Teammates' podium spots

The pair were contesting the penultimate round of the British Supersport championship races, plus the BeNeCup championship for Superbike and Supersport riders, in the Dutch championship at Assen.

East Kirkby’s Philp completed both his Supersport championship races in eighth position while Clarke crashed in the difficult conditions on Saturday and finished 15th on Sunday.

But the performance of the day had to be in the BeNeCup where Philp won the Supersport race, with Clarke right behind him in second place - a wonderful performance by the two riders.

Philp was using the new engine and it didn’t let him down.

Qualifying was held in wet conditions on Saturday and Philp qualified for a start from the fifth row of the grid for the Sprint race which also ran in heavy rain.

But Philp relishes a wet track and was happy to run in the dire conditions making up ground from 15th place to cross the finish line in a fine eighth position.

He went on to start the Feature race from the fourth row on Sunday in fine, dry conditions which made for a faster race.

Philp edged his way forward and crossed the finish line in 10th place, but two riders ahead were penalised and this elevated him up to eighth once again.

Philp is now in 16th place in the rider standings on 74 points with just two races remaining.

In the BeNeCup Dutch championship, Philp qualified on pole and held his own amongst a full grid of Superbikes to finish the race in ninth place overall, but took a decisive win in the Supersport class.

Because there was no Stock 600 race at Assen, Kirton’s Clarke was having a ride in the British Supersport races to gain experience racing against the faster Supersport bikes on his stock 600 bike.

He qualified well in 17th place for the start of the 10-lap Sprint race on Saturday but fell foul to the slippery conditions and crashed at turn five on lap four.

Determined to make up for his crash, Clarke started the feature race from the seventh row and was running in 20th place for a few laps before moving forward to complete the race in 16th place.

But with a rider ahead being awarded a one minute penalty for causing a crash Clarke was promoted up to 15th place to pick up a championship point.

He too entered the Dutch Superbike and Supersport race and qualified in 14th place overall - fourth Supersport.

He too held his position mixed in with the more powerful Superbikes but it was an even better achievement for him as he was on his stock 600cc bike and giving away a lot of horsepower in both classes.

He finished the race in 11th place overall but secured second place in the Supersport class and along with his teammate attended the podium presentation to be awarded his trophy.

The final round of both draperRACING riders championships are at Brands Hatch on October 15, when they will be hoping to end a successful season on a high note with some top results.