Newport racers sign off season in style

A weekend of action-packed racing saw the duo both finish the campaign in second place overall in their respective classes.

Gearlink Kawasaki rider Booth-Amos was in fine form in the Supersport Championship as he came home first and second in his two outings, while Harry Rowlings, who rides for Nova Racing Team, bagged two third-placed finishes in the GP2 class.

Booth-Amos opted to sit out Friday’s free practice session due to the wet conditions and only managed four laps in the second session.

The weather had improved in time for Saturday’s qualifying and Booth-Amos clocked the 10th fastest time.

The 10-lap sprint race took place in drying conditions and a fine start saw Booth-Amos enter turn one in sixth position.

By the end of the second lap, he had moved into second with an aggressive move up the inside of Tom Toparis at Stirlings. By mid-race, the leading pack of Richard Cooper, Booth-Amos, Jaimie van Sikkeleru, and Toparis had pulled away from the rest of the field.

Throughout the remaining laps, Booth-Amos tried to pass Cooper but was unsuccessful and came home second.

But there was joy for Booth-Amos on Sunday in the feature race.

Having started fourth on the grid, Booth-Amos quickly moved into second position behind the newly-crowned Supersport champion Ben Currie.

A crash brought out the safety car but after the restart Booth-Amos was again chasing leader Currie.

And there was drama on lap 12 when Currie crashed out, with Booth-Amos taking full advantage and racing to a victory which clinched second place in the end-of-season standings.

Rowlings was also in impressive form over the weekend.

He was fourth quickest in the second free practice and then matched that in Saturday’s qualifying.

In the GP2 race, Rowlings made a good start and by mid-race he was battling with Barry Burrell for third and fourth and eventually finished third.

Sunday’s GP2 race saw Rowlings produced another solid ride. He settled into a comfortable third ahead of Lucca Allen and then concentrated on setting consistent lap times on his way to a third -placed finish and another visit to the podium.

That left Rowlings celebrating an overall second-placed finish in the GP2 Championship.

The opening round of the 2024 Championship will see a return to Europe for the first time since 2019 at Circuito de Navarra in northern Spain on April 20-21.