ALL ABOARD FOR CHARITY AT DARLEY MOOR

Wednesday July 2, 2014 at 9:47am

The Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club had two action packed days of racing last weekend, 28th – 29th June, in addition to the racing a number of competitors got together and raised a fantastic sum of money for charity on Saturday, Armed Forces Day.

During the lunchtime break 19 sidecars drivers took to the track giving high speed taxi rides for those, not only brave enough to step into the passenger ‘seat’ but also to brave the conditions for several laps of the Darley Moor circuit. In total 69 ‘taxi’ passengers helped donate over £1,300 to the cause, which will be split between the Help for Heroes charity and the Auto Cycle Union Benevolent Fund.

The conditions on Saturday proved a little difficult, with a number of showers dampening the track throughout the day and keeping race speeds down a little. Jim Hodson (Wigan) and Tim Poole (Northwich) resumed, what is going to be a season long battle in the Peak Cup and Open Solo classes. Hodson taking victory in both Peak Cup races from Poole, with Jamie Medhurst (Long Eaton) 3rd, on both occasions. Hodson made the first race look easy, winning by a 14sec margin, whilst the second was by just over 1sec. In the Open Solo class it was Poole’s turn for the double victory, mirroring Hodson’s feat, taking the first by a slim 0.6sec margin from Hodson and then making the second race look simple and winning by over 15seconds!

The combined Formula Darley/125 races proved to be crowd pleasers with Ross Richards (Chesterfield) firing his machine off the line quickest on both occasions. However, in the first encounter after leading throughout he was caught and passed on the final lap by Championship leader, Brad Vicars (Tadcaster). In the second race Richards again led from the start, but unfortunately failed to finish the third lap, handing the lead to Paul Turner (Congleton). On lap 4 Vicars passed Turner for the lead but could not pull out a significant gap and was pushed all the way to the flag, the pair split by two backmarkers as they crossed the finish line, just 0.38sec apart! GP125 Championship leader, Mark Tyrrell (Evesham), was the leading 125cc machine each time, finishing 5th Overall on track.

Vicars and Richards once again appeared in close formation in the Sound of Thunder races, on their Mini Sound of Thunder machines. With Vicars taking Class wins and Richards Runner-Up in both races, Overall 4th and 5th respectively in the first race and 3rd and 4th in the second. Steven Hill (Runcorn) recorded two faultless performances with flag to flag victories, followed across the line, after battling his way through to 2nd, each time by Gary Henriksen (Matlock).

The combined Steel Framed and Pre Injection 600 races also kept the crowd on their feet, the first race involving a Steel Framed battle between Dean Ephgrave (Hucknall) and Jake Hingley (Darlaston) throughout the 6 laps. Ephgrave leading across the line for the first 3 laps, with Hingley less than 0.5sec behind until taking the lead on lap 4 and pulling out a 1sec advantage on Lap 5. Then Ephgrave put in a fantastic final lap and not only bridged the gap but passed Hingley for the win. The leading Pre Injection machine was Stu Riley (Worksop) who finished 3rd Overall. After languishing in 5th place overall throughout the first race, Jamie Pearson (Derby) made no mistakes in the second, firing his Pre Injection machine off the line he led for the entire 8 laps, leaving Ephgrave and Hingley to repeat their battle, but for 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Fans of 3 wheeled motorsport were treated to double the number of races because of the large entry of sidecar competitors, normally run together the Formula 600 outfits had a separate race to the Open Class 1000cc machines. Once again the first race kept the spectators entertained with the Roy Hanks/Julie Hanks-Elliott (Birmingham) pair leading across the line after each lap, but no more than 0.6sec in their slipstream throughout the race, was the outfit of Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Ramsey (Rishton/Blackburn), just 0.5sec behind at the flag. Behind these two machines John and Jake Lowther (Scunthorpe) were making up for a slow start, crossing the line 8th after the first lap they made their way into 4th place on the final lap, but after a 10sec penalty was issued to another team, this put them up to 3rd place. In the second race the Lowther's made no mistakes, taking a flag to flag victory, with the Hanks/Hanks-Elliott pairing 4sec back. After Blackstock/Ramsey were docked 10sec for jumping the start, Dean Banks/Dean Kilkenny (Stone/Knaresborough) inherited 3rd place.

The first Open Sidecar race saw Steve Broadstock/Terry Truman (Nottingham) take the hole shot and lead for three laps until Tony Thompson/Jack Jones (Wirral) passed them on lap 4, opening up a 2sec advantage at the flag. Behind these two crews Ray Thomas/Neil Aslaksen (Birkenhead) were making up for a slow start and eventually moved up to 3rd place on lap 6. The second race saw Thompson/Jones get the hole shot and after a battle with the Thomas/Aslaksen pairing, which saw them relinquish the lead for just 1 lap, on the fifth, they eventually dug deep and pulled out over a 6sec gap at the flag.

Paul Hedison (Gainsborough) on his Lightweight machine recorded two faultless displays in the combined lightweight and Classic races, never headed throughout the total of 16 laps. Jamie O’Brien had two excellent rides, taking his 500cc Classic machine to two Overall 3rd places, and obviously class victories. David Bradley (Matlock) record 5th overall in both, to take the Classic 1000cc honours; Dave Glover (Messingham) was double victor in the Classic 350cc, whilst Dale Shaw (Matlock) and Geoff Hadwin (Cumbria) each recorded a Classic 250 victory.

Jamie Medhurst (Long Eaton) led for the majority of the Formula 600 laps, but in the first race a chasing Brendan Brown (Stoke on Trent) slowed less in the worsening conditions, caught and passed Medhurst 2 laps from the end and held on for the win. With Medhurst leading from the flag in the second race, Brown was once again chasing until a mistake on Lap 4 gave him too much of a gap to bridge, allowing Medhurst the victory.

In the Pre98 races Shane Pearson (Derby) was another rider to record a faultless display, taking a win in both races, with flag to flag victories on his ‘Up to 1300cc’ machine. The Up to 500cc class victories were shared by two Ashton under Lyme competitors Michael Barlow taking the first Class win and Andrew Clarke the second race.

Just by looking at the timesheets it is easy to see that track/weather conditions were much better on the Sunday, all races showing a much faster pace and consistent lap times. With a larger than usual race schedule, 25 races instead of the usual 21, spectators were treated to some excellent racing, no less than 10 of these races were won with a winning margin of less than 1 sec.

Once again the Peak Cup class got the day off to an excellent start with Jim Hodson and Tim Poole resuming their on track rivalry. On this occasion it was Poole who got to the chequered flag first, after passing Hodson on Lap 3, although Hodson was just 0.25sec behind as they crossed the line. Behind this pair on 1000cc machines was Jamie Medhurst and Richard Wardle (Stoke on Trent) having a fantastic race on their 600cc machines, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. The Hodson and Poole show then returned for the first Open Solo race, but this time it was Hodson who took the honours with Poole, on a different machine, only ever able to get within 0.5sec from him. The Hodson/Poole show appeared again for the second Peak Cup race, at the end of Lap1 it was Hodson leading the pack until Poole squeezed by on Lap 2, holding his position for two laps when Hodson edged ahead once more and managing to stay ahead for the remaining seven laps, although with Poole trying all he could to get passed until they ran into back markers in the closing stages. Behind these two it was Wardle and Medhurst who were also locked in combat again, on this occasion Wardle took the advantage on Lap4 and was able to hold Medhurst off, who in turn had Brendan Brown closing in, the trio crossing the line with less than 1 second separating them. The final Open Solo race gave the bragging rights to Jim Hodson, managing to stay in front of Poole for the entire 8 lap race, although never stretching further than 0.7sec throughout the race, the winning margin being just 0.3sec!

It was no surprise to see Wardle, Medhurst and Brown take centre stage in the Formula 600 races and they certainly ensured the crowd were entertained. Both races followed a similar pattern, with the three battling throughout, Medhurst led away from the line on both occasions, until Wardle found a way past. In the first race Brown was able to get himself into 2nd place for just one early lap, until he was pushed back to 3rd. Wardle won, Medhurst 2nd and Brown 3rd, all three separated by less than 2 seconds at the flag! However, with the second race being the remaining half of the Curtis Milner Trophy (in memory of a young racer who started his racing career at Darley Moor, but unfortunately lost his life in a road traffic accident), it was Medhurst who was lifting the silverware, receiving the Trophy and a £250 cheque from Curtis’ parents, Craig and Tina.

Tim Poole was one of the busiest and most successful riders on the day, taking to the grid in the Sound of Thunder races, on the same machine used in the Open Solo class. This time he wasn’t challenged too much and recorded two faultless flag to flag victories, with Gary Henriksen 2nd each time. Behind these, in the first race, a familiar battle from Saturday was unfolding with Ross Richards and Brad Vicars on their Mini Sound of Thunder machines, this time Richards was able to pass Vicars and stay in front to the chequered flag, turning the tables on Saturday’s result and claiming the class victory, with Vicars 2nd and Paul Turner 3rd, in class. With Richards not coming to the grid in the second race and Vicars not at his usual quick pace Paul Turner claimed the Mini Sound of Thunder class victory, taking his smaller machine up to 3rd Overall on the track. David Carson (Northwich) was 2nd with Vicars 3rd in the class.

Ross Richards continued his winning streak over Brad Vicars in the first combined Formula Darley/125 race, taking the lead from the start he was able to hold off the Vicars challenge to the finish line, the pair within 0.4sec as they crossed the line, with Paul Turner in 3rd, all on Formula Darley machines. Emma Franklin (Peterborough) took the honours in the 125 class, being the only finishing 125 racer not to have been overtaken by the leaders. In the second race Richards continued as in the first race, leading from the start, but whilst leading he failed to complete the third lap handing the lead and victory to Vicars, with Paul Turner taking 2nd. After failing to complete Lap5 in the first race, Mark Tyrrell‘s luck held out in the second race to take the 125cc victory, with 5th overall, Emma Franklin claimed 2nd place, again the last rider on the same lap as the leaders.

Both combined Steel Framed and Pre Injection 600 races were won by Jamie Pearson on his Pre Injection machine. The first after passing Jake Hingley for the lead on Lap 4 and the second with a flag to flag victory. On both occasions Hingley was 2nd overall, but claimed two victories in the Steel Framed class.

Repeating his feat from Saturday, Shane Pearson (Jamie’s brother) recorded two more faultless displays in the Pre98 races, on his (Up to 1300cc) leading from start to finish, with Richard Stubbs(Stone)following him on both occasions. In the Up to 500cc class the first race saw Michael Barlow hold off a late charge from Andrew Clarke to take the class victory. The second race saw disaster strike for Andrew Clarke whilst holding 3rd Overall, an error caused him to lose ten places, handing the class victory to Max Dixon (Wirral) and 2nd place to Alan Jones (Hednesford).

Sam Grief (Egginton) claimed two victories in the Classic 50 after the leader, Stephen Nugent (Abergavenny) suffered grief of his own in both races, whilst leading! In the first race a mistake dropped him from 1st down to 7th, but he recovered several places to finish 5th. Unfortunately, it was worse in the second race, again in the lead with a 6 second advantage he failed to complete the 4th lap.

On Saturday Paul Hedison claimed to faultless displays in the combined Lightweight/Class races, but Sunday was different with Chris Moore (High Peak) now on the grid. In the first race Moore was shadowing Hedison for 5 of the 6 laps then made his move on the final lap to take the win by just 0.05sec. In the second race Hedison didn’t allow a similar move, maintaining a larger gap between them throughout the race, Moore could only finish 2nd this time, 0.6sec adrift. The Classic machines saw double class wins for Jamie O’Brien, Classic 1000; John Schoeneman, Classic 500; John Leese, Classic 350 and Geoff Hadwin, Classic 250.

From the four sidecar races held on Sunday, three had a victory margin of less than 1 second at the line, ensuring the spectators stayed, or should have stayed to the end of the day. The Stephen Ramsden/Matty Ramsden (Hebden Bridge) pairing recorded two victories in the Formula 600 Sidecar races, although they led each lap it was certainly not an easy race, having Roy Hanks/Julie Hanks-Elliott in very close pursuit throughout the first race, just 0.8sec separating them at the finish. With a similar finish in the second race, although the Hanks/Hanks-Elliott pairing had to squeeze by Lee Crawford/Stuart Ramsey (Crook/Northallerton) outfit with two laps to spare, the three outfits were separated by 1sec at the finish line.

Although a smaller grid the first Open Sidecar race gave an even closer finish, Ray Thomas/ Neil Aslaksen overtaking Tony Thompson/Jack Jones on the final lap and crossing the line with just a 0.24sec advantage. The Thompson/Jones pairing ensured the same would not happen again in the second race, after taking the lead from Anthony Eades/Iain Greensmith on Lap 2, followed by Thomas/Aslaksen chasing them and moving into 2nd on the 3rd lap. The Thompson/Jones put in some very quick laps, stretching their advantage to almost 3seconds at the flag and putting the finishing touches to an excellent weekend of racing.

The next meeting of the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Championship is Round 5 and scheduled for August Bank Holiday Monday 25th August 2014.

The cost of adult admission to Darley Moor for all meetings, except the end of season Stars at Darley meeting, is £12.00 per day, children under 16 are free, and Senior Citizens are £8.00. Parking and Paddock Transfer is free and a programme costs just £3.00. Adult admission to the Test Days is £6.00.

For the Stars at Darley event on 12th October the adult admission price is £16.00 and Senior Citizens £12.00.

Championship positions (after Round 4)

Peak Cup

1st Jim Hodson, 60pts; 2nd Tim Poole, 54pts; 3rd Jamie Medhurst, 30pts

Open Solo

1st Tim Poole, 54pts; 2nd Jim Hodson, 51pts; 3rd Scott Bingley, 27pts

Open Sidecars

1st Tony Thompson/Jack Jones 33pts; 2nd Anthony Eades/Iain Greensmith, 27pts; 3rd Ray Thomas/Neil Aslaksen 25pts

Lightweight

1st Paul Hedison, 63pts; 2nd Mark Tyrell, 39pts; 3rd Chris Moore 33pts

GP125

1st Mark Tyrell, 63pts; 2nd Justin Brown, 32pts; 3rd Emma Franklin, 25pts