Chris Clark Remains In Contention For R3 World Cup Crown After UK Round

Chris Clark maintained his second place in the overall classification of the 2025 Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup after a spirited ride to seventh and fourth in the two races held this past weekend at Donington Park in the UK.

Having never ridden at Donington Park before, FP1 was all about learning the circuit for Chris. Superpole saw a lap time improvement with the #5 Smrz Racing BGR rider qualifying thirteenth but only a couple of tenths from the top six – that is how close it is!

Race one was typically hard fought with the leading group of more than a dozen riders staying together until the halfway point when they split. Unfortunately for Chris he got held up by the constant overtakes happening around him but used his ahead to avoid the chaos on the final lap and finish seventh.

Sunday’s second race saw Chris start further up the grid in eighth courtesy of his race one best lap. He immediately went into attack mode, ensuring he remained in contention as the race settled down. Moving into the top seven with a little over a lap to go a top six finish was on the cards. This soon became a potential podium as once again several of his rivals made contact and crashed. Approaching the final left-handed hairpin Chris thought about lunging for third but with the championship still to fight for he settled for a well deserved fourth at the flag.

The results, which mean Chris has scored points in every race of the season so far, bode well for round four of the series which takes place in Hungary in a fortnight. He will arrive there second in the championship.

Friday evening also saw Chris doing his bit for the Two Wheels for Life Charity on the Paddock Show stage. He was joined by World Superbike Champion, Toprak Razgatlioglu for a Rubix Cube challenge that saw him attempt to solve ten cubes before Toprak’s onboard lap of the Donington Park circuit was completed. Chris won!

Chris Clark:

“At the start of the weekend I knew I was going to love the track before I even rode in FP1. The first part which is fast, and flowing is my favourite part of any track in the whole world – I loved it. Going into Superpole I had a strategy of finding a group but unfortunately, I was a little unlucky and didn’t time things the best and I ended up thirteenth on the grid. I got a bad launch off the start in the first race and had to work my way back up to seventh after being eighteenth at one point. My lap time in race one moved me up the grid but again in race two I didn’t make the best start, and I lost two positions on the opening lap. After some wild crashes on the final lap, I fought my way up to fourth after being eleventh with just over a lap to go. I got solid points for the championship, and I know that in Hungary we will be even better. I want to thank the team and everyone who supports me and Toprak Razgatlioglu for joining me on stage for a rubix cube challenge for the Two Wheels for Life charity. I beat Toprak at Donington – how crazy is that!”