Nesbitt wins to retain Sunflower Trophy title
Charlie Nesbitt retained the Sunflower Trophy he won last year
- Published
British Superbike rider Charlie Nesbitt retained his Sunflower Trophy title by taking victory in Saturday's feature 12-lap race at the Bishopscourt circuit in county Down.
Nesbitt, riding a MasterMac Honda prepared by Hawk Racing, finished 1.3 seconds ahead of Eglinton's David Allingham, who put up a determined challenge, with 2022 Sunflower winner Richard Kerr from Donegal a further 5.5 seconds adrift in third on the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW.
Scott Swann, who set the fastest lap of the race on his Swann Racing Honda, came home fourth in the fine conditions.
Swindon rider Nesbitt, 23, finishes his season on a high after ending up 11th in the overall BSB championship standings after last week's final round at Brands Hatch.
Earlier in the day, Nesbitt edged out McAdoo Racing Kawasaki rider Korie McGreevy by a mere 0.14 seconds to take the chequered flag in the second Superbike outing of the meeting.
Kerr again made up the rostrum places in that event, with Swann fourth and Allingham fifth.
Swann had won Friday's first wet Superbike race over 10 laps by three seconds from Nesbitt, with McGreevy third, and the county Antrim pilot repeated the dose in the third running of the premier class on Saturday when he edged out Nesbitt by 0.1 seconds.
Nesbitt had the consolation of setting a new Superbike lap record of 100.877mph, one minute, 5.093 seconds.
Cooper completes treble
Two of Richard Cooper's three wins came in the Supersport class
The Supersport races proved the preserve of Nottingham's Richard Cooper, who clinched a double for the BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha team.
The North West 200 winner was followed home by team-mate Mike Browne and Mark Conlin on Friday, with Owen Jenner the runner-up and Browne third on Saturday.
Cooper was also the victor in Supertwins race two, from Owen Jenner, who triumphed in the first race in that category on Friday.
Cooper was edged out by just 0.11 seconds on that occasion, with Caolan Irwin taking two third positions.