Two junior motorcycle riders were involved in the first dead heat in a British Championship race since 1995. Competing in the 2022 Honda British Talent Cup at the Donington Park circuit, 15-year-old Carter Brown, Bridgwater in Somerset, and 13-year-old Johnny Garness, from Ilfracombe in Devon, crossed the line at the exact same time. A photo finish was unable to separate the two teenagers from the MLav VisionTrack Academy team, and at the finish line, 11 riders were separated by just 1.7 seconds.
Johnny Garness was battling for the lead throughout the race, but after moving to the front it was a MLav VisionTrack Academy showdown going into the final chicane and race to the line, with Carter Brown fighting his way to the front from 9th place on the grid. After 22 laps of action-packed racing, the timing monitors confirmed there was 0.000 seconds difference between the riders on the line, confirming the closest finish in the British Superbike paddock in twenty-seven years of racing.
Speaking after the race, Carter Brown said: “I don’t know what to say, I’m blown away! It has been an amazing weekend. I was so happy to win on Saturday and to back that up with another win on Sunday is fantastic. I still can’t believe it was a dead heat, I’m so happy for me and the MLav VisionTrack Academy team.”
Meanwhil, Johnny Garness commented: “That was great fun! There was so much happening throughout the race, I just concentrated on trying to stay at the front of the pack. When I crossed the line, I wasn’t sure who had won, but I was so happy to stand on the top step with my teammate Carter.”
The British Talent Cup is a 20-race championship that is designed to identify the next generation of talent from the British & Irish Isles, with 13- to 16-year-old racers competing on Honda NSF 250 R motorcycles. The 10-round competition features at British Superbike Championship (BSB) events, with the highlight of the season being a support race at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
VisionTrack, a specialist in AI video telematics, is one of the leading supporters of motorcycle racing in the UK. Through its growing sponsorship within the sport, it is offering a pathway to the Moto3 World Championship for young racers from the UK and Ireland. Its riders are already competing in multiple competitions including British Talent Cup, European Talent Cup, British Superbikes and Moto3.