2009 Season Review
“Double Championship glory for Bevan”
This year’s NG series once more gave the riders an almost unrivalled taste of seven different circuits over the fourteen rounds. We went from the super fast 105mph laps of Thruxton to the tight and technical Anglesey, alongside them we had visits to Brands Hatch, Pembrey, Snetterton, Cadwell and Oulton Park. All that variety meant that any one who won one of the 20 separate championships truly was a worthy winner.
As well as all the established names a host of talented youngsters impressed this season. Josh Day and Thomas Fisher are destined for National glory next year. James Kiff a newcomer was scoring big points in the Open and Powerbike come the end of the year and will be a force on the superbikes next year. Then there was the ‘pre-teenage’ brigade Bradley Hughes and Lee Jackson in particular who will take on the 125GP boys and girls next year after multiple wins this year on the F125’s.
We were lucky enough to see the talent of Richard Cooper, who after competing on the World and European stage, most notably until this year in the BMW Boxer series settled into his role with the Co-ordit team on the new R1. He gave the new crossplane Yamaha 8 wins at Brands Hatch with his first outing aboard the untested yellow liveried bike. He along with team mate Phil Bevan forced the pace all year, making their rivals Lee Keeble, Chris Pope, Shaun Henessey and Mark Compton to lift their game. Cooper this year grabbed more wins than any other rider despite not doing the full season. He was also at the forefront of National Competition in the BSB Superstock series and even heading the full BSB Superbike field at the wet Mallory Park round. He also caught the eye of World BMW Superbike bosses who put Cooper on the new S1000R for the Nurburgring WSB round pushing the unfamiliar bike to the verges of the top 10. Richard may not have won any of the main NG Silverware but he surely was one on the riders of the year.
Next year already looks like living up to the high standards set recently, with another great mix of circuits and classes to test the stars of the future to the limit
Welshman Phil Bevan secured his second Phoenix Open Club championship win in 3 years as he took the title on his Team Co-Ordit R1 Yamaha. He picked up 4 wins along the way, But more importantly for him he managed to regain the outright lap record at his home Pembrey circuit lowering the figures to a 58.07 second lap at the 1.456 mile circuit. Bevan took the open ahead of Lee Keeble and Richard Cooper. Cooper picked up nine wins over the year but BSB and World Superbike duties robbed him of the chance of the title. It was a very similar story in the Progressive Solutions Powerbike with Bevan securing the title with one round to go. Keeble again was in an impressive runner-up spot with a 100% finish record, which saw him, just snatch the position away from Cooper, who as I said missed 4 championship rounds.
12 year old Bradley Hughes, showed the rest the way to go in the Steve Lynham F125 aboard his Hallmark Aprilia, finishing 39 points clear of his nearest rival Thomas Williams. Jed Bird finished third in the series and was one of 7 different race winners over the year. Another pre-teen, Lee Jackson took a 100% win record taking the flag at the 4 rounds he contended before moving into the 125GP series, having an outing at the final BSB round at Oulton after having just turned 13. Hughes will join the 125 GP ranks in 2010 after he turns 13 in March next year.
Alistair Ray regained the Refined Recruitment 125 GP title on his return from an 18-month injury enforced layoff. Ray last won the 125’s back in 2007 before an injury hit foray into the British series on his ASM Data Honda. Returning to the club ranks at the start of this year and making a steady start before going on to win 4 rounds. The series though seemed to be one no one wanted to win at one stage after first Corey Lewis, then Rowan Miller, Dan Moreton and Sam Burman all took turns at the top of the table before letting the top spot slip away. Ray took the title ahead of Anthony Mulrine who despite not having won a round scored consistently to finish ahead of Burman in the final standings.
Tony Davies successfully retained his Dara Brady 400 crown winning half of the 14 round series on his New Road/Stan Archer/Bluebell Inn TZ250 Yamaha. He held back a strong challenge from Dave Hampton and Phil Guillou, but none had the consistent pace of Davies who ended the year with a 54-point advantage.
With 11 wins from the 14 rounds the George White 600 class may have seemed a one-horse affair for winner Josh Day on the George White/Air Environmental R6. But 19 year old Josh Day had more than a few scares during the season, including a couple of big crashes and a cash shortage mid season. It was only after Andy Rothery of Air Environmental stepped in mid year to join forces with a host of other local sponsors that Josh and the team had been able to attract, that the run to the end of the year was guaranteed. Josh took the series ahead of Thomas Fisher who finished the year in great form with a string of podiums. Third in the title chase went down to the final round with Chris Beverley just nicking it from under the nose of Paul Jeffery. There was an added incentive for the 600…. well at least those under 24 years old. The Co-ordit organisation headed up by Pete Bradshaw had put in place a series which would see the winner have a Co-ordit supported ride in next years 600 Superstock BSB series. Again it was Day and Fisher that would set the pace in the Co-ordit Performance Relay and the 12 wins for Day does not really show how close this series was. The wheel-to-wheel battles at Anglesey proved how hard both riders were prepared to push for such a prize. Day though will be in the yellow team colours next season. NG will also welcome Leon Jeacock to the Relay next term after he won the EMRA 600 series.
Defending a championship is never easy, but that is what Chris Beverley managed on his France and Li Asia CBR400…. although there were a few scares for the team along the way to lifting the A and R Racing Formula 400 crown. The usually ultra consistent Beverley who won the Newcomers and F400 series in 2008 had two big off’s at Snetterton and Cadwell…. both from big points scoring positions !!. That allowed Ben Mardsen to mount his challenge. Just as Beverley has regained his championship composure his freshly re built CBR exploded at Pembrey during practice. With the thought of no points the team sat in the awning staring championship failure in the face. Just then Shannon Hale walked in and offered Chris her Black Lion 400 Streetstock CBR for the day. Chris promised not to wreck the bike, and had two strong 3rd place finishes, and most importantly both infront of nearest rival Mardsen. With his second F400 title in as many years, Chris and the team are now preparing for a full on tilt at the 600 class in 2010.
Darryl Alexander made the jump from winning the Mini Twins series last year to lift the Team Spidey Sound of Thunder crown at his first attempt aboard his Monk Racing.net 1000 Aprilia. The points table, as ever never tells the full story and his handsome 48 points advantage doesn’t do justice to how hard he rode for that bag full of points. Duncan Gibson, Paul Willis, Greg Gibson and Jonathan Power in particular made Alexander push every lap and work for every point. Pre season bet for the win Adam Tempest was removed from the reckoning whist at the top of the points table after breaking his shoulder at Pembrey (round 4), and another Triumph 675 rider Freddie Nickless who impressed in testing was another to suffer at the hands on injury at Thruxton.
Stephen Sweetman from Isleworth had one of those consistent years on his SV 650 in the Big C Mini Twins that spells glory with a series of podiums all year, off the podium just once. He saw off the early season challenge from Rich Troth and Mark Bulgin to keep on racking up the points, Scott Witts with another 100% finish record in the end being Sweetmans nearest threat. The series also threw up a number of names for the future including Tom Llewelyn and Mark Bulgin.
The 1300cc Metzeler and DTR Streetstock class was looking to be a head to head between 2008 runner-up Hilary Philips and the hard riding Adrian “Shady” Shaw, both on GSXR’s. The series lead swapped to and fro until a clash between the two rivals at Cadwell ended Shaw’s year prematurely after cash flow problems in the race budget. Philips then looked to have a steady run to the championship but a late season charge from James Kiff and Andy Rothery made him work hard right up until the final round. But in the end Philips on the Fox Enterprises Suzuki went from being the 2008 bridesmaid to the winner this term. It was a similar story in the 700 Metzeler DTR Streetstock as last years runner up went one better in ’09 to grab the win, Nick Andrews was never out of the top 4 all year and that was the key to his year. His nearest challenger was Roo Cotton who with 8 wins from the 14 rounds certainly had the measure of the opposition but was forced to sit out Cdwell after a gear selector shaft broke in practice, put too big a dent in his points tally. Matt Billington had a strong end to the year on his 675 after coming back from a shoulder injury sustained at the second meeting of the year and is sure to be a threat in 2010. James Francis took his Mia Racing NC30 to the 400 NG Streetstock title although a strong run towards the end of the year from Shannon Hale and Joshua Jones made him keep working hard. After a hiccup at Anglesey which saw him drop points to his rivals things looked a bit tight, but after all the maths were calculated it was clear that he had enough in hand and the series was secure.
NG introduced at new class after a number of riders put in requests for a pre injection/pre 2001 championship. Mark Dunphy took his Kestrel Racing R1 to this inaugural class win with a strong run all year, including 3 wins. It was a story of what could have been though for Philip Hacker on his 1984 spec FJ Owners Club backed FJ1100, he took six wins over the year but did not run the full series. Next year promises more bikes on the grid with Hacker already in for the full term….. the rest had better watch out.
NG run two Newcomers classes with the smaller Louigi Moto backed class going to Scott Witts on his SV650 Suzuki whilst James Kiff dominated the bigger Gary Vardy Newcomers class on his Flying Fox GSXR 1000. Both riders took five wins from the six rounds.
That just leaves us with the Sidecar Classes. After early season pace setters Phil Dongworth and Gary Partridge suffered the Isle of Man crash that saw Dongworth loose his life, the F2 Sidecar paddock took a while to regroup. When they did Miles Bennett and Kevin Perry took up the running on the Team Mad Cow 600 Shelbourne Honda taking a run of five wins in a row in the latter stages of the year. Bennett/Perry took the Century 2000 F2 class ahead of Belgian’s Marc and Rik Vannieuwenhuyse and the rapidly improving Richard Lumley and Paul Skinner on their newly liveried KCP Lumley Kawasaki.
The CSC Racing Open Sidecar class was a tense affair with the returning-to-racing (after a 12 year lay off) Ian Drowne with Ken Edwards in the chair fighting it out with pre-eason tip for glory team of Rod Robinson and Shelly Smithies. The points gap was never more than half a dozen, first one way, then the other. Drowne though he had blown it though at Thruxton as during practice his experienced passenger Edwards lost his had hold through the Campbell, Cobb, Segrave complex and exited from the back of the Mick Robson/West End Precision 1000 Suzuki. He suffered nasty hand injuries, which would force him out for most of the rest on the year. Luckily for Drowne local man Jon Allum raced home to get his riding gear and stood in to keep Drowne’s hope alive. Allum stayed alongside Ian for the rest of the year to secure the title with Robinson and Smithies in second despite their strong run toward the end of the year.
So after all was said and done, and particularly in light of the present economic climate the club can happily say the year lived up to all it’s pre season hype. New riders made names for themselves…new sponsors came onboard…new circuits proved popular and everyone is already talking up plans for next year…. Bring on 2010.
Russ Gardner