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National bike racing champion Cyril Whitter retained his crown in the most dramatic fashion imaginable - snatching victory from Shannon Caisey on the final day of the season.

Devon 'Red' Bailey beat the Cook brothers to the scooter title while Marvin Robinson edged out David Jones in the Superbike class as all three major championships were decided on Sunday.

A record crowd of more than 2,000 packed into the Clearwater track to witness the thrilling finale.

Reigning champ Whitter had trailed Caisey all season in the GP 125 class.

And he went into Sunday's races needing to make up an 18-point deficit on the long-time leader.

But Whitter took control from the off, winning the first race, with Caisey coming in third.

Whitter took the next race and then did what he had to do in the final rubber of the day coming in second, behind Caisey, but crucially taking enough points to retain a two-point lead in the championship.

Perfect timing

"It was the first time I'd been in the lead all season. It was perfect timing," said a delighted Whitter.

The scooter class was just as close with just four points separating leader Ed Cook, Devon 'Red' Bailey and John Cook in the top three slots. It was all over quickly for the younger Cook brother, though, with John crashing out in race one to leave Ed and Red to battle it out. They took an ace each in the first two leaving the last race of the day as an all-or-nothing decider.

And it was Bailey who prevailed taking the honours for the second time in three years. In the Superbike class Marvin Robinson was a man on a mission from race one, taking the first two races to secure the title from close rival David Jones Snr.

There were some real battles between Jones, Robinson and Paul DeCouto with Jones taking a moral victory in the final race of the day.[[In-content Ad]]

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