Next Meeting Snetterton- Saturday 10th/Sunday 11th May 2008
Snetterton…and the need for speed
NG Road Racing’s second meeting of the year sees us at the high speed Snetterton circuit. Pre season tip Joe Symonds on his Greenday Promotions R1 faces some stiff opposition from Michael Blank, Darren Neal, Charlie Bishop and Shaun Hennessey in the big classes, although it’s James Cox on his Phyco R1 that is taking the superbikes by storm this year. All are former champions and are eager to add more silverware in ’08. Joshua Day, Daniel Frear and Graham Frear head the strong 600 class. 13 yearold Corey Lewis has been a sensation on the RS125 GP Honda and with a good year this year looks set to follow brother Jay into BSB….things are going to plan so far.The 250GP ACU National Championship sees local rider Andrew Sawford on his St Neots Yamaha wanting a good outing infront of home crowds. Ben Johnson, Jason Davies and Toby Markham will be out to spoil his party though. Strong grids in all classes mean close racing for vital point early season.The Circuit
This 1.95 mile Snetterton Circuit is quick with the long Revett Straight allowing the big superbikes to really show some speed. However it’s not all about power through the Bomb Hole, Coram Curve and Russell’s Chicane. You will witness a lot of outbraking moves into Russell’s… some will work…but many end up in embarrassment in the gravel trap!
The Fastest
At NG Road racing meetings at Pembrey the fastest lap stands to Phil Bevan on his STP GSXR 1000 Suzuki at 1 min 10.45sec, and that equates to 99.17mph average….. so the first NG 100mph is ripe for the setting.
The Season
This season our championship takes in thirteen rounds over eight weekends at seven different circuits, Pembrey, Brands Hatch, Cadwell, Snetterton, Oulton, Donington and Thruxton. The range of circuit across the country pulls in the best riders to challenge for the spoils. Each round has the main feature classes of the 250GP ACU National Championship and the Phoenix Open along with the DTR/Metzeler Streetstocks but also races for everything from 125cc Grand Prix bikes thro 600’s to the Powerbikes…. Big booming twins…. The high revving Formula 400’s…. and probably some of the best supported sidecar races in the UK, so there really is something for everyone.
The 250GP ACU National Championship and NG Cup
With NG Road Racing hosting the prestigious new 2008 250GP ACU National Championship we along with the series sponsors, the ACU and Fraser’s of Gloucester it is are providing an outlet for what can only be described as real racing machines. With Yamaha’s TZ250 lining up alongside Honda’s RS and Aprilia’s RS we are sure of great competition. This is the only place that you will see these Grand Prix derived machines competing in a full National championship in the UK. Ben Johnson heads the way so far on his Double M Racing Honda, but expect round two winner Jason Davies to be up there to. Toby Markham missed the first Brands meeting due to European championship commitments so is sure to want to make his mark here.
The DTR Metzeler Racetec Streetstock
Over the last couple of seasons the streetstock class, for basically, very slightly modified standard production bikes has given us some very close racing indeed. This year with the support of Metzeler Racetec with their range of tyres being used by the competitors will level it out even more. Rider ability will play a much bigger part as the bikes & tyres are so evenly matched.
The Phoenix (Trowbridge) Open
This is the big one, all the top riders battling out for the all important grid spots for the final. With the added twist of full timed qualifying, tactics will come into play in both sessions, so expect the more experienced riders to take advantage here. A front row start will be a big psychological boost for the big 10 lapper. After round one Joe Symonds current champion looks to be in good shape for an ’08 defence on his R1, watch out for James Cox and Michael Blank though.
Where…. When… and How much…..
Snetterton is situated in Norfolk and is off the A11 Thetford to Norwich Road. There are ample road signs as you approach the circuit. If you arrive early you can witness the technical inspection of the machines, that starts at 7am. Practice and qualifying takes place from 9am with the first race proper starting at 11:00am on Saturday and about 10:30am on Sunday (All times can be subject to change). The cost to get in is £12 per adult with children under 15 free. For more information check out www.motorsportvision.co.uk. or www.snetterton.co.uk.
One’s To Watch- Chay Newton – CC Road Racing TZ250 Yamaha
Chay Newton and father Colin are the CC Road Race team. Colin doing all the engine work and Chay doing all the riding…. That’s it, no big backers, no teams of mechanics and although they have picked up some very welcome help this year from Refined Recruitment its still very much a shoestring effort.
The TZ he rides is getting on a bit, being a 2000 model imported direct from Japan a few seasons back but as he proved at Brands Hatch recently it’s still up to the job.
The 23 year old Landscape Gardener from Wellington in Somerset started his racing career early, on an RS125 Honda back in 2000 and in ’01 took a higher championship position in the 125 class than Daniel Cooper (who went on to the British 125 title).
In ’03 we saw a move to the 250GP grids on a TZ and had the hard riding youngster gained championship runner-up spots in the NG Road Racing series in 2005 and 6. Missing out in ’05 by just 2 points…..and that after missing 4 rounds due to injury.
A serious arm injury saw him sidelined for most of last year, but is now back fitter and keener than ever to make a name for himself in the 250GP ranks. After acquitting himself well at Brands with a second place in round one things look set for a good year with his goal being “…lifting the 250GP ACU National Championship trophy at the end of the year”
Class By Class
A strong grid of 125GP machines this year sees Corey Lewis at the age of 13 taking to the Dave Bushby RS125 well, he will once more have Jack Drummond, Matt Hillier and defending ’07 champ Freddie Nickless for company. The Junior Formula 125’s sees Rowan Miller in command on his 80 Metrakit. Whilst the 400 open Freddie Nickless on a 125 heads things at present but expect the 250s of Tony Davies, Chay Newton and Paul Lumb , as well as the 400 4-stroke of Les Vallender to be in the fight.
When it come to the 600 class there are no easy races with a possible 6 or 8 winners each weekend. Joshua Day, Daniel Frear, Graham Frear, and Rich Bearcroft are the men-most-likely, with the Frear brothers looking good on R6 and CBRRR respectively.
The bigger Superbike Open and Powerbike classes too have a whole host of talent on the grid, Joe Symonds and James Cox on Yamahas R1, and Michael Blank on a GSXR Suzuki are the pick of the grid. However Charlie Bishop, Paul Allen, Darren Neal and Shaun Hennessey are regular and proven winners.
Chris Beverley (CBR400), Les Vallender (RVF400), Jodie Duffill, Josh Leaning and Tony Meredith (ZXR400) show that no one bike is able to dominate the Formula 400 class as all could grab the big points this weekend.
Mark Compton returns to the fray on his Aprilia Mille to challenge Andy Peck, Greg Gibson and a whole host of new 675 Triumphs in the Sound of Thunder class. The 675 is proving to be the machine to have in ’08 and James Parry, Duncan Knox and Martin Sharpe in particular have got theirs sorted. Whilst in the Mini Twins it’s a battle of Nigel Wright, defending class champ on his lone 800SS Ducati up against the class bike choice of SV650 Suzuki with Steven Sweetman the main challenger.
Streetstocks racing for road legal machines is really strong at present with Dan Kift on his CBR 1000 Honda the top exponent, along with John Harwood and Jer Thomas on the big bikes. The 700’s see last years class runner up Andy Hayes wanting to go one better this year on his R6, although Nicholas Andrews is doing his very best to prevent that happening. In the 400 division though Richard Troth is having a relatively easy run of things with convincing victories at Pembrey and Brands under his belt to date.
Matt Dix and Rob Beere are definitely the pick on the sidecar crop so far in this ’08 season on their F2 600 Baker. They have dominated both the F2 and Open classes so far. The question this weekend is can their super quick 600 hold off the 1000cc+ open outfits down the Revett straight?.
With races also for newcomers on the programme Ben Marsden in the 400’s and Duncan Knox in the open are hoping this year could launch their racing careers.
250GP ACU National Championship & NG Cup
After Brands Hatch, a few names are forcing themselves to the fore, most notably Ben Johnson and Jason Davies. Davies on his TW2 Motorsport TZ250 had the pace all weekend following on from his impressive pre season testing, but will not want to add another dnf to his tally following his Brands race one. It was Johnson though that went away with the series lead on the Double M RS250 Honda after turning in 1st and 2nd place finishes.
Snetterton will see Davies and Johnson again at the fore, but also expect Toby Markham, Lee Dickinson and Alex Kenchington to feature. This trio missed Brands due to European 250 competition with 20 year old Markham best with 6th at the Cartegena circuit in Spain. Dickinson was also in the top 10.
Darrell Higgins will be hoping to bounce back after his get-off at Brands on the DTR TZ 250 as will Chay Newton whose runner up spot in leg one at Brands had everyone taking notice of the 22 year old Refined Recruitment TZ250 rider.
The vastly experienced Bruce Dunn too will sure to forcing on the pace on his TZ250 Yamaha after a strong first outing.
With also Rich Grindling, Mark Linton, Ant Hodson and Derek Clark out there, winners are not easy to predict.
One rider wanting to up his game from the wet Brands meeting will be local rider Andrew Sawford. Andrew suffered in the wet at Brands and will be all out to make amends here at Snetterton in front of his sponsors St Neots Motorcycles and his home crowd.
Paul Lumb, on his Ken White Signs/AK 2-stroke TZ took both NG Cup wins in the Clubmans NG Cup at Brands and will want to continue his winning ways here at Snetterton.
As an added bonus for the series Neal Fraser of Fraser’s of Gloucester has stepped up to the mark with some very welcome round on round race day cash for the top three in both National and Cup series, to add to the substantial end of year fund.