Scott Ogden has emerged victorious in a dramatic Race 2 at Donington Park, with the number 4 impressing once again to move up from his P10 qualifying position and escape a final chicane shuffle to take the win. Fenton Seabright steered clear of the drama to take second from pole, with Scott Swann able to capitalise on the late drama to complete the podium - and Cameron Horsman, the previous Championship leader, the man to really lose out as he takes home his first 0 of the season.
Donington Race 2 began in much the same way it ended: dramatically. With the start delayed due to a sudden downpour and race length subsequently shortened to 16 laps, keeping calm and carrying on was the name of the game. It was declared a wet race and the grid were on wets, but the sun was back out by the time the lights went out and it was Seabright who got the best start off the front row. It wasn't for long, however, as Horsman sliced straight through from fourth to take over in the lead - supremely confident in the greasy and difficult conditions.
Initially it looked like the number 23 was going to pull away from the pack, but Seabright, Charlie Atkins and Charlie Farrer were those in pursuit - and Ogden was already up to sixth after starting tenth. A man on the move, on Lap 2 he was into third as Horsman and Seabright duelled at the front and the trio would then begin putting some daylight in between themselves and the chasing pack.
That made a lonely fourth place ride for Charlie Atkins - after another good start - for much of mid part of the race, but there was another man on the move as the conditions started to worsen: Farrer. After a few moments early on that had dropped him into the latter half of the top ten, the number 19 made short work of the group ahead of him and then set off after Atkins and the three-way fight just ahead, now led by Horsman by a sizeable margin. But were there enough laps left to catch them?
There were. With Farrer and Atkins cutting over a second a lap off the leading group and Horsman falling back into the clutches of Ogden and Seabright, it set up a five-rider fight over the last two laps and it looked liked anyone's race to win. Horsman stayed steadfast and led over the line for the last lap and although Ogden attacked quickly, the number 23 took it back as Seabright, in turn, attacked Farrer for third. But the final chicane would prove the deciding factor.
Horsman was the man ahead before the braking zone, but Ogden headed through on the inside. And that's what saw him escape the chaos behind as Farrer tried the same - but slid out. He collected Horsman in some late race heartbreak for the former Championship leader, and then Charlie Atkins, reacting to the drama ahead, suffered the same fate as he also hit the deck.
That left Ogden taking another impressive win and the Championship lead, with Seabright making it through the chicane shuffle to take second and make some big gains in the standings. Behind them, the fight for sixth had become the fight for the podium and it was Scott Swann who won it to take his best ever Donington result.
Exactly two tenths behind him, Jack Nixon took P4 ahead of the third man in that three-way fight, Brian Hart, with Harvey Claridge winning a duel against Elliot Pinson to cross the line in P6. Jack Hart took eighth, just ahead of top rookie Jamie Lyons in ninth.
Irishman Rhys Irwin, who had a tough race on Sunday, completed the top ten and headed a gaggle of seven more riders who crossed the line within a couple of seconds of each other: Ross Maguire, Corey Tinker, Zak Shelton, Torin Collins, Osian Jones, Harry Leigh and Jamie Davis.
That's it from Round 2 of the 2019 British Talent Cup, and next up the grid return to Donington Park but this time alongside WorldSBK in July. That's on the longer layout, too - tune in on the 5th - 7th July to see how the cards fall in Round 3.