More, from a press release issued by British Talent Cup:
Garness holds on for opening race victory in 2022 Honda British Talent Cup
The 13-year-old took a third career win and started his campaign in the best possible fashion
Saturday, 16 April 2022
The opening round of the Honda British Talent Cup got underway with blissful sunshine beating down on the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. Grabbing the holeshot of the opening race of the new season, Johnny Garness, the polesitter, capitalised on his strong qualifying and eventually took victory in fine style, beating Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing) and Carter Brown (MLav VisionTrack Academy) by just less than a second. It was Garness’ third win in the class, and he leads the Championship into Sunday’s action.
As Garness led the way, Harrison Crosby and Julian Correa (Microlise Cresswell Racing) battled hard in the opening corners and the ensuing laps. Garness originally broke clear at the front but soon, his lead was reeled back in, and Harrison Crosby hit the front on Lap 5, the first lead change of the race. Meanwhile, back in eighth place, Carter Brown had set the fastest lap as the #74 aimed to get back amongst the leading group. Also in the leading group, the likes of Kiyano Veijer (Microlise Cresswell Racing), Rhys Stephenson (Rocket Racing), Ryan Hitchcock (City Lifting by RS Racing) all exchanged positions, whilst Peter Willis (MLav VisionTrack Academy), Matthew Ruisbroeck (Microlise Cresswell Racing/Easterm Garage) and Clayton Edmunds (MJL Racing) were inside the top ten.
Just before half-race distance, Harley McCabe crashed out at Luffield having started from a superb fourth place, ending his race prematurely but he’ll certainly be hoping to bounce back in Race 2 on Sunday. There was then a disaster for Harrison Mackay (Wilson Racing/Super Soco) who suffered a dramatic mechanical issue with smoke pouring out, thankfully with no fluids on the circuit.
As the closing stages of the race beckoned, it was Johnny Garness who took the lead back and, with a backmarker of Troy Jeffrey (Mortimer Racing/Victoria House Academy) getting between him and the chasing pack as the last lap started, pulled the pin to break away. Having finished fifth in the 2021 Honda British Talent Cup, the rider from Devon took the opening honours of 2022, impressively setting his personal best lap of the race on the final lap of the 22-lap encounter. Harrison Crosby was second with Carter Brown taking third; Brown set the fastest lap of the race and thus starts Race 2 from pole position, ahead of Crosby and Garness. Veijer, Hitchcock, Stephenson, Correa, Willis, Ruisbroeck and Edmunds completed the top ten, with Ruisbroeck finishing as top rookie.
Race 2 gets underway on Sunday at Silverstone at 14.20 local time (GMT+1), with everyone ready to do battle once more.
