Lincolnshire's Ivan Lintin ended his 2012 road racing season on a high note at the weekend when he took a brace of podiums at the Scarborough International Gold Cup meeting. Competing on the Oliver's Mount road circuit once more, the Bardney-based rider took runner-up in both of the Supertwins races on his Tigcraft Kawasaki and backed this up with a brace of top eight finishes in the two Supersport 600cc races on the Race Supplies Direct/R&D ZX-6R Kawasaki.
 
With Saturday seeing perfect sunny conditions around the 2.43-mile woodland circuit, good qualifying performances saw Ivan line up in pole position for the 8-lap Supertwins race and second for his 4-lap 600cc heat and he took third in the latter behind regular International road race winners Guy Martin and Bruce Anstey. Next up was the Supertwins race but Ivan had to give second best on this occasion to Dean Harrison. His final race of the day was the first leg of the 600cc David Jefferies Cup and Ivan rode a solid race to finish seventh, the first Kawasaki rider to finish and just over three tenths of a second adrift of Kiwi rider Anstey.
 
Sunday saw cooler conditions and Ivan's first race of the day was again the Supertwins race, which was stopped at the first time of asking. Re-run over the shorter distance of 4 laps, there was little to choose between Ivan and Harrison on this occasion with both lapping close to the lap record but in the end Ivan had to settle for second once more, the gap betwen the duo just 0.873s. Ivan's final race of the day was the second leg of the 600cc and with drizzle falling, his cause wasn't aided by a poor start that saw him down in 12th at the end of the opening lap. However, he soon got into his stride and with the fourth fastest lap of the race, Ivan crossed the line at the end of the 8 laps in 6th place but only five seconds adrift of second placed Michael Pearson.
 
Speaking afterwards, a pleased Ivan said; "It's been a good weekend and a good way to end what's been a very productive season for me. We had a few set-up problems with both bikes during practice but come the races I was a lot happier with them and confident of some good results, especially in the Supertwins where I'd qualified on pole. With Jamie Hamilton and Michael Pearson not starting, I was hopeful of grabbing the win but fair play to Dean, he upped his game considerably and rode very well on Saturday. It was a lot closer in Sunday's race though and with further changes to the suspension, I stuck to his back wheel throughout. I'd got everything lined up to overtake him on the last lap but when I missed a gear, I lost a little bit of ground and wasn't close enough to try it but I was still happy with second, especially as I was only 0.2s off the lap record."
 
"There was some stiff competition in the two Supersport 600cc races with the likes of Guy, Bruce, William Dunlop and Ian Lougher, to name just a few, on the grid but I was really pleased with the results I achieved. I suffered with a bit of brake fade during Saturday's race but was right on the tail of Bruce at the end and looking at the calibre of riders in front of me, I was more than happy with seventh. A bit of rain was falling during Sunday's race but I got boxed in on the first lap and it left me with a lot of work to do. We were all pretty much on slick tyres but the drizzle wasn't getting any heavier so I pushed on and managed to work my way up to sixth. I was only a couple of seconds away from second so I'm sure if I could have got away from the line, another podium could have been taken."
 
"Nevertheless, to finish 6th and 7th in the 600cc races at the Gold Cup meeting was very satisfying and a good way to end the season. I'll be continuing with both bikes in 2013 and they'll be developed accordingly whilst I'm also hoping to add a 1000cc machine to the stable. Like I say, it's been a good year for me and I've made some real good progress at the International road races so I'd just like to thank everyone that's supported me and helped me during 2012."
 
Picture by Glynne Lewis