Stroud’s Daniel Cooper may have turned his back on the short circuits but the 26 year old former British 125 GP Champ who now concentrates on the pure road race events turned up at Pembrey at the request of sponsor Lee Davies bringing his 675 Triumph and CBR1000 along. Dan signed up for the Open… Powerbike… Sound of Thunder and 600cc open events. So he lined up on the grid 15 times over the two days, and took an astonishing 12 wins, one runner up and two third placings.
It was wins all the way in the 600 and Thunder classes but his Honda was a little short of power to hold off Pembrey Track Day organiser Phil Bevan in the dry sunny conditions on Saturday afternoon. The race was frantic with Bevan, Cooper, Paul Shook, Josh Day and Darren Rumley all lapping under the 60-second barrier. Day and Rumley just got tailed off in the latter laps but Bevan reeled of more low 59’s to eek out a 2 second lead come the flag over Cooper with Paul Shook on his 8 year old ZX10 in third. Welshman Shook was rightfully delighted with his best finish of the year and a podium ahead of BSB runner Day.
Sundays races were both wet….really wet….and windy to boot. Cooper decided that the 675 would be the better tool for the conditions, and his decision was vindicated as he took both wins. One win over Josh Day with Rumley third and Dave Mackay fourth who got the better of Phil Bevan in the final laps before the red flag came out due to an exceptionally heavy rain storm. The third Open race of the weekend saw Dan once more victorious over Darren Rumley who was having a brilliant weekend on his Ballard Racing KTM RC8 and newly crowned newcomers champ Dave Mackay proving his and the KTM’s credentials once more.
So Cooper proved that he has lost more of the scratching ability that won him NG titles on a 125 as a novice back in 2002, and of course that British 125GP title in 2006…… if your fast…..your fast….full stop.
125GP / Moto 3
The 125 GP was always going to be a head to head with Joe Thomas and Mark Strudwick. But Strudwick got nudges onto the grass at turn one and dropped to 5
th place, leaving him to chase down young Welshman Thomas. Just as Championship leader Strudwick was reeling in Thomas on the last lap he pushed a little too hard at Brooklands and fell, leaving Thomas to head home Mark Clayton who was having a first outing on his new RS125 Honda. Day two saw the Mark and Joe at it again with two or three changes of lead on each of the 9 laps. It took the fastest lap of the race from Strudwick to grab the win….by less than a third of a second.
Steve Lynham Formula 125
Charlie Nesbitt and Alun Thomas shared the wins in the F125 class but despite his Metrakit 80 suffering a mysterious electrical problem that starved the machine of revs all weekend Liam Delves manfully soldiered on and grabbed a pair of podiums that secure him the seasons class title.
Fraser’s of Gloucester 500cc Open
The fight for the win between Manxman Paul Metcalfe on his RS250 and Joe Thomas on his RS125 dragged them over 25 seconds clear of the perusing riders on Saturday. Despite giving away a huge amount of power with his 125 against the 250 Thomas tried everything he could muster to get the better of Metcalfe. A drag race out of Honda Curve to the pair saw Metcalfe take it by just 0.06 of a second at the line. Sundays horrendously wet conditions saw Metcalfe take a 36 second win over the astonishing Charlie Nesbitt who cake through to second on his Formula 125 production Aprilia.
GP45
Despite having problems in Saturday’s qualifier where his machine would not start, Mark Carkeek took a pair of wins on his 450cc Corby Kawasaki over Tony Bridgefoot. Carkeek’s nearest title challenger Richard Gothard took a tumble in qualifying, and obviously was not happy in the very and windy condition, although battled through to a pair of third placings a reward for his efforts.
A and R Racing Formula 400
Welshman Will Jones made the F400 class his own this weekend as he took his ZXR400 to an unbeaten run. He headed home Daniel Tilley on his NC30. Mark Walker was happy to get a podium finish on his mwracing VFR after promising so must pre-season, but suffering more than his fair share of accidents and mechanical problems.
Wayside Garages 600cc
A double win for Daniel Cooper on the Lee Davies Transport 675 and only half a second of the lap record despite the cold and windy conditions. BSB Superstock runner Nick Anderson kept his hopes of NG championship glory alight with a second place on Saturday just ahead of Dave Manley who was having his best race in the 600 open class after winning last years newcomers title. Sunday was wet…very wet, but Cooper again had the measure of the rest, although this time acknowledged rain lover Paul Jeffery took a brilliant second place ahead of Anderson. Series leader Peter Carr had a frustrating weekend after his ZX6 R stuck in gear on Saturday leaving him down in 15
th whilst Sunday saw 6
th place. His nearest title rival though, Chris Hawkes also suffered his first non-score of the year as his GSXR stopped with just a couple of laps to go…. So all to play for at Thruxton
www.Simon Consulting.info Powerbikes
Saturday’s dry race saw a win for Josh Day on his WH Bond ZX10 over reigning champ and local ace Phil Bevan, with Daniel Cooper third on his CBR 1000 Honda, with Paul Shook on his 8 year old Kawasaki in fourth. Shook had made the start and was in the fight for the podium until half race distance when Day, Bevan and Cooper started pumping in the 59-second laps. Shook who was suffering gear selection problems had no choice by to settle for a fine fourth, and those problems ruled him out of Sunday’s action. Sunday saw Cooper in no mood to play around as he took the win over Chris Pope and Steve Griffiths with impressive novice Karl Toole in fourth on his 999 Ducati.
MPH Bikes Mini Twins
Sean Montgomery took a stunning double in the Mini Twins on his Preston Power Steering SV650 heading home the rest headed by Kevin Davies on Saturday and Tom Blackwell on Sunday. Wet of dry it was no odds to Sean who is now eyeing up a move into the 600 class on a ZX6 R Kawasaki…. they had better watch out…..Montgomery looks like he is ready for the extra power.
Peter Hammond Motorcycles Sound of Thunder
Two wins for Daniel Cooper on his Lee Davies 675, although Darren Rumley with his RC8 KTM made him work hard. Newly crowned newcomers champ Dave Mackay has put himself within sniffing distance of a top three position in the championship after a pair of fine podiums, taking points out of Paul Willis and Shane Smith
Metzeler and DTR Streetstock (400cc / 700cc / 1300cc)
Saturday saw series leader and champion elect Corey Lewis tangle with a back-marker that he was lapping, which resulted in his parting company from his rapid KR1-S Kawasaki… but worse still, a broken collarbone. That opened to door for a new winner in the class, and Daniel Tilley stepped up his game taking a pair of wins on his immaculate Spring Meadow/Davey Cornwall VFR NC30 Honda over Aled Evans and a returning from injury Josh Jones who bagged a runner-up spot each. Tom Cook on his TPC R1 and Richard Hughes shared the spoils in the 1300 class with Cook taking the points he needed to lift the close fought class title. The 700 class had James Harrison on his 1
st choice vehicle dismantler’s R6 and Murray McConnachie with the Cabot Tyres/Bob Harvey 675 scrap it out with the nod going to Harrison. It the very wet conditions on Sunday though Thomas Williams who was starting well down the pack totally ignored the lack of grip and standing water as he fought his way through on his Justin Waite Building Services R6. One rider after another was dispatched until he hit the front, taking an emphatic win. A special mention must go to the unlucky Matthew Rees who suffered a puncture in the qualifier and having to start from the back of the grid….he fought all the way up to 4
th at the flag.
TPC Construction Pre Injection (700cc / 1300cc)
Phil Webrer and Simon Morgan shared to honours in the 700 Pre Injection class. Webber just held off series top man Kevin Davies for his win, with the pair just a quarter of a second apart at the flag. Tom Palmer and Kevin Clayton could not be separated by the timekeepers in Saturdays race both being given identical times, although when it went to 3 decimal places Palmer was given the nod. This just spurred Clayton on though and he took the win on Sunday 10 seconds. He excitedly dedicated the win to Georgia who was celebrating her 18
th birthday…(sorry I didn’t ask who Georgia was !!!!!!)
CSC Racing Sidecars (Open / Formula 2)
Simon Gilbert the 2008 British and European sidecar champ and passenger Jed Pilmoor Brady put the frustrating 2013 Eastern Airways British Championship run behind them to have a run out at Pembrey. The E Pay me.co.uk LCR Yamaha never missed a beat as the pairing lapped almost the whole field. Jed race finish celebrations showed his visible delight at having two days of untroubled competition. Tom a Thomas Quaye with the 600cc Meon Valley Racing MRE Suzuki took two wins over Andy King and Kenny Cole to secure the season long championship with one round remaining.
April UK Newcomers
The three newcomers classes went pretty much to the form book with Dave MacKay winning by over 9 seconds in the open class on his Speedy Fasteners KTM RC8 from Kevin Clayton, whilst Sean Montgomery and Mark Labudeck continued there rivalry in the Mini Twin division. Montgomery grabbed the win on his Preston Power Steering SV650 by just a tad over one second. The 500 series was already secure for Mark Studwick and he took a steady run out finishing fifth as Will Jones and Mark Reeves squabbled over the race win that eventually went the was of Welshman Jones on his ZXR400.
Wayside Garages Performance of the Meeting
Thomas Williams – 600cc and Streetstock – Justin Waite Building Services R6 Yamaha