new champions and previous title holder at the end of a thrilling campaign.

The Double Two Racing rider has been Mr Consistency through 2019 and the final round at Croft proved to be no different – in fact, he even managed to save his best racing for last.

Wright said: "After what seemed like an eternity between rounds, it was finally time to head up north to the newly-resurfaced Croft circuit for the finale of the NLR HM quickshifter Cup 600.

"It was still all to play for too for the final podium position in the championship, as I had just a 16.5 point advantage, which meant I would have to ride out of my skin whilst also thinking tactically."

Qualifying proved to be a calculated guess but having cycled over to the far side of the circuit Wright saw the track was still damp in places there was a thin, dry racing line, so we put a new set of dry tyres and bagged his first-ever pole.

When the lights went out for race one, Wright got another great start and led the chasing pack.

Four laps in three of the riders were still nose-to-tail before Wright caught a back marker and had to take a tight line to get past on the inside, which unfortunately made him turn into the chicane early and take too much curb, launching the bike airborne.

"I couldn’t get on the gas early enough onto the back straight and two-thirds of the way up, both riders got past and I was now down to third," he said.

"Our closest competitor was now in first so I had to regroup and managed to catch back up to championship winner Ben Wotton, made a move on the brakes into the final hairpin with two laps to go and was catching the leader.

"I wasn't quick enough but second place was perfectly okay and within our strategy."

The paddock woke to a wet track for race two on the Sunday and then the heavens opened before the flagged dropped.

Wright, however, still came round the first corner in the lead and built up a three-second advantage over our championship rival.

Within a few laps he had caught one of the Pirelli super series riders but after a long tussle it allowed second place to close the gap and three corners from the chequered flag Wright was suddenly sliding along the tarmac after being hit from behind, with both going down.

Having come so close to a first win, Wright was again quick off the line and settled into second behind his main challenger for the five-lap dash.

The Tividale rider eventually found himself in the lead but decided to drop back, which was good enough to seal third in the championship, as the final race of the day was cancelled due to the weather.

"It was an awesome weekend with a pole positions, two second-place podiums, two seconds off my PB and third in the championship," said Wright.

"Massive thanks to No Limits racing for an incredible 2019, as well as all the marshalls, medics, officials and TSL Timing Solutions.

"Thanks also to our amazing sponsors who make it possible for us to go racing, DRC Race Leathers, Properly Protected Insurance, James & NLR Tyre Support, Putoline Distribution UK, Cradley Kawasaki, Motorcycle Parts Warehouse, TAG Speed, RUS Scaffolding, REVS Suspension Services, NRG Race Apparel, Profibre, PCR Performance, Novol, Demon Tweeks, PFC Brakes, MUPO Suspension, MBF Home Improvements Ltd, Chequered Flag Images and AS3 Performance."