Darren Barton left it right to the last minute to storm through to win on the last lap in the 7th round of this season's British Championship at Oulton Park on Sunday.

The Team Appleyard rider qualified a disappointing fourth on difficult drying track.

After the qualifying sessions, adjustments were made to the bike's suspension but with no warm up at Oulton Park there was no chance to check the modifications.

Darren couldn't make any initial impression on the three front runners, his nearest championship rivals Adrian Coates, Shane Norval and Stuart Easton. However, in typical Barton fashion he set about catching them with some aggressive riding - breaking his own lap record.

After five laps he was sitting on their heels and appeared content to stay there until the dramatic last lap.

As they started the final lap, Barton dived under Easton at the right 'Old Hall' bend and set after Coates and Norval. Rushing into the fast 4th gear 'Knickerbrook' Coates appeared to touch Norval and seizing his opportunity Barton stormed to the front, taking the chequered flag by just four tenths of a second.

It was Darren's third win out of the last four starts and with Coates being relegated to fourth after picking up a 10 second penalty for jumping the start it means the Team MARC rider is now just three points behind Coates in the race for the championship, with six rounds to go.

Barton said: "I thoroughly enjoyed myself and can't wait for Knockhill when I shall be going all out to grab enough points to overtake Adrian and head the championship."

Team Manager Robin Appleyard added: "It was fantastic racing and Darren showed his true colours. We won despite the bike struggling for speed. We shall be working on this over the next three weeks to make sure everything is spot on for Knockhill."

In the 125cc race Tom Sykes continued to make progress and gain valuable experience. Having qualified on the second row of the grid for the second race running he got off to a poor start and slipped back to finish in 15th place.

Robin said: "Tom is doing really well and is learning all the time. I'm sure it won't be long before he achieves a top ten finish."