KEITH Farmer sensationally took the chequered flag in two out of three races at the Teeside Autodrome to lead the British Supermoto 450 Championship table.

The Altham flier suffered more than his fair share of adversity with accidents and the weather threatening his title bid.

But he came through with flying colours every time.

Race one got under way with Farmer leading his class and running fifth overall. Four laps in and open class rider Matt Winstanley crashed in the dirt and, chasing hard, Farmer managed to crash into the stricken rider, losing the class lead and being forced to mount a comeback.

He rode like a man possessed and, within four laps, he was nearly back to where he started, and with the last lap flag out he only had Chris Hodgson to deal with.

As the pair approached the final section Farmer forced his way past and, to his team's delight, secured the class win.

With the rain falling for race two, Farmer managed to spin on the line and rounded the first lap as fourth placed 450. With great determination, he began to pick off each rider, including Hodgson, before he fell in the off road, remounting way down field.

Farmer now sat comfortably behind Ricky Higgs until the leader stalled around the back section handing an easy class win to the East Lancashire rider.

With even heavier rain for race three, Farmer fell victim to the standing water when, on lap three, the rear of the Aprilia aquaplaned sending him through a complete 360. As he spun down the track at speed, his determination saw him hanging onto the bars and clutch and, as he came to a standstill, he amazingly remounted in third.

Within a few laps, he was back into second and chasing down Higgs who had taken the lead.

But, despite closing the gap, Higgs rode solidly to take the final race win from Farmer with Hodgson in third.

Former British enduro champion Phil Smithson finished 19th, 14th, and 13th in the competition. He's now ninth overall in the series.