Race Report- Brands Hatch Saturday 20th/Sunday 21st March 2010
“BSB versus NG Regulars at Brands Opener”
With a Brands Hatch crowd that included, Randy Mamola, Bradley Smith, and Tommy Hill, the pressure was on for good racing to be served up for the first meeting of the 2010 NG Road Racing season. Despite some dreadful weather conditions on Saturday the packed grids did not disappoint the illustrious spectators, and when Sunday morning saw blue skies the racing got even better.
With this NG meeting being just 2 weeks before the first round of the MCE British Championship the grids were bolstered by a host of top class riders and major teams. The whole KRP 125 team were there, as were the MAP Triumphs. The rider list had BSB names in each and every race, which spurred on the NG regulars, with several raising their game to take on their well-known rivals.
The 125 GP grid had one of the strongest line ups with the KRP Racing Steps Foundation riders of Fraser Rogers and Wayne Ryan proving worthy of the teams faith in them, and in the wet conditions on Saturday it was Rogers that took the win in the final. A few laps more though and it could have been a very different story as last years British title runner up Rob Guiver closed rapidly after taking a lap or two to get used to the conditions. Young Fraser, though, who cut his two-wheel-teeth in the aircraft hangers at Hullavington in Wiltshire on the mini-motos hung on to take the maiden win for the team. Wayne Ryan came through in third with Dakota Mamola, making his UK debut claiming fourth just ahead of the charging John McFee on the fourth KRP bike who set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap. After qualifying third on the grid Taylor Mackenzie wasn’t quite able to get back in touch with the leaders after losing ground in the early laps, coming through in ninth, with the young man looking frustrated as he crossed the line.
After a pep talk from Randy Mamola and father Niall over night it was a very different Mackenzie that came to the grid on Sunday. The Scottish teenager was in fine form, and built up a 3 second lead by mid race, The experienced Guiver once more had to set about changing down the race leader. And with just one lap of the 1.2 mile Indy circuit to go the job was done….Guiver lined up Mackenzie and went through at Graham Hill bend. As Mamola Snr, Bradley Smith, Tommy Hill and two former 125 British champs Dan Cooper and Matthew Hoyle looked on from the back of the commentary tower as young Mackenzie proved he what it takes to join this list of winners by getting great drive out of Clark Curve. He out-dragged Guiver to the line to take the chequered flag. Fraser Rogers had to settle for third, once more heading home team mate Ryan with Lee Jackson in close company. Dakota Mamola was sidelined after a crash at Druids in an earlier race, and although the young American suffered no ill effects, his KRP Honda sat in the garage in need of some attention from the teams mechanics.
Defending NG 125 GP champion Alistair Ray had a meeting to forget after his ASM data Honda failed to work for him struggling to 17th on Saturday, and with the bike still sick failing to make the grid on Sunday. He will be hoping for a turn of fortune next time out at Cadwell.
Rowan Miller was also out for a shakedown test oh his new 250 Single Neatayam which is basically a 250 single Yamaha motor in a special Tigcraft chassis. The meeting didn’t exactly go to plan as after a promising qualifying race the new motor failed in the final forcing young Rowan to sit out the rest of the day. Undeterred they will be back out on track soon.
Sam Warren was looking odds on to make it a clean sweep of the Superbike races taking both Powerbike and Phoenix Open finals on Saturday although he had pressure from reigning overall NG champion Phil Bevan in both races. Bevan set the fastest laps but could not find a way past Warren who was very impressive on his Midland Motorsport CBR1000. An impressive ride from 2009 NG newcomer champ James Kiff had the Flying Fox team rider up in 5th place until he crashed out at Clark on the last lap. Warren continued his winning ways on Sunday with lap times now under the previous best NG figures. Bevans charge was halted after he crashed out of second place exiting Graham Hill. That left the way open for Jonathon Howarth to take up the challenge, who was having a much better time now the sun was out and the track was dry. No matter what he tried though he could not find a way past Warren and had to settle for runner-up spot. Billy Mellor had a great ride through to third place on his Form-it UK CBR. Warren’s winning run came to an abrupt end though in Sunday’s Phoenix Open after his Honda failed with two laps to go, after leading the whole way. It was South African Allen Venter on the MAP Triumph to took advantage of Warren’s misfortune as he headed home a frantic scrap for the top spot with Howarth, Dan Cooper and Josh Day in close pursuit.
Over the last few years the Sound of Thunder class for big twins and triples has given us some great racing, and is certainly one of my favourites. Big Aprilia’s and Ducati’s were the order of the day, but now Triumphs 675 seems to be the tool of choice for many. Saturdays wet conditions though played into the hands and power delivery of the twins with Duncan Gibson taking the win on his newly painted and refreshed 1098 Ducati. John Hackett had breathed on the motor and Duncan used it to great effect, battling with Jimmy Hill riding the MAP Triumph, and although Jimmy crossed the line just ahead of Duncan’s 1098, Jimmy removed himself from the final results giving the points to Gibson. Jonathon Power on another 1098 and Paul Willis on his Aprilia RSV fought out he other podium placings. Willis had to use his elderly Mille as opposed to his new KTM that he had been preparing over winter after an electrical issue struck the RC8. Sunday though saw a complete turn of fortune as the dry track allowed the 675 Triumphs to use there high revving motors to great effect with the British machine filling the top five placings….. it could have been six had it not been for Allen Venter crashing out of the lead. Former NG 125 champion, now MAP Supersport rider Daniel Cooper put on a fantastic race to beat team mate Hill, John Simpson and Josh Caygill and Duncan Knox by a clear 15 seconds, setting a new class lap record in the process at 47.92sec. Saturdays victor Gibson fought through to follow the Triumph Triples home in 6th after stating from the back of the grid after a crash in the qualifier…..and Paul Wills who had been running in a strong 5th place had his Aprilia suffer a rare mechanical failure with just two laps to go. Darren Neal showed us what we have in store at BSB this year as he brought out his Oxford and Cheltenham XR1200 Harley Davidson running in Blade Group colours for some testing. Although the bike was under powered against the days Sound of Thunder grid the XR’s will certainly give BSB crowds something very different this year when they wheel out a grid full of them……hang on to your fillings!!!.
Thomas Williams took a fine pair of wins in the Steve Lynham Formula 125 finals aboard his Aprilia, fighting off strong challenges from Max Symonds and Gary Winfield on both days, proving that in just his second season Williams has mastered the art of winning in both wet and dry.
Daniel Couzens took the full compliment of wins in the Mini Twins on his immaculate Altamura SV650, beating NG regulars Scott Witts and Ben Marsden on Saturday. Keith Clarke gave him a race long problem on Sunday, although Clarke just could not find a way past the ultra smooth Couzens. Marsden was very happy with his first outing on his SV after switching from the F400 class in 2009. He had an offer close season to take over the championship winning F400 bike from ’09, but felt that he would relish the challenges of the SV in the Mini Twins…. He looks to have clicked with the bike very early.
Freddie Russo pipped Josh Day to the win on Saturday by the narrowest margin in the Co-Ordit 600 final. Just 0.01 seconds covered the top two at the line. Day was in no mood to finish runner-up on Sunday as he set about dominating the race, pulling away from a host of challengers including Jimmy Hill and Josh Caygill on the MAP bikes. Matt Bilton was his nearest challenger, but a new lap record from Day on his Air Environmental R6 at 48.58 sec proved way too hot for the opposition. This perfomance gives the 20 year old confidence for round 1 of the BSB 600 Superstock series that kicks off at Brands over Easter.
Daniel Jackson and Dave Hampton shared a win apiece in the Dara Brady 400 class although Hampton on his TZ250 very nearly let a 4 second lead go on Sunday as he was chased down by the RS125 of Taylor Mackenzie. Mackenzie worked hard to close the gap and swept through into the lead with just half a lap to go. Hampton played the backmarkers well through McLaren and Clark and the extra power of his 250 against the 125 saw him out drag Taylor to the line.
Ben Cole grabbed the win in the wet race on Saturday aboard his ZXR 400 for the A and R Racing F400 to open his points account. In the dry on Sunday Leon Jeacock beat his nearest F400 rival Lee Newitt by over 25 seconds with his BMC Honda as the EMRA champ looked towards NG glory in 2010. Surprisingly even the pace of Jeacock was not enough to remove the 5 year old class lap record set by Simon Gates from the record books….. Simon watched the race in the commentary box with a wry grin on his face, as he remains bike-less for the second season.
Mark Ireland took top 400 Streetstock honours, but Ireland on the Zvoznikova ZXR 400 with Andy Green showing great from after an 18 month lay off. Ireland will take heart that Green is only doing selected rounds…. Although this weekend may make him rethink his plans.
A confident James Kiff showed his rivals a clean pair of heals in the 1300 Metzeler DTR Streetstock and he stormed to two convincing wins on his Team Flying Fox GSXR 1000 Suzuki. Martin Lowe and Peter Carr, both on R1’s along with Gary Johnson with his GSXR fought on but Kiff was in dominant form.
Adam Jeffery on his R1 and Phil Hacker with his 1984 vintage FJ1100 Yamaha claimed a win apiece in the Pre Injection class. This looks like a battle for the big points that will run year long.
The CSC Open Sidecar races followed the same pattern on both days with Simon Gilbert and Jon Allum winning, wet or dry on his new SMR R1 LCR Yamaha. Both days saw Ben Holland and Lee Watson chase but to no avail. Passenger Allum was seen to be egging on rivals Holland/Watson with some hand dubious jestures (….. all in good humour) but Holland just could not get on terms and had to settle for runner up spots. Ian Drowne and Michael Swift grabbed a 5th and 3rd on the pairings first outing on the LCR Suzuki. Drowne the defending Sidecar champion had hoped for “…top sixes from the weekend” so went home to Devon with a bigger grin than normal.
Another former sidecar championship pair of Matt Dix and Shaun Parker too both Century 2000 F2 Sidecar wins on their Baker Honda. It could have been a different story though as Richard Lumley and Paul Skinner who had been setting the pace suffered a very race mechanical failure on their normally ultra reliably KCP Environmental Lumley Kawasaki.
James Murray-Watson had a convincing win in the Louigi Moto Newcomers class on his Raceline SV650 heading home Mark Anderson on his DDR 400 Honda by over 6 seconds. Whilst The bigger Gary Vardy Open Newcomers saw a seven man battle early on. Two rider broke clear, but leader going into the final corner Robert Shaw made a mistake allowing Darrel Jones to take a photo finish win by just 0.03sec. The next five riders, Tony Bevan, Mark Edwards, Richard Hughes Danny Jones and Gary Lucitt then flashed across the line covered by just 0.6sec
Paul Jeffery though, even with all these stars present put up the performance of the meeting. He unbeaten in the Metzeler DTR 700 Streetstock, winning both qualifiers and both finals, plus setting a new class lap record at 51.04 on Sunday afternoon on his 3 year old R6 in 2XJ Racing Team colours. Paul, a 43 year old (…..sorry Paul!) Builder from Barnstaple started racing back in 2006 on an RVF 400 Honda and last year finished a very creditable 4th in the very competitive 600 open series. This year with the bike in Streetstock trim the ever smiling Paul will be concentrating on that series, but in the wet conditions on Saturday he took his R6 to the win in the Co-Ordit Open 600 qualifier. With amazing machine control in the awful weather he heading home BSB riders like Freddie Russo, Cody Nally, James East and Leon Jeacock. In the afternoon he backed that up with 6th place in the main 600 final, only being beaten by riders that will be in the 600 Supersport or Superstock paddock this year, making a well deserving recipient of the first Performance award of 2010.
We now look forward to Cadwell Park on 24 and 25th April.
Race Report- 250GP ACU National Championship
& NG Cup
I guess we have come to expect the unexpected when referring to the 250 National Championship, which kicked off at Brands Hatch on 20th 21st March. The Fraser’s of Gloucester and Dunlop backed series has never failed to deliver excitement and surprises since it was launched in this current format 2 years ago. Brands was no exception, 2 different winners, a returnee picking up a superb pole position and 2nd in race 1, a newcomer picking up a 2nd place in the Cup in his very first race on a 250, 1 wet and 1 dry race, to mention just a few of the twists and turns experienced already. The 2010 Championship is just too hard to call, with the top 3 from 09, plus Toby Markham and his awesome Aprilia all missing rounds 1 and 2 at Brands, the prospect for the year is just mouth watering.
Timed qualifying was a very nervous affair as the previous practice session was stopped due to a major oil spillage from Surtees bend, right round to the start line! After a frantic clear up by the superb marshals, taking over an hour, the 250’s were next out. The returnee previously mentioned is Chay Newton; back on his CC Racing TZ Yamaha for the first time in 2 years after a big crash, right here at Brands ended his 2008 campaign. Chay out qualified everyone else in the wet conditions to take an astonishing maiden pole position. Ben Johnson, the 2008 National Champion returned to the series after sitting out for most of 2009. The Chesterfield ace promptly put his GTC Plastering/Auto Paintworks TZ in 2nd on the grid, using a 5-year-old rear tyre. The 2007 Irish National Champion Chris McAloran qualified in 3rd and 2009 NG Cup Champion Dave Hampton completed the front row.
Pole delight! – welcome back Chay Newton
The NG Cup front-runner was Adrian Martin having switched from Honda to a Graham File Tuning Yamaha with pedigree over the cold months, the regular podium visitor in 09 starts the season as favourite for the Cup Championship. Martin sat in 8th on the grid. 2nd of the Cup qualifiers was newcomer Sam Smithson, riding the STG Designs TZ for the very first time, ending the session in 14th place on the grid.
Big names to watch sat throughout the grid with Ant Hodson, Guernsey’s Andy Mechem, Mark Linton plus Martin on row 2. Quick Welshman Tony Davies, the “Clevor Browne TZ of Irishman David Craig, Mike Russell and Rich Grinling’s Honda occupied row 3 and Somerset’s Alex Kenchington on the Dennis Trollope TZ in “P13” making it 4 rows of potential race winners!
Round 1 was simply wet, which rather makes things easier at this time of year! Chay Newton got the drop from his pole position and held firm until well into lap 2. Co Armagh’s Chris McAloran pushed his Honda past the determined Newton and from that point was never headed. Disaster struck Jon Stamper on the grid, and he pitted before the start of the warm up lap to release a trapped throttle cable, but was ready to take the race start from pit lane and soon set about chasing down the front-runners from his dead last at turn 1 placing. Equally frustrated was Ben Johnson, his TZ oiled a plug on the line and his round 1 effort was over as he pitted at the end of lap 1.
The front-runners headed by a very cool looking number 9 McAloran, with Newton, Dave Hampton hard charging Ant Hodson, Rich Grinling’s Honda, David Craig and Tony Davies gapped the field and swapped positions throughout. The chasing pack included Mark Linton, Mike Russell’s FCL Racing TZ, Andy Mechem, with Alex Kenchington catching them and Dan Jackson’s Team Sigie TZ also in the frame.
At the flag McAloran took the win by 2 seconds, but many had the feeling he could have upped his game plan if pressed any further. The reformed Chay Newton rode a mature race to take second ahead of some very established stars with Ant Hodson completing the podium ceremony in 3rd on the MDJ Racing TSM Yamaha. 4th home was a very strong ride from Tony Davies on his Carl Lloyd TZ who set the fastest lap of the race, last years Cup Champ Dave Hampton was 5th enjoying his promotion to the National Championship. Rich Grinling was 6th on his RG Carpentry RS Honda, David Craig 7th, Mike Russell 8th, Mark Linton took 9th on the Exactweld TZ and Alex Kenchington clawed his way up to complete the top 10.
McAloran – calculated winner of round 1 in difficult conditions
Collecting the NG Cup winner’s prize money, trophy and champagne was Adrian Martin and a superb 2nd place went to Newcomer Sam Smithson on his STG Designs TZ – a brilliant first time out on the 250. Completing the Cup podium was Chippenham’s Paul McCullagh.
In stark contrast to Saturday’s conditions, Sunday’s round 2 started in sunshine. Again, pole sitter Chay Newton lead for the first lap but the best start went to Andy Mechem on his RS Honda, who soon took control at the front. McAloran, Craig, Hampton, Ben Johnson – at last having a good run where he belongs, Ant Hodson, Rich Grinling and Alex Kenchington all kept the spring crowd entertained with some vey close formation battling throughout the 18 laps.
The highs and lows of racing was demonstrated to the full as Saturdays Cup podium visitor, and newcomer Sam Smithson lost control of his TZ swooping down Hailwoods Hill on lap 15, while sitting in a podium position. Battered and bruised Sam will remember his 250 National Championship debut for many reasons, but make a note; we will talk more about him throughout the contest!
With positions changing every lap in the podium battle, Ant Hodson settled down mid race in 2nd, and Ben Johnson found his pace in 3rd with 3 to go, relegating round 1 winner McAloran to 4th. The impressive Mechem held his cool though, to take a stunning maiden victory.
Round 2 winner Mechem – Another title challenger
Ant Hodson held onto second and a relieved Ben Johnson returned to the podium following his year off as Champion. Round 1 winner McAloran was 4th with fellow Irishman David Craig 5th, Rich Grinling 6th, ahead of another very good ride by Chay Newton in 7th, Mark Linton 8th, Dave Hampton 9th and Alex Kenchington took his 2nd top 10 of the weekend.
In the NG Cup, Adrian Martin made it a double on his Graham File Tuning TZ, and in the process picked up points in the overall National Championship. Paul McCullagh took second position and next up was a delighted Sian Brooks who enjoyed a strong race on the Spyre Ltd RS Honda, to complete the podium.
McAloran 9 David Craig 5 and Ant Hodson round Graham Hill bend in their battle for a podium slot
The Dunlop Performance of the Day Award is a popular feature where the winner collects a rear Dunlop GP tyre from series supplier Dennis Trollope, courtesy of Dunlop Motorsport. On Saturday, the spoils went to Jonathan Stamper who, despite starting from the pit lane, and sitting in 21st position at the end of lap 1, battled through the field to finish in the points.
Sundays complimentary rear tyre went to the ever bubbly Ben Johnson, who retired after 1 lap from Saturdays race, and despite being back in 11th at the end of lap 1 in Sunday’s round 2, battled through to take a brilliant 3rd place at the end of the 18 lap encounter.
Championship standings: McAloran 38, Hodson 36, Mechem 30, Newton 29, Craig 20, Grinling 20, T Davies 18, Hampton 18, Johnson 16, Linton 15
Cup: Martin 50, McCullagh 36, Brooks 26, Woollcott 24, Henry Cox 23, Harrison 20, Smithson 20, Lou Goddard 14, N Hudd 14, M Hudd 12.