Louth racer Hickman wins fourth Darley title

The Louth rider took the overall win at Darley Moor on Sunday, smashing the outright lap record in the process aboard the JG Speedfit Kawasaki.

Hickman took pole position and led the first of two races from lights to flag, remaining untroubled by runner-up Richard Cooper as he cruised to victory.

He crossed the line with an advantage of 1.35 seconds over Cooper and set the fastest lap and a new outright record with a time of 52.40secs – 102.88mph – on lap seven.

The 29-year-old Lincolnshire ace got a bad start in race two and was fourth for the first half.

When Cooper took the lead, Hickman went from fourth to second in two laps and followed Cooper home.

When the two results were combined Hickman was declared the victor on aggregate time.

“I am delighted to have won the title again,” he said. “It was not without its problems, though, as we had to change the engine between qualifying and the first race.

“The boys worked hard and just got it finished as we were called to the grid so no time to check if all was okay.

But Doris just went so well and we were never troubled. I have gone faster than ever before, after riding under lap record time in qualifying, I actually broke the outright lap record during the race.

“The second race was not so good. I got a terrible start and it took me half the race distance to catch up with the leaders. But once there I soon moved up into second place and just missed out on the double by 0.4secs.

“So that’s four times I have won the title now, in 2012 on a Kawasaki and then 2014/15/16 and with different Manufacturers, Honda, BMW and now Kawasaki.”

Hickman moves on to Brands Hatch this weekend for the final round of the British Superbikes Championship.

“My aim is to get some good results to enable me to win the riders cup,” he added. “I am not that far away, just nine points, so it’s not impossible.”

Free practice is on Friday at 10.15am and 3.15pm with a final free session on Saturday at 9am.

The three-stage qualifying session takes place at 11.05am on Saturday, setting the grid for the first 20-lap race at 3.45pm.

After a short warm-up on Sunday morning at 10pm race two begins at 1.15pm, and the final race of the season, which will determine the new champion, is at 4pm.