Bemsee, the oldest motorcycle racing club in the world, kicked off 2023 in traditional fashion on 11-12 March, with the season getting underway at its spiritual home of Brands Hatch.
Reactive Parts MRO Powerbikes
The opening round of the club’s flagship MRO Powerbikes series - again sponsored by Reactive Parts - along with the Clubman 1000 class which is newly-supported by Cigma Racing for 2023, began much as it ended 2022: with Josh Wainwright winning all three races of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
Running the number 26 and not the number one plate, despite being the reigning champion, he qualified his JW MOT Centre Honda Fireblade on pole position, before launching his title defence in the best possible fashion.
Showing that he will again be the rider to beat this year, Wainwright led every lap of the 12-lap race one to leave the others in his wake. Seven and a half seconds to the good, he took the chequered flag from Yamaha R1-mounted Seamus McGlynn and Nicky Wilson on the Demon GP Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Lee Healey took seventh place overall in the first race of the year to take the Clubman victory aboard his Wilvin UK Limited Suzuki.
Sunday’s schedule included two 15-lap races for the MRO Powerbikes and Clubman 1000s, and in the first Wainwright again led every lap to make it two from two. Consistently lapping around half a second quicker than anyone else, sometimes more by the time he hit lapped traffic, he ran out victorious yet again.
McGlynn took another second place finish in what was a fairly solitary ride, with Jack Croucher finishing third on the Trendy Lofts Kawasaki.
The three-way battle for top Clubman honours ended with Clayton Grover the winner, in eighth overall, on his Grover Stunts Yamaha R1, from Healey and Daniel Farley’s F-Tech Fire and Electrical Limited Suzuki. After 15 laps of the Brands Indy circuit, a second split the three of them, though just a tenth of a second decided the winner.
The opening lap of race three was the only racing lap Wainwright didn’t lead. That honour went to McGlynn, though the reigning champion led from the second lap onwards and steadily pulled away at the front.
Behind, he left three riders to fight over the remaining two podium spots, with a second covering the trio at the flag.
Positions changed readily, though it was McGlynn who was on course for another runner-up finish, as he began the final lao in second place. Unfortunately for R1 pilot, a tricky last lap and lapped traffic saw him come home in fourth place, while Wilson and Croucher completed the podium.
Another eight for Grover gave him the Clubman 1000 win.
DART Motorsport MRO 600 and Clubman 600
In the DART Motorsport MRO and Clubman 600 races Taylor Rose took the chequered flag first on all four occasions. Sadly for the Verkada Yamaha R6 rider, he’d only be credited with three wins, after a 10-second penalty in the final race, for a yellow flag infringement, dropped him to third. That win, instead, went to Fenton Seabright.
It was Seabright who qualified on pole on his FHS Racing Yamaha. However, he retired on the opening lap of race one with a technical issue, leaving Rose - who’d qualified second fastest - to take the victory. MRO 600 stalwart, Kelvin Hoare, opened his podium account for the year with a third place finish.
In sixth overall, behind Evo class winner Cameron Harris’ Tony Scott Motorsport Triumph, was Clubman winner Terry Brian aboard his Yamaha R6, sponsored by Two Techs Renault Specialists.
Rose won race two, but after pulling a one second lead on the opening lap, he was reeled in by Seabright, the gap reduced to less than two tenths of a second come the chequered flag.
Over 12 seconds back Alex Barker was third, with a two-way battle for victory in the Clubman class occupying positions seventh and eighth. Two tenths of a second was the difference between winner Henry Ross and runner-up Brian. Harris won the Evo class despite a 10-second penalty for jumping the start.
More narrow margins defined race three and Sunday’s opener. Despite it ending with another Rose-Seabright one-two, less than a tenth split them after six laps of the Brands Indy circuit, before the race was brought to a premature end after a crash for Aaron Dalrymple.
The two were already nearly eight seconds ahead of the battle for third place, which was raging on with just a second covering four riders.
With the red flags were deployed, Harry Fowle was credited with third and completed the podium, ahead of Barker, Hoare, and Donald Gilbert. Ross and Brian were seventh and eighth and again first and second in the Clubman class, while Luke Wallington took the Evo win in 12th.
Rose again saw the chequered flag first in the final race of the weekend - this time by less than two hundredths of a second - but 10 seconds was added to his race time for a yellow flag infringement, demoting him to third.
As a result, Seabright inherited the victory, after the two swapped the race lead between them, with Barker second. In eighth, Brian took another Clubman win, sharing the spoils with Ross for the weekend, while Wallington was the Evo winner in ninth.
ACU Team Green Junior Cup and Senior Ninja series
The combined ACU Team Green and Senior Ninja grid saw three overall winners from the weekend’s four races, with Junior Cup runner Zack Weston taking two victories, fellow Junior Craig Dance taking another, followed by Fenton Seabright, the MRO 600 racer also enjoying a run-out in the Senior Ninja series.
Weston, on his NW Racing Kawasaki, turned pole in qualifying into two wins on Saturday, both in convincing fashion.
He led every lap to win race one by over eight seconds, and won race two by over four seconds to cap a dominant opening day of his season.
Reigning Senior Ninja champion Phil Atkinson started his title defence with two class wins, finishing second in race one and third in race two, while Dance was third and second in the day’s races.
In race three Weston and Dance took turns at leading, with four riders locked together at the front. After 11 laps five hundredths of a second was all that stopped Weston making it three from three. Instead, Dance claimed victory.
Third place Atkinson did, however, make it three from three in the Senior class, just edging it from Robbie Park, who was third in the Junior class.
Weston was aiming to take his third overall win of the weekend, and led the opening half of race four, but he could do nothing as Seabright clawed back the deficit and assumed the lead on lap six.
From there, he steadily put himself out of attack range, and with a second in hand he took the overall and Senior class win, with Weston second and the winning Junior rider. Atkinson made it two Senior riders on the overall podium with what amounted to a lonely ride to third.
ProperlyProtected.co.uk MRO Minitwins
With the number one plate adorning the front of his MHP and IMP Racing Suzuki SV650, reigning champion David Twyford enjoyed a solid start to his title defence, collecting a hat trick of victories from the four races at Brands Hatch.
Twyford took wins in both of Saturday’s races. In race one he made a lightning start from the third row of the grid to lead the opening lap. He pulled a lead of over a second but a handful of steadier laps in the middle of the race saw his lead whittled away by Kevin Lilley and Stacey Killworth, the latter of which taking over the race lead on lap seven.
The reigning champion was back in front a lap later, and held on to take the win, while Lilley re-passed Killworth to take second place. Despite crossing the line in third, Killworth was relegated to sixth following a penalty for a yellow flag infringement. Third, instead, went to Daniel Black.
A start-to-finish lead gave Twyford another win in race two, with Killworth second and Lilley third.
In a two-way battle for the win in race three, Killworth and Lilley swapped the lead between them, until the fight was cut short at the halfway stage, after Lilley crashed out. As a result, Killworth was left unchallenged to take the win.
After battling with Barry Mantell and Andrew Johnson, Black climbed up the order to finish second, with Johnson and Mantell third and fourth.
Twyford, following a sixth in race three, was back to winning ways in the fourth and final race of the weekend, and after passing Lilley for the lead on the second lap, he went on to win by a second. Lilley was second, and Killworth third.
In the rookie class Toby Finnis took all four wins, with a best finish of fifth overall.
DFDS Yamaha Past Masters
Anthony Johnson grabbed the opening win of the season, but after that Kevin Wholey - who finished third in the championship in 2022 - took three wins to launch an early claim for this year’s crown.
Johnson, Wholly, and Doug Edmondson took turns at leading race one, before Johnson re-passed Wholey on the penultimate lap to lead when it mattered. Wholey and Edmondson were second and third respectively.
Meanwhile, it was a disastrous start to reigning champion Peter Branton’s title defence, as he failed to complete the opening racing lap of the year.
Wholey took his first of three wins in Saturday’s second race. He shadowed long-time race leader Edmondson from the opening lap, before passing him with two to go to beat him by two tenths of a second.
Two seconds then covered six riders, including Branton - who fared better this time around - in third, Paul Welch, Richard Hayward, Billy Perkins, Stuart Hall, and Paul Whitby, in eighth.
On his Twistgrip Motorcycles Yamaha TZR250, Wholey was victorious in race three, winning from Welch and Branton, and again in race four, when he again beat Edmondson, and again passed him on the penultimate lap. Branton took another third.
L&W Contractors BMCRC Rookie 600 and Rookie 1000
A fresh batch of rookies lined up on the grid for the first time ever at Brands Hatch to kick off their racing career.
In the Rookie 1000s, Karl Thompson grabbed three of the four available wins on his #Teamrace Yamaha R1, with Luke Blackford taking the other on D5 Graphics Ducati. In the 600s, Callum Manley was a three-time winner, the other win going to Nathan Miles.
Thompson was the fastest qualifier, and won race one Blackford and Sam Cranstone, the three podium finishers 10 seconds further up the road than the rest of the field. Thompson was again the victor in race two, with Cranstone and Blackford reversing positions.
In the 600s, Manley won race one on his Honda CBR600RR, with Triumph-mounted Miles taking 25 championship points in race two. The pair also took a second place finish apiece, with Tom Walker twice third.
On Sunday, Thompson took this third win in the first race of the day, from Cranstone and David Wilkins, after Blackford was demoted to fourth after a yellow flag penalty. He was back on the podium in the final race, and on the top step, with Thompson second. Cranstone was third, over 16 seconds off the win.
The 600 rookie races were both won by Manley, with Miles and Toby Finnis taking a second and third each.
BMCRC Formula 400
There were three winners from the four opening Formula 400 races of the season, with Nick Smith and James Seath taking an overall win each on Saturday, followed by a double victory for reigning Sub-64bhp class champion Haydon Smith on Sunday.
Nick Smith’s win in race one also gave him the Sub-64bhp win, with Andrew Gill second and Maximus Hardy third, second in the Sub-64bhp category.
The 8th Formula 400 rider across the line in race one, Seath made a huge step forward in race two to take the overall victory, and the open class win. The Hi-Precision Engineering teammates of Nick and Haydon Smith finished second and third respectively, with Nick Smith the leading Sub-64bhp runner across the line.
Sunday ended with two overall and two open class wins for Haydon Smith. He beat Seath by just three hundredths of a second in the day’s first race, with Hardy third and the Sub-64bhp winner.
In race four Haydon Smith was again victorious and Hard again third, though the Sub-64bhp spoils went to Nick Smith in the runner-up spot overall.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles and TBR Performance BMCRC Thunderbike Ultra and Thunderbike Extreme
In the BMCRC Thunderbike Ultra and Extreme class races Stacey Killworth launched his campaign in the best possible fashion, taking all four Ultra wins. Meanwhile, in the Extreme class, the spoils were shared between Derek Cripps, Barry Mantell, and Raymond Stagg, the latter picking up two victories from Sunday’s races.
If Killworth’s four wins were the perfect start to the season, Jamie Thomas had the next best thing, with four runner-up finishes.
Cecil Dinsmore stood on the bottom step of the podium three times over the weekend, with the other bronze medal position going to Connor Swyer in the first of Sunday’s two races.
In the Extreme class, Cripps took the chequered flag with an 8-second advantage in race one, with Darren Corkett and Andrew Firth second and third.
The race one winner then dropped to fourth in race two, as Mantell won, with Corkett again second. Stagg was third, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Cripps.
Stagg and Cripps twice finished first and second in races three and four, as Corkett and Firth claimed a third place finish each.
Steve Jordan Motorcycles Thunderbike Sport and BMCRC Supertwins
Club chairman, rider development director, and club racing stalwart Jeremy Hill was back in racing action for round one of the Thunderbike Sport and new Supertwin championships, and showed he’s lost none of his speed, taking three wins and a second. Conversely, reigning Thunderbike Sport champion Adam Jamison took three seconds and a win to cap a solid opening weekend to his title defending season.
Hill’s two wins on day one of racing both came by less than a second. On his Silver Arrows Racing Yamaha R6 he crossed the line seven tenths of a second in front of the Team AJR Yamaha of Jamison. In race two, that margin of victory was less than one tenth of a second.
Shaun Wallis and Paul Newman claimed a third place each, with James O’Mara twice the winner in the new Supertwin class.
It was three from three for Hill after the opening race on Sunday, with Jamison again second, while O’Mara bagged another Supertwin victory, with a third place finish overall.
Running the number one plate, Jamison finally grabbed a win in the final race of the season-opening weekend at Brands Hatch, as he reversed positions with Hill. O’Mara was again third overall, and again the Supertwin class winner.
BMCRC F1 and F2 Sidecars
Simon Gilbert and Anthony Hildige enjoyed the perfect start to their 2023 season, taking four overall, and, in turn, four F1 class wins, after qualifying on pole.
The pairing won race one from Sean Hegarty and James Neave, whose second place gave them the F2 win, with Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle third overall on their F1 class KTM-powered machine.
Molyneux and Sayle improved to second overall in race two, narrowly forcing Hegarty and Neave into third by less than a second. However, despite occupying the final step on the podium, they still claimed the F2 win.
The same three pairings again occupied the top-three positions in race three, and repeated the finishing order of race one. Hegarty and Neave finished second, by less than a second, and took another F2 win.
Molyneux and Sayle took third, after resisting the charge from Kieran Clarke and Andrew Johnson, who finished fourth, less than a second down. They took second in the F2 class.
Gilbert and Hildige made it a perfect score with a comfortable win in race four. They took the chequered flag six seconds ahead of F2 class winners Alan Founds and Jake Lowther. They bested Hegarty and Neave to the 25 championship points on offer by two tenths of a second.
Illuminate Design 250 MZ
The wins were split evenly over the opening weekend’s action in the Illuminate Design 250 MZ championship, with Alexander Mann and Andrew Wales taking two victories apiece.
Mann grabbed both of his on Saturday, with Wales twice second. He missed out the win by less than a tenth of a second in race one, and two tenths of a second in race two. Peter Woodall and Chris Kent took a third each from the two races.
Wales, Mann, and Kent locked out the podium in both of Sunday’s outings, with Mann and Wales leaving Brands Hatch tied for the series lead.
Blue Haze GP and GPF
The classic two-stroke series for road-based (GPF) and race (GP) machines returns to Bemsee meetings for 2023.
Billy Perkins took three victories in the GPF class, all three in front of David Ball, who himself took the win in the final race. Meanwhile, in the GP category, Anthony Johnson was in dominant form to scoop up all four wins.
Perkins and Ball were the class of the field in the GPF races, and while just three tenths of a second split them in race one, they were a full half a minute clear of Damian Lee, in third. It was a repeat podium in race two, albeit a more comfortable affair for Perkins out front, as he crossed the line seven seconds ahead of Ball.
Seven tenths of a second split winner Perkins and runner-up Ball in race three, but with Perkins absent from proceedings in race four, Ball was able to take advantage and collect 25 championship points.
Liam McCarter was third and second in the two races, with third in the final race going the way of Lee.
Johnson’s perfect weekend and four GP class victories saw twice beat Phil Ellis on Saturday, with Mark Whiting and Doug Edmondson third in races one and two respectively.
Phil Atkinson got in on the podium action in Sunday’s opener, finishing second with Ellis third, despite a 10-second penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag. Ellis was second again in the final race, with Edmondson third.