Motorsport: Swanson recovers to take podium place

Declan Swanton has moved in to second place in the British Junior Superstock Championship after finishing third in the sixth round event at Thruxton.

In the qualifying sessions, the Cork rider gave a strong performance for a front row slot but it went horribly wrong on the next session when he fell off at 120 mph. That meant he had to start the race on the fourth row - in 13th place. In between, his team worked against the clock but still managed to have his Yamaha R6 fully repaired in time for the race.

Swanton made a fine start and was in sixth place after the first of the 16 laps. He consolidated his position for a few laps before reeling in a few more riders to take third. He held his place through to the chequered flag behind winner, Ben Wilson with Richard Cooper.

Matt Griffin overcame a spin on the closing laps to claim seventh place in the fifth round of the British Formula Renault Championship at Donington Park. Fellow Cork driver, Robbie Coleman was eleventh.

Richard Antinucci, Griffin's Manor Motorsport team mate, won the race - closing the deficit on championship leader, Carl Breeze, who was second.

Mark Smith was a worthy winner of the 100 National "O" Plate Championship at Kartworld, Watergrasshill. Over the weekend, he dominated all the qualifying heats and his win came as no surprise. Ronayne O'Mahony and Charles McCarthy were second and third respectively.

The other winners were Simon Ramseyer (Pro-karts); Gerard Tohill (Rotax Max) Ronan Corcoran (Junior Jica); John Delaney (Super Pro-karts); Kieran Daly (125 National); Dean Keating (Cadets) and Cheryl Murphy (Junior Restricted).