2010 HOTTRAX MOTORSPORT Awards Evening @ MK Dons Double Tree Hilton 29th January 2011
2010 HOTTRAX MOTORSPORT Racing Club National 600 + 1000, Junior 600 + 1000 and MotoGrande Championships –
Overall
After Dave and Karen Mabbutt had given the HOTTRAX MOTORSPORT Motorcycle Championships a total overhaul, the endurance championships were simplified into National 600cc + 1000cc and Junior 600cc + 1000cc classes to be run over seven rounds with all races lasting 3 hours. The MotoGrande 600cc and 1000cc were given six rounds and this programme was joined by the inaugural year of the Michelin Power Cup which had been run in Italy and France to great effect. HOTTRAX opened their 2010 account back in April at Snetterton, visited Cadwell, Silverstone, Mallory, Oulton, Anglesey and Pembrey in Wales and capped it off at Cadwell on the last weekend of October, as expected we ‘enjoyed’ a real cocktail of weather conditions from monsoons in Lincolnshire to extreme heat in Cheshire.
National 600 - Pit Stop Racing (Marc/Peter/Richard Dilks + Mark Affleck)
Endurance racing is all about being tenacious and Tango & Crash (John ‘Bongo’ Blundell/Ryan Myler) were justly rewarded by winning the first round at Snetterton as well as finishing third overall in the three hour encounter. T & C held a slim one lap advantage over the newly named fatblokeracewear.com (Colin Norris/Andy Rouse). Never far away from the front were old hands Ducks Cross Racing (Martin Landmann/Grant Wagstaff) who held third at the finish with only a lap separating them from the fatblokes. Occasional endurance racers TS Racing (Richard Payne/James McBride) had been fastest in qualifying but faded from the race. Pit Stop Racing (Peter & Marc Dilks) had a torrid time with a couple of excursions away from the tarmac and enthusiastic newcomers Louth Bikes (Perry Cooper/Ralph Naden) were delighted to finish fourth in class.
An extremely wet Cadwell saw a number of ‘guest’ teams using this race as ideal prep for two later BSB rounds at the sinuous Lincolnshire and the day was blighted by pace car appearances and red flags. That said it made for sprint racing behavior which saw Pete Clifford's Actiforce Racing (Joe Dickinson/Anthony Hayward) take pole and the race win over fellow guests Wainwright Hoyle (Matt Hoyle/Josh Wainwright). fatblokes, 1491 (Andy Pulling/Ian Cooper), Ducks X and Pit Stop all finished on the same lap covered by a blanket and another seven crews behind them, the final spot going to Tango & Crash after Ryan Myler had crashed out and Bongo continued as a singleton for the remainder of the race.
It was wet weather specialist Ryan Peters, standing in for Myler after a Cadwell who dumped his R6 at Copse on the first corner of the first lap of the race, loosing valuable time and rejoining in bottom spot. Mid race it was Louth Bikes from Pit Stop, fatblokeracerwear - including Norris racing with a crook leg following an ‘off’ in Fridays testing. At the final drop of the cloth massive round of applause to Nottingham's Pit Stop who were third on the road ahead of Louth Bikes with fatblokeracerwear joining them on the podium. Spark Endurance (Shelley Pike/Robert Knoyle) were delighted with fourth sandwiching the high siding Tangos with stable mates Roundall Racing (Pete Gibson/Simon Allen/Sean Moss), Spark finishing a slender one second ahead of T&C.
For the first time the HOTTRAX circus moved onto Oulton Park to mark the mid season point. After the one hour mark no less than six teams shared the same lap headed by Ducks Cross in front of fatblokeracewear.com, Pit Stop, Tango & Crash and Louth Bikes. When it mattered most fatblokes won the 600 class a lap ahead of Louth Bikes, Pit Stop who dropped time and places with a technical infringement penalty and Ducks X a lap safe from 1491, T & C, Cross Ducks (Mike Eglington/Steve Blackney), Speed n Spares (Rich Clarke/Richard Walker), KAKA (Jeff Booth/Bill Calister) and Spark Endurance (Shelley Pike/Rob Knoyle) with stable mates Roundall Racing (Pete Gibson/Simon Allen).
August and September saw the double header in Wales; in the North it was Pit Stop who made the most of the foul conditions to win well from TS Racing chased home by no less than two of the Louth Bikes entered crews. Speed n Spares netted a fifth spot ahead of fatblokes and 1491. Three weeks later and a bit further South we lost the rain Pit Stop made it two on the trot with Mark Affleck joining Peter Dilks carrying the # 85 plate, closer on the road were Louth Bikes Nat and 1491 making it very tight at the top of the National 600 table. Ducks X, X Ducks, Spark and Roundall were all away on Manx Grand Prix duty in the middle of the Irish Sea. Fatblokes lost their lead in the championship but are still within striking distance and running closely behind were the red/white/blue outfits of Spark and Roundall.
Nicely set up for the final round with Pit Stop, fatblokeracerwear.com and Louth bikes covered by a skinny four points so it was all go at Cadwell, fatblokeracewear.com were the first drop outs as Colin Norris’ Triumph pulled out with an oil leak, leaving Andy Rouse the task of keeping going but observing rest periods until the end of the three hour race, eventually finishing in a low points scoring ninth. The overall win and first in class went to a deserving cause in the form of Sorrymate.com/Downview Finance (Jenny Tinmouth/James McBride) but this locked out both Pit Stop and Louth Bikes for maximum points. These two teams finished on the same lap, albeit 25 seconds apart with the Lincolnshire team beating the Nottinghamshire crew – this meant both teams finished on 117 points so counting back in terms of race positions achieved Pit Stop won the day and the championship (Marc/Peter/Richard Dilks/Mark Affleck), lucky considering the first two races of the season netted a scant 10 points. Louth Bikes National had to be satisfied with runner up spot despite never bagging a class win but with four second places to their credit, fatblokes secured third spot in the table over 50 points ahead of fourth place miscreants 1491 who held a single point advantage over Spark Endurance, Tango & Crash split the stablemates of Roundall Racing despite only committing to half the season. Making up the top ten were Ducks Cross racing and Cross Ducks Racing, sandwiching Speed ‘n Spares, final race winners Sorrymate.com stole eleventh with their win at the final round.
1 Pit Stop Racing 117 points
2 Louth Bikes National 117
3 fatblokeracewear.com 107
4 1491 Racing 56
5 Spark Endurance 55
6 Tango and Crash 48
7 Roundall Racing 43
8 Ducks Cross Racing 40
9 Speed ‘n Spares Racing 37
10 Cross Ducks Racing 32
11= Actiforce 25
11= Sorrymate.com/Downview Finance 25
13= Wainwright Hoyle Racing 20
13= TS Racing 20
15= Louth Bikes National B 13
15= Valeries Italian 13
17 Profibre 11
17 Best Choice Endurance 11
19 Black Flag Racing 10
20 KaKa Racing 7
21 A & G Racing 6
National 100 - TM72 Racing (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon)
The opening National 1000 race got underway in bright sunshine at Snetterton with pole set in cool morning conditions by 2009 Champions Sweatshop Racing (Hugh Brasher/Mick Godfrey/Rod Lynn) on their much trusted R1. For much of the race it all ran like clockwork for Sweatshop to build and protect a lead; we did see a change to podium places with TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) now second following a dramatic fall down the order for Graphic (Basil Bannayi/Dean Skipper/Matt Layt). Sweatshop hanging on to a slender 16 second over TM72 which saw Jonty Dixon, replacing original team rider Eric Chitty who suffered a testing accident recently at Cadwell Park.
Cadwell’s Friday testing took a toll on the whole grid, from the National class this included TrackCRAFT Race Tuition (Mark Linscott/Mike Dickinson) when Mark found his shoulder not fully up to managing the ex Hydrex Firebalde, Sweatshop Racing were uncharacteristically scratched. In the race itself, entering the Graphics led from the hardworking TM72 but held onto the single lap advantage as the race battled to beat the circuit curfew time which saw M and C roll up to take the final podium spot in a day of mixed weather.
At Silverstone Graphic UK made the most of the drier moments of qualifying to earn pole with 64.171s just in front of Jimmy Storrar Racing (Neil Garnham/Steve Neate). Front running outfit TM72 topped out the top 3 only 0.8 seconds shy of pole. Last year's champs Sweatshop stamped their authority in the early stages with fast lappery in the worsening track conditions; they had built up a handy 30 second lead over TM72 Racing with Jimmy Storrar in third before the half way point Sweatshop were leading by three laps from TM72, which saw Andy McKnight using team manager Eric Chitty's 750 Suzuki, also to be used by Gary Buck in the afternoons Junior Race (hopefully). At the end of the 180 minutes Sweatshop won the race by a considerable five laps over fellow 1000 opposition TM72, who finished with a jumping chain on the borrowed Suzuki. Jimmy Storrar, a team only put together just before practice with two very experienced and talented riders, were third in class ahead of Graphic UK and the charismatic BMW S1000R of Enviro (Danny Cheevers/Roger Titman/Steve Wong) which was ridden by all three riders.
The riders were relishing to visit Oulton Park and joining the HOTTRAX MOTORSPORT regulars were a brace of SMR prepped Fireblades, Up & Coming Hazbeens (Mark ‘Macca’ Smith-Halvorsen/Pete Jennings) for former multi endurance champ Macca and the hot as mustard Swan Honda pit chief Jennings who snapped up pole after morning qualifying ahead of rapid regulars Graphic UK with Neate 90 (brothers Sam & Steven Neate) ahead of TM72 who are all about earning points for their championship campaign. It was former Junior TAG Champs TrackCraft who were an un characteristic fourth on the grid after Dickinson almost wrote his R1 off in pre race testing alongside team mate Mark on his splendid ex Stuart Easton Fireblade. At the start Steve Neate shot ahead until demoted by Jennings who began building up a respectable lead ahead of the first rash of pit stops in the first hour. Very early dramas for last year’s champions Sweatshop as the talented Lynn started the R1 from 14th on the grid – there seemed to be gremlins as the Sweatshop machine lined up for the start and after a couple of miles the clutch packed in and the bike stopped at an un recoverable Cascades after climbing up to 8th by the start of lap 2.
Neate 90 had dropped to third behind Hazbeens and TrackCraft who were separated by a mere 4.7s prior to the leaders pitting. Title chasers TM72 were a steady fourth with Extreme Bykesportz (Dave Walker/Ian Wardle) and Graphic UK topping up the top six. With an hour left a scheduled pit stop saw Neate take a lead of 32s from Hazbeens with TrackCraft in third spot. It was a Neate brother who shot over the line with a 2 second lead, such was Pete Jenning's pace he posted the fastest lap of the race on the final tour! TrackCraft settled for third ahead of Graphics and TM72 who racked up some useful points in front of Extreme Bykesportz.
Rain played a big part in what happened at Anglesey and for the National 1000s it was TM72 who profited from a smart dive into the pits to change rubber and kept up the pressure but being harried by their raging 600 class mates who coped with the wet much better. Two laps behind but pleased with the points were Graphics with Sweatshop third in class never able to make up for lost time at the beginning of the race.
Going into Pembrey, TM72 could have mathematically tied up the title for 2010; however other teams had different ideas! Track record holder, Rod Lynn was back aboard the Sweatshop R1 and stole pole. Different pit stop strategy allowed them to build up a healthy advantage at half way point ahead of newcomers Council Racing (Danny Lister/Larry Halliday) but it was all to go Pete Tong for Sweatshop as the gearbox had had enough with only 50 minutes left on the clock. TM72 capitalised on this to win by 45 seconds over Council giving them an easy task at Cadwell at the end of October to walk off with the 1000 trophy.
The dream turned into reality for TM72 before the race started as Graphics UK chose not to enter the final round as they held onto a safe second place in the 2010 championship, as a swan song TM72 were still determined to go out with a win, despite some heavy hitters entering the final affray. Indeed pole was taken by, second in National Superstock, South African Hudson Kennaugh who was sharing a team with his boss John Dimbylow on Splitlath Racing Aprilia RSV4s closely followed over the line by IQ Communications (Mark Linscott/Mike Dickinson) and last year’s champs Sweatshop (Hugh Brasher/Mick Godfrey) who were nursing their battle scared R1.
Whilst the race itself was dominated by the 600 pairing of ‘fastest female at the 2010 TT’ Jenny Tinmouth and the very talented James McBride, IQ Comms mastered a stonking start before Linscott’s R1went sick (having worn out his Fireblade in Friday testing) leaving Dickinson to do all the riding for the rest of the race. At this stage Sweatshop and newly confirmed champions TM72 were separated by the blink of an eyelid, a situation which lasted until the end of the race which eventually saw Sweatshop sign off 2010 in fine style with a three lap win over new champs TM72. Splitlath were in a well earned third spot on the same lap as TM72 and in front of Council Racing with IQ Comms bringing up the rear and finishing with one bike only bossed around by Juan Dickinson.
It would be remiss not to mention that early 2010 plans were for TM72 to be fronted up by Andy ‘Yoda’ McKnight and Eric Chitty as riders; however a pre season testing accident for Eric resulted in a stroke from which he fought back admirably and bravely hung his helmet up. Rapid ‘Super Sub’ Jonty Dixon was drafted in to share riding duties with Yoda and the brave Eric turned his skills to team and racer management and played a substantial part in TM72 securing the 2010 title.
1 TM72 Racing 141 points
2 Graphic UK 99
3 Sweatshop Racing 95
4 Council Racing 33
5 Neate 90 25
6= Splitlath 20
6= Up and Coming Hazbeens 20
8= Enviro 16
8= TrackCRAFT 16
8= M & C Racing 16
8= Jimmy Storrar Racing 16
12 Slingshot Racing 13
13= IQ Communications 11
13= Epona Racing 11
15 Extreme Bykesportz 10
16 120 + Racing 9
17 Well Oiled Pussy Racing 8
18 Extreme Bykesportz 2 7
19 Glynn Racing 6
20 Terry Thomas Racing 4
Junior 600 - D 'N' A Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons/Robbie Moore)
For the opening round back in April it was DNA (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons) who quickly built up a single lap lead over new race pairing of BLDS Couriers (Bill Lilly/George Harvey). At half way point a spill at the Snetterton Esses bought the Pace Car out again after one rider hit a pigeon and others lost the plot! The pace car popped out again as we had two fallers at Russells including young newcomer George Harvey on the yellow and black R6.
DNA took the 600 win ahead of class rivals MC Racing (Brooking/McKinnon) by a whole two laps with Ducatiists L A Stone Racing (Hathaway/Howard) and sorrymate.com (Fergus Delgarno/Mark Cooper/Ryan Peters) who could have nailed bronze had it not been for a punishing stop/go episode. Rounding off the top six were keen as mustard absolute beginners J R Racing (Mark Roxbrough/Chris Jennings) carrying constabulary livery and the 'Bikesafe' message and MaD Racing (Richard Dilks/Sam Hooson).
In Lincolnshire, it was locally based Ringsting Racing (Dave Sellers/Dean Martin) who earned pole by a substantial margin from BLDS Couriers but by half distance the leading 600 crew; DNA was 8 seconds ahead of the next mob, BLDS.
Around the two hour mark JR Racing # 999 (Mark Roxbrough/John Burr/Chris Jennings) earned themselves a significant stop/go penalty at the end of pit lane for a technical infringement and after the red flag period DNA led the race overall ahead of nearest class rivals, BLDS, Ringsting, LA Stone, MC Racing (David Booking/Jason McKinnon) and Snug Racing (Keith Dickie/Dave Roberts). At two thirds distance BLDS took up the lead, 8 seconds ahead of DNA before the roles reversed in the closing stages and JR Racing were ‘on a charge’ up to 4th in class. All this meant nothing when JR were given their penalty time back by the Clerk of the Course resulting in them being top 600 team as well as overall race winners over half a minute ahead of class runners up BLDS and finishing close by and on the same lap we had LA Stone, DNA and Ringsting Racing.
More drama to come at Silverstone where the lead was was being hunted down by ‘one offs’ Triumph Challengers Dales Racing (Will Sawyer/Richard Steadman) and class regulars BLDS. As the race progressed the pace car came out and about to bunch the riders up for around twenty minutes, giving rise to a blight of carefully implemented pit stops. Dales Racing made the most of this and found their 600 was a lap ahead of BLDS, a dry line soon appeared, whilst Dales were first on the road with thirty minutes to go they enjoyed a two lap cushion over the next 600 of BLDS who held the same gap over DNA Racing, the next 600 was MC Racing (Richard Payne/Jason McKinnon).
On a warm and sunny day in July, DNA made a school boy error and explored the Cheshire countryside on the opening lap of the three hour race, the rider remounted and continued. At the half way stage the lead was the preserve of M & M a whole lap up on BLDS, Louth Bikes Junior A (Stephen Bullas/Richard Hough) and L A Stone Ducatis. In the third and final hour there were big dramas for the hard working M & Ms, shortly after a scheduled pit stop the green Kawasaki just stopped out on circuit which meant a big delay before continuing with their day. The leading crew was then BLDS Couriers giving Bill Lilly + his hard working team that elusive but much deserved win to finish in front of the recovering DNA duo who rode like heroes. Completing the top six were; Louth Bikes Juniors, Apex Racing (Nick Matthews/Adam Woby), JR Racing and Louth Bikes Junior A.
Off to Anglesey for Bank Holiday racing and BLDS looked good enough to earn their second win of the season, trying to stop this would be MaD Racing (Mark Affleck/Richard Dilks) and M & M (Robbie Moore/Lewis Mason) et al - It was these three who dominated the first hour of activity with DNA not far adrift. The order changed towards the end of the race and after 180 minutes of rush M & M were delighted to record their first win a lap ahead of BLDS with MaD and DNA sharing the same lap, MC Racing and L A Stone completed the top half dozen.
At the other end of the country BLDS, after a win and a second very recently were pole in a combined race with all the National players, thirty minutes into the race and BLDS were still #1 and third on the road, a magnificent achievement given the calibre of field. Half way point and BLDS were comfortably ahead of DNA (with Robbie Moore on board) they managed to maintain their lead as well as mixing it with the big boys as the clouds darkened and the flag was dropped for BLDS who were followed home by L A Stone, Apex Racing, Louth Bikes Junior A (Stephen Bullas/Richard Hough), sorrymate.com, MC Racing and Snug Racing.
To round off the season at the end of October table toppers BLDS Couriers knew that it would be a scrap on the track with DNA and it was almost a case of ‘winner takes all’ that would decide the 600 Junior clash for honours. DNA out qualified BLDS and led on the road for most of the race prior to George Harvey binning the black and yellow BLDS R6 making it sound as if DNA were home and dry as long as they kept going and in the points. The inevitable happened and DNA bailed out, managing to return to the pits for a dose of duct tape and cable ties enabling continuation; Dan ‘n Adam had done enough to finish sixth in their class whilst BLDS came a harsh nowhere in the race results and handing the 2010 Junior 600 title to DNA. M & M won the 600 Junior race, celebrating Robbie Moore’s birthday in fine style. Dales racing on a pair of Triumphs rolled in second on the same lap as the winners, in front of MC racing and Apex who were seconds apart from one another, the perennial Snug Racing took the fifth place ahead of the penultimate DNA with Louth Bikes Junior A being tail end Charlie for the day.
1 D N A Racing 117 points
2 BLDS Couriers 110
3 MC Racing 85
4 L A Stone Racing 75
5 Apex 66
6 JR Racing 65
7 Louth Bikes A Racing 57
8 M & M Racing 54
9 Dales Racing 45
10 sorrymate.com 39
11 Systema Alfa Racing 28
12 Louth Bikes B 23
13 121 Ride + 1 Racing 22
14 Snug Racing 19
15 MaD Racing 16
16 Ringsting Racing 11
17 JR Racing Juniors 5 
Junior 1000 - AV-IT Racing (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford)
Arguably the most competitive class in the HOTTRAX MOTORSPORT portfolio, the opening round attracted a healthy grid, signaling the trend for the whole 2010 season. After a lunchtime storm the pace car popped out for almost 15 minutes as machines and owners were recovered, at the 30 minute mark Banzai (Rupert Thompson/Ben Jenkins) lead by a couple of seconds from AV-IT (Marcus Langford/Andy Carpenter) and Terry Thomas Racing (Marc Broi/James Shervell). With an hour gone and the usual pit stops taken our leaders, Banzai, were reported to be losing fluids only seconds before coming to grief at Russells dumping them to the bottom of the field, promoting AV-IT into P1 a tenth of a second over TM17 (Gary Buck/ Ash Rothwell) with Terry Thomas and No Limits Racing (Arron Bird/Ray Janes) in close pursuit. With two thirds time served it was still AV-IT a lap ahead of Insignia (Rob Loveday/Einar Torlen), Worx (Gary Bartlett/Dean Teversham), Ridgeback (Mark Clark/David Stolliday), Terry Thomas, DR 400 (Wayne Crossman/Neil Garnham) and Sherwood Suzuki (Carl Dodwell/Mark Hornett). The final half hour was awe inspiring stuff as Insignia stalked AV-IT and the gap closed from 12s to 4s in 20 minutes, it was an identical story for 3rd/4th and 5th/6th.
In Round 2, local for Cadwell - Ringsting led for the opening half dozen laps chased by Banzai Racing, AV-IT, TM17, Old & Bold (Paul Burbage/Richard Lloyd) and Terry Thomas. The race was red flagged after 12 laps after a Broi high sided at Barn causing a lengthy delay whilst machine and rider were safely recovered, Banzai were fourth, neck and neck with TM17 who were three thousands of a second ahead of pole people Ringsting, no less than 16 teams shared the leading lap. The pace car made an appearance with 37 minutes left as local team Louth Bikes (Stephen Bullas/Richard Hough) and GT Racing (Keith Tribe/Sam Smeeton/Steve Palmer) who went down at Chris Curve. In the closing thirty minutes TM17 led on the road from Banzai, Old and Bold, AV-IT and Sherwood Suzuki who appeared at the top of the results sheet.
At the Home of British MOTORSPORT, Silverstone, the race started in heavy rain, we saw AV-IT's Marcus Langford shoot off with Insignia's Einar Torlen chasing hard in the unforgiving dense spray. Copse was taking its haul of fallers in the first hour with the track that was beginning to form a dry line; this combined with standing water was making tricky conditions for the racers.
Conditions gradually improved and at the 60 lap mark AV-ITs Marcus Langford's times began to slow as he wrestled with a worn rear tyre overcome by Ridgeback and Insignia on the same lap, TM17 and early leaders AV-IT eventually settled down in sixth spot. After the pace car came in a dry line had appeared, albeit under black clouds and making the most of a clear track were the top three machines of Insignia, TM17 and AV-IT. In the third and final hour Langford showed that with the right rubber he was well up for it and was soon in top spot on his bright yellow machine and with only AV-IT made their final pit stop allowing TM17 to leap frog into top spot with little time difference, Langford tried a little too hard on his immaculate Fireblade to get back in contention pitched off at Copse losing him a certain second and dropping him out of contention down to ninth spot on the road. At the same time Ridgeback were putting in some very fast laps, up to seven seconds a lap quicker than TM17
Off to another quick circuit, that of Oulton Park and it was Insignia who won a deserved pole, they dominated for much of the first hour until the second round of pit stops which saw Billericay Coachworks (Tim Gorringe/Kevin Maxted) leading from AV-IT, Sherwood, Old & Bold. Billericay continued to lead on the road at the half way stage sharing the 47th lap alongside AV-IT who has enjoyed being at the sharp end for the first half of this season and they were on a charge Insignia and Sherwood.
Insignia collared the lead back and began to get away from the lads from Essex. In the closing stages TM17 dropped from a handy sixth place to 23rd after an unwanted excursion by Ash Rothwell, Insignia nailed the win they deserved in from of a top performing Billericay Coachworks team, Old and Bold’s fast riding and smart pit stops rewarded them with a personal best of third place ahead of the consistently strong pairing of AV-IT Racing all finishing on the same lap.
Off to Wales for the weekend and Sherwood Suzuki (Carl Dodwell/Mark Hornett) made the most of blustery but dry qualifying conditions to snatch pole with the wild card entry for Team Bike (Simon Hargreaves/Tony Hoare) made 16th on the grid with a tasty naked Kawasaki Z1000. Dodwell rapidly built up an incredible lead and began lapping back markers after only a handful of laps pulling away from AV-IT and TM17, Team Bike's entry was up to 12th early doors. The pace car made an appearance shuffling the pack and at the one hour mark Sherwood were dominating proceedings with a couple of laps advantage over AV-IT, TM17, Derek Redmond 400 (Wayne Crossman/Keeling Hutton/ Neil Garnham) and Racing Snakes (Ash Rothwell/Colin Todd).
Midway and Sherwood was looking safe before AV-IT bailed out of second spot dumping the team down the leader board. Repeating the bad habit AV-IT repeated the crashing exercise, the position of the bike led to a re appearance of the safety car which pitted with 10 minutes to go. On the first release lap leaders Sherwood Suzuki and fifth place TM17 clashed out on the track whilst TM17 was being lapped bringing out the chequer 13 minutes before the three hour mark,. The results posted Ridgeback Racing as winners in front of Derek Redmond 400 and the final podium place went to the ultra enthusiastic Pirate Racing V2 (Emma Hodges/John Burr/Paul Whiteman).
Mid September saw the circus pull up at Pembrey and for the first time the National and Junior grids were merged; at mid-point of this fast and furious encounter where AV-IT had started fastest in qualifying, it was indeed the yellow and red machines up front ahead of their adversaries Ridgeback and Insignia which lasted until the race entered the final stages and finished in that order at the flag. In the penultimate, fourth was Derek Redmond 400 with stable mates Pirate Racing (Andrew Mann/Paul Whiteman) and Pirate Racing V2 completing the top six and as the teams arrived at Cadwell the top two Junior 1000 outfits were split by three points only.
So Cadwell was all about AV-IT and Ridgeback with only a three slender point cushion – in the early stages of the 180 minutes the two teams were more than a match for one another and at times were within sight of each other. Towards the start of the final hour AV-IT had built up a lap over Ridgeback but this is endurance racing and anything can happen; at close of play Ridgeback had done their best but it hadn’t been enough to overhaul AV-IT who won their class by that single significant tour finishing second. In P3 was Banzai a lap down but one lap in front of Insignia who have had a decent year despite a couple of hiccups finishing third in a hectic and well populated table. Racing Snakes finished in fifth lacking regular #6 Ian Charles who gave way to replacement man Ash Rothwell, bringing up the rear were GT racing on the same lap as Snakes with Pirate Racing V2 a couple of laps down in seventh spot but securing ninth in the championship after only three points scoring opportunities.
1 AV-IT Racing 122 points
2 Ridgeback Racing 114
3 Insignia Racing 88
4 Banzai Racing 66
5 Derek Redmond 400 Racing 55
6 Racing Snakes 50
7 TM17 Racing 48
8 Old and Bold Racing 43
9 Pirate Racing V2 38
10 Sherwood Suzuki 35
11 Derek Redmond 200 Racing 27
12 Pirate Racing 23
13= GT Racing 22
13= Terry Thomas Racing 22
15 Billericay Coachworks 20
16 121 Ride 15
17 ASBO 14
18= Worx Suzuki 13
18= No Limits Racing 13
20 RS Racing 12
21 Go Dive Racing 11
22 TANC Racing 10
23 Thelma Shank Racing 9
24= FS Racing 7
24= EIS 7
24= In the Doghouse Racing 7
27 B and M Racing 4
28 Redmond Insignia 2
29 Yorkshire Racing 1
MotoGrande 1000 - Peter Wilson
Going into the final deciding round at Cadwell in October, series leader Pete Wilson had nearly done enough posting no less than six wins and three thirds, having the luxury of missing the first wet weather affected Cadwell and Pembrey rounds and was still a chunk of points ahead of Gary Bransgrove. The West Midlander had been mercurial in racking up valuable points after missing the opening round and worked really hard to up his game which was rewarded with second places in Anglesey and Pembrey and then posting a race win in the final race in South Wales. Over the Cadwell weekend, where newcomer Brad Howell blitzed the whole field to finish joint eighth in the championship, Pete outpointed Gary with a second and two thirds to secure the 2010 title. Bransgrove had his battles with Fallon but came out on top and was delighted with runner up spot in the table.
Simon Fenwick was also a rider who missed many rounds but a run of five second places on the trot was enough to make sixth spot all his own, Lee Rawlings, ably supported by his former endurance team mate and brother Matt was a guaranteed points scorer after the opening race of the season and was rewarded with fourth in this most competitive race series. The amiable Graham Bennett was another hard working and committed rider who was rewarded with a bag of points with a season which didn’t start until Cadwell in May and it’s a shame Gerrard Fallon didn’t contest the whole season as he was there or there abouts at Pembrey with a win and two seconds to add to a smattering of points earned earlier in the year, Gerrard also added to his late points haul with some superb riding at the final weekend where he blagged a second an two fourths from three races and hoisted himself to the bottom step of the podium for 2010. Three riders scoring a trio of wins at one specific round were; Andy Petts, who did well in the 2009 races and maxed out at Cadwell and the hotshot Phil Brooks who absolutely dominated Mallory Park in the summer with three emphatic wins out of three starts, Brad Howell repeated this performance with a one off appearance in Lincolnshire at the end of October, this gave the trio joint 8th in the tables. They were out performed by Steve Bridle who only came out to play for the second half of the season but finished in seventh overall, another rider to post a single race win at Pembrey was Raymond Stagg who finished just outside the top ten of the MotoGrande thousand series.
The rest who scored points included; Vincent Bell, ex AMR endurance pilot Justin Stephenson, Tom Palmer, Andrew Parker, Paul Berryman, Chris Mason who also contested the Michelin Power Cup and HOTTRAX endurance races, Italian bike specialist Chris Mayhew, Mick Crich, Darren Walker and Tom Connor, Mark Gilbert, Sam Smeeton, Nick Grobler, Neil Garnham, Andy Carpenter, Steve Gibson, Cliff Tabiner, Matthew Hignett, Pete Whiteside, Luke Hall, Martin Townsend, Paul Pickering, Bryan Gunn, Kane Dalton, Ian Charles, Paul Burbage, Adam Rudd, Mark Boyle, Jamie Loveday, Nigel Rey, Gary Richards, Matthew Pickard, Colin Todd, Gavin Duxbury, Carl Hodgkins, Tony Hird, Mike Naylor, Mark Footitt, Pete Douglas and Tom Nicolaou.
2010 Championship Results
1 Peter Wilson 250 points
2 Gary Bransgrove 195
3 Gerrard Fallon 143
4 Lee Rawlings 129
5 Graham Bennett 129
6 Simon Fenwick 119
7 Stephen Bridle 97
8= Phil Brooks 75
8= Andy Petts 75
8= Brad Howell 75
11 Raymond Stagg 70
12 Vincent Bell 67 
MotoGrande 600 - Sam Ludgate
Given that HOTTRAX MOTORSPORT introduced MotoGrande as a stepping stone for riders to access bigger and better things, which is exactly what it has done for newcomer Sam Ludgate. The 28 year old electrician from Pontefract came into the series after a highly successful career as a trials rider, it was a slow start at Round 1 at Snetterton yielding a couple of middle field finishes whilst third in the hunt, Michael Wallis, bagged two wins and a second. In a rainy Cadwell there was a clean sweep of three wins when Wallis struggled to score, the highlight was the six first places on the trot over the two Welsh rounds in the summer, this ensured Sam the title as he was untouchable by nearest and dearest Wallis and Colin Norris. Endurance racer Norris combined the 3 hour races with a full season of MotoGrande and consistency, punctuated by the odd crash, earned the jovial Brummie runner up spot on the championship podium, his best scores were a brace of wins in the final round supported by a second place and two thirds at Pembrey. Other endurance men Glen Levy Adam Parsons and Robbie Moore came in at a closely fought over fourth, fifth and sixth, whilst Adrian Peters and John Lawrence produced the goods on the day and lifted him safely above endurance dabblers; Wayne Crossman and Richard Gothard. Recognition to National Supersport runner Gary Beardsley who peddled his tastefully painted 600 to three totally dominant wins at Mallory using these wins to bolster confidence for a meaning return to the national scene and giving him 9th overall in the league table.
Below this stratum of riders was a whole ‘wodge’ of riders who dipped in and out of the championship rather than conducting an organised assault and, in descending order these where: Mark Evans, John ‘Bongo’ Blundell, Luke Joice, Mike Eglington, Lewis Mason, Guiseppe Callari, Stephen Li, Graham Marshall, Joan McIntosh...........
For the final round of the season at Cadwell, Ludgate threw his helmet into the ring with the Michelin Power Cup crew and mopped up the 600 class with three wins and threatening to be top dog on the road at a climatically challenged Cadwell in October. Given the right level of support, 2011 will see Sam contesting the Triumph Triple Challenge which supports the BSB calendar – not bad for only his second season of racing, endorsing what the MotoGrande and Michelin Power Cup series are all about....developing a career progression route for aspiring and talented riders.
2010 Championship Results
1 Sam Ludgate 287 points
2 Colin Norris 194
3 Michael Wallis 155
4 Glen Levy 145
5 Adam Parsons 121
6 Robbie Moore 120
7 Adrian Peters 115
8 John Lawrence 113
9 Wayne Crossman 94
10 Richard Gothard 81
11 Gary Beardsley 75
12 Luke Joyce 65
Michelin Endurance 600 Challange Award - Colin Norris
Michelin MotoGrande 1000 Challenge Cup - Lee Rawlings
Michelin Endurance Challenge Cup - TM72 racing
Mr Eric Chitty
Allcomers Races - Pembrey
A 12 lap Allcomers race finished off the weekend nicely and it marked a much deserved result for Nottingham rider Peter Dilks who took his Honda 600 to win from Suzuki 1000 mounted Steve Bridle by less than a second, Endurance man Mark Affleck finished a tenth of a second down on Bridle. Local man Ty Jones was fourth ahead of Richard Dilks and Redmond Racing duo Neil Garnham and Wayne Crossman.
Allcomers Races – Cadwell
At the end of October a bigger grid formed to enjoy the dying embers of the 2010 season, Sam Ludgate and Jon Otter started on fresh Michelin and started from the back of the grid. Otter was off like a rocket and led for the whole race, Lo Turco passed a dozen riders before the first bend and was up to third by lap 3. In the shortened race, Otter took first ahead of Rhalf, 600 pilots Lewis O'Regan in third and Ludgate was fourth after being as high as second. In the final race Otter lined up against triple MotoGrande 1000 winner Brad Howells and it was Otter who was emphatic about winning as he crossed the line 8 seconds ahead of young Brad; Lo Turco was in bronze position with Peter Dilks peddling the first 600 home in fourth, O’Regan continued his bountiful weekend with fifth in front of Ralph Naden.
Hottrax Motorsport 2010 Final Round Race Report @ Cadwell Park 30 + 31 October 2010 - 3 Hour National + Endurance Championship + MotoGrande + Michelin Power Cup + Allcomers
National and Junior 600 + 1000cc 3 hour Race
Dramas for some as last year’s champs Sweatshop Racing (Hugh Brasher/Mick Godfrey) struggled with R1 reliability issues meaning Godfrey's ZX10 might be commissioned for the race. Easing the pressure on leading team TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) was the fact that Graphic UK (Basil Bannayi/Dean Skipper/Matt Layt) chose not to enter the final round, that said - joining the regulars were IQ Communications (Mark Linscott/Mike Dickinson), Linscott losing his SMR Fireblade in Friday testing so now using his 2009 R1.Also on the billing was Splitlath Racing (Hudson Kennaugh/John Dimbylow) who poled up with a brace of very effective Evo spec Aprilia RSV4s and another potent duo were in the shape of Jenny Tinmouth and James McBride (Sorrymate.com/Downview Finance). Rejoining the series after a brilliant Pembrey was Council Racing (Danny Lister/Larry Halliday) and after a year away from long distance racing we had Best Choice Racing (Terry Joensen/Dave Hockham) on their potent R6.
In morning qualifying, held in near perfect autumn conditions, it was Hudson Kennaugh who dominated things stopping the clocks at an impressive 1m 34.290s. The 600 pairing of Tinmouth and McBride were second quickest in front of Sweatshop with IQ Comms in fourth ahead of nearly crowned 2010 British National Endurance Champions - TM72, Best Choice were in the top six courtesy of Faroe Island’s only road racer - Terje Joensen and Council Racing in seventh on another pair of litre machines.
Sunshine and warmth ran on into the afternoon for the start of the three hour National and Junior 600 and 1000 race as 36 machines barrelled into Charlies, it was IQ Comms who emerged as leaders for the opening laps to be quickly overhauled by the Splitlath Aprilia. Sorrymate.com were on a massive push as they gained P2 but spare a thought for fast in practice BCE which saw Terje crash twice in the first thirty minutes leaving Greg Wilson and his team a mountain to climb. After sixty minutes of racing action the Sorrymate 600 led by a dozen seconds from Sweatshop and 47s over IQ Comms. Ducks Cross Racing (Grant Wagstaff/Martin Landmann) were a lap down just ahead of TM72 - now this year's champions - on the same lap as Pembrey stars Council Racing and Dales Racing (Richard Steadman/Will Sawyer) who did so well at Silverstone.
Casting an eye over the battle for 600 Junior honours; table toppers BLDS (Bill Lilly/George Harvey) were some way down after pit stops with nearest rivals DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons) who were ahead on the road but were still within easy reach of BLDS. Only a short distance separated Pit Stop (Mark + Peter Dilks) from fatblokeracewear.com (Colin Norris/Andy Rouse) as they were both gunning for the National 600 honour. Also worth watching was the ongoing battle for Junior 1000 between AV-IT (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) and Ridgeback (Mark Clark/David Stolliday) who were yards apart on the Tarmac, and it would also be a case of 'winner takes all' for the title.
In the middle hour the pace car made an appearance following a spill and this allowed 'bunching' to occur, prior to this Linscott retired his IQ Comms R1 with an engine blow so it was over and out for Limpy but team mate Dickinson carried on regardless on his similar R1. DNA performed some mercurial runs and was still some way ahead of title rivals BLDS, however the outcome could have been determined after the hard pushing George Harvey lost the BLDS machine after 46 laps taking some of the pressure off Jennings & Parsons. At the sharp end serious contenders Splitlath lost some all important tie after their quicker rider, Kennaugh, tried to exit the pit lane after a scheduled stop without his yellow arm band, running back into pitlane including the WC searching for the errant bit of plastic. Yellow duct tape found and fitted it was back to normal as Hudson posted the fastest lap of the race within minutes to get back amongst it. Further up the road and with sixty minutes left on the clock, Sorrymate had a single lap comfort break over Sweatshop who were conscious of a delicate gearbox, new champs TM72 were 9 seconds adrift of Sweatshop and a lap down were fourth placed Council Racing with 600 National title hopefuls Pit Stop Racing another nine seconds in front of nearest class rivals Louth Bikes National (Sean Hooson/Ralph Naden) , a second ahead of Dales - it’s tight at the top!
Top Junior 1000 crew were AV-IT luxuriating in a lap held over nearest rivals Ridgeback and at the start of the final hour fatblokeracewear took a knock after Colin Norris' Triumph sprung a leak potentially ending their campaign and possibly handing victory in the championship to Pit Stop Racing depending on where the Louth Bikes National team finished.
As teams bought machines and riders in for a final rash of pit stops Sweatshop negated a rear wheel change to save valuable time and keep the pressure on TM72 for the race win, they were separated by 6 seconds at the 45 minute to go mark. MAD (Andy McLellan/Richard Dilks) fell at the Gooseneck and retired as TM72 vaulted ahead of Sweatshop and Derek Redmond 400 (Andy Dix/Wayne Crossman) crashed at Mansfield, very soon Grant Wagstaff totalled the Ducks X R6 which caused a load of final pit stops to set up for the end of the race.
It was in these all important closing moments that Junior 600 hopefuls DNA crashed but smart pit work enabled Dan ’n Adam to get back out quickly, however the pressure was still on for these two team mates as a non finish would hand the title back to BLDS. With fifteen minutes to go we lost Council Racing from fourth on the road, they made it back into the hunt but had lost too many laps to feature on the leader board and even closer to the end one of the L A Stone Ducatis (Tony Hathaway/Tim Howard) stopped at the chicane in the dying moments and posted a DNF.
As the autumnal light began to darken 600 team Sorrymate were well chuffed to have won the race with a single lap over deposed National champions Sweatshop who kept their R1 running and beat incoming National 1000cc champs TM72 who were only seconds in front of the hard charging Splitlath, Louth Bikes were fifth on the road from a brace of Junior 600s - M & M and Dales Racing. Pit Stop did enough to amass the same number of championship points as Louth Bikes National so the race result placings for the season came into play and the team from Nottingham got their hands on the 600 National trophy, that's racing! Next on the road to Pit Stop were AV-IT who were the first Junior 1000 home and romped away with the championship in their debut year over Ridgeback a couple of places down.
To recap - TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) won the 1000cc National title, that’s three consecutive championships in the three years of competing with Hottrax, the runners up were Graphic UK (Basil Bannayi/Dean Skipper/Matt Layt). It was Pit Stop Racing (Mark + Peter Dilks/Mark Affleck) who, after finishing on the same points as Louth Bikes National. After the season’s positions were counted it was the lads from Nottingham who were crowned as National 600 champions. AV-IT Racing (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) nicked the Junior 1000 cup from Ridgeback (Mark Clark/David Stolliday) but it was a close thing and went down to the wire. A massive applause for DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons) whose season long campaign was rewarded with the Junior 600 title after narrowly winning from close rivals BLDS Couriers who have also enjoyed a fantastic season.
Race Results National 600
1 Sorrymate.com 106 laps
2 Louth Bikes National 102
3 Pit Stop Racing 102
4 Valeries Italian 100
5 Best Choice Racing 97
6 Spark Endurance 94
7 Roundall Racing 94
8 Cross Ducks Racing 92
9 fatblokeracewear.com 89
Fastest Lap Sorrymate.com/Downview Finance 1m 33.528s
National 1000
1Sweatshop Racing 106
2 TM 72 Racing 103
3 Splitlath Racing 103
4 Council Racing 96
5 IQ Communications Ltd 83
Fastest Lap Splitlath Racing 1m 32.124s
Junior 600
1 M & M Racing 102 laps
2 Dales Racing 102
3 MC Racing 98
4 Apex Racing 98
5 Snug Racing 95
6 D N A Racing 94
7 Louth Bikes Junior A 94
Fastest Lap Dales Racing 1m 38.638
Junior 1000
1 AV-IT Racing 101 laps
2 Ridgeback Racing 100
3 Banzai Racing 99
4 Insignia 98
5 Racing Snakes 98
6 GT Racing 98
7 Pirate Racing V2 96
Fastest Lap Natural and FA Ability 1m 38.499
MotoGrande Cad
Newcomer Brad Howell, supported by Ian Roebuck, turned his second row starting position to P1 in the opening lap and worked hard at building a substantial lead over pole man Gerrard Fallon with Pete Wilson in a solid third spot. By half way point of the opening MG race Howell was comfy over a scrapping Fallon and Wilson after Wilson making second place look a possibility and the 2010 championship also. With points hunting Gary Bransgrove in a secure fourth - top 600 rider was Colin Norris with eighth on the road to win his class and haul some points. At the close Howell took a superb win from Wilson, Bransgrove and Fallon after being slowed by a backmarker. Stephen Bridle was sixth from Tom Palmer with top 600 Norris some little way in front of Graham Bennett and Adrian Peters on his R6. This closed up the points for the championship making it a nail biting final two laps on the Sunday.
Race Results 600
1 Colin Norris
2 Adrian Peters
3 Nick Barnes
4 Glen Levy
5 Luke Joyce
Fastest lap Colin Norris 1m 42.959s
Race Results 1000
1 Brad Howell
2 Pete Wilson
3 Gary Bransgrove
4 Gerrard Fallon
5 Steve Bridle
6 Tony Hird
7 Tom Palmer
8 Graham Bennett
9 Lee Rawlings
10 Gary Buck
11 Nick Grobler
12 Gary Richards
Fastest Lap Brad Howell 1m 38.304s
Race 2
Race 2 was held on a damp but drying track so tyre choice was crucial, at the start it was Race 1 winner Brad Howell who bombed off into the distance being little troubled by a following Gerrard Fallon who had relative newcomer Tom Palmer breathing down his neck until planting his '99 R1 into the scenery at the exit of Charlies. At close of play Howell stayed ahead and trailing in his exhaust fumes were Fallon, 2010 1000 Champion Pete Wilson, Graham Bennett, Tony Hird, DR 400, Lee Rawlings, Adrian 'Womble' Peters, Gary Bransgrove and Glen Levy.
Race Results 600
1 Wayne Crossman
2 Adrian Peters
3 Glen Levy
4 Nick Barnes
5 Luke Joyce
Fastest lap Wayne Crossman 1m 46.097s
Race Results 1000
1 Brad Howell
2 Gerrard Fallon
3 Pete Wilson
4 Graham Bennett
5 Tony Hird
6 Lee Rawlings
7 Gary Bransgrove
8 Nick Grobler
9 Mark Gilbert
10 Gary Richards
Fastest Lap Brad Howell 1m 41.623s
Race 3
No real surprise that Brad Howells roared off the line for the first of twelve laps, leaving in his wake the usual suspects of Peter Wilson and Gerrard Fallon with Steve Bridle and Gary Bransgrove making the most of the extra horsepower over eventual sixth place finisher Colin Norris the top 600 rider on the same Suzuki that let him down in the previous days 3 hour endurance encounter. Brad was content to hold a safe ten second lead over Wilson with Fallon and Bridle scrapping over third spot and only split by less than half a second. Wayne Crossman was second 600 across line just behind Tony Hird who was seventh on the road with Graham Bennett and Adrian Peters rounding out the top ten.
Race Results 600
1 Colin Norris
2 Wayne Crossman
3 Adrian Peters
4 Glen Levy
5 Nick Barnes
Fastest lap Wayne Crossman 1m 41.305s
Race Results 1000
1 Brad Howell
2 Pete Wilson
3 Gerrard Fallon
4 Steve Bridle
5 Gary Bransgrove
6 Tony Hird
7 Graham Bennett
8 Lee Rawlings
9 Mark Gilbert
10 Gary Richards
Fastest Lap Brad Howell 1m 37.482s
Allcomers Cadwell
Race One
For the Allcomers race, champ and champ elect Sam Ludgate and Jon Otter arrived on the grid with fresh French rubber on board, Ralf Lo Turco was late to leave the paddock an started from the back of the grid. There were spot of rain in the air as the race cracked off, Otter was off like a rocket and led for the whole race, Lo Turco passed a dozen riders before the first bend and was up to third by lap 3. In the shortened race, stopped after 8 laps, Otter took first ahead of Rhalf, another MPC man with 600 pilot Lewis O'Regan in third. Ludgate was fourth after being as high as second, endurance man Lewis Mason. slid into fifth ahead of James Kaye.
Race Results
1 Jonathan Otter
2 Sam Ludgate
3 Rhalf Lo Turco
4 Lewis O’Regan
5 Lewis Mason
6 James Kaye
7 Richard Walker
8 Richard Steadman
9 Ralph Naden
10 Peter Dilks
11 Steve Bridle
12 Mark Gilbert
13 Richard Hough
Fastest Lap Jonny 5 Otter 1m 36.652s
Race Two
In the final race of the weekend and, for many the final race of the year it was an excellent turn out in quality and quantity. It would be the first time Otter would line up against newbie but already triple winner Howells and it was Otter who was emphatic about winning as he crossed the line 8 seconds ahead of the other one litre machine, however Brad managed to post the fastest lap of the race. Rhalf Lo Turco was in bronze position with Peter Dilks peddling the first 600 home in fourth, O’Regan continued his bountiful weekend with fifth in front of Ralph Naden, Mark Affleck and Steph Waddelow. Another fact - the three Dilks riders and Mark Affleck, all finishers in this race all rode as part of the championship winning National 600 endurance team!
Race Results
1 Jonathan Otter
2 Brad Howells
3 Rhalf Lo Turco
4 Peter Dilks
5 Lewis O’Regan
6 Ralph Naden
7 Mark Affleck
8 Steph Waddelow
9 Steve Bridle
10 Mark Dilks
11 Adrian Allsopp
12 Tom Palmer
13 Richard Dilks
14 Steve Bullas
15 Dominic De Leon
16 Mark Clifford
17 Richard Hough
18 Mark Gilbert
19 Nick Grobler
Fastest Lap Brad Howells 1m 36.518s
Michelin Power Cup
Race One
The Michelin Power Cup lost Ty Jones after a spill in practice resulting in an unsolicited visit to Grimsby's best, so qualifying resulted in local man Jon Otter making the most of things as his nearest title rival Greg Allsop was away on best man duty on Saturday, following a blown engine in Friday's testing and a no show on Sunday. Jonny 5 snatched pole from Triumph 675 mounted Steph Waddelow.
2010 MotoGrande 600 champ Sam Ludgate joined the Michelin race nailing a place on row 2, and moving from R1 to BMW power was Brazilian Rhalf Lo Tourco and 600 leader William Monie joined Steph and Jon on the front row. When it mattered most Monie shot off from the line to be overhauled by Otter making hay in the bright sunshine. As two riders ran up on the grass at Charlies, Otter maintained his lead for the whole race pulling out from second man Rhalf, just in front of the scrapping 600s of Steph and Ludgate some way ahead of Monie, it wasn't long before Ludgate dispensed with Steph and set about catching the BMW. Rhalf hung onto second on the road using the extra horses on the straights, Sam being chuffed with a 3rd place overall and first in class on his MPC debut. Steph hung onto second in class and fourth on the road with 600 leader Monie gave the talented Scotsman the Michelin Power Cup 600 title, he was a sliver ahead of fellow class mate Mark Affleck.
Race Results
600
1 Sam Ludgate
2 Stephanie Waddelow
3 William Monie
4 Mark Affleck
5 Ryan Peters
6 Andy Rouse
7 Lewis O'Regan
8 Adrian Allsopp
9 Tom Conner
10 Chris Hunt Terry
11 Dominic De Leon
12 David Wood
13 Mark Clifford
Fastest Lap Sam Ludgate 1m 38.254
1000
1 Jonathan Otter
2 Rhalf Lo Tourco
3 Chris Mason
4 David Lance
5 Graham Marks
6 Paul Pickering
7 Matthew Flower
8 John Boakye
Fastest Lap Jonathon Otter 1m 37.702s
Race Two
With a damp track 2010 1000cc champion elect Jon Otter just needed to keep going and in the points to earn the title he deserved, as the grid formed on a combination of Michelin Power compounds and profiles. Steph Waddelow was on wets and took to the grass in the opening stages, so it was MotoGrande migrant Sam Ludgate who got the holeshot from fellow 600 jockeys Ady Allsopp and Ryan Peters in the chase, Otter was back in twelfth at this stage and rode a sensible race. Confirmed 600 champ William Monie was giving this race a miss and was spectating at Mansfield when Paul Pickering fell off in front of Will at around half distance bringing out the red flags, marshals, medics and cement dust. The result was declared and showed four 600s at the top with Ludgate winning from Allsopp, Ryan Peters and Richard Walker. First big bike home was Chris Mason keeping his nose ahead of Rhalf Lo Turco, another 600 crossed the line in the hands of Tim Connor who was later excluded for using another manufacturers tyres. Andy Rouse continued to rack up points on his Honda ahead of Dave Wood and Jonny 5.
Race Results
600
1 Sam Ludgate
2 Adrian Allsopp
3 Ryan Peters
4 Richard Walker
5 Andy Rouse
6 David Wood
7 Lewis O'Regan
8 Chris Hunt Terry
9 Dominic De Leon
Fastest Lap Richard Walker 1m 47.346s
1000
1 Chris Mason
2 Rhalf Lo Tourco
3 Jonathan Otter
4 David Lance
5 Graham Marks
6 John Boakye
7 Graham Marks
8 Matthew Flower
Fastest Laps Jonathan Otter 1m 49.273
Race Three
Jonathon Otter was emphatic at making the 2010 Michelin Power Cup all his as he led from the lights in the third race pulling out a substantial lead over 600 battlers Ludgate and Monie. Steph had started brightly but dropped back in the race from fourth to sixth place, whilst Lewis O’Regan was having his best weekend of the season finishing in fourth just ahead of Mark Affleck who joined the Michelin people just for Cadwell. Richard Walker was outside the top six just in front of Ady Allsopp who had done enough on the day to make second in the championship his very own. All these 600s were sandwiched by Otter and ninth placed Chris Mason who was on for a real points haul this weekend. Rhalf Lo Turco was not classified as a finisher as he started the race on Michelin slicks as an evaluation ride.
Race Results
600
1 Sam Ludgate
2 William Monie
3 Lewis O'Regan
4 Mark Affleck
5 Steph Waddelow
6 Richard Walker
7 Adrian Allsopp
8 Andy Rouse
9 Ryan Peters
10 David Wood
11 Chris Hunt Terry
12 Mark Clifford
13 Dominic De Leon
Fastest Lap Steph Waddelow 1m 38.355s
1000
1 Jonathan Otter
2 Chris Mason
3 Adam Rudd
4 Tom Connor
5 David Lance
6 Matthew Flower
7 Graham Marks
8 John Boakye
9 Mark Footitt
Fastest Lap Jonathan Otter 1m 36.514s
Hottrax Motorsport 2010 Round Seven Race Report @ Pembrey, South Wales 18 + 19th September 2010 - 3 Hour National + Endurance Championship + MotoGrande + Michelin Power Cup + Allcomers
Junior and National 3 Hour Endurance Race
Hottrax Motorsport was pragmatic enough to merge the National race with Saturday’s Junior fixture so we had four classes with titles all to play for. Combined qualifying resulted in pole for Sweatshop Racing (Hugh Brasher/Rod Lynn) which saw Rodders ride the quickest throughout qualifying for all classes, posting a 60.490s lap to take pole from newcomers Council Racing (Danny Lister/Larry Halliday), possible champs TM72 and RS Racing (Dan Cousins/Gerrard Spear).
If three National 1000 teams were quickest then top Junior thousands were RS Racing, we also saw Pit Stop Racing (Mark Dilks/Mark Affleck) nudge out Roundall Racing (Simon Allen/Sean Moss) for top National 600 accolade and BLDS Couriers (Bill Lilly/George Harvey) make their mark as premier 600 Junior team, this team having a decent history at Pembrey.
National championship leaders TM72 had a spill in the morning with Andy McKnight at the wheel; this was the team who could mathematically tie up their class in South Wales from Graphic UK and Sweatshop. When it mattered and the Welsh flag was dropped by an Irishman it was Welsh wizard Rod Lynn who started working on building up a respectable lead. At the start RAF rider Simon Allen was last off the grid and Racing Snakes (Ian Charles/Steve Griffiths) started with only one bike as Griffiths' R1 continued to play up in qualifying. After 30 minutes Sweatshop held a 20s lead over TM72 who were another ten seconds in front of Graphics, BLDS and RS Racing - as nearly all the teams pitted, Sweatshop stayed out as they were running one machine, an opportunity to build up more lead with Lynn at the helm.
Half way point was the next benchmark and Sweatshop, who are still in with a shout for back to back championships maintained a strong two lap advantage over tough opponents TM72 who just need to keep racking up the points here and at Cadwell to earn them their first national 1000 title. In third spot were second in the Junior 1000 table; AV-IT Racing only 11 seconds ahead of principal Junior 600s BLDS and they were being shadowed by National 600 team Pit Stop. Making up the top dozen were also 1491, Insignia, DNA, Graphic UK, Louth Bikes National and Council Racing. Leaving the action at the 90 minute mark were Banzai who retired and Snug Racing who fell off but rejoined after a visit into the pits. RS Racing who had started so well fell at Brooklands with just over an hour to go which meant their race was put on hold until they could make their way back to the pits prior to continuing.
Just as the combined National and Junior race entered the final hour the pace car was deployed as debris was on the track, some teams were able to use their experience and/or luck to capitalise on this situation. Sweatshop held their two lap lead over TM72, three laps over AV-IT, Pit Stop, BLDS and four over Council as the pace car disappeared and racing continued at an unabated pace.
Endurance racing can be so unpredictable and to demonstrate this the Sweatshop R1 gearbox cried ‘enough’ with less than fifty minutes to go and Rod Lynn nursed the stricken machine back to it's pit box, this left TM72 with a slight 32s grace over BLDS who are in a separate class so no real dramas there then. At the 30 minutes to go time these two were one lap ahead of AV-IT and two laps ahead of Council who were on a charge with Pit Stop, Louth Bikes, 1491 and Graphics all pressing on behind.
Dark clouds signified the end of the three hour race, Sweatshop chose not to struggle out back on the circuit to try and finish within 75% of the winner's distance to try and earn some points. TM72 did exactly what they had to by winning the race and their class by a mere 45 seconds over newcomers Council Racing. Mathematically Graphic UK, who finished third in class, must win at the final round at Cadwell with TM72 nowhere to be seen to win the championship. Sweatshop is unfortunately too far away from success and unable to replicate their 2009 title.
In the National 600 race Pit Stop won their class and was third overall to drag down max points in front of the hard pushing Louth Bikes National with 1491 in third. Class leaders fatblokeracewear.com (Colin Norris/Andy Rouse) were a few laps adrift in fourth but ahead of Spark Endurance (Rob Noyle/Shelley Pike) and stablemates Roundall Racing (Simon Allen/Sean Moss) who put their Anglesey woes behind them to post fastest lap in class, setting Cadwell up as an almost 'winner takes all' race.
Talk about close finishes, second sport in this class was settled by a mere 9 seconds leaving 1491 to reflect on how they might have been quicker in a pit stop or two and even closer were Spark and Roundall, who share the same tent, mechanics and resources, were only split by a photo finish of 5.5 seconds.
In the Junior 600s BLDS dominated the race from championship leading DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Robbie Moore) who rode like Trojans and have enjoyed a really successful season to date, to cross the line ahead of L A Stone Racing (Tony Hathaway/Tom Luton) on their brace of super Ducatis. The rest of the field was made up by Apex Racing (Nick Matthews/Adam Woby), Louth Bikes Junior A (Stephen Bullas/Richard Hough), sorrymate.com (Mark Cooper/Fergus Dalgarno), MC Racing (Richard Payne/Jason McKinnon) and Snug Racing (Keith Dickie/Dave Roberts). DNA and BLDS go to Lincolnshire at the end of October near enough needing a win to tie up the 2010 title and march away with the silverware.
AV-IT were delighted with their class win which enabled them to leap frog previous points leaders Ridgeback Racing (Mark Clark/David Stolliday) in the tables who recorded a solid second from Insignia (Rob Loveday/Carl Hodgkins) with Derek Redmond 400 (Crossman/Garnham), (Pirate Racing (Andrew Main/Paul Whiteman) & Pirate Racing V2 (Emma Hodges/Tom Nicolaou). In the largest class of the race the intriguingly named Thelma Shanks Racing (John Hopkins/Martin Jones) finished in seventh and in their wake were; Derek Redmond 200 (Andy Dix/Derek Redmond), GT Racing (Steve Palmer/Keith Tribe), RS Racing (Dan Cousins/Gerrard Spear), Banzai (Ben Jenkins/Rupert Thompson) and Racing Snakes (Ian Charles/Steve Griffiths) who put in 4 laps before the Snakes realised it probably wasn't worth continuing on one bike! Where are we in the table? AV-IT and Ridgeback are both in a strong position for the championship at the end of October however, Insignia or TM17, missing from Pembrey, would have to be the luckiest people on earth to take the championship.
Michelin Power Cup Championship
Race One
Points leader and consistent performer Scott Shand grabbed pole from perennial ‘thorn in the side’ Greg Allsop in a healthy grid for the Michelin Power Cup encounter, William Monie was quickest 600 rider on his tidy R6.
Father and son pairing of Richard and William White both retired their 675 Triumphs in the opening race which was red flagged after leading man Shand was shaken off his Fireblade coming onto the start/finish straight on lap two only moments after 600 charger Ady Allsopp parted company with his R6 at Debeni. At the restart P1 was fought over by Greg Allsop, Jonny Otter and Tony Rogers - the rapid trio finishing in this order after a reduced race distance. They were followed home by local man Ty Jones who finished fourth ahead of the first 600 of class dominant William Monie who was well ahead of Chris Mason who celebrated his birthday at the Welsh track. At the end 600 mounted Monie finished over a minute ahead of the very sociable Ryan Peters, Andy Rouse, a returning Chris Hunt-Terry, Nick Matthews from Apex Racing and Dominic De Leon.
Race Two
With Scott Shand a non starter it was left to Jonny Otter to maintain challenge on Greg Allsop in the 15 lapper. Otter managed to slide past Allsopp at the hairpin on lap 4 and maintain a lead for four laps before the somewhat stately R1 got passed the Suzuki after which Otter was disadvantaged with a misty visor and backmarkers having an effect on his race plan. At the close of play Allsopp won and extended his lead in the points, Otter was a safe second from top 600 man William Monie ahead of Chris Mason, Ty Jones in his first season on big bikes from Andy Rouse, Ryan Peters, yesterdays faller Ady Alsopp the returning Chris Hunt-Terry, Adam Rudd, Graham Marks and Pete Douglas. The top six 600s were rounded off by series improving Richard Dilks.
Race Three
Whilst Greg Allsop may have started from pole and already won the first two races of the weekend it was Otter who was smart off the line with Allsopp in his wake. 600 hot shot William Monie got away in third and kept it that way for the rest of the 17 laps. At times Otter felt his opponent breathing down his neck and this got very interesting when the leading pair approached backmarkers as the race progressed. At two thirds distance the leading duo were only separated by less than a quarter of a second and Ady Allsopp was getting a wriggle on to defend his 600 second place as he was put under pressure by Ryan Peters. At the drop of the flag Otter was delighted with preventing Allsopp from doing the Welsh triple; Monie was on the money with third on the road and first in class. Ty Jones and Chris Mason were next litre men home in front of Allsopp and Peters with Rouse and Rudd following up. In tenth was Chris Hunt-Terry coming in before Boakye, Douglas, Lance and Dilks. So it all goes down to the wire at Cadwell Park at the end of October for the inaugural Michelin Power Cup runners and who will be on the top step.
MotoGrande Race 1
600 rider Sam Ludgate was fastest in qualifying with a 61.683s lap, ahead of five one litre machines as the MotoGrande grid pulled together for 3 races over the weekend, 1000cc leader Pete Wilson was a non starter in South Wales as was runner up man Simon Fenwick which would affect the championship tables going into the final round.
There was no stopping Ludgate as he converted pole into a dominant win leaving an early battle for second involving Raymond Stagg, Gerrard Fallon, Steve Bridle and Gary Bransgrove before Gaz he went missing at the two thirds mark having been as high as second due to lack of petrol! You had to go down to seventh in the race to sight the second 600 outfit of John Lawrence who was a smidge behind Tom Palmer and Lee Rawlings. Colin Norris finished in 8th on last year’s 600 Suzuki after destroying his quicker Triumph at Anglesey three weeks ago.
600 Race 2
Sunday's timetable saw the 600s and the 1000 run as separate races, at the end of two laps of the 600 it was red flagged after John Lawrence tipped off at the hairpin leaving the machine in the middle of the track. At the restart Sam Ludgate continued to dominate the MotoGrande 600 seen and just blitzed the opposition leaving a distant Sean Moss to chase second spot until the florescent green Honda cried 'enough' and pulling off after the start line, allowing Colin Norris to take up runner up spot in front of Glen Levy and Luke Joyce at the end of the reduced 13 lap race.
1000 Race 2
Raymond Stagg was caught out by cold tyres on the warm up lap causing a slight delay. At the restart Gerrard Fallon shot off like a rocket to take up a position he was never going to relinquish whilst keeping a weatherly eye on the pursuing Gary Bransgrove and Steve Bridle who held station for the 15 laps. Beyond the top three was ex endurance racer Lee Rawlings, Redmond Racing man Neil Garnham, Tom Palmer, Darren Walker, South African Nick Grobler and series regular Mark Gilbert.
Race Three
Back to the combined class format and no real surprise that it was young Sam Ludgate who wasn't hanging about leaving the opposition for dead and steadily amassing a huge lead of 45 seconds. Behind Sam it was the status quo of Gary Bransgrove and Gerrard Fallon who battled closely for the whole race ducking and diving as backmarkers began to make an impression.
Allcomers Race
A 12 lap Allcomers race finished off the weekend nicely and it marked a much deserved result for Nottingham rider Peter Dilks who took his Honda 600 to win from Suzuki 1000 mounted Steve Bridle by less than a second, Endurance man Mark Affleck finished a tenth of a second down on Bridle. Local man Ty Jones was fourth ahead of Richard Dilks and Redmond Racing duo Neil Garnham and Wayne Crossman.
Hottrax Motorsport 2010 Round Six at Anglesey, North Wales on 28th + 29th August 2010 – 3 Hour National Endurance and 3 Hour Junior Endurance
Junior Race - 3 Hours
A burgeoning grid assembled at Anglesey where Sherwood Suzuki (Carl Dodwell/Mark Hornett) made the most of blustery but dry qualifying conditions to snatch pole from top 600 outfit M & M Racing (Robbie Moore/Lewis Mason), 1000cc points table headers AV-IT (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) were third spot just in front of the Systema-Alfa entry (Adrian Jardine/Chris Vining) and 600 Junior points leaders DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons). The wild card entry for Team Bike of Simon Hargreaves and Tony Hoare made 16th on the grid with a tasty naked Kawasaki Z1000. At the start of the three hour battle it was Dodwell who rapidly built up an incredible lead and began lapping back markers after only a handful of laps, the 600 BLDS machine hung onto second with AV-IT and TM17 (Gary Buck/Ash Rothwell) not a mile away, Team Bike's entry was up to 12th early doors. Light rain fell at the 30 minute mark, at the same time Apex Racing (Adam Woby/Nick Matthews) lost it as did 121 Ride (Dave Toombes/Tom Nicolaou) and the former front running 600 of Systema Alfa, all made it back into the race. The pace car made an appearance in the first hour which shuffled the pack whilst JR Racing (Chris Jennings/Mark Roxbrough) underwent a ride through penalty! At the one hour mark Sherwood were dominating proceedings with a one lap advantage over the BLDS 600 with another couple of smaller machines ramming the top four including MaD (Richard Dilks/Mark Affleck) and M & M. Second placed 1000; AV-IT, TM17, Derek Redmond 400 (Crossman/Keeling Hutton), Racing Snakes (Ian Charles/Colin Todd), MC Racing (Richard Payne/Jason McKinnon) and D N A Racing made up the top ten.
The TSL Timing sheets showed, at half way point, Sherwood still leading by one circuit from top 600 M & M, AV-IT looking safe in third ahead of BLDS, MaD, TM17 and DR 400 in a well deserved seventh. All change ten minutes later with three unrelated incidents on the track - Snug (Keith Dickie/Dave Roberts) went off at the Corkscrew, second 1000 in the tables Insignia (Rob + Jamie Loveday) had an off on the run up to Rocket and second placed AV-IT Andy Carpenter bailing out, remounting, pitting and having to go out again as the clock was against Langford taking over! Later Carpie would be seen limping about the paddock, this dumped AV-IT down to eighteenth. Team Bike picked up a stop/go penalty not helping their cause circulating at the rear of the field - bearing in mind this wild card entry was an R & D event for the men from the mag.
Halfway through the final hour it was AV-IT' who again chucked their bike away, 'ran' back to the pits to enable his partner to press on regardless, albeit loosing time! The position of the bike led to a re appearance of the safety car which pitted with 10 minutes to go. On the first release lap leaders Sherwood Suzuki and second place TM17 clashed on the back straight stopping the race and bringing out the chequer 13 minutes before the three hour mark, both riders were declared OK. Under regulations the teams involved are not classified so it was top 600 crew M & M who took their class and the overall win ahead of BLDS Couriers, MaD and D N A all 600s. The leading 1000 team were Ridgeback Racing (Mark Clark/David Stolliday) with Derek Redmond 400 in six, third place on the 1000 podium went to a cracking team - Pirate Racing V2 (Emma Hodges/John Burr) who were placed tenth overall.
Race Results - 600
1 M & M Racing 126 laps
2 BLDS Couriers 125
3 MaD Racing 124
4 DNA Racing 124
5 MC Racing 122
6 L A Stone Racing 121
7 Systema-Alfa Racing 121
8 JR Racing 121
9 Sorrymate.com 120
10 Louth Bikes Junior A 118
11 Apex Racing 115
12 Snug Racing 102
Fastest Lap BLDS Couriers 1m 13.378s
Race Results - 1000
1 Ridgeback Racing 123 laps
2 Derek Redmond 400 123
3 Pirate Racing V2 121
4 Racing Snakes 121
5 AV-IT Racing 119
6 Go Dive Racing 118
7 Derek Redmond 200 116
Fastest Lap AV-IT Racing 1m 13.621s
National Race - 3 Hours
Sunday qualifying proved an instant hit for 600 outfit TS Racing (James McBride/Richard Payne) as they snatched pole by over a second from 1000 championship leaders TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) with 2009 champs Sweatshop Racing (Hugh Brasher/Rod Lynn) in third, 600 championship leaders fatblokeracewear.com (Colin Morris/Andy Rouse) were a bit away in fourth spot. Given the 'unsettled' weather conditions of the morning and the fact that all endurance races are declared 'wet' at the beginning careful planning would be required by the teams in developing a race strategy. Whilst the start was dry and James McBride shot off like ‘Joe Stink’, building up a 5 second lead ahead of Sweatshop, TM72, Pit Stop, Graphic UK, fatblokes, and Louth Bikes National in the opening few laps.
After a handful of racing minutes the rain was absolutely torrential and whilst some riders darted straight into the pits others took a gamble and stayed out on track hoping that was the way to go. With less than ten minutes gone the origional leaders TS were struggling to effect a rapid wheel change an the race order was TM72, Graphic UK (Basil Bannayi/Dean Skipper), Louth Bikes (Perry Cooper/Adrian Harthog), Sweatshop, fatblokes, Louth Bikes National (Sam Hooson/Ralph Naden), Speed n Spares (Richard Clarke + Walker), 1491 Endurance (Andy Pulling/Ian Cooper), TS and Pit Stop Racing (Peter Dilks/Mark Affleck).
The rain eased off and things settled down and at 30 minutes TM72 had completed a mere 10 laps chased by Pit Stop, Louth Nat and their team mates all on the same lap, minutes later Pit Stop took the P1 spot. Norris was struggling, following two earlier spills he was now finding it difficult to get to grips with Andy Buik's kindly loaned Suzuki and a lack of front brakes.
Birthday boy Eric Chitty (TM72 team manager) reckoned TM72 were in a good position with the leaders needing to pit soon and next time Sweatshop pitted they would need to change both wheels if it remained dry - however motorcycle racing is barely predictable. James McBride posted the fastest lap in the dry on lap 3 with a 1m 11s and was currently fastest with 1m 18s.
Mid point of the Hottrax Motorsport National Endurance race saw the 600s of Pit Stop a slight 37s ahead of the hungry for victory TM72, Louth Nationals were a lap adrift in third holding the same gap over Sweatshop who, with one round missed and a frustrating Oulton where no points were scored, need to go for the maximum score to be in with a shout of this year‘s title.
With one hour left on the clock TS were flying and posted a quick lap, albeit three laps down on our leaders due to that early pit stop to fiddle with rubber. TM72 were tracking down Pit Stop and were only 17 seconds down the road, Louth Nationals still maintained third spot a lap in front of Sweatshop Racing. Fastest of the lot TS were in a distant fifth in front of Graphic UK, Speed n Spares, Louth Bikes, 600 top team fatblokes were struggling with the borrowed Suzuki and 1491 Endurance were bringing up the rear.
It was only a matter of minutes before TM72 overhauled Pit Stop and the #2 machine of Sweatshop had a lengthy stay in the pits to fit a new rear slick. The only notable change in the closing stages was reward for the fantastic riding by McBride who had peddled TS up to fourth. This was reinforced with James posting the fastest lap of all in the dying moments of the race. With ten minutes to go a mere 45s separated the leading 1000 from the runner up 600, a gap extended at the drop of the cloth to just under a minute. So it was; TM72, Pit Stop, TS, Louth National, Sweatshop, Graphics, Louth, Speed n Spares, fatblokeracewear.com and 1491. Not only did Pit Stop lead the race and narrowly miss out on winning it overall they totally dominated the 600 class finishing a comfortable 2 laps ahead of TS.
Results 600
1 Pit Stop Racing 133 laps
2 TS Racing 131
3 Louth Bikes National 131
4 Louth Bikes 129
5 Speed n Spares Racing 126
6 fatblokeracewear.com 121
7 1491 Endurance 121
Fastest Lap TS Racing 1m 10.973s
1000
1 TM72 133 laps
2 Sweatshop Racing 131
3 Graphic UK 129
Fastest Lap TM72 1m 12.149s
MotoGrande
Pre race 600 favourite Sam Ludgate went head to head with recently crowned Preston & DMCC 600 champ John Blundell in junior class of the MotoGrande series of 15 lap races, but it was 1000 expert Peter Wilson who snatched pole by over half a second from the battling 600s. A massive 38 bikes took the start and Bongo went missing with a loose exhaust bolt, at the same time the race was red flagged with a slippery surface being reported out on the circuit. Missing bolt and left boot replaced! Bongo joined the race at the back of the grid. Wilson capitalised on pole and dominated the race with the 600 of Ludgate a close second with Paul Berryman in third spot. Blundell who was 26th after two laps of the restarted race finished in fifth 3 seconds down on Gary Bransgrove, Simon Fenwick who was third for a while came in sixth in front of Graham Bennett, Steve Bridle, Sean Moss and Chris Mason
Race One 600
1 Sam Ludgate 12 laps
2 John Blundell 12
3 Sean Moss 12
4 Colin Norris 12
5 Richard Gothard 12
6 Adrian Peters 12
7 Glen Levy 11
8 Nick Barnes 11
9 Graham Marshall 11
Fastest Lap Michael Wallis 1m 13.218s
Race One 1000
1 Peter Wilson 12
2 Paul Berryman 12
3 Gary Bransgrove 12
4 Simon Fenwick 12
5 Graham Bennett 12
6 Steve Bridle 12
7 Chris Mason 12
8 Tom Palmer 12
9 Martin Townsend 12
10 Paul Burbage 12
11 Tom Connor 12
12 Carl Hodgkins 12
13 Lee Rawlings 12
14 Bryan Gunn 12
15 Sheraz Yousaf 11
16 Nick Grobler 11
17 Mark Gilbert 11
18 Gary Richards 11
19 Steve Pickering 11
Fastest Lap Paul Ford 1m 12.688s
Race Two was held in cooler weather on the Sunday morning where blustery conditions kept the clouds from spilling their guts. It started as a dry race but was shown the red after four laps when the heavens opened and two riders hit the deck. At the restart of the 'wet' race it was actually bone dry but Ludgate and Wilson made this race their own as they built up a safety margin and exchanged the lead position. Colin Norris ditched out of 9th spot at Church damaging his Triumph which was due out in the following National Race. Bongo Blundell kept in the top six despite an evil handling Honda. More riders joined the DNF list that totalled seven at the end of the 15 laps and at the chequer Sam had regained the lead to finish a second ahead of Wilson, Suzukis’s Gary Bransgrove rode a determined race to finish third on the road but second in class in front of Michelin Man Chris Mason, Bongo and Graham Bennett.
Race Two 600
1 Sam Ludgate 15 laps
2 John Blundell 15
3 Adrian Peters 15
4 Michael Wallis 15
5 Richard Dilks 14
6 Nick Barnes 14
7 Glen Levy 14
8 Graham Marshall 13
Fastest Lap Sam Ludgate 1m 12.720s
Race Two 1000
1 Peter Wilson 15 laps
2 Gary Bransgrove 15
3 Chris Mason 15
4 Graham Bennett 15
5 Paul Berryman 15
6 Tom Connor 15
7 Martin Townsend 15
8 Tom Palmer 15
9 Bryan Gunn 15
10 Simon Fenwick 15
11 Neil Garnham 15
12 Lee Rawlings 15
13 Adam Rudd 15
14 Pete Douglas 15
15 Tom Nicolaou 14
16 Sheraz Yousaf 14
17 Gary Richards 13
Fastest Lap Peter Wilson 1m 13.443s
Race Three closed the weekends racing and it was the usual suspects of Wilson, Ludgate and Blundell to thrash it out over another 15 laps and it was a photo finish for second as ex trials champ Ludgate nailed the runner up spot by less than 0.7s on their six hundred machines. Three litre machines made up the top six in the order of Graham Bennett, Paul Berryman and Gary Bransgrove.
Race 3 600
1 Sam Ludgate 15 laps
2 John Blundell 15
3 Adrian Peters 15
4 Michael Wallis 15
5 Richard Gothard 15
6 Richard Dilks 14
7 Glen Levy 14
8 Luke Joyce 13
Fastest Lap Sam Ludgate 1m 13.562s
1000
1 Peter Wilson 15 laps
2 Graham Bennett 15
3 Paul Berryman 15
4 Gary Bransgrove 15
5 Chris Mason 15
6 Neil Garnham 15
7 Tom Connor 15
8 Tom Palmer 15
9 Bryan Gunn 15
10 Adam Rudd 15
11 Lee Rawlings 14
12 Martin Townsend 14
13 Paul Pickering 14
14 Pete Douglas 14
15 Nick Grobler 14
16 Tom Nicolaou 14
Fastest Lap Peter Wilson 1m 13.048s
Michelin Power Cup
After almost a 2 month gap the highly motivated Michelin Power Cup grid together for a vital round of the championship, especially vital for the 600 class as class leader Simon Gardner was away over the waters for the Manx Grand Prix, ably assisted by team mate Arron Hoar leaving William Monie, Adrian Allsopp and Andy Rouse to make hay in Anglesey.
Scott Shand bogged the start and the leading trio headed by Monie on the 600 who led until the final stages when they got mixed up with the back markers. Jon Otter and Greg Allsop battled to be the lead litre machine when Adrian Allsopp crashed out at the end of the start/finish straight adding no points to his tally. At the end of the race Greg Allsop lead on the road and in class, in the thousands Otter was second in front of Shand, Rhalf Lo Turco, Ty Jones and birthday boy John Boakye a lap down in sixth. Monie was runner up on the road but first in class and a 32 second lead over Andy Rouse, who had crashed out in the morning qualifying, Ryan Peters, a best showing for Jamal Mahmood - Dom De Leon was fifth in the 600s ahead of Sohaib Habib, an improving Steven Davies.
Race 1 600
1 William Monie 15 laps
2 Andy Rouse 15
3 Ryan Peters 15
4 Jamal Mahmood 14
5 Dominic De Leon 14
6 Sohaib Habib 14
7 Steven Davies 13
Race 1 1000
1 Greg Allsop 15 laps
2 Jon Otter 15
3 Scott Shand 15
4 Rhalf Lo Turco 15
5 Ty Jones 15
6 John Boakye 14
Race Two
Scott Shand capitalised on pole to build up a reasonable lead over Greg Allsop on his older R1 in the early stages from 600 pilot William Monie with Rhalf Lo Tourco on his cross plane crank R1 and Otter scrapping over fourth spot, Adrian Allsopp was in a chasing fifth on his R6 with a good gap before the rest. Jonny 5 caught and passed the Brazilian and then set his sights on Monie. In the second half of the race Allsop's R1 was closing on Shand who was able to respond by putting his foot on the gas.
Race 2 600
1 William Monie 15 laps
2 Adrian Allsopp 15
3 Andy Rouse 15
4 Jamal Mahmood 14
5 Dominic De Leon 14
Fastest Lap William Monie 1m 13.927s
Race 2 1000
1 Scott Shand 15
2 Greg Allsop 15 laps
3 Jon Otter 15
4 Rhalf Lo Turco 15
5 Ty Jones 15
6 John Boakye 14
Fastest Lap Greg Allsopp 1m 11.626s
After early morning warm up the Michelin Power Cup mob took the grid for the third time of the weekend. 600 favourite William Monie failed to complete a lap doing his title aspirations no good at all. Shand led the opening lap and never looked threatened with Greg Allsop some way down in runner up spot, Jonny 5 (Otter) had no problem hanging onto third spot in front of Brazilian Lo Turco but never looked like threatening the two lads in front. Top 600 was the black R6 ridden admirably by Ady Allsopp who made it up to fourth spot at the end and he was a comfortable ten seconds up on class mates Andy Rouse, Ryan Peters and Dominic De Leon.
Race 3 600
1 Adrian Allsopp 15 laps
2 Andy Rouse 15
3 Ryan Peters 15
4 Dominic De Leon 14
5 Jamal Mahmood 14
Fastest Lap Adrian Allsopp 1m 15.407s
Race 3 1000
1 Greg Allsop 15 laps
2 Jon Otter 15
3 Scott Shand 15
4 Rhalf Lo Turco 15
Fastest Lap Scott Shand 1m 12.870sRace 2 600
Hottrax Motorsport 2010 Round Five at Oulton Park, Cheshire on 10th July 2010 – 3 Hour National Endurance and 3 Hour Junior Endurance
Junior 3 hours
With a mouth watering prospect of a brand new venue for the Hottrax Juniors to perform on there was no form guide to go by as Insignia (Rob Loveday/Einar Torlen), who had been showing so much promise of late, were fastest in qualifying on Saturday morning. Insignia were a slender 0.2s quicker than Sherwood Suzuki (Carl Dodwell/Sean Everett), who also managed to dip below 1m 59s ahead of D n A (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons), M and M Racing (Lewis Mason/Robbie Moore) and the returning Billericay Coachworks (Tim Gorringe/Kevin Maxted) ahead of BLDS (Bill Lilly/George Harvey), Banzai (Rupert Thompson/Ben Jenkins), AV-IT (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) and TM17 (Gary Buck/Ash Rothwell). In a really open race it was Insignia who capitalised and started work on stretching out a lead on Banzai, Sherwood, Billericay and AV-IT with TM17 in sixth. D n A fell at Cascades, remounted and continued on lap 1 whilst Insignia continued to dominate for much of the first hour until the second round of pit stops which saw Billericay take over the lead from AV-IT, Sherwood, Old & Bold (Paul Burbage/Richard Lloyd), M & M, BLDS, TM17 a lap down and only a smidgen ahead of former front men Insignia.
Billericay continued to lead on the road at the half way stage sharing the 47th lap alongside AV-IT who have enjoyed being at the sharp end for the first half of this season and they were on a charge as were Insignia and Sherwood. Top 600 outfit at this stage was M & M a whole lap up on BLDS, Louth Bikes Junior B (Perry Cooper/Charlie Wragg) and the brace of Ducatis running under the L A Stone banner (Tony Hathaway/Tim Howard).
Insignia collared the lead back and began to get away from the lads from Essex, top 600 plot M & M were in prestigious third on the road ahead of the AV-IT one litre machines and Old & Bold were in fifth place and climbing ahead of BLDS with TM17, using the same 750 Suzuki that completed the earlier National race in the hands of Andy McKnight.
In the third hour there were big dramas for the hard working M & Ms as shortly after a scheduled pit stop the green Kawasaki just stopped out on circuit which meant a big delay before the team could continue making progress, having been as high as third on the road and the top 600 team. It was also in the closing stages that ‘hoping to maximum points’ TM17 dropped from a handy sixth place to 23rd after an unwanted excursion by Ash Rothwell who was thankfully reported OK by the medics at the end of the race. As the end of the 180 minutes of racing approached Insignia lead Billericay by just under a minute when Insignia dived for the Pitlane for a splash n dash coming out just in front of the second place bike and a gap discernable only with a stopwatch. In the closing few laps the gap grew steadily from half a second, 3 seconds, 7 seconds and at the drop of the chequer the gap was a mere 11 seconds.
Insignia nailed the win they deserved, from a top performing Billericay Coachworks team, Old and Bold’s fast riding and smart pit work rewarded them with a personal best of third place ahead of the consistently strong pairing of AV-IT Racing all finishing on the same lap. The leading 600 crew BLDS Couriers was fifth on the road a lap down on the litre machines giving Bill Lilly + his enthusiastic team that elusive but much deserved win. Three more big bike teams appeared on the score sheet – Pirate Racing (Andrew Mann/Paul Whiteman) having a good day at the races in front Racing Snakes (Ian Charles/David Etherington), Banzai, second 600 team D n A (a massive result given early faller Dan Jennings rode on with a fractured scaphoid and travelling from dead last to P2), Ridgeback (Mark Clark/David Stolliday), Louth Bikes Junior B team, Apex Racing (Adam Woby/Nick Matthews, 121 Ride (John Coleman/Dave Toombes) and the first of the boy’s in blue at JR Racing (Mark Roxbrough/John Burr) who were joined at Oulton by JR Racing Juniors (Aaron Harte/Chris Jennings) who finished in 24th spot after mowing over a team mechanic in the process in their keenness to exit the pit lane. Finishing in 25th was Redmond Insignia Racing (Drew Tommons/Jamie Loveday) - young Jamie being son of race winner Rob, a chip off the old block no doubt!
It was a huge grid and there were 29 finishes out of the 33 starters, the racing was fast and furious – in the championship tables which will remain intact until the end of August; AV-IT are only a couple of points ahead of Insignia who are ten points ahead of a cluster of very competent teams including Ridgeback, TM17, Banzai and Old & Bold. In the 600s, D n A are a worthy 9 points ahead of BLDS Couriers, and JR Racing are all covered by a handkerchief in front of L A Stone and MC Racing, all to play for with three more rounds to go.
Race Result
1000cc
1 Insignia 91 laps
2 Billericay Coachworks 91 laps
3 Old and Bold racing 91 laps
4 AV-IT Racing 91 laps
5 Pirate Racing 90 laps
6 Racing Snakes 89 laps
7 Banzai Racing 89 laps
8 Ridgeback Racing 89 laps
9 121 Ride 88 laps
10 Derek Redmond 200 86 laps
11 GT Racing 86 laps
12 Derek Redmond 400 85 laps
13 TM17 85 laps
14 Redmond Insignia Racing 85 laps
15 Go Dive Racing 84 laps
16 Yorkshire Racing 81 laps
17 Epona 71 laps
600cc
1 BLDS Couriers 90 laps
2 D n A Racing 89 laps
3 Louth Bikes Junior B 88 laps
4 Apex Racing 88 laps
5 JR Racing 87 laps
6 Louth Bikes Junior A 87 laps
7 sorrymate.com 87 laps
8 121 Ride + 1 87 laps
9 MC Racing 86 laps
10 L A Stone Racing 86 laps
11 JR Racing Juniors 85 laps
12 M & M Racing 82 laps
Fastest Lap
1000 Insignia 1m 47.714s
600 D n A Racing 1m 49.524s
National Endurance - 3 Hours
Pre race and this race looked to be a potential stunner which did not disappoint; joining the Hottrax Motorsport regulars were a brace of SMR prepped Fireblades (Up & Coming Hazbeens) in the capable hands of former multi endurance champ Mark Smith Halvorsen and the ‘hot as mustard’ Swan Honda pit chief Pete Jennings. The Hazbeens snapped up pole after morning qualifying ahead of rapid regulars Graphic UK (Dean Skipper/Matt Layt) with the guesting Neate 90 (brothers Sam & Steven) in third spot on their Hottrax Motorsport Le Mans R1 ahead of current championship leaders TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) who are all about earning points for their championship campaign. Back to racing, former Junior TAG Champs TrackCraft (Mike Dickinson/Mark Linscott) were an un characteristic fourth on the grid after Dickinson almost wrote his R1 off in pre race testing alongside team mate Mark on his splendid ex Stuart Easton Fireblade.
At the start Steve Neate shot ahead until he was demoted by Pete Jennings who began building up a respectable lead ahead of the first rash of pit stops in the first hour. Very early dramas for last year’s champions Sweatshop (Hugh Brasher/Mick Godfrey/Rod Lynn) as the talented Lynn started the R1 from 14th on the grid – there seemed to be gremlins as the Sweatshop machine lined up for the start and after a couple of miles the clutch packed it and the bike stopped at an un recoverable Cascades after climbing up to 8th slot - for Oulton each rider only managed to cover a lap or so in qualifying and it was a frustrating and costly DNA for the 2009 top team who have a mountain to climb for the remainder of the season. Team principal Hugh Brasher was philosophical about the first mechanical retirement in a great number of years racing at the top level, but it was over and out for Sweatshop and an impromptu end to Welshman Lynn’s debut race of 2010 after working away in France.
At the one hour mark the Neate brothers had dropped to third behind Hazbeens and TrackCraft who were separated by a mere 4.7s prior to the leaders pitting. Title chasers TM72 were a steady fourth with Extreme Bykesportz (Dave Walker/Ian Wardle) and Graphic UK topping up the top six. Things settled down after the planned pit stops and the Neates were back leading on the road only feet in front of the chasing Hazbeens. Places were tight for the 600 with no less than six teams on the same lap headed by Ducks Cross (Grant Wagstaff/Martin Landmann) in front of fatblokeracewear.com (Andy Rouse/Andy Buik), Pit Stop (Peter + Marc Dilks), Tango and Crash (John Blundell/Mark Affleck) and Louth Bikes (Adam Kemp/Ralph Naden).
By half way mark the MSH & PJ were top crew with the Neate brothers in their exhaust fumes a lap safely ahead of TrackCraft who held a lap over TM72, the big bike class included Graphics and Extreme who were fast and furious in the wake of the leaders. The top 600 was in P7 - fatblokes ahead of Pit Stop, Louth Bikes, and T & C in fourth despite a penalty for missing pit board signals (should have gone to Specsavers Bongo!).
With an hour left on the clock a scheduled pit stop saw Neate take a lead of 32s from the Hazbeens with the very competitive TrackCraft in third spot only a lap adrift of the leaders. Graphics, TM72 and Extreme filled the rest of the top six, fatblokes were seventh on the road and leading 600 from the Dilks brothers, Ducks X, 1491 (Andy Pulling/Ian Cooper), Cross Ducks (Mike Eglington/Steve Blackney) and Speed n Spares (Rich Clarke/Richard Walker).
The two leaders remained on the same lap for the final hour but with different pit stop strategies and with fifteen minutes to go the gap was 18s with Hazbeens at the front, Macca pitted with 9 laps to go and Steve Neate took over at the front - as the minutes evaporated quickly the gap between 1st and 2nd was 15s with the chasing second place racer lapping 3 seconds a lap quicker. They were quick but not quick enough and team Neate shot over the line with a 2 second lead, such was Pete Jenning's pace he posted the fastest lap of the race on the final tour!
The ultra competitive TrackCraft (aren’t they all?) settled with third ahead of Graphics, TM72 who racked up some useful points in front of Extreme Bykesportz. fatblokes won the 600 class a lap ahead of Louth Bikes, Pit Stop who dropped time and places with a technical infringement penalty and Ducks X a lap safe from 1491, T & C, X Ducks, Speed n Spares, KAKA (Jeff Booth/Bill Calister) and Spark Endurance (Shelley Pike/Rob Knoyle) with stable mates Roundall Racing (Pete Gibson/Simon Allen). Filling the 1000 places were journeymen 120+ (Richie Cunningham/Gary Bransgrove) with a well deserved 7th in class ahead of Extreme 2 (Rob Wardle/Neil Norton), Glynn Racing (Jeff Bywater/Lee Hodge/Sean McDermott), the Enviro BMW (Danny Cheevers/Roger Titman), Terry Thomas Racing (Phil White/James Shervell) and Frost Construction (Douglas Cowie/John Frost).
As for the scores on the doors; in the litre class TM72 maintain a slim lead over Graphic UK who are some way ahead of pre season favourites Sweatshop and Neate 90, again all to play for until the final race of the season at Cadwell, after visits to Anglesey and Pembrey. fatblokeracerwear.com deservedly lead the 600s, for this race Buik deputising for an almost recovered Colin Norris, enjoying a sixteen point lead over nearest rivals Louth Bikes. Nottingham’s Pit Stop Racing are third only a bit ahead of Tango and Crash, Ducks Cross and Spark Endurance.
Race Results
1000cc
1 Neate 90 101 laps
2 Up + Coming Hazbeens 101
3 TrackCraft Racing 100
4 Graphic UK 99
5 TM72 Racing 99
6 Extreme Bykesportz 97
7 120 + Racing 95 laps
8 Well Oiled Racing 94
9 Extreme Bykesportz 2 92
10 Glynn Racing 91
11 Enviro 88
12 Terry Thomas Racing 85
600cc
1 fatblokeracewear.com 96 laps
2 Louth Bikes National 95
3 Pit Stop Racing 95
4 Ducks Cross Racing 95
5 1491 Endurance 94
6 Tango and Crash 94
7 Cross Ducks Racing 92
8 Speed n Spares Racing 92
9 KAKA Racing 88
10 Spark Endurance 87
Fastest Laps
1000 Up + Coming Hazbeens 1m 41.648s
600 Pit Stop Racing 1m 48.215s
Hottrax Motorsport 2010 Round Four at Mallory Park 6th June 2010 –MotoGrande 600 + 1000 Championships - Report
MotoGrande 600
In the first of three MG600 clashes on the day Sam Ludgate tried to carry on the momentum from his Cadwell performance where he scored 3 out of 3 by overhauling pole man Adam Parsons at the start. Another rider out to spoil everyone’s plans was Junior National Supersport runner Gary Beardsley who waited until the third lap to stamp his authority on the race and build up a reasonable cushion over Parsons with endurance rider Richard Gothard in third. Ludgate did his championship aspirations no harm with fourth place over Robbie Moore. Lewis Mason and Mark Affleck enjoyed a race long battle to cross the line in 6th and 7th respectively. Michael Wallis had a dramatic time, from third on the grid he ran around in sixth until lap 6 which saw him stop at Edwina’s only to continue and fight back from 12th to an eventual eighth in front of Joan McIntosh and Colin Norris.
The lanky Beardsley, who was using this meeting to get race fit after a crash at Oulton, took no prisoners in the second encounter and was trailed home by Parsons, Wallis who moved up to third position at the expense of Affleck who stepped off at the Esses. Sam Ludgate bagged valuable points from his fourth spot ahead of Moore, Mason, McIntosh, John Lawrence, the evergreen Norris and Dan Jennings in tenth place.
No surprise that the talented Beardsley dominated it all in Race 3 and managed the gap over second placed Adam Parsons for all 15 laps. Ludgate kept bagging the points with a third ahead of Mason, Wallis, Moore and just outside the top six we had Joan McIntosh who was improving as the day went on. The top ten was topped up with Norris, Peters and Lawrence.
Ludgate has built up a slender 8 point lead over the charging Wallis in the tables with Parsons only a few points adrift. Consistent points scorer Robbie Moore is in a handy fourth from other Mr Reliable - Colin Norris. Triple winner Gary Beardsley lies in 7th but may not be seen again this season as he concentrates on the National scene.
Race Results
Race One
1 Gary Beardsley
2 Adam Parsons
3 Richard Gothard
4 Sam Ludgate
5 Robbie Moore
6 Lewis Mason
7 Mark Affleck
8 Michael Wallis
9 Joan McIntosh
10 Colin Norris
11 Adrian Peters
12 John Lawrence
13 Dan Jennings
14 Glen Levy
15 Nick Barnes
16 Giuseppe Callari
17 Graham Marshall
Fastest Lap Gary Beardsley 56.071s
Race Two
1 Gary Beardsley
2 Adam Parsons
3 Michael Wallis
4 Sam Ludgate
5 Robbie Moore
6 Lewis Mason
7 Joan McIntosh
8 John Lawrence
9 Colin Norris
10 Dan Jennings
11 Adrian Peters
12 Stephen Li
13 Glen Levy
14 Nick Barnes
15 Giuseppe Callari
16 Graham Marshall
Fastest Lap Gary Beardsley 56.514s
Race Three
1 Gary Beardsley
2 Adam Parsons
3 Sam Ludgate
4 Lewis Mason
5 Michael Wallis
6 Robbie Moore
7 Joan McIntosh
8 Colin Norris
9 Adrian Peters
10 John Lawrence
11 Dan Jennings
12 Stephen Li
13 Glen Levy
14 Nick Barnes
15 Giuseppe Callari
16 Graham Marshall
Fastest Lap Gary Beardsley 56.017s
MotoGrande 1000
It’s fair to say that the Mallory MotoGrande 1000 races were all about Phil Brooks on his cross plane crank R1. Phil opened his account in the best possible way by winning from pole over the first of three fifteen lap clashes never looking as he would be challenged from a perusing Simon Fenwick, Pete Wilson and local rider Chris Mayhew - these three running very tight throughout the whole race whilst the pack established a handy cushion over Steven Bridle in fifth. Gary Bransgrove was a safe sixth ahead of Steve Gibson, Graham Bennett and Chris Mason, in his first ever sprint race, with top Junior Endurance (AV-IT Racing) rider Andy Carpenter closing off the top ten. Non finishers from race one included Vincent Bell and Raymond Stagg which will have an effect on the tables at the end of the day.
It was a touch of déjà vu as Phil Brooks shot off on his R1 leaving everyone gasping whilst he went about building up a steady distance between himself and the rest of the mob. Pete Wilson and Simon Fenwick vied for runner up spot with Fenwick making it safe despite attention from his rival in the championship. Meyhew, from nearby Ellistown, rode a steady race and bagged fourth spot ahead of Bridle and Bransgrove. As the race progressed a gap emerged before the second gaggle of riders headed by Carpenter wrestling with Bennett, Gibson, Lee Rawlings and Chris Mason.
When it came to the third and final 1000 race of day Brooks was dominant and almost a re run of the previous races where Fenwick and Wilson scrapped over second spot with Mayhew in fourth spot. When the leaders hit the backmarkers about mid race there was some ducking and diving earning Bridle a valuable fifth and Carpenter getting into the top six. Bransgrove, Gibson, Bennett and Rawlings made up the rest of the top ten in a race where less than ten seconds covered four of the top ten finishers.
Wilson must be delighted with a 23 point advantage over main challenger Simon Fenwick and these two are a street ahead of Brooks – possibly only appearing at his favourite track in Leics, Petts, Bell (both zero point scorers at Mallory) with Gary Bransgrove and Justin Stephenson tying on 60 points =- all to play for when we re-appear in Wales at the end of August.
Race Results
Race One
1 Phil Brooks
2 Simon Fenwick
3 Pete Wilson
4 Chris Mayhew
5 Stephen Bridle
6 Gary Bransgrove
7 Steve Gibson
8 Graham Bennett
9 Chris Mason
10 Andy Carpenter
11 Justin Stephenson
12 Paul Pickering
13 Lee Rawlings
14 Paul Burbage
15 Sam Smeeton
16 Ian Charles
17 Marcelo Cosas
18 Matthew Pickard
19 Tom Connor
20 Mark Footitt
21 Mark Gilbert
Fastest Lap Phil Brooks 56.356s
Race Two
1 Phil Brooks
2 Simon Fenwick
3 Pete Wilson
4 Chris Mayhew
5 Stephen Bridle
6 Gary Bransgrove
7 Andy Carpenter
8 Graham Bennett
9 Steve Gibson
10 Lee Rawlings
11 Chris Mason
12 Paul Pickering
13 Paul Burbage
14 Justin Stephenson
15 Sam Smeeton
16 Raymond Stagg
17 Mark Footitt
18 Ian Charles
19 Matthew Pickard
20 Gary Richards
21 Tom Connor
22 Steve Pickering
Fastest Lap Phil Brooks 55.786s
Race Three
1 Phil Brooks
2 Simon Fenwick
3 Pete Wilson
4 Chris Mayhew
5 Stephen Bridle
6 Andy Carpenter
7 Gary Bransgrove
8 Steve Gibson
9 Graham Bennett
10 Lee Rawlings
11 Paul Burbage
12 Justin Stephenson
13 Mark Footitt
14 Ian Charles
15 Gary Richards
16 Steve Pickering
Fastest Lap Phil Brooks 55.449s
Hottrax Motorsport 2010 Round Three at Silverstone, Northants 29th
May 2010 – National and Junior Endurance Championships - Report
Early morning qualifying was a closely contested affair for the seventy one riders chasing pole in wet and unpredictable conditions. Snetterton winners AV-IT Racing (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) were fastest in 71s a tad ahead of Insignia (Rob Loveday/Einar Torlen) and Cadwell winners TM17 (Gary Buck/Ash Rothwell). In the closing stages of the qualifying session Bucko's Firebalde cried enough necessitating the loan of a 750 from fellow Throttlemonkeys team TM72. A similar fate affected Racing Snakes' Ian Charles who was loaned a 600 to replace his broken GSXR 1000 to partner Peter Carr on his 'sit up and beg' 750 Suzuki, Michelin Power Cup leading light Ady Allsopp was one of a few 600 pilots who would be classed in the litre class for the three hour encounter when he partnered R1 mounted Martin Townsend in B & M Racing.
In a race that started in heavy rain, we saw AV-IT's Marcus Langford shoot off with B & M's Allsopp plus Insignia's Einar Torlen chasing hard in the unforgiving dense spray. Copse was taking it's haul of fallers in the first hour with the track that was beginning to form a dry line, this combined with standing water was making tricky conditions for the racers. One victim was Martin Townsend who lost the front of his R1 at Brooklands dumping him to the ground and B & M down the order to 32nd spot, Townsend would set about repairing the R1 whilst Allsopp attempted to get back up the standings, at the same time Suzuki man Steve Callaghan also uncharacteristically gave best to Copse ending Team TAR's aspirations for the day.
Conditions were improving to the point that Allsopp was now dipping into the 67 second laps. At the 60 lap mark AV-ITs Marcus Langford's times began to slow as he wrestled with a worn rear tyre; he was being hunted down by ‘new to series’ Triumph Challengers Dales Racing (Will Sawyer/Richard Steadman) and BLDS (Bill Lilly/George Harvey) with TM17 gradually losing touch with the leading trio.
A couple of fallers required further appearances of the pace car which had the effect of bunching the riders up for around twenty minutes, giving rise to a blight of carefully implemented pit stops. Dales Racing made the most of this and found their 600 was a lap ahead of class mates BLDS with 1000cc teams Ridgeback (Mark Clark/David Stolliday) and Insignia on the same lap, TM17 and early leaders AV-IT were rounding off the top six. Apex Racing, with a garage full of corporate guests in attendance, had a major off with Adam Woby at the wheel, requiring a wait to recover the all important transponder before Nick Matthews could continue on the lone machine. After the pace car came in a dry line had appeared, albeit under black clouds and making the most of a clear track were the top three litre machines of Insignia, TM17 and AV-IT all doing their best to de lap themselves and get back on terms with the leading 600s of Dales and BLDS - given that Ady Allsopp's 600 was currently the quickest thing around, this would be a tough call. Indeed on the two hour mark the heavens opened as the TLS Timekeepers confirmed that the two 600s of Dales and BLDS still reigned ahead with two and one laps in hand over the four 1000 teams of Ridgeback, Insignia, TM17 and AV-IT, the third placed 600 was DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons).
In the third and final hour Langford showed that with the right rubber he was well up for it and was soon in second spot on his bright yellow AV-IT machine, two laps down on Dales but this did not matter as they were in different classes. Whilst Dales were first on the road with thirty minutes to go they enjoyed a two lap cushion over the next 600 of BLDS who held the same gap over DNA Racing, the next 600 was MC Racing (Richard Payne/Jason McKinnon) back in 14th overall. The challenge for the 1000cc was hotting up with AV-IT on a charge only 30 seconds ahead of TM17 and strategists calculated a win for either would hinge on the compulsory rider changes in the final thirty minutes, Banzai (Rupert Thompson/Ben Jenkins) were the third placed only thousand twenty seconds ahead of Ridgeback with Insignia in seventh place overall. With fifteen minutes left on the clock Dales looked sorted for a class and race win but AV-IT made their final pit stop allowing TM17 to leap frog into top spot with little time difference, Langford tried a little too hard on his immaculate Fireblade to get back in contention pitched off at Copse losing him a certain second and dropping him out of contention down to ninth spot on the road. At the same time Ridgeback were putting in some very fast laps, up to seven seconds a lap quicker than TM17 and BLDS; at the end of the totally unpredictable three hour race we had Dales, who's brace of Triumph 675s never faltered, take the flag with a three lap lead over the resurgent Ridgeback who finished top 1000cc team over BLDS who were 22 seconds adrift and only 5 seconds ahead of second in class TM17. Banzai and Sherwood Suzuki (Carl Dodwell/Sean Everett) were next litre teams ahead of third in 600cc class DNA in seventh overall. The next eight places were all in the 1000cc class and included Old and Bold fifth in class ahead of AV-IT, Marcus restarting after his late off at Copse.
Where are they all in the championship running? 600 first round winners DNA are 8 points ahead of Cadwell top men in blue, JR Racing with the Ducati mounted LA Stone people in third a single point ahead of MC Racing - don't forget BLDS Couriers who have had two second places after a DNF at Snetterton are just around the corner in fifth. 1000cc teams see AV-IT still at the top of the tree despite a rare indiscretion at Silverstone over the well run TM17 with surprised but delighted winners at Silverstone; Ridgeback in third. Several teams are well in contention and not far away including Banzai, Sherwood Suzuki and Insignia, the next round is Oulton in July where many of the teams and riders are yet to visit and test.
Race Results
600
1 Dales Racing 140 laps
2 BLDS Couriers 137
3 DNA 134
4 MC Racing 130
5 L A Stone Racing 129
6 J R Racing 129
7 Louth Bikes Junior A 128
8 121 Ride + 1 123
9 Louth Bikes Junior B 113
10 Apex Racing 112
1000
1 Ridgeback Racing 137 laps
2 TM17 138
3 Banzai Racing 136
4 Sherwood Suzuki 135
5 Old and Bold Racing 134
6 AV-IT Racing 134
7 Terry Thomas Racing 133
8 Racing Snakes 132
9 Insignia 132
10 RS Racing 131
11 In the Dog House Racing 130
12 B and M Racing 130
13 Derek Redmond 200 128
14 TANC Racing 127
15 Pirate Racing 127
16 ASBO Racing 125
17 Derek Redmond 400 123
18 Pirate Racing V2 123
19 No Limits Racing 115
Fastest Laps
600 Dales Racing 1m 8.932s
1000 B and M Racing 1m 7.151s
National Endurance 3 Hours Graphic UK (Dean Skipper/Basil Bannayi) made the most of the drier moments of qualifying to earn pole with 64.171s just in front of Jimmy Storrar Racing (Neil Garnham/Steve Neate) - Steve enjoying his first endurance race since Le Mans back in April racing under the Hottrax Motorsport banner. Front running outfit TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) topped out the top 3 only 0.8 seconds shy of pole. Last year's champs Sweatshop (Hugh Brasher/Mick Godfrey) were an uncharacteristic sixth on the grid after missing the last round at Cadwell as Hugh was enjoying fatherhood and coping with sleepless nights! Wet weather specialist Ryan Peters (so he told me on the grid before the race!) was caught out right at the start , Ry standing in for a damaged Ryan Myler after a Cadwell spill joining John Blundell in the Tango and Crash camp, dumping his R6 at Copse on the first corner of the first lap of the race, loosing valuable time and rejoining in bottom spot. Sweatshop stamped their authority in the early stages with fast lappery in the worsening track conditions, they had built up a handy 30 second lead over TM72 Racing with Jimmy Storrar and Louth Bikes National chasing in their wake. The weather was master of the first half hour - Ducks Cross Racing went missing around the same time as 1491 Endurance (Andy Pulling/Ian Cooper) and with both bikes recovered the teams faced a rebuilding task to get back out there, a challenge too steep and the teams retired after 20 and 13 laps respectively. Stable mates to Ducks X, Cross Ducks (Mike Eglington/Russ Horton) were experiencing adhesion problems - a common cry along the length of the pit lane as riders and teams got their heads around the challenging and unpredictable weather conditions. Experienced birthday boy Mike Eglington decided to ditch the tyres from his R6 and fit the wheels from the stricken Ducks X machine, improvisation being at the very heart of endurance racing. At the half way point Sweatshop were leading by three laps from TM72, which saw Andy McKnight using team manager Eric Chitty's 750 Suzuki, also to be used by Gary Buck in the afternoons Junior Race (hopefully). In third spot overall was Jimmy Storrar's team a blinking 0.2s ahead of the first 600 team of Louth Bikes (Shaun Hooson/Ralph Naden), Pit Stop Racing (Peter + Marc Dilks), fatblokeracerwear (Andy Rouse/Colin Norris) which included Norris racing with a crook leg following an ‘off’ in Fridays testing. Spark Endurance (Shelley Pike/Robert Knoyle) who had been as high as fourth earlier were back in 7th ahead of pole men Graphic with Dean getting to grips with National man Matt Layt's Suzuki 1000 K10, on loan for the weekend. RAF liveried Roundall Racing (Pete Gibson/Simon Allen) was sharing the same lap as a resurgent Tango & Crash recovering well from their early spill and time loss. For the final hour Sweatshop continued to construct a comfort break over TM72 with top 600 plot; the Pit Stop brothers just down the road and pushing hard to maintain a respectable distance over the lads from Louth who were on the same lap as the Jimmy Storrar duo. fatblokeracerwear completed the top six and felt comfortable with a couple of laps in hand over T&C and Spark, Graphic were ninth on the road and within striking distance of the two 600 bikes a lap ahead of them with thirty minutes of the race to run - that was the challenge. In the closing stages the weather was worsening further and Sweatshop's Godfrey pitched in with sub 70s lap - quicker than most track day heroes in the dry, amazing stuff from the Silver Fox. At the end of the 180 minutes Sweatshop won the race by a considerable five laps over fellow 1000 opposition TM72, who finished with a jumping chain on the borrowed Suzuki. Jimmy Storrar, a team only put together just before practice with two very experienced and talented riders, were third in class ahead of Graphic UK and the charismatic BMW S1000R of Enviro (Danny Cheevers/Roger Titman/Steve Wong) which was ridden by all three riders. After missing Cadwell, two times winner Sweatshop are in third spot of the championship just four points down on Graphic UK who are six points adrift of the ultra consistent TM72 Racing who have posted a trio of runner up spots, this trio have a mountain of points lead over the rest of the field. In the 600s it was a massive round of applause to Nottingham's Pit Stop Racing who won their class and was third on the road ahead of Louth Bikes and fatblokeracerwear joining them on the podium. Spark Endurance were delighted with a well deserved fourth sandwiching the high siding Tangos with stable mates Roundall Racing, Spark finishing a slender one second ahead of T&C. The ever improving Speed n Spares (Dave Etherington/Richard Clarke) finished seventh in front of a weary Cross Ducks Racing, unclassified were team mates Ducks X and 1491. fatblokeracerwear.com should be delighted to be leading their championship a significant eleven points in front of Louth Bikes with Tango and Crash in a handy third with the Dilks brothers (Pit Stop Racing) only three points away, that said there are still four rounds of the championship to run so it's anybody's call. Race Results 600 1 Pit Stop Racing 141 laps 2 Louth Bikes National 140 3 fatblokeracerwear.com 139 4 Spark Endurance 138 5 Tango and Crash 138 6 Roundall Racing 132 7 Speed n Spares Racing 130 8 Cross Ducks Racing 126 1000 1 Sweatshop Racing 151 laps 2 TM72 146 3 Jimmy Storrar Racing 141 4 Graphic UK 136 5 Enviro 126 Fastest Lap 600 Ducks Cross Racing 1m 7.720s 1000 Sweatshop Racing 1m 5.863s
Hottrax Endurance + MotoGrande Rd 2 - Race Report
National 3 hours
There were a number of casaulities from Friday testing which saw at least half a dozen teams or riders bumped from the weekend's programme. Unfortunately for the National class this included TrackCRAFT Race Tuition (Mark Linscott/Mike Dickinson) when Mark found his shoulder not fully up to managing the ex Hydrex Firebalde. The quality of the field was still high and there were no real favourites for the race, despite 2009 champs and winners at the opening round, Sweatshop Racing, being absent, this round had attracted a number of national runners looking for extra track time before the BSB round at the end of May. Pete Clifford's Actiforce Racing (Joe Dickinson/Anthony Hayward) took pole from M and C (Paul Crowe/Liam Marchant) with regulars Graphic UK (Matt Layt/Dean Skipper) third - National man Layt subbing for Basil Bannayi who was feeling under the weather. Another pair of new blends at Cadwell was AP Kawasaki (Matt Bilton/Freddie Russo) & Wainwright Hoyle (Matt Hoyle/Josh Wainwright). Of the other teams committed to the whole series TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon), so close to a win at Snetterton, were sixth fastest in qualifying over a second sharper than Tango J Crash (Bongo Blundell/Ryan Myler).
When it mattered at the race start Actiforce, M & C, Wainwright Hoyle and AP Kawasaki were all over the front of the field as if it were a 10 lap sprint race. Taking it to the visitors was Graphic UK, Ducks Cross (Grant Wagstaff/Martin Landmann) and Tango and Crash before the safety car was deployed to allow an ambulance to leave the Medical Centre with a passenger from the previous Michelin race. That sorted the race positions at the 30 minute mark which were Actiforce sharing the same lap with AP but a lap ahead of Graphics, Ducks X, Wainright Hoyle, T & C, 1491 Endurance (Andy Pulling/Ian Cooper) and 2nd at Snetterton TM72. With the race gaining pace and rhythm the green flags were shown until just before the one hour mark when Tango's Ryan Myler fell heavily at Charlies depositing fuel and oil from the hapless Honda 600, it took a while whilst the track was cleaned and the bikes sat on the grid in parc ferme. At this stage AP and Actiforce were a lap in front of Graphics, Wainrights, Ducks X, TM72, Profibre featuring Michelin winner Ady Alsopp replacing Richard Durber, fatblokeracerwear.com and the Pit Stop Racing brothers - Peter and Mark Dilks.
The restart saw us quickly loose leaders AP Kawasaki after Matt Bilton crashed out, responder was collected but dumped them down the leader board to last position joining Tango with only one machine working. This promoted Actiforce into top spot a full two circuits ahead of Graphics from Wainright Hoyle, TM72; M & C where having a mare as a dud fuse caused problems and lost valuable time tipping them down the order despite some aggressive riding by Marchant and Crowe. A further lap adrift we had 1491, fatblokes, Pit Stop, Louth Bikes (Perry Cooper/Ralph Naden), Ducks X and Speed 'n Spares (Dave Etherington/Richard Walker). It’s worth noting that out of the whole field there were only a trio of litre teams and they were currently lying in second, fourth and fifth places.
During the final hour all was close with many teams on the same laps as their class rivals and all to play for on the road; Actiforce were on top by two laps with Graphics in second then TM72 and Wainright Hoyle racing on the road, a situation not helped by a less than tidy pit stop by the Throttlemonkeys allowing WH to leap frog into a handy third spot, albeit in a separate class. The end of the race beat the circuit curfew time after what had been a close and eventful duel resulting in a win for the 600 team Actiforce, two laps down were top 1000 crew Graphic UK a lap ahead of Wainright Hoyle, on the same lap as fourth spot TM72. Fatblokeracewear.com, 1491 and Ducks X all finished 3 laps down on the leaders in front of Pit Stop Racing, Speed n Spares and Louth Bikes. Early front runners M & C gained a place in the dying moments from Cross Ducks Racing ahead of A & G, Roundall Racing, and Spark Endurance. Bringing up the rear were teams that could have had better days; Profibre, Tango and Crash - they did and former race leaders AP Kawasaki whose second bike went AWOL before the end of the race.
1000 Results
1 Graphic UK 80 laps
2 TM72 79 laps
3 M and C Racing 77 laps
600 Results
1 Actiforce * 82 laps
2 Wainright Hoyle Racing 79 laps
3 fatblokeracerwear.com 78 laps
4 1491 Endurance 78 laps
5 Ducks Cross Racing 78 laps
6 Pit Stop Racing 78 laps
7 Speed n Spares Racing 77 laps
8 Louth Bikes National 77 laps
9 Cross Ducks Racing 75 laps
10 A & G Racing 74 laps
11 Roundall Racing 73 laps
12 Spark Endurance 72 laps
13 Profibre 69 laps
14 Tango and Crash 65 laps
* Overall Winner
NC AP Kawasaki 61 laps
Fastest Laps
1000 M and C Racing 1m 34.078s
600 Actiforce 1m 31.595s
Junior Endurance - 3 hours
The two Junior qualifying sessions were held in chilly but improving conditions after a wretched morning on the Saturday. With no dramas it was newcomers and local based Ringsting Racing (Dave Sellers/Dean Martin) who earned pole by a substantial margin from BLDS Couriers (Bill Lilly/George Harvey), Av-It Racing (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) with TM17 (Gary Buck/Ash Rothwell) and DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons) not far away. After a dry lunch break the wet stuff made a hasty reappearance for the start of the race before conditions thankfully starting to dry out for the rest of the day. Ringsting led for the opening half dozen laps chased by Banzai Racing (Rupert Thompson/Ben Jenkins), Av-It, TM17, Old & Bold (Paul Burbage/Richard Lloyd) and Terry Thomas (Marc Broi/James Shervell). The drying track caused a rash of tyre changes, after only a handful of laps, with teams being shod with slicks through to full wets and all now convinced the track had produced a dry line and slicks were the order of the day. First time racers Pirate Racing V2 (Emma Hodges/Paul Whiteman) had early dramas as Whiteman was forced off at Charlies damaging the bike, the transponder was recovered and Emma started her first ever race a tad earlier than expected. The race was red flagged after 12 laps after a rider high sided at Barn causing a lengthy delay whilst machine and rider were safely recovered. At the restart the snake of riders took a while to get into their rhythm but at half distance leading 600 crew; DNA were 8 seconds ahead of Ducati powered No Limits Racing (Arron Bird/Derek Saunders) with BLDS in third spot. Banzai were fourth, neck and neck with TM17 who were three thousands of a second ahead of pole people Ringsting. No less than 16 teams shared the leading lap.
Around the two hour mark JR Racing #999 (Mark Roxbrough/John Burr) earned themselves a significant stop/go penalty at the end of pit lane for a technical infringement, whilst ASBO's Carl Hodgkins crashed as he entered the pit lane as he was so enthusiastic to come in. Banzai had rocketed themselves into a slender lead at this stage ahead of leading 600 BLDS with TM17, DNA and Old and Bold all still sharing the same lap and only separated by seconds. The pace car made an appearance with 37 minutes left as local team Louth Bikes (Stephen Bullas/Richard Hough) and GT Racing (Keith Tribe/Sam Smeeton) who went down at Chris Curve, the local Louth boys collected their transponder to send out the second bike whilst the green Kawasaki made it back to the pits.
In the closing thirty minutes TM17 led on the road from Banzai, Old and Bold, Av-It, top 600 team BLDS a bit ahead of police liveried JR Racing with Sherwood Suzuki (Carl Dodwell/Sean Everett), LA Stone (Tony Hathaway/Tim Howard), DNA and the flying ASBOs - all still on the same lap and many within sight of the next rider up! At the same time race control realised that JR Racing had been given the penalty erroneously and they would be credited with the missing 49 seconds at the end of the race.
So, at the drop of the flag in darkening conditions it was bike number 999 (JR Racing) that were credited with the win just over a second quicker than winner on the road TM17, Banzai were on the last step of the podium ahead of Old and Bold, Av-It, BLDS Couriers, Sherwood Suzuki, LA Stone Racing, DNA, ASBO (Darren Walker/Carl Hodgkins) and local crew Ringsting Racing.
As for the 600 class; throughout the race the leading 600 outfits had taken the fight to the bigger machines on the road, after the red flag period DNA led the race overall ahead of nearest class rivals, BLDS, Ringsting, LA Stone, MC Racing (David Booking/Jason McKinnon) and Snug Racing (Keith Dickie/Dave Roberts) all on the same lap with eventual class winners 9th in class. At two thirds distance BLDS were class leaders, and second on the road, 8 seconds ahead of DNA but a lap up on LA Stone, Ringsting, MC and Snug with JR down in 11th spot. In the closing stages of the race DNA were class leaders and only 5 seconds ahead of BLDS who were seven and eight seconds ahead of the blue Ducatis of LA Stone and the punished JR Racing and JR Racing were ‘on a charge’ up to 4th in class. This obviously changed when the results were corrected at the end when we saw JR Racing as the top 600 team as well as overall race winners over half a minute ahead of class runners up BLDS and finishing close by and on the same lap we had LA Stone, DNA and Ringsting Racing.
1000 Class
1 TM17 73 laps
2 Banzai Racing 73 laps
3 Old and Bold Racing 73 laps
4 Av-It Racing 73 laps
5 Sherwood Suzuki 73 laps
6 ASBO Racing 73 laps
7 Derek Redmond 400 72 laps
8 TANC Racing 72 laps
9 Insignia 72 laps
10 Ridgeback Racing 72 laps
600 Class
1 JR Racing * 73 laps
2 BLDS Couriers 73 laps
3 LA Stone Racing 73 laps
4 DNA Racing 73 laps
5 Ringsting Racing 73 laps
6 Systema-Alfa Racing 72 laps
7 MC Racing 71 laps
8 Snug Racing 70 laps
9 Apex Racing 70 laps
10 Louth Bikes Junior 68 laps
* Overall Winner
Fastest Lap
600cc Ringsting Racing 1m 41.371s
1000cc Banzai Racing 1m 40.015s
MotoGrande
600 Race One
Qualifying took place in appalling conditions on Saturday morning where setting a time of under 2 minutes was seen to be respectable. Fastest qualifier was Sam Ludgate from Mark Evans. Redmond Racing’s Wayne Crossman made a superb start from the front row which saw pole man Ludgate drop back in a major fashion emerging in P5 after the opening lap. Dreadlock wearing Crossman stayed out front as Ludgate worked his way up to the frontrunner's pipes. A faller at Park bought out the red flag which enable the marshals to clear petrol from the track. The race was restarted for a six lap affair which saw Crossman get the holeshot but only for a lap after which orange bib wearing Ludgate made the race his own. Towards the end of the race we lost Matt O'Hare and Stephen Li; finishing a solid third was Robbie Moore ahead of Richard Walker with Colin Norris a steady and well deserved fifth on his Triumph with Dave Etherington polishing off the top six in drying conditions.
Race Results
1 Sam Ludgate
2 Wayne Crossman
3 Robbie Moore
4 Richard Walker
5 Colin Morris
6 Dave Etherington
7 Giuseppe Callari
8 Glen Levy
9 Graham Marshall
Fastest Lap Sam Ludgate 1m 48.508s
600 Race Two
Possible race favourite for this Sam Ludgate, an ex UK trials champ who has competed in Australia, enjoyed a smart start to be passed by Redmond Racing 600 rider Wayne Crossman - in a race flagged off by DR himself. Into the second lap and Ludgate was at the helm being challenged by Michael Wallis who was soon gifted a 10 second penalty for a jumped start leaving Ludgate to manage the race from the front. Crossman appeared to lose power coming onto the start/finish straight and fell back as the race progressed. On lap 10 Ludgate led on the road and Wallis hung on to lessen the consequences of his penalty. When it mattered Ludgate won by 11 seconds from Robbie Moore with Wallis in a well retained third. Colin Norris on his Triumph were a solid fourth ahead of Richard Gothard, John Lawrence and Crossman in seventh. Bill Lilly protected his eighth place from Matt O'Hare with Giuseppe Callari and Graham Marshall being the last classified riders.
Race Results
1 Sam Ludgate
2 Robbie Moore
3 Michael Wallis
4 Colin Norris
5 Richard Gothard
6 John Lawrence
7 Wayne Crossman
8 Bill Lilly
9 Matt O’Hare
10 Giuseppe Callari
11 Graham Marshall
Fastest Lap Sam Ludgate 1m 39.484s
600 Race Three
On a damp track Sam Ludgate started the 9 lapper from pole and capitalized on this, at the same time Richard Gothard started from pit lane and had to make his way up through the field steadily to finish sixth out of ten finishes. As Ludgate romped away with a win, Crossman was runner up with Mark Evans in third spot. Fourth was sorted by Robbie Moore being harassed by John Lawrence, Gothard, Colin Norris, Wallis, Graham Levy and Callari.
Race Results
1 Sam Ludgate
2 Wayne Crossman
3 Mark Evans
4 Robbie Moore
5 John Lawrence
6 Richard Gothard
7 Colin Norris
8 Michael Wallis
9 Glen Levy
10 Giuseppe Callari
Fastest Lap John Lawrence 1m 53.151s
1000 Race One
Raymond Stagg was unable to make the most of his pole and it was Andy Petts who headed Snetterton winner Peter Wilson and Sam Smeeton on his Honda twin into the first corner. From fourth on the opening lap Simon Fenwick took to the front before halfway point to lead on the road from Petts, Wilson and Smeeton. All looked steady until around three quarter distance when championship leader Wilson took the lead, this was to be short lived however as Wilson and Fenwick took a tumble at the chicane to let original leader Petts take the chequer after 12 laps. The chicanery allowed Luke Hall to take second, Graham Bennett was third ahead of Mick Crich, Gary Bransgrove, Vincent Bell and Kev Parker.
Results
1 Andy Petts
2 Luke Hall
3 Graham Bennett
4 Mick Crich
5 Gary Bransgrove
6 Vincent Bell
7 Kevin Parker
8 Lee Rawlings
9 Justin Stephenson
10 Mark Gilbert
11 Gary Richards
12 Gavin Duxbury
Fastest Lap Pete Wilson 1m 49.536s
1000 Race Two
Raymond Stagg must have felt lonely starting on his own from the front row for the second race, however it was Andy Petts who stole the lead on lap one and never yielded in a race where positions barely swapped owners. In sunny and warm conditions it was Mick Crich who slowly moved backwards down the order and after the allotted dozen laps Petts won comfortably from Kawasaki mounted Simon Fenwick with Stagg in third. Beyond the podium Vincent Bell got ahead of Justin Stephenson riding well on the AMR R1 with Suzuki man Gary Bransgrove in 6th in front of the sweet sounding SP1 of Sam Smeeton, Crich was eighth having been third in the early days and he was quicker than 7, Graham Bennett and Lee Rawlings.
Results
1 Andy Petts
2 Simon Fenwick
3 Raymond Stagg
4 Vincent Bell
5 Justin Stephenson
6 Gary Bransgrove
7 Sam Smeeton
8 Mick Crich
9 Paul Pickering
10 Graham Bennett
11 Lee Rawlings
12 Tony Hird
13 Mike Naylor
14 Kevin Parker
15 Gary Richards
16 Gavin Duxbury
Fastest Lap Simon Fenwick 1m 38.995s
1000 Race 3
On a cool but wet track Andy Petts performed a superb start just ahead of Raymond Stagg and Sam Smeeton - would the Honda twin be an advantage on the damp track? We lost Stagg at Barn and Seaton’s bike was unable to make a dent in Petts' solid lead and actually found himself ousted by a charging Simon Fenwick and Mick Crich to settle for a decent fourth ahead of Bennett, Bransgrove, 25. Stephenson and Lee Rawlings bringing up the rear.
Results
1 Andy Petts
2 Simon Fenwick
3 Mick Crich
4 Sam Smeeton
5 Graham Bennett
6 Gary Bransgrove
7 Vincent Bell
8 Justin Stephenson
9 Lee Rawlings
Fastest Lap Mick Crich 1m 46.419s
Michelin Power Cup Race 1
After wet morning practice and qualifying it was Jon Otter who started from pole with local ace Phil Crowe and Greg Allsop joining him on the front row. The bikes were eventually flagged off after a long time on the grid and it was Crowe who posted an early retirement on Lap 2 to leave Otter and Greg Allsop to scrap at the front of the field. Making his way up the field was top 600 pilot Ady Allsopp who was hunting down the bigger machines on his R6 on a drying track. In the final quarter of the 12 lapper the impish Allsopp had made it stick with a dominant win of more than 15 seconds over near namesake Greg and Otter in third, having some machine gremlins, in close attendance were William Monie, Arron Hoar and Snetterton triple winner Simon Gardner on a trio of R6s. Jim Laird headed the next half dozen ahead of student Steph Waddelow, endurance migrant Ian Courts plus Andy Rouse, Chris Hunt-Terry and cross plane R1 mounted Brazilian Rhalf Lo Tourco. Of the other finishes it is obvious some of the new to racing riders are beginning to feel comfortable and are building up speed and consistency in the Michelin Power Cup. Lots of promise with more to come from Dom De Leon, Ty Jones, John Boakye, Sohaib Habib, Nick Grobler and Ashraf Aboukass.
1000 Class
1 Greg Allsopp
2 Jonathon Otter
3 Jim Laird
4 Rhalf Lo Tourco
6 Ty Jones
7 John Boakye
8 Nick Grobler
600 Class
1 Adrian Allsopp *
2 William Monie
3 Arron Hoar
4 Simon Gardner
5 Stephanie Waddelow
6 Ian Courts
7 Andy Rouse
8 Chris Hunt Terry
9 Dominic De Leon
10 Sohaib Habib
* Overall Race Winner
Fastest Lap
600 Adrian Allsopp 1m 42.510s
1000 Jonathon Otter 1m 43.833s
Michelin Power Cup Race 2
In totally different conditions to the previous day Market Rasen's Phil Crowe converted pole into first on the road before dropping out on lap two handing the lead to Jon Otter who had the pressure of the in pursuit gaggle of William Monie, Greg Allsop on his less than current R1 and Snetterton dominant Si Gardner making it an eight wheeler at the front. We lost yesterday's winner Ady Allsopp shortly before we had red flags. At the restart which was a new 8 lap race it reverted back to the Otter, Allsop, Monie and Gardner 8 wheeler with Adam Hoar joining in the fun. There was then a healthy gap on Group 2 which included Lo Turco, Ryan Peters and Andy Rouse. Most impressive show boating over the Mountain was diminutive Welshman Ty Jones on his one litre Suzuki. Towards the end of the 8 laps Allsop yielded to Gardner on the road which mattered little as they were in different classes. So at the close Jonny 5 mopped up maximum points in his championship campaign ahead of Simon Gardner also maxing out in his class, Greg Allsop was third on the road ahead of Monie, Hoar, a hard pushing Andy Rouse, Lo Turco, Jim Laird and Ryan Peters in front of Steph Waddelow making the top ten.
1000 Class
1 Jonathon Otter *
2 Greg Allsopp
3 Rhalf Lo Turco
4 Jim Laird
5 Ty Jones
6 Richie Cunningham
7 Nick Grobler
* Overall Race Winner
600 Class
1 Simon Gardner
2 William Monie
3 Arron Hoar
4 Andy Rouse
5 Ryan Peters
6 Stephanie Waddelow
7 Lewis O’Regan
8 Ian Courts
9 Derek Boyle
10 Thor Marshall
11 Chris Hunt Terry
12 Dominic De Leon
13 Jamal Mahmood
Fastest Lap
600 Simon Gardner 1m 36.577s
1000 Jonathon Otter 1m 36.897s
Michelin Power Cup Race 3
As the grid started filling up for the third and final Michelin Power Cup, leading men Jon Otter and Greg Allsop rightly decided the riders should change onto wets as the heavens had opened over the lunch break and the track was a tad more than damp, rider safety being the main consideration for all. When the race did start the track was damp but a dry line was visible, pole man Otter made the most of this although the lead swapped from Jon to Greg Allsop with top 600 runner Ady Allsopp in third fending off William Monie, Ryan Peters did an excellent job fending off a persistent Simon Gardner who wants to add to his impressive points tally in the championship. Around two thirds distance two riders fell at the chicane bringing out the red flags - as over half the race distance had been completed a result was declared.
1000 Class
1 Jonathon Otter *
2 Greg Allsopp
3 Jim Laird
4 Rhalf Lo Tourco
5 Richie Cunningham
6 Ty Jones
7 John Boakye
* Overall Race Winner
600 Class
1 Adrian Allsopp
2 William Monie
3 Ryan Peters
4 Simon Gardner
5 Arron Hoar
6 Stephanie Waddelow
7 Derek Boyle
8 Ashraf Aboukass
Fastest Lap
600 William Monie 1m 43.402s
1000 Jonathon Otter 1m 42.075s
Hottrax Motorsport 2010 Round One at Snetterton, Norfolk on 3rd and 4th April 2010 – National Endurance, Junior Endurance, MotoGrande and MICHELIN Power Cup
The Hottrax Endurance 2010 season made a fantastic start with changeable weather and plump grids for Junior and National 3 hour endurance races as well as triple races on the programme for MotoGrande sprint events.
National Endurance
The National race got underway in bright sunshine and pole was set in cool morning conditions by 2009 Champions Sweatshop Racing (Hugh Brasher/Mick Godfrey) on their much trusted R1, Mick using this race as excellent preparation for his Le Mans appearance on the Alf's Motorcycles Kawasaki in a couple of weeks time. Showing silver were Graphic UK (Dean Skipper/Basil Bannayi) who appear in 2010 on a brace of Fireblades almost a second adrift. TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) were third fastest ahead of newcomers TS Racing (Richard Payne/James McBride) who were top 600s a smidge in front of fellow newbies 1491 Endurance (Andy Pulling/Ian Cooper) and the brothers Dilks (Pit Stop Racing) - Peter and Marc.
At the start Sweatshop made no mistake about it and started work on building up a cushion over P2. Left on the grid were the Slingshot Honda and the Louth Bikes R6 (Perry Cooper/Ralph Naden) however the big Honda was soon scything its way through the pack to regain ground. At the initial rash of pit stops and rider changes Sweatshop luxuriated in a two lap advantage over Graphic UK, TM72, top 600 effort - TS Racing, despite James McBride grass tracking around Russells. In close company were Ducks Cross Racing (Martin Landmann/Grant Wagstaff), 1491 and the Pit Stop Bros - no less than eleven players on the same lap. Dramas for A & G Racing (Mark Affleck/Gary Jones) when Mark's Honda conked out, struggled to get back into pitlane before the Welshman, Jones, could rejoin the fray.
For much of the first hour the race ran like clockwork with little drama on the track or pitlane. This enabled Sweatshop to continue to pile on the coals and retain a lead of one lap, we did see a change on the rest of the podium positions with TM72 now second following a dramatic fall down the order for Graphic. Nottingham's Pit Stop were now leading the 600s and third on the road in front of the rapid TS pairing. Tango & Crash (John ‘Bongo’ Blundell/Ryan Myler) who were holding fifth with Profibre (Richards Durber
+ Gothard) topping out the top six and looking good for the 600s over their big brothers. More dramas for A & G as Jones' Kawasaki broke a throttle cable costing valuable time before getting out amongst it again. In the same era James McBride's hard working R6 cried enough by throwing a crank resulting in the team ending their campaign in garage number 7, the Yamaha making it’s next appearance at the NW200 next month. Profibre's Richard Durber was also having a mare but was soon rejoining the race with purpose. Next bike reported down was 1419’s Andy Pulling who was off at the Esses.
Two thirds distance it was now TM72 who led from early favourites Sweatshop only seconds apart and closing with T & C and 1491 battling for third spot less than a minute apart. 10 minutes later the race lost the hard pushing 1491 rider at the Esses and the safety car was deployed to allow the marshals at Russells move Marc Dilks’ Honda which was returned to the paddock for a spell of DIY. With 50 minutes to go it was brother Peter who made a Horlicks of Riches and ran safely back to the paddock with the all important transponder but their battle to finish was to be an uphill one! It was the combination of a safety car appearance and Sweatshop calling in for fresh rubber that enabled TM72 to join the flying R1 at the front in the closing stages and with 30 minutes to run the defending champs were only 9 seconds ahead with Tango + Crash and Ducks X dicing for third spot on a brace of 600s. Twelve minutes left and Sweatshop and Ducks X have a last minute splash and dash pit stop , Sweatshop hanging on to a slender 16 second over TM72 which saw Jonty Dixon, replacing original team rider Eric Chitty who suffered a testing accident recently at Cadwell Park, and an overjoyed Andy McKnight delighted to be that close to the front. Another massive grin was that of Tango and Crash who finished a lap ahead of Graphic UK who at one time were down in 10th after showing 2nd earlier on. Fatblokeracewear.com (Colin Norris/Andy Rouse) were other smilers with a well earned 5th with Colin running a standard Triumph engine after loosing his race version in testing and young Andy who is also contesting the Michelin Power Cup. Ducks X were sixth but there is more to come from the yellow and blue outfit and the Slingshot Fireblades were 7th. In a rewarding eighth were journey men Sean Moss and Chris Carter (Epona Racing), a racing duo who always enjoy themselves.
Race Results
1 Sweatshop Racing * 141 laps
2 TM72 Racing 141 laps
3 Tango and Crash * 137 laps
4 Graphic UK 136 laps
5 fatblokeracewear.com 136 laps
6 Ducks Cross Racing 135 laps
7 Slingshot Racing 135 laps
8 Epona 131 laps
9 Louth Bikes National 129 laps
10 Spark Endurance 126 laps
11 Black Flag Racing 125 laps
12 Roundall Racing 125 laps
13 Profibre 119 laps
14 1491 Endurance 106 laps
Not Classified
Pit Stop Racing 101 laps
TS Racing 100 laps
A & G Racing 86 laps
* denotes class winners
Fastest Laps
1000cc Sweatshop 1m 10.634 s 99.48mph on lap 92
600cc TS Racing 1m 12.410s 97.04mph on lap 15
Junior Race
Following morning qualifying it was Banzai Racing (Rupert Thompson/Ben Jenkins) who were a shade faster than Throttlemonkeys TM17 (Gary Buck/Ash Rothwell) who in turn were quicker than TANC Racing (Chris Mason/Ash Joice) and AV-IT Racing (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford). Following light rainfall over the lunch break it was dry as the grid formed with 35 bikes. With a couple of riders starting from the pit lane there were two fallers at Russells on the opening lap necessitating the first appearance of the pace car for almost 15 minutes as machines and owners were recovered costing MaD Racing (Richard Dilks/Sam Hooson) a lap in the process. Also missing on that lap went TANC and Go Dive (Paul Hardy/James Parsons). At the 30 minute mark Banzai lead by a couple of seconds from AV-IT and Terry Thomas Racing (Marc Broi/James Shervell), 9 teams were all on the same lap with a further 19 another lap down. After the usual round of pit stops with nearly an hour gone our leaders, Banzai, were reported to be loosing fluids only seconds before coming to grief at Russells, the transponder was refitted to the other machine costing valuable minutes in lost time and dumping them to 32nd place at the sixty minute mark.
This promoted AV-IT into P1 a tenth of a second over TM17 with Terry Thomas and No Limits Racing (Arron Bird/Ray Janes) in close pursuit. The highest placed 600 was that of DNA (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons) a lap ahead of the new race pairing of BLDS Couriers (Bill Lilly/George Harvey). At half way point a spill at The Esses bought the Pace Car out again after one rider hit a pigeon and others lost the plot! In an adjacent excursion Derek Redmond almost totalled the ZX10 and at the same location Gary Buck was over and out causing a patch up in the garage before its reappearance. The only remaining TANC rider - Michelin Man Chris Mason - stepped off at Russells and it was 'game over' for them. The two teams at the front were within touching distance before the pace car flag appeared which shuffled some of the top ten line up from AV-IT, TM17, Terry Thomas. Insignia (Rob Loveday/Einar Torlen), Worx Suzuki (Gary Bartlett/Dean Teversham). No Limits, Derek Redmond 400 (Wayne Crossman/Neil Garnham) and DNA - now read; AV-IT, Worx, Insignia, TM17, No Limits, FS Racing (Paul Ford/Kris Sanders), Terry Thomas & Ridgeback (Mark Clark/David Stolliday).
With two thirds time served it was still AV-IT a lap ahead of Insignia, Worx, Ridgeback, Terry Thomas, DR 400, Sherwood Suzuki and top 600 outfit, DNA. The pace car popped out again as we had two fallers at (yes, you've guessed it) Russells including young newcomer George Harvey on the BLDS GSX. The final half hour was awe inspiring stuff as Insignia stalked AV-IT and the gap closed from 12s to 4s in 20 minutes. It was an identical story for 3rd/4th and 5th/6th - a missed gear or forced detour around a backmarker could have meant gaining or loosing a place, such close racing is amazing after almost three hours on the road.
So, for the opening round of the Hottrax Motorsport Endurance Championship, it was max points for AV-IT Racing (Marcus Langford taking his first ever win on two wheels) over sliver wear earning newcomers Insignia, third were Terry Thomas Racing (Ding-Dong) from the Workx Suzukis separated by 5s with Sherwood Suzuki in fifth and rounding off the top half dozen Ridgeback Racing. Derek Redmond 400 took a well earned seventh with No Limits on the same lap, ahead of FS Racing. The top four teams all finished on the same lap and were covered by less than 70 seconds…
DNA took the 600 win, finishing a magnificent tenth on the road, ahead of class rivals MC Racing (Brooking/McKinnon) by a whole two laps with Ducatiists L A Stone Racing (Hathaway/Howard) and sorrymate.com (Fergus Delgarno/Ryan Peters) who could have nailed bronze had it not been for a punishing stop/go episode. Rounding off the top six were keen as mustard absolute beginners J R Racing (Mark Roxbrough/Chris Jennings) carrying constabulary livery and the 'Bikesafe' message and MaD Racing.
Race Results
1 AV-IT Racing * 125 laps
2 Insignia 125 laps
3 Terry Thomas Racing 125 laps
4 Workx Suzuki 125 laps
5 Sherwood Suzuki 124 laps
6 Ridgeback Racing 123 laps
7 Derek Redmond 400 123 laps
8 No Limits Racing 123 laps
9 FS Racing 122 laps
10 D ‘N’ A Racing * 122 laps
11 121 Ride 122 laps
12 Racing Snakes 122 laps
13 ASBO Racing 121 laps
14 MC Racing 120 laps
15 L A Stone Racing 120 laps
16 Sorrymate.com 120 laps
17 JR Racing 119 laps
18 MaD Racing 119 laps
19 EIS Racing 118 laps
20 Systema-Alfa Racing 118 laps
* denotes class winners
Fastest Laps
1000cc Workx Suzuki 1m 14.739s 94.02mph on lap 48
600cc MaD Racing 1m 15.653s 92.88mph on lap 61
MotoGrande
Saturday's action kicked off with the first 15lap MotoGrande clash where morning practice had seen the litre machines of Raymond Stagg, Gerrard Fallon & Andy Parker dominate. When push came to shove in a dry race after damp qualifying it was Pete Wilson who stole the holeshot on the premier circuit and never looked back to steal a winning margin of 26s over Pete Whiteside on his Slingshot Firelade a second ahead of Fallon on another 1000 Suzuki. The quickest 600s were 50 seconds down with Michael Wallis fourth on the road 4s ahead of Adam Parsons and 11s in front of Mark Evans. In the wake of this pack were another four big machines in the chase.
Race Results
1000cc
1 Peter Wilson
2 Pete Whiteside
3 Gerrard Fallon
4 Raymond Stagg
5 Vincent Bell
6 Cliff Tabiner
600cc
1 Michael Wallis
2 Adam Parsons
3 Mark Evans
4 Robbie Moore
5 John Lawrence
6 Mike Eglington
Race Two was also held in chilly conditions and Gerrard Fallon made a demon start from the flag having to yield to yesterday's winner Pete Wilson who steadily built up a safety margin over pole man Andy Parker, Michael Wallace and Fallon. At the start of L6 Mark Ball ditched his Suzuki at Russells spilling fuel which bought out the red flags. rider OK and track made safe we had a restart for 8 laps. Fallon was missing from part two and it was Wilson who stole the holeshot for only to laps when a faller at the Esses caused a reappearance of the red cloth. The third start of Race 2 saw Wilson underline his dominance keeping the following posse at bay to win from Parker, a slow starting Raymond Stagg, Cliff Tabiner and top 600 rider Adam Parsons not far behind, just a quarter of a second ahead of the R6 of Michael Wallis.
Race Results
1000cc
1 Peter Wilson
2 Andy Parker
3 Raymond Stagg
4 Cliff Tabiner
5 Vincent Bell
6 Colin Todd
600cc
1 Adam Parsons
2 Michael Wallis
3 Robbie Moore
4 Mike Eglington
5 Sam Ludgate
6 John Lawrence
Race Three concluded the Easter weekend festival of speed and Pete Wilson was smart off his second row position to get in front of Andy parker on the first lap before Sam Ludgate pitched off at the Esses. By third distance Wilson had consolidated his position over Parker, top 600 mount Michael Wallis, Fallon, Stagg and Mark Evans on the second smaller machine. Not a lot changed and by the end of the fifteen laps Peter Wilson had opened his 2010 MotoGrande account with maximum points in what seemed an easy and convincing fashion - the opposition have around five weeks to raise their game at the second round.
1000cc
1 Peter Wilson
2 Andy Parker
3 Gerrard Fallon
4 Vincent Bell
5 Lee Rawlings
6 Matthew Hignett
600cc
1 Michael Wallis
2 Mark Evans
3 Adam Parsons
4 John Lawrence
5 Mike Eglington
6 Robbie Moore
The clear message is that UK endurance racing and the MotoGrande sprint races are fast, furious and close and this is only the opening round of the season - watch out for further fireworks at Cadwell Park on the 8th and 9th of May.
Hottrax Pre Season Testing @ Cadwell 27th February 2010
Just who was brave enough to dig out their bikes and rock up to Cadders?
Hottrax Motorsport - 2010 Season Preview
2009 Champs - Sweatshop are back for more......
After three successful years of growth Dave and Karen Mabbutt have shaped a fantastic season’s racing under the banner of the Hottrax Motorsport National Motorcycle Endurance Championship, supported by the always popular MotoGrande Sprint Championship and, new for 2010, the high profile Michelin Power Cup which has proved exciting and popular in Europe.
Hottrax Motorsport are well known, of course, having a client base of over 12 000 riders, they organise over 100 events per year in the UK and abroad, having around 350 racers are members of the Hottrax Motorsport.
For the new season we have the mouth watering prospect of seven rounds at six different circuits, dates are;
• Round 1 Snetterton Circuit - Norfolk 3rd/4th April – watch the bikes reach their top speed on the back straight
• Round 2 Cadwell Park – Lincolnshire – 8th/9th May – the first visit of the season to the mini Nurburgring
• Round 3 Silverstone National Circuit - Northants 29th May – with long straights and a tricky last corner
• Round 4 Mallory Park - Leicestershire – 6th June – terrific circuit with two bus stops
• Round 5 Oulton Park – 10th July - a first time for the Hottrax Motorsport series
• Round 6 Anglesey Circuit - North Wales – 28th/29th August – one of the most demanding UK tracks
• Round 7 Pembrey Circuit - South Wales 18th/19th September – an annual pilgrimage to South Wales
• Round 8 Cadwell Park – Lincolnshire – 30th/31st October – the grand finale of a long and demanding season
Hottrax Motorsport has reviewed the class system for 2010 to strengthen the progression route available for riders to move up the racing ladder and for this season we have;
• High Profile National Endurance Championship for faster teams!
Teams may choose to use 1 machine and 2/3 riders or 2 machines and 2 riders
Trophies to top 3 in each class and prize money of £1850 for Michelin runners overall Championship 1st – 4th
(Includes all Endurance Classes)
• Junior TAG Endurance Championship - suitable for new and improving teams
Teams of two riders will use 2 machines in a Relay Race
Trophies to top 3 in each class and prize money of £1850 for Michelin runners overall Championship 1st – 4th
(Includes all Endurance Classes)
• MotoGrande Open Solo Championship - weekend meetings with 3 long distance races each weekend!
A series of open class 600cc and 1000cc races over around 12 laps and 11 rounds
For the rider that demands more than a 4 lap burst, maybe as a stepping stone into endurance racing or to test machine and rider ability.
There are two classes: MotoGrande 1000 and 600
Trophies to top 3 in each class and prize money of £1850 for Michelin runners overall Championship 1st – 4th
BRAND NEW FOR 2010, Hottrax Motorsport are hosting the
Michelin Power Cup – weekend meetings with 3 long distance races each weekend for quick riders - £20 000 Prize Fund
Rider must run with Michelin Tyres and will receive a Michelin Power Pack worth £700 and prize money of £1000 per round (£500 per class)
This is a very exciting prospect for 2010 and builds on proven success in France, Italy and Spain where it has run with such aplomb
Sponsors for the series include Alpinestars, Arai, Putoline Oil and Race Products so the welcome Power Pack and prizes for each meeting and for the series winners will be of the highest quality. Overall series prizes for each class winner will include an Alpinestars leather race suit and Supertech R boots, and a top-of-the-range Arai RX-7 GP helmet. In addition, the top three riders in each class will get the opportunity to represent the UK at one of the other European series rounds.
There is a dedicated website www.michelinpowercup.co.uk which will include race reports, a photo gallery and an area where riders will have their profiles online and will be able to follow their progress in the championship.
Michelin Man Chris Mason joins the Michelin Power Cup
More details can be obtained from the Hottrax Motorsport website
http://www.hottrax-motorsport.co.uk/
A review of the 2009 Hottrax Motorsport Racing Club season can be found at
http://www.moto-endurance.com/11.html
Following pre season testing at Cadwell Park (February 26th and 27th) and Circuit D’Alcarras, Spain (March 3rd – 5th) packed grids will line up at Snetterton over the Easter weekend in April. Currently team’s plans are being finalised, however we are delighted to report that Derek Redmond Racing will be fielding teams in the Endurance and possible MotoGrande classes. To date, 2009 National Endurance Champions Sweatshop Racing have registered an entry brandishing the Number One Plate, and currently the premier Supersport outfit Ducks Cross Racing are pulling together plans. Some team plans are undecided at the moment; including – class winning outfits Well Oiled Racing and Gasi Racing – no doubt the next few weeks will see plans being firmed up before racing commences.
A decent number of established endurance teams have already committed to the National class including the Rawlings Brothers, the exceeding quick and well turned out Graphic UK, TM72 who are now in their third season and a very well run outfit plus the red, white and blue riders at Roundall, Project 39, Graphic UK, the Pit Stop brothers Dilks and GOSH.
Quicker off the mark are the teams that have entered the Junior category, which looks like 50% old hands and 50% newbies. Continuing with the endurance tradition are Racing Snakes, TANC, STD, ASBO, Black Flag, DNA, Go Dive, Apex, Snug, Banzai, BLDS, Pirate, Signs Express and the 121 crew. Rocking up to endurance racing will be first timers including Terry ‘Ding Dong’ Thomas, Syntema Alfa, MAD, FS, Worx Suzuki, Barking Mad, Louth Bikes, Pirate Racing V2 which comprises Trevor Ricketts and Emma Hodges on Suzuki SV 1000s plus JR Racing running under race number 999.
Currently the newly introduced Michelin Power Cup sees a nearly full grid of riders who are totally committed to close and competitive racing, it will be a line up of riders who have experience, a proven sprint racing pedigree, in addition to well organised and equipped young chargers – there are two classes, 600 and 1000 and competition for a place at the front will be sharp. Remember, for some of the top riders in this inaugural UK Michelin Power Cup, there will be the priceless opportunity to race in Europe with the best of the other Michelin supported series. A full list of riders taking part, as well as other details can be found at www.michelinpowercup.co.uk
Whoever you are; spectator, competitor, marshall, official, team member or expert there will be something in the 2010 Hottrax Motorsport programme to stimulate and you will be assured of a warm welcome as the bikes line up at Snetterton for the first race of the season at Snetterton in Norfolk on Easter weekend.
MotoGrande 600 Champ goes Michelin for 2010 - Ady Allsopp
Pre - Season testing at Cadwell Park 27th February 2010 - to come!
Hottrax Motorsport’s first trip to the challenging circuit of Oulton Park marks the start of the second half of the endurance racing season and so far we have no idea who is going on to dominate the 2010 championships.
The Junior Endurance races were always going to be about big grids and close racing so it was no real shock when the top four litre machines finished metres apart at Snetterton with the spoils going to AV-IT Racing, Insignia, Terry Thomas Racing and Worx Suzuki. Snetterton will be a race to forget for the quick pairing at TM17, the opposite to Cadwell where they maxed out with P1, in their wake were Banzai, Old and Bold and AV–IT. In the third round, with minutes to go TM17 looked to have a win in the bag with AV-IT challenging however, an over enthusiastic moment from Marcus Langford saw the AV-IT machine and rider take a tumble, this along with some rapid laps from Ridgeback saw them back at the front by the end of the race, with Langford remounting to finish in a solid sixth.
The Juniors 600s at Cadwell were all over each other like a cheap suit but when the dust had settled JR Racing, looking very much like a motorway police car, took the spoils only seconds in front of BLDS Couriers, the Ducati twins at L A Stone and Snetterton winners D ‘N’ A Racing who were being chased by MC Racing and those very nice people at sorrymate.com. Round 3 at Silverstone saw a well deserved win for ‘new to series’ Dales Racing with a brace of Triumph 675s – this did not deter the usual suspects of BLDS, DNA, MC Racing, LA Stone and JR Racing from adding to their points tally in the championship in weather conditions more akin to powerboat racing.
In the National 600s the talented Tango and Crash crew were first past the post at Snetterton with a third overall a lap ahead of fatblokeracewear.com and the very experienced Ducks Cross Racing. T & C blotted their copybook at Cadwell when Too Tall Ryan Myler lost touch with his machine leaving partner in crime John ‘Bongo’ Blundell to carry on finishing for the points. This round also benefitted from the presence of some of the national boys testing for a forthcoming BSB round at the same circuit, so at the sharp end it was Pete Clifford’s Actiforce who won from Wainright Hoyle Racing with fatblokeracewear.com netting a welcome third place ahead of 1491 Endurance and those stalwarts Ducks Cross Racing remaining in contention. On the wide open spaces of Silverstone the 600s continued to impress as the Dilks brothers from Pit Stop Racing won their class and came a solid third on the road in absolutely dire weather conditions. Other stars in Northamptonshire were Louth Bikes, fatblokeracerwear.com, Spark Endurance and Tango & Crash who recovered from a first corner ding dropping them to rock bottom and having to work hard to recover and snatch a much needed fifth place.
In the opening round at Snetterton back in April it looked like ‘same old, same old’ with 2009 1000cc Champs Sweatshop Racing taking a win on road a sliver ahead of the aspirational TM72 team with Graphic UK in hot pursuit. Sweatshop was an uncharachteristic ‘No Show’ at Cadwell and Graphics took a well deserved win in front of TM72 with M and C Racing further down in third spot. In the last round, at Silverstone, Sweatshop returned and were faultless pulling down maximum points whilst dodging the puddles, ahead of the Mr Consistents at TM72, a one off appearance from Jimmy Storrar Racing proved successful and Graphic UK also added to their points tally. Enviro pitched up at Silverstone with a pristine Wollaston BMW S1000R and three rider line up, they will hopefully return for Oulton Park for another dose of endurance racing.
Hottrax Motorsport and the racers are looking forward to charging around this part of Cheshire for the first time together and you can join in the fun by being there on Saturday the 10th of July with practice and qualifying in the morning and two 3 hour races after lunch.