British Superbike challenger Charlie Nesbitt rose to the occasion to win the Sunflower Trophy feature race at Bishopscourt in Co Down for the second consecutive year.
Nesbitt, a podium finisher this season in BSB for the Hawk Racing team on the MasterMac Honda, never put a foot wrong as he claimed the spoils in the premier race at the traditional end-of-season meeting, which was first held in 1977 when Joey Dunlop won the prestigious old trophy.
The 23-year-old was pushed hard in the autumn sunshine by Northern Ireland’s David Allingham (SMS/Nicholl Oils BMW), but Nesbitt made a break for it when he came off better after the leading pair caught slower riders.
As a result, Nesbitt now had a few tenths of a second in hand over Allingham and stretched his lead to one second with two laps of the 12-lap race to go.
Allingham was safe in second place on his Superstock machine but 2022 Sunflower winner Richard Kerr, third for most of the race, was coming under pressure from Scott Swann.
Kerr just held on for the final podium place by 0.192s on the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW, with Swann right on his tail in fourth on his Swann Racing/Hunts Honda Superstock bike.
Nesbitt – who won by 1.3s in the end – was delighted to retain the trophy, which has been won by a host of famous names over the years, including six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea and the late Steve Hislop.
“I think the backmarkers definitely helped in that one and David had some good pace,” Nesbitt said.
“I was trying to find my way around with the wet patches and everything else, but I’m absolutely buzzing with the result.
“The fans have been great, and the championship has been fantastic and they absolutely loved it.
“To have my name on the trophy with so many big names is a massive thing and it’s a nice way to round off the year.”
Allingham put up a valiant fight and had a smile on his face afterwards.
“I kept him honest,” he said. “It wasn’t bad on a Superstock machine against a Superbike.
“We’ve had a great first year as a team in the British championship so hopefully we can have an even better one next year.”
Barry Burrell finished fifth on his BMW ahead of Honda-mounted Jamie Lyons.
Nesbitt also won yesterday’s opening Superbike race on a drying track following Friday’s rain.
The Swindon man was overtaken briefly on the last lap by Ballynahinch rider Korie McGreevy on the McAdoo Racing Kawasaki, but Nesbitt didn’t need a second invitation when McGreevy drifted slightly wide.
National Superstock contender Swann was celebrating a Superbike double after he held off Nesbitt in the final Superbike race of the day.
Swann, who beat Nesbitt in Friday’s wet Superbike opener, had pulled a gap of a few seconds at the front over Kerr, with Nesbitt third.
Nesbitt seemed to have left himself with too much to do, but once he passed Kerr he hunted down Swann to set up a dramatic last lap, only to lose out by a few hundredths of a second on the line.
Richard Cooper proved unstoppable in the Supersport races on the BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha, with the Nottingham man twice beating Owen Jenner (Parker Transport Yamaha) to secure a hat-trick, with the North West 200 winner also coming out on top in tricky conditions in Friday’s race.
Cooper won four races in all at the meeting, seeing off Jenner in yesterday’s Supertwin race for a victory on the KMR/Jack Reid Car Sales Kawasaki.
There was also cause for celebration for McGreevy and the McAdoo Kawasaki team after his fourth place in the first Supersport race yesterday secured the Ulster Championship from Christian Elkin.
Meanwhile, Toprak Razgatlioglu won the World Superbike title with two races of the 2024 season to go at Jerez in Spain.
The ROKiT BMW rider finished second behind chief rival and Ducati star Nicolo Bulega in the first race yesterday.
It was a second championship success for Razgatlioglu, who beat Jonathan Rea to the title in 2021.
Rea finished 11th on the Pata Prometeon Yamaha after qualifying in a lowly 16th position.
The Superpole race is at 10:00 BST today followed by the final race of the season at 13:00 BST.
SUNFLOWER RESULTS
SATURDAY
SPENCE ENGINEERING/DB TILES SUPERTWIN
1 R Cooper (Kawasaki) 10:02.016
2 O Jenner (Aprilia) +5.938s
3 C Irwin (Aprilia) +6.382s
4 G McCoy (Kawasaki) +11.090s
5 G McAleese (Kawasaki) +25.552s
6 R Waddell (Kawasaki) +40.033s
Fastest lap: Cooper 1:13.615 (89.199mph)
SBT IRELAND SUPERBIKE
1 C Nesbitt (Honda) 11:59.307
2 K McGreevy (Kawasaki) +0.136s
3 R Kerr (BMW) +1.361s
4 S Swann (Honda) +6.927s
5 D Allingham (BMW) +11.235s
6 R Irwin (Honda) +24.511s
7 J Lyons (Honda) +33.448s
8 D Matheson (BMW) +33.519s
Fastest lap: Kerr 1:10.880 (92.641mph)
DB TILES & BATHROOM SUPERSPORT
1 R Cooper (Yamaha) 11:56.415
2 O Jenner (Yamaha) +2.307s
3 M Browne (Yamaha) +2.809s
4 K McGreevy (Kawasaki) +7.168s
5 C Dawson (Kawasaki) +19.265s
6 C Elkin (Yamaha) +19.974s
7 G McCoy (Suzuki) +20.792
8 A Smyth (Yamaha) +25.038s
Fastest lap: Cooper 1:10.031 (93.764mph)
AJ PLUMBING SUPPLIES SUNFLOWER TROPHY
1 C Nesbitt (Honda) 13:22.321
2 D Allingham (BMW) +1.306s
3 R Kerr (BMW) +6.825s
4 S Swann (Honda) +7.017s
5 B Burrell (BMW) +30.785s
6 J Lyons (Honda) +34.557s
7 O Jenner (Yamaha) +36.980s
8 R Irwin (Honda) +36.989s
9 R Gibson (BMW) +38.101s
10 A Whearty (Honda) +45.661s
Fastest lap: Swann 1:05.841 (99.731mph)
JIM FINLAY TROPHY SUPERBIKE
1 S Swann (Honda) 11:01.424
2 C Nesbitt (Honda) +0.093s
3 R Kerr (BMW) +6.870s
4 R Gibson (BMW) +23.802s
5 B Burrell (BMW) +25.408s
6 R Irwin (Honda) +34.204s
New Lap Record: Nesbitt 1:05.093 (100.877mph)
HENDERSON FOOD SERVICE SUPERSPORT
1 R Cooper (Yamaha) 11:27.068
2 O Jenner (Yamaha) +1.101s
3 M Browne (Yamaha) +8.353s
4 C Dawson (Kawasaki) +13.043s
5 G McCoy (Suzuki) +24.527s
6 A Smyth (Yamaha) +24.733s
7 M Conlin (Ducati) +25.057s
8 J McWilliams (Kawasaki) +25.432s
Fastest lap: Cooper 1:07.806 (96.841mph)