GUISBOROUGH rider Dennis Hobbs confirmed his potential when he romped to an amazing seven straight victories aboard the SMR 900cc Honda in the final New Era Club road race meeting of the year at Croft Circuit near Darlington last weekend.

On his first ride aboard the ex-Iain Duffus Honda Fireblade, the 17-year-old 600cc national Honda Hornet champion set about the task in fine style, taking four wins on Saturday and upping the class lap record on two occasions.

But the youngster was not finished and secured another two wins on Sunday, again at lap record pace, before easily claiming the Laird of Croft feature race to add to his impressive tally.

Hot on his heels was Hutton Rudby's Russ Hodgson, who was also in magnificent form aboard the 125cc Tillston's Honda. The 19-year-old waiter managed three wins on Saturday before noticing a problem with the machine and working through the night to fix it. But his hard work was rewarded when he scored another two wins on Sunday.

Also tasting victory at Croft on Saturday was Scotton sidecar racer Greg Lambert, who took a pair of easy wins aboard the Windle Yamaha prior to travelling to Mallory Park for a race on Sunday.

Northallerton's Phil Stead defied the pain of a swollen knee - the legacy of a training injury - to post a win on the Hungry Jacks 250cc Honda on Saturday, but was forced to sit out Sunday's action due to the injury.

Dave Gatenby from Ingleby Barwick also emerged victorious when he followed up a brace of thirds on Saturday with a win and a second place on Sunday aboard the Joe Joe's 250cc Honda.

Fellow Stockton rider Karl Nicholson followed up a third and fourth place on Sunday with a calculated ride into second place aboard the 600cc HLB Honda in the Laird of Croft feature race to claim the prestigious title after a season-long battle.

Middlesbrough's Tony Donachie, doubling up as both Russ Hodgson's mechanic and team-mate, took a pair of runner-up spots aboard the 125cc Tillston's Honda before beating Hodgson in the final race of the day. Another mechanic involved in the weekend's action was Team SMR's Tony Arnold, from Marton, who managed a pair of second places in the newcomer's events aboard the 1000cc Yamaha.

Two riders out of luck were Stew Hodgson from Yarm, who suffered a broken collarbone after crashing his 125cc Honda, and Northallerton's Dave Grimsdale, who encountered gearbox problems on Saturday on his 250cc Manton Yamaha which ruled him out of the weekend's action.

l More than 400 fans turned out on a wet and windy Tuesday night last week to acclaim new World Superbike champion Colin Edwards when he visited Club Amadeus in Northallerton as a guest of the North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club.

The 26-year-old Texan, who revealed he has a taste for a particular brand of northern beer and hinted that he'd like popular British rider Chris Walker to become his team-mate in the world championship next season, received a rapturous welcome.

Edwards then spent the night signing autographs and chatting with fans before donating his team shirt to the auction, which alone raised £300. A figure of £2,000 was raised in total to be donated to local competitors in readiness for the 2001 season.

The next event at NYRRSC is a classic night at Northallerton FC on Tuesday, November 7, where British champion John Cronshaw will be the guest of honour