CHANGE OF CLASSES REWARDS RACERS AT DARLEY

Wednesday June 26, 2013 at 3:04pm

Last weekend bought the first half of the season to a close at Darley Moor as Round 4 produced yet more excellent racing for all types of motorsport fans. Often it is the number of close races that provide an obvious talking point, but this weekend, whilst there was still some close racing, it was two new race winners that provided the headlines.

With his first race in control of a sidecar outfit James Shipley, son of current Formula 600 sidecar champion, John, with passenger Lee Woodward lead for the first couple of laps until Tony Thompson/Jack Jones made their way to the front. However, after managing to stop Dave Holden/Heath Fairbrother passing them the Thompson/Jones crew made a mistake on lap 7 and dropped right back through the pack, leaving Shipley/Woodward to take the victory by 1.5sec from Holden/Fairbrother. The Holden/ Fairbrother and Thompson/Jones crews made no mistakes in the second race, coming 1st and 2nd respectively, whilst a 10 second penalty was given to three outfits, including Shipley/Woodward, for a jump start. The battle for 3rd place was keeping everybody on their toes, three outfits changing places on every lap finally being separated at the flag by less than 1sec, Dean Banks/James Stonier coming out on top.

Jamie Pearson won both of the combined Steel Framed and Pre Injection 600 races, a flag to flag victory in the first and leading from lap 3 of the second he then joined his brother, Shane on the grid for the Pre98 races. With Shane leading the Up to 1300cc Championship so far with a perfect score, normal service was expected. Leading from the start, Shane even stretched out a 3sec+ lead in the early stages of the race, but Jamie refused to give up and started to reel his brother in and finally passed him on the final lap and taking the flag by just 0.8sec. In the second race Shane ensured ‘brotherly love’ was not going to be threatened and produced a perfect race, finally finishing over 6sec in front of Jamie at the flag.

In the Pre98’s (Up to 500cc) class Matt Zschiesche led the class, although Alex Woodhouse recorded the fastest lap for the class trying to catch him, eventually finishing just 0.25sec behind at the flag.

Deciding that it was too close in their first encounter Zschiesche also produced an equally impressive second race, getting his smaller machine amongst the larger machines, finishing overall 6th at the flag, with Woodhouse, 11th overall, but 3rd in class, with Fred Burbidge turning the tables on him for 2nd place.

The Peak Cup class saw Jim Hodson record two victories although the first was by just under 1sec, Paul Wood succumbing to the pressure after leading for the first three laps, with Danny Smith 3rd unable to get on terms with the pair on this occasion. Smith led the second race at the beginning, but once again Hodson fought his way to the front, but with Wood not making the grid, Smith was 2nd and Richard Wardle 3rd.

The first Open Solo race proved to be Wood’s downfall, failing to finish lap3 after being involved in a battle with Smith for 2nd place, finally ending with Hodson and Smith recording yet another 1 – 2 respectively. However, in their final encounter of the day Smith was determined to have the upper hand at least once and led across the line on each of the eight laps, finally taking the victory by over 7.5sec from his rival at the flag.

In the combined Formula Darley/125 race Ricky Tarren secured two victories in the 125 class, 4th overall in the first race, with Brad Vicars taking the Formula Darley and overall victory, by 2.5sec from Keenan Armstrong on the second Formula Darley machine. In the second race Tarren was involved in a superb battle with Armstrong throughout the eight laps, finally the smaller, more nimble machine taking the Overall win, leaving Armstrong to take the Formula Darley class win with second place, just 0.7sec adrift at the flag.

The first Formula 600 race saw Adrian Kershaw lead for the first five laps until Jamie Hodson managed to overhaul him and pull out a gap of almost 2seconds at the flag, with Richard Wardle a further 5seconds behind. In the second race Wardle was much faster off the line on this occasion and led throughout, finishing almost 3 seconds clear at the front. Kershaw was involved in battle with Hodson in the early stages, but managed to stretch out a similar advantage for 2nd place, with Hodson having to settle for 3rd place.

The combined Lightweight and Classic races saw Adam Hoare dominate, taking both races by over 20seconds, with Matt Zschiesche, 2nd each time. Anthony Redmond and David Bradley (Matlock) recorded a win apiece in the Classic class.

Steven Hill and Brad Vicars recorded double victories in the Sound of Thunder class; Hill taking the overall win each time, Vicars recording the victory in the smaller Mini Sound of Thunder class, on both occasions. He definitely provided the entertainment in the second race, chasing Hill down and finishing just 0.5sec behind at the flag. Keenan Armstrong was 3rd on both occasions, on the second Mini Sound of Thunder machine.

Fans of four wheeled motorsport were also treated to victory by a local racer when Mark Gellatly secured two wins when regular guests the Long Circuit Kart Club took to the track. The first by just over 1.5sec at the flag, after the front three drivers all failed to finish lap 6. In the second race he was another competitor who came ‘out of the blocks’ much quicker in the afternoon, taking a flag to flag win with a gap of over 10 seconds at the finish.

There will not be too long to wait for the next instalment of action at Darley Moor as Round 5 will be on SATURDAY 20th July 2013 followed by the East Midlands Racing Association having a round of their Championship on Sunday 21st July 2013. As always Practice starts at 10.00am and the first race is anticipated to start at 11.30am, the cost of adult admission to Darley Moor for all meetings, except the end of season Stars at Darley meeting, is £11.00 per day, children under 16 are free, and Senior Citizens are £6.00. Parking and Paddock Transfer is free and a programme costs just £3.00.

For the Stars at Darley meeting adult admission is £15 and Senior Citizens £10.00, adult admission to the Test Days is £5.00. Advance Tickets at discount prices are also available on-line just visit the Darley Race Shop for full details—http://www.darleymoorstore.co.uk

There is ample room for spectators to camp and caravan at Darley Moor over the race weekends. The cost is £5.00 per unit per night. You can normally arrive after 5.00 pm on the Friday and stay until 10.00 am on the morning after the meeting.

Championship standings after 4 Rounds

Peak Cup

1st Jim Hodson, 60pts; 2nd Danny Smith, 52pts; 3rd Tim Poole, 17pts

Open Solos

1st Danny Smith, 57pts; 2nd Jim Hodson, 57pts; 3rd Alan Hughes, 25pts

Open Sidecar

1st Dave Holden / Heath Fairbrother, 64pts; 2nd Ray Thomas / Neil Aslaksen, 35pts; 3rd Tony Thompson / Jack Jones, 29pts;

Lightweight

1st Matt Zschiesche, 37pts; 2nd Adam Hoare, 33pts; 3rd Alex Woodhouse, 29pts

GP125

1st Ricky Tarren, 27pts 2nd Reg Richardson, 18pts; 3rd Sarah Boyes, 15pts;

F600

1st Tim Poole, 54pts; 2nd Jamie Hodson, 44pts; 3rd Andrew Soar, 19pts