2006 KRC Endurance Motorcycle Racing National Championship
Round 1 @ Brands Hatch 18 April 2006
After what seems like a long hard winter, the UK’s best endurance teams gathered in the Kent countryside on Easter Monday for a six-hour thrash around the Brands Hatch 1.226 mile Indy circuit. Over twenty teams and fifty riders came to the line for a noon start and with last month’s Superstocks lapping below fifty seconds, given decent weather conditions, we could see 300+ laps being completed by the six pm drop of the flag.
Among the previous pilots who returned to battle for honours in 2006, are Team 120+ Racing, included in their rider line up is 2005 Brands Hatch winner – Ian Caley, albeit on the longer Grand Prix circuit. MC Technics includes two of the second place line up from last year: Darren Wnukoski and Warren Scott, Class D winners from last May – Uprite Racing also returned to try and uphold honour. KRC have four classes to stimulate the racers, new for this season is Class E for Superproduction machines: 600 – 1000cc four cylinder four strokes. The introduction of this class will tempt riders and teams to enter the world of endurance racing without a wallet-busting budget.
Also taking to the grid are experienced riders such as Roger Bennett who can claim an extensive CV that includes road racing, international endurance racing and the Macau Grand Prix. Moores Racing includes Jim Agombar who nailed an eighth place at the 2005 Oschersleben 24 Hours out of twenty-nine finishers. Former 125cc national pilot Damien Cahill, will be sharing a Honda 600 with KRC Class B overall champion Doug Cannon and they are looking for overall and class success.
It was obvious that the majority of teams had invested in new bikes during the closed season or did some considerable upgrading of last season’s mounts. For 2006 Moores Moto are entering a very trick Yamaha R6 and R1 in class B and C respectively. C + K Racing came to the line with a rather special Yamaha R1 which was recognised by KRC in awarding them the Best Prepared Bike commendation.
Early morning practice allowed GB Moto rider and circuit specialist, Richard Norris to put down a marker setting a time of 50.25s on his R1, this was over a quarter of a second from David Wood on Team Serendipity’s 1000 Suzuki. The Portsmouth Yamaha R6 was a creditable third fastest in the capable hands of Fast Bikes journo – Jamie Wilkins.
Unfortunately Monster Moto (Gary Wolfe/Guy Bolam/Paul Noble) only managed a brief practice session before their Honda twin went sick. Back in the pits they managed to liberate a racing Yamaha R1 from the back of the lorry, which refused to run well so it was an early bath for these three.
120 + Racing could have been renamed Team Red Face as their rider left the garage at the start of practice and promptly threw it down the pitlane, this didn’t stop them being 15th in practice despite only taking part in one session. At the end of the days racing the team were awarded the ‘Beast Pit Crew’ award by KRC for their efforts.
At the change of the lights it was Team Serendipity (David Wood/David Higgins), GB Moto (Mark ‘Macca’ Smith-Halvorsen/Roger Bennett/Richard Norris) and Harvey Mushman (Mick Godfrey/Brian Wood/Richie Wright) who made it look like a sprint race and were still on the same lap an hour later.
Early in the second hour the pace car was deployed due to a faller at Paddock, after the car pulled in Chris Frost fell, caught out by cold tyres, on the Alf’s Motorcycles Kawasaki and pitted for a safety check before continuing. Just before the 2pm mark Barry Wood crashed the Harvey Mushman R1 heavily at Clark Curve and sustained a long period in the pits. Leading crew GB Moto called in for a new rear tyre and a change of rider to lanky Scot Roger Bennett, rejoining the race just behind the Serendipity bike which dived into the pits for 2m 05s to take on rider, rubber + fuel handing a 50s lead to Bennett. Very soon the pace car came out again and the Bushman Yam rejoined the race in 17th place.
By the three hour mark Moto GB enjoyed a three lap cushion over the MC Technics 750 Suzuki of Andy Marcroft/Darren Wnukoski/Mark Turner, and the immaculately turned out C + K Racing R1 (Kev + Chris Jones/Ian Wooltorton) 8 laps adrift in third. We were missing Team Serendipity who were ‘making adjustments’ in the garage to the Suzuki before returning to the fray in 21st spot.
During the fourth hour of the race the Mushman bike was back into the top ten and at the sharp end Norris pitted whilst holding a 6 lap lead over the C + K R1, for a pit stop that seemed to last for ages whilst the crew attended to the front + rear wheel changing tyres, pads, rider and adding fuel. By the time Macca returned to the track they had lost their 6 lap lead and were behind on the road to the MC Technics 750 who were yet to take their next pit stop. Macca was careful to work the tyres up to temp before getting back up to ace speed circulating in the 50s bracket. Another rider on a charge was seasoned endurance campaigner Russ Baker on the two rider line up for Alf’s Motorcycles Kawasaki who was also turning in sub 51s laps working the bike up the order after an earlier spill; they were now lying in sixth place. The 600 Honda of Team M2, whose line up included Doug Cannon/Dave Shelvey/Damien Cahill had been grafting hard to work up to a commendable fourth spot after four hours and last years winning team Uprite Racing were just ahead by two laps.
At around the five hour mark another incident by the Mushman R1 caused second spot Marcroft to drop the 750 Suzuki, having to nurse the machine back into the pits - the bike was made safe + Turner returned to the track to play ‘catch up’ for the rest of the duration.
For the final hour Macca rode the Moto GB R1 steadily towards the chequered flag, enjoying a 7 lap lead over the hastily repaired MC Technics 750 Suzuki with the C + K R1 and Alf’s Motorcycles Z10 finishing third + fourth on the same lap, ahead of last years winner Uprite Racing (Jason Gunning/Alan Stevens/George McCombie) and the 600 Honda of Team M2 completing the top six.
Other notables were Class E winners, Hebo UK Racing (Tim Jones/Simon Price/Justin Parr) finishing 9th on their naked Suzuki SV 650, Team Serendipity finished in 16th place despite many dramas along the way and the Kawasaki Newcastle team were seventeenth. Third in class was Shelley Pike on the Phoenix Endurance 600 Yamaha shared the ride with Pete Gibson and Shaun Finch, following a steady ride avoiding unwanted dramas.
Round 2 @ Snetterton 20 May 2006
The outcome of the second round of the KRC UK Endurance Championship was all going to be about weather and tyre choice. Some teams had taken advantage of a trackday before Saturday’s six-hour race at Snetterton. #88 probably wished they had given this a miss after abusing their number one machine – good job you carry a spare lads! Winners of the first round; GB Moto had fitted a new engine between rounds. It was this engine that gave the team some concerns with a small oil leak during morning practice; managing only 7 laps that put them ninth on the grid, this tense period also included a minor off at Russells. Richard Norris was a reluctant non starter for the team, due to medical reasons and joining the team was Calvin ‘Hulk’ Hogan who, despite his youth has enjoyed success in the BMW Boxer Cup, experience with Phase One and currently peddles an R6 in the Virgin Cup at national level to great effect.
Fastest in the three practice sessions was Norwich domiciled Phil Jeans on Lodden Racing’s immaculate 1000 Honda only 6/100s from Team Serendipity pilot David Higgins.At the noon start it was local man Guy Hubbard (Loddon Honda) who shot into the lead hotly pursued by David Wood (Team Serendipity Suzuki) leaving Mark Smith-Halvorsen (GB Moto R1) struggling to get off the line, eventually getting away in last place at the same time as the leaders were cannoning down the long straight. The downpours from the morning had disappeared and most riders had started on cut slicks, from 27th the yellow GB Moto man was 18th after two laps, 15th after 3 and 13th after the next!At the one hour mark the Loddon Honda was one lap ahead of Serendipity, this was reversed later when David Higgins was clearly pulling away on the big Suzuki, Moores Racing’s R1 was also a couple of laps down as was series returnee the Doc Bush R1 (Keith Bush/Simon Watson) in fourth place.
During the second hour of action the Harvey Mushman Racing (Alex Buckingham/Hugh Brasher/Richard Wright) R1 was up to second, two laps down on Serendipity and GB Moto were up in sixth place, as the track remained dry with a fresh westerly wind affecting some riders on parts of the circuit.
At the two-hour point Scottish gasman Roger Bennett took over from Cal Hogan and David Wood emerged from pit lane on the leading bike, with a lap in hand and Doctor Bush took over from teammate, Simon Watson. The heavens opened just into the third hour of racing and times dropped from the 1m 14s mark into the 1m 20’s, bikes dived into the pits to change onto full wets, disadvantaging some who did not have quick release wheels. Leading Class D was Team Uprite 750 Suzuki (Jason Gunning/Alan Stevens/George McCombie), early in the race they were as high as sixth place but became less upright just after the 4 o clock mark dropping them down the order; Class B was led by 120+ Racing 600 Honda (Rich Cunningham/Mike Bradley/Iain Caley) who were later overhauled by Team M2 and Class E SP Racing 600 R6, from Lincolnshire (Stuart + Phillip Bedford/Ady Warrant), SP lost out to Black Cat Racing at about half way point.The track was now drying and teams contemplated pitting for a tyre change before the heavy rains returned and speeds dropped again, Newcastle Kawasaki (Jeff Gouch/Phil Knowles/Andy Jones) retired at Riches and had a long push back through the infield to the pits to retire after completing 75 laps.
At half way point Serendipity held 3 laps in hand over Moores Racing R1 (James Hurrell/Jim Agombar/Keith Webster) who were ahead of the Loddon Honda (Phil Jeans/Guy Hubbard/Scott Ingram), GB Moto who were fastest on the track and revelling in the conditions, C& K Racing R1 (Chris + Kevin Jones/Ian Wooltorton) and Harvey Mushman Racing. The bright yellow GB Moto Yamaha moved into a potential podium position as the Loddon machine overshot the Esses before pitting and the C & K R1 was caught out at the same place, experienced pilot Russell Baker (Team Alf’s Kawasaki) was another one to experience drama at this part of the circuit. Phoenix Endurance (Shaun Finch/Peter Gibson/Shelley Pike) joined in the carnage as IT wizard Finch took a while to drag the R6 back onto the circuit – in the pits many riders reported the Bomb Hole as being like glass, whatever line you were taking!As heavy rain continued teams were undecided which way to go for tyre choice and riders maintained a sensible and cautious pace, on an absolute charge was the JSE Suzuki 750 of Jonathan Snooks/Randy Kitzmiller/Kevin Forrest who overtook the leader on the road, albeit a number of laps behind.The Pace Car picked up the leading bike after another spill at Russells and controlled the speed for only three laps as rainfall turned parts of the track into a small river.
Behind the Serendipity Suzuki we had the Loddon Honda and GB Moto five laps behind just before slightly built Calvin Hogan slipped off the yellow R1 at the entrance to the Esses and took a while to get the bike back onto it’s wheels in the mud, living up to his nick name of ‘Hulk’ At about the same time local rider Guy Hubbard spilt the second placed Honda 1000 and managed to bring it back into the pits. The team set about repairing the bike and rejoin the race under the watchful eyes of the KRC scrutineers.After this shake up Serendipity lead from C & K R1, Moores Racing R1, GB Moto R1, Team Alf’s Kawasaki (Russell Baker/Phil White/Chris Frost), Loddon Racing (stuck in the garage fitting new bodywork, clip ons + applying colour matched duct tape). Weather conditions still fluctuated from ice rink to a state of ‘dry line emerging’, causing teams to again debate tyre choice and set up.
With 90 minutes to run GB Moto were looking at a strategy of winning a lap back from the bike ahead to grab a podium position and more championship points to add to their first round haul of 25. As the race entered the final hour, Team Serendipity still lead with a comfortable 8 laps cushion over the C & K R1, Moores Racing were in third, the team also running an R6 for Tony Jimenez/Mike Eglington/Nick Davey which was in 14th having been as high as 9th in the early stages.
GB Moto were a lap down on the third place bike but were ahead of Team Alf’s big Kawasaki and entering the top six was the Team M2 600 Honda of Doug Cannon/Matthew Checkley/Tim Jones.The status quo was almost maintained on the run up towards the chequered flag, with 30 minutes to go, Moores R1 had pushed hard to move into second, demoting the similar C & K machine. For the past hour the rain had ceased and the wind had dried parts of the track, lap times were dropping and with many of the front-runners were still shod with full wets, which were beginning to chunk and affect handling. International endurance rider, Russell Baker, was effective at finding the damp patches still on the track to save his rear tyre from further distress.
With less than fifteen minutes to go the leading Suzuki of Team Serendipity pitted and fitted a slick onto the rear of the bike, at the same time second place Moores Racing had two concerns; their R1 was running low on fuel – if they ‘splash ‘n dash’ they will loose second place to C & K and may risk GB Moto fighting them over third and fourth! Second drama was the break up of the rear wet tyre – final decision was to leave the rider out till the six hour mark. During this time the leading bike went missing, having been dropped out on the circuit – this allowed James Hurrell to take the flag after 250 laps of the changeable Snetterton circuit, miraculously a mere 14 seconds in front of Kevin Jones on the C & K version, Macca (Smith Halvorsen) nursed the GB Moto into a solid third place, having pitted very close to the end to remove loose bodywork from an earlier excursion off the track – this must have been a tough call for the rider and team, but experience also told them to avoid any risk of being black flagged by the marshals.Finishing fourth was the 1000 Team Alf Kawasaki, a couple of laps down on Team Serendipity who set the fastest lap of the race a shade under 100mph.
Harley Street Orthopaedic Consultant Keith Bush and co rider, engineer Simon Watson returned to the KRC series with a solid sixth place.Just outside the top six was Class B winning bike, Team M2 who had won this class at the recent opening round at Brands, they enjoyed a two lap advantage over 120+ Racing with a similar Honda 600. JSE Racing, who always seemed to be a group of men on a mission, grabbed Class D honours from nearest rivals - Team BTW (David Taylor/Alastair Bayley/Paul Wilson) also putting their trust in a Suzuki 750. Black Cat Racing (Sean Moss/Mark Westcott/Jim Gow) from Exeter had moved over from Class D to win Class E on their 750 Suzuki from the very handy looking Yamaha R6 on Hypa Racing Team (Grant Horton/David Summerson).In parc ferme it was evident most machines had suffered some form of damage or distress as a result of six hours racing each other and battling against the elements. As ever with endurance racing there was a real sense of camaraderie and sharing of success amongst the teams as the bikes cooled down and dramas discussed, even the sun came out!
Round 3 @ Snetterton 02 July 2006
The KRC UK Endurance Championship descended on a hot and humid Pembrey for Round 3 of the championship, marking the halfway point for the 2006 title chase. A majority of the teams took advantage of the Saturday test day, including Russell Horton who left to return to Cambridgeshire where his partner was about to give birth, missing the raceday.
Practice was a fast + furious 90 minutes on the morning of raceday and championship leaders GB Moto stuck their Yamaha 1000 on pole with the only sub minute lap coming from ex Virgin Cup series winner and former works Yamaha BSB rider Richard Wren, almost two seconds quicker than the Team Alfs Kawasaki (Russell Baker/Chris Frost). Richard is currently racing in British Supersports as is substitute Moores Racing R1 pilot, Ben Wylie. Few times were useful in the second practice session as the heavens opened and the rack was slippery. There was some debate as to whether track was faster or slower than previous seasons as it had been resurfaced before the 2006 season and some riders found the track to be grippy and abrasive.
Snetterton pole setter Loddon Racing (Guy Hubbard/Scott Ingram/Phil Jeans) didn’t even make the grid – qualifying in 15th, after loosing two of the three practice sessions, the ECU on the Honda 1000 refused to kick in and it was early doors for the Norfolk team. Unfortunately Wren was unable to make best use of pole at the 12 o clock start and took quite a while to leave the grid, this was a vast improvement on Snetterton where GB Moto were last to leave the line. Worst still was for Steve Mercer on the 120+ Racing 600 Honda who tangled with the Moores Racing R1 machine of James Hurrell delaying their departure as Mercer removed his leg from the rear of the R1 – he must be made of stern stuff as he raced on despite being in pain from the injury sustained.
At the first hour mark Team SDE (Stuart Bold/Wayne Smith/Phil Bevan – a Pembrey specialist running trackdays at the venue and current holder of the 250cc lap club record, also Phil races in British Superstocks) led ahead of a recovering GB Moto, still on the same lap with Team Serendipity (David Wood/David Higgins) and Team Alfs. This time also marked the start of the first round of pit stops, at the same time the pace car was launched whilst marshals dealt with Hazel Drury who had high sided the Team Visordown Honda VTR at Honda Curve and was taken to hospital with arm injuries. That was game over for the KRC newcomer team that included Aberdeen based Dale Boardman who had flown down for the race, during practice, Hazel had managed to qualify the near standard twin in 13th spot.
Wren had handed the GB Moto R1 over to another fast and experienced rider, Pete Jennings who managed to do two laps before the clutch disintegrated requiring the Yamaha to pit, returning in 19th place and 13 laps adrift of the leader. It took Jennings an hour to work his way back to 15th before handing over to Mark Smith - Halverson. In the third hour, 120+ Racing rider Steve Mercer was black flagged for a technical infringement, following his mishap on the start line the team had worked their 600 Honda up to 11th place overall from last off the grid. Just before the half waypoint two bikes went down at The Esses resulting in an early bath for Black Cat Racing (Sean Moss/Mark Westcott/Jim Gow) and by 3pm Team Serendipity enjoyed a two-lap lead over the Team SDE R1 and Team Alfs Kawasaki.
The Moores Racing team (James Hurrell/Jim Agombar/Ben Wylie) were very canny at their next pit stop where they were able to gain a place to promote themselves into third, demoting Team SDE just ahead of the C & K Racing Yamaha of Kev + Chris Jones/Ian Wooltorton. Jim Agombar keeps his hand in by racing a TZ Yamaha in the CMCRC series, whilst teammate on the Moores R6, Tony Jimenez recently won a vintage race at Pembrey on his Norton Commando. Going great guns was the sixth place 750 Suzuki of Uprite Racing (Jason Gunning/George McCombie/Alan Stevens) and further back were the 600s of Team M2, 120+ Racing and 750 runners JSE Racing (Jonathon Snooks/Randy Kitzmiller/Kevin Forrest).
On the four-hour mark, Paul Wilson crashed the BTW 750 Suzuki (David Taylor/Alastair Bayley/Paul Wilson) at Honda Curve, bringing out the pace car and prompting a rash of pits stops for fuel, tyres and fresh riders. BTW are likely to miss the next round at Snetterton, as Taylor will be focussing on his road racing activities at the Southern 100 next week and the Manx Grand Prix in August.
The temperature was now up to 36 degrees in the shade and riders and crew were beginning to fade, pace car periods did not help as riders struggled for cool air. Leaders Serendipity made the most of the pace car by diving into the pits and returning to the track at the back of the pack. In the fifth hour Wren was lapping four seconds quicker than the others hauling the yellow machine up the field; they were now 12th, having caught the leading machine on the track, the GB Moto R1 machine was now battling and trading fastest laps.
In the closing stages Mark Smith – Halvorsen was to ‘enjoyed’ a massive moment caused by errant hot water finding the rear slick, again at the notorious Honda Curve, he managed to save it and bring the bike safely home much to the relief of GB Moto. As the race entered the final hour it began to rain – just enough to drop lap times a tad, the leader unexpectedly pitted and made adjustments to the right clip on, they had 5 laps in hand over the green machine of Team Alfs who performed a splash and dash mission with 5 minutes to go despite having four laps over SDE. Team Serendipity’s win was not a surprise really, at Brands they were very quick but binned it and at Snetterton they could almost see the winning flag and managed to do the same. One of the few teams to run only two riders both mean appeared remarkably fresh after almost 500 racing miles.
Team M2 (Doug Cannon/Matthew Checkley/Tim Jones) won Class B on their 600 Honda, that’s 3 out of 3 only one lap ahead of the unfortunate 120+ Racing machine, which was only a lap ahead of Turning Japanese (Vance John/Andrew Veal/Tony Meech). 120+ Racing will be looking forward to a race without dramas, at Brands they started practice with a pit lane spill, Snetterton saw another visit to the sin bin for an infringement and at Pembrey the race was 10 seconds old when their rider hit the deck.
Class C was Serendipity from Alfs, SDE, Moores Racing, C & K and GB Moto in seventh overall! In Class D Uprite Racing finished in sixth overall and 4 laps ahead of JSE Racing who set fastest lap in their class and Class E honours went to Hypa Racing whose 600 Yamaha finished seven laps ahead of the Phoenix Endurance R6 team who enjoyed a steady race.
As the KRC teams left South Wales, GB Moto lead the overall standings and no less than four riders are tied in Class C, Mark Smith - Halvorsen, brothers Chris and Kevin Jones and Ian Wooltorton. Class B is in the safe hands of Doug Cannon on maximum points and Class D honours are shared by Jonathan Snooks, Randy Kitzmiller, Kevin Forrest, Jason Gunning, Alan Stevens + George McCombie. Shelley Pike heads Class E with Phoenix Endurance teammates Shaun Finch and Peter Gibson.
Round 4 @ Snetterton 30th July 2006
In stark contrast to the first visit to Norfolk where most teams experienced an excursion into the mud, conditions for the fourth round eight-hour race were good following overnight rain which cleared up before track action began. After Saturday practice, local Honda 1000 outfit, Loddon Racing (Guy Hubbard/Scott Ingram/Phil Jeans) topped a strong field with a time that would have put them on row 6 of recent British Superstocks. Pembrey winners, SDE Racing could not encourage their Yamaha R1 to behave so were scratched from the entry list. Alf’s Motorcycles only had Chris Frost in attendance on the Saturday necessitating Russell Baker and Mick Godfrey to do the biz in the few minutes on Sunday morning allocated to track familiarization and warm up. By the time the teams lined up against the pit wall the track was dry although it was declared a wet race in accordance with the regulations.
This encounter started at 1000, allowing enough time for an eight-hour race. It was Loddon who secured the hole shot ahead of second fastest outfit Team Serendipity (David Wood/David Higgins). Loddon had also taken pole back in May at the first visit to Snetterton and had clearly been on pace before a spill caused a lot of time to be spent in the garage. Richard Wren was a tad slow off the line, having qualified the GB Moto in 3rd spot but was soon making ground up as the pack began their second circuit. Serendipity very soon dropped off the leader board and lost valuable time touring back to the pits after a spill, dropping them down to 19th place at the end of the first hour and loosing 12 laps whilst rear sets + clip ons were replaced and duct tape surreptitiously applied.
At the same time, Class B leaders Team M2 (Doug Cannon/John Barton/Neil Richardson) pushed in when their 600 Honda threw a chain It’s worth pointing out that the silver M2 Honda 600 has been peddled to four straight class wins to date, often at speed and challenging some of the larger capacity machines. Manx based John Barton was a new recruit to this team, a capable rider who enjoys a rich racing career that has included top line endurance racing and road racing home and abroad. Doug Cannon has been the lead rider on all four times, with a slightly different line up resulting him on being in the top slot for riders overall, a sound strategy.
Only GB Moto (Mark Smith-Halvorsen/Richard Wren/David Johnson) was on the same lap as Loddon after the first hour – Johnson being the latest addition to the team, an Aussie based in Hinckley and currently doing a decent job in the Dutch and the German championships. Why Hinckley? There seems to be a small community of Antipodeans in this part of the East Midlands, which includes the likes of Paul Young, Glen Richards and others – continuing a tradition which goes back to the seventies when erstwhile sponsors including George Beale, Team Randle et al encouraged the talented riders from the other side of the world to race in the UK and use the Mallory Park area of Leicestershire as a base.
Previous Snetterton winner, Moores Racing (Tony Hurrell/Jim Agombar/Ben Wylie) retired the R1 after 18 laps with gear selection problems, whilst their R6 (Tony Jimenez/Mike Eglington/Nick Davey) had picked up a rear puncture necessitating a return to pits via the infield for Tony J.
By the end of the second hour GB Moto had two laps over Loddon and Harvey Mushman Racing (Richard Wright/Hugh Brasher/Simon Watson), Richard Wren was lapping around 1’ 10s in the chase. The team take their name from the pseudonym adopted by Steve McQueen whilst pursuing his race career – check out the iconoclastic stickers adhourning the R1, quoting the famous SMcQ quotation ‘Life is racing, everything else is just waiting’.
GB Moto was to spend time in the pits with a broken Micron exhaust before the three hour mark – Moores Racing offered the use of the Devil system from their stricken R1 and this was fitted before returning to the track, loosing none of it’s speed but some laps down on the leading bike of Loddon who were ahead of the Yamaha R1s of Harvey Mushman and C & K Racing (Kevin + Chris Jones/Ian Wooltorton). Uprite (Alan Stevens/Jason Gunning/George McCombie) and JSE Racing (Jonathan Snooks/Randy Kitzmiller/Kevin Forrest) were just outside the top three and circulating quickly before the exhaust system of the JSE Suzuki cried ‘enough’ and was replaced costing the team some valuable track time.
Just after half way point the pace car made a second appearance when the formally immaculate Team Viking 750 Suzuki of Paul Clarke/Crispin d’Albertson/Barry Salmon disintegrated dropping some oil out on the track. (Weren’t they the team who nearly destroyed their #1 bike in open testing at Snett back in May?) Uprite Racing were now running in third and Serendipity and GB Moto were 5th + 6th following early dramas, before the young Aussie returned GB Moto back to the garage for a new clutch and front pads, loosing 20 minutes and five places. Serendipity was on a charge in the fifth hour and snatched second, behind Harvey Mushman after Loddon overshot the chicane. GB Moto had moved back into 8th place after some quick lappery and Team M2 were now leading Class B in sixth place.
At the drop of the cloth it was Harvey Mushman Racing who enjoyed a mere 1 lap lead from Team Serendipity and Loddon Racing who were separated by two laps. The consistent outfit of C & K Racing finished a solid fourth further 2 laps adrift of third spot. Uprite Racing took Class D honours ahead of a distant JSE Racing. Class B’s Team M2 finished in 6th ahead or the Moores R6 (Tony Jimenez/Mike Eglington/Nick Davey) and the 600 Suzuki of Welsh team Turning Japanese (Vance John/Andrew Veal/Tony Meech).
Hypa Racing (Grant Horton/David Summerson/Stuart Tucker) took another class E win on their immaculate R6 ahead of the 900 Kawasaki of series newcomer TLT Racing (Jamie Grant/Brendan Roberts/Clive Smith) and the 750 Suzuki of Black Cat Racing (George Bicket/Mark Westcott/Jim Gow). Apart from JSE making a racket with their 10-piece race exhaust, one of the best sounds of the day was the 1000 Aprilia of series newcomers – Team DSR (Darren Jones/Dave Mabbutt/Andy McKnight). This crew finished in 16th after a few frustrating visits to the garage and a push back from The Esses for Andy Mac.
TLT Racing campaigned a far from new Kawasaki 900, many people were impressed by the pace and reliability of this elderly Jap 4. They ran an honest race and finished in 12th and second in Class E to Hypa Racing. Ducks Cross Racing (Martin Landmann/Russell Horton/Mike Thompson kept out of trouble on their well prepared Yamaha R6 to finish 15th and fourth in Class B.
With one round to go, Class C and overall is currently the territory of the Team Serendipity and C & K Racing who have scored highly in all four rounds, however they are only a couple of points ahead of GB Moto. Team M2 have a full house in Class B and couldn’t do more whilst Uprite are ahead of JSE in Class D. Hypa Racing hold a three point advantage over Black Cat Racing who a shade in front of Phoenix Endurance in the Class E title chase.
On the rider front - Doug Cannon holding a century of points to lead Class B and overall, whilst the C & K riders, brothers Chris and Kevin Jones, along with Ian Wooltorton head Class C, all on 64 points. The Uprite trio of riders of Alan Stevens/Jason Gunning/George McCombie have pulled away from their Class D JSE protagonists and in Class E only 8 points separate the Hypa racing crew of Grant Horton/David Summerson/Stuart Tucker from the trailing Phoenix Endurance line up.
If you think you need the budget the size of a small country’s GDP to race at this level without too much embarrassment, you are wrong - one of the above machines appeared the following day on ebay (careful owner, used only on Sundays yeh yeh) and sold for a very affordable price – bargain!
Round 5 @ Pembrey 10th September 2006
For the fifth and final race of the 2006 KRC Motorcycle Endurance Championship, many teams adopted a win or bust strategy. With different winners from the rounds so far; GB Moto (Mark ‘Macca’ Smith Halvorsen/Richard Wren/Pete Jennings), Harvey Mushman Racing (Hugh Brasher/Richard Wright/Phil Bevan), Moores Racing (James Hurrell/Jim Agombar/Warren Watson) and Team Serendipity (David Wood/David Higgins), all Class C front-runners were chasing a win to top the championship table. Coming into the final round Serendipity had a single point advantage over C & K Racing (Kev + Chris Jones/Ian Wooltorton) who, despite not having won a race, their preparation and professional approach had amassed a shed load of points. GB Moto’s Mark Halvorsen Smith was next down just ahead of Alf’s Motorcycles and Moores Racing.
It would also be ‘winner takes all’ in Class D between JSE (Jonathan Snooks/Randy Kitzmiller/Kevin Forrest) and Team Uprite (Jason Gunning/Alan Stevens/George McCombie) who were often seen running well in the top six on their 750 machines, Uprite coming into the final round with a mere five points over JSE.
Team Hypa (Grant Horton/Dave Summerson/Stuart Tucker) enjoyed the knowledge that they had won all the rounds they had entered during the year in Class E whilst other class runners had enjoyed a mixed bag of fortune over the season so far. Only eight points adrift was Phoenix Endurance R6 (Shaun Finch/Peter Gibson/Shelley Pike) who had been consistently racking up the points throughout the season to build a five point cushion over the 750 Suzuki of Black Cat Racing (George Bicket/Mark Westcott/Jim Gow).
Doug Cannon, on his M2 Construction Honda 600 (Doug Cannon/Matthew Checkley/Neil Richardson) had kept it tidy over the first 26 hours of racing to have secured a clean sheet in Class B – 75 points from 75 maximum. Doug was 35 points ahead of nearest rivals, Welsh wizards Turning Japanese (John Vance/Andrew Veal/Tony Meech) and the R6 Moores Moto line up of Tony Jimenez/Mike Eglington/Nick Davey
Missing from race day was the Twinwoods Racing entry (Marcus Buckle/Grant Wagstaff/Neil Cray) who attended the previous test day but obviously decided not to race. Following early morning practice GB Moto planted their R1 on pole position with a time a shade over one minute less than half a second quicker than Loddon Racing who failed to make the grid after engine gremlins – repeating their achievement at the earlier Pembrey round. At the noon drop of the cloth GB Moto and Team Serendipity shot off into the lead. Race pace soon came to an abrupt halt after nine minutes, Randy Kitzmiller became victim to a violent tank slapper on the start/finish straight resulting in a very sorry looking JSE Suzuki, the rider faired a little better with finger damage and the team retired gracefully to the shade to watch Moto GP on TV.
The positioning of the pace car meant the two leading machines gained a lap over Team Alf’s in a distant third. Not directly involved in the Kitz incident were Team Viking (Paul Clarke/Crispin d’Albertanson/Barry Salmon) who insisted on testing their latest sponsor’s products – R & G Racing Products, manufactures of robust crash mushrooms! It has not been an easy season for the Vikings who have been frequent visitors into the gravel!
In the second hour, Team Alf’s (Christopher Frost/Russell Baker/Mick Godfrey) made a dive for the pits to re emerge having lost 21 laps due to a flat battery. Richard Wren on the yellow GB Moto R1 was running fastest in front of the Serendipity Suzuki and the Harvey Mushman Racing R1. Macca crashed out, rejoining in 8th spot and HMR lost 16 laps in the pits following a spill. At half way point Serendipity held a four-lap lead on C & K Racing and in a podium place were Class D leaders, Uprite Racing. Local rider Warren Watson was on a flyer on the Moores R1, reducing the distance with C & K from a lap to 11 seconds, WW was later to hustle the R1 along in the final hour to regain runner up spot in the overall standings.
In the fourth hour Macca stepped off the GB Moto R1, lost 9 laps in the pits and it was up to Pete Jennings to lift the machine from 8th to 3rd! 60 minutes later the bright yellow machine was in second, five laps behind Serendipity and only a lap ahead of Moores Racing, the same distance separated them from the reliable and well prepared, ex Phase One Endurance R1 of C & K Racing. Class D aspirants, Uprite Racing were six laps ahead of championship newcomers, Fresh Orange Racing 600 Kawasaki (Ben Pearce/Andy Buik/Darren Eyre).
The teams more or less maintained the status quo until the end of the six hours, which saw Team Serendipity take the race and Class C win ahead of GB Moto, Moores Racing, C & K Racing, Class D titlists Upright Racing, Fresh Orange in sixth ahead of Class E winners Hypa Racing R6 and then the M2 Construction 600 Honda to take a full house in Class B. Second in Class B were a distant Ducks Cross Racing Yamaha R6 (John Landmann/Russell Horton/Michael Thompson).
Finishing ninth were Snetterton winners, Harvey Mushman Racing, ahead of newcomers Team Epona 636 Kawasaki (Chris Carter/Angus Peace/Stuart Bedford). Phoenix Endurance bought their R6 home in 12th place, having been as high as 9th – they were delighted to finish only 12 laps down on class leaders to end a successful and satisfying season. The similar machine of Moores Moto finished some way back in eighteenth, despite appearing in the top ten earlier on before Mike Eglington low sided the bike and was stranded out on the circuit until the appearance of the pace car luckily allowed them back into pit lane for running repairs.
Another newcomer to KRC was Team Spidey (Andy Pelk/Ricky Ross) who ran their glorious sounding Aprilia 1000 into 15th place, finishing on the same laps as other new kids on the block; Battenberg Racing (Darren Fryer/Andy Green/Nick Andrews), campaigning an R1. Kawasaki Newcastle (Phil Knowles/Andy Jones/Ian Patterson) made a welcome return with their 750 and finished in seventeenth.
In the five round KRC Motorcycle Racing Endurance Championship, we have seen four different teams sample the top step, 600s running in the top ten and 750s challenging for podium places. Weather has varied from that normally associated with the Sahara across the spectrum to Manchester in mid March. The racing has been close and exciting in all classes and we have enjoyed a variety of well-prepared machinery being raced. Competitors have ranged from devoted and seasoned clubmen and women to experienced international endurance specialists and short circuit professional riders.
It has been more than a good championship year; it has been a great one!
Alfonso Lygo
Postscript
A big ‘thank you’ for assistance in completing the above report from;
Julia Dodd + Russ Gardner (KRC), Kailah Eglington (Moores Racing), Kev Jones (C & K Racing), Crispin d’Albertanson (Team Viking) and Shelley Pike (Phoenix Endurance).
I was away at Buckingham Palace where youngest son, Nik, was the Ensign for his regiment who are currently guarding the palace, Windsor Castle and the Tower of London. When not on duty, Nik can be seen peddling his Kawasaki 636 in and around Central London, a former ACU Licence holder he would love to start endurance racing with a team comprising of Army personnel – however a trip to Iraq in early 2007 might delay his decision.
