Having undergone an operation to plate his broken collarbone just six days earlier, Simpson arrived at the penultimate round of the domestic series with the added complication of an acute urine infection.

However despite having no appetite and flu like symptoms Shaun took to the track not knowing if he was going to survive qualifying let alone the two motos that could potentially wreck his championship hopes.

A lowly eleventh place in timed practice revealed the scale of the task ahead. Even with not the best pick of gates Simpson made one of his trademark lightning starts to become the surprise leader of the opening MX2 race and held off the attentions of Zac Osbourne until lap five.

A mistake on one of the slowest corners of the undulating sandy circuit saw Shaun stall and drop to fifth spot as he struggled to restart his engine.

A spirited and determined fight back saw the young Scot move into third place behind his main title rival Stephen Sword with two laps to go. Not satisfied with settling for safe points, Shaun made one last push to pass Sword and to signal his true championship intent.

The now deep rutted hillside track at Brampton looked a tough ask for the energy sapped Simpson, as the MX2 field assembled for their second moto of the day.

Although this time Shaun was not first out of the gate, it was the twenty year old who emerged in front as the pack rounded the first turn. Again it was Osbourne who was the early threat, but an error by the American rider left Sword to pick up the challenge that raged through to four laps from the end.

A tough move by Sword saw him collide with Simpson, but left the Kawasaki on the deck and Shaun to cruise to an important race and overall win.

A delighted, but exhausted Simpson stated: “Yesterday I was not sure if I was going to be able to ride at all, so to win today feels absolutely incredible. I just did enough in practice this morning, but was still not over confident that I could ride at pace for race distance.

Thankfully I got a good start in the first moto, and apart from one small mistake it was a dream result that gave me real motivation for the second race.”

“Again I made a good start, but it was tough as the track was really rough. I knew Swordy was closing, but I didn’t have a lot left to respond. He made a strong move, which nearly took us both down, but somehow I managed to hang on and to bring it home safely.

"Today was all about damage limitation, so to have won and increased my lead in the championship is more than I could have ever hoped for.” Shaun continued.

Results: MX2 Moto One: 1: Osbourne 2: Simpson 3: Sword 4: Bradshaw 5: Nunn

MX2 Moto Two: 1: Simpson 2: Barr 3: Bradshaw 4: Osbourne 5: Nunn 6: Sword

MX2 Overall: 1: Simpson 47 2: Osbourne 43 3: Bradshaw 38 4: Sword 35

Championship to date: 1: Simpson 298 2: Sword 283 3: Barr 245

Final round: 21st September – Hawkstone Park