Truelove shows his class at Cadwell scorcher
The NG runners were greeted by the hottest weekend of the year as they rolled into Cadwell Park. Near 30 degree temperatures were the order of the day with track temperatures in the mid 40’s. (Just as a side the commentary box hit 34 degrees….. great for tomatoes….. not so great for NG’s team of Russ Gardner and Martin Bennett !!)
The track temperatures caused the riders many issues with grip levels and tyre pressures, so kept the teams busy searching for a good balance.
Local Lincoln racing brothers Matt and Harry Truelove rocked up this weekend with Matt bringing his all new BMW S1000RR with wings-and-all !! Matt was in good form in front of his local sun-drenched supporters as he headed home NG regulars Max Symonds and Daniel Cooper in the first two Phoenix Open races. Sunday afternoon saw fresh tyres and time to push for lap times. He dipped into the 1min 30’s before pulling out in the latter stages into pit lane, leaving the way for brother Harry to pick up a win despite Dan Cooper crossing the line first….. why?….. Because Copper had misjudged the start and was deemed to have jumped and was slapped with a 10 second penalty which eventually saw him shuffled into fourth in the final reckoning behind Truelove “H”, Max Symonds and Jamie Coward. Cooper still leads the season long championship, but rival Max Symonds took points out of his lead with Oulton and Pembrey still to come.
Truelove “M” was also out in the Powerbikes and qualified on pole. The first of the three races for them saw the red flag come out after one lap….take two saw a faulty start due to a stalled bike mid field…. Take three was aborted as the Lincolnshire Air Ambulance appeared to lift Mark Ball who was one of the fallers in part one from the circuit with a hand and arm injury. When they were finally called back to the grid Truelove did not appear that left the way open for current series leader Max Symonds to grab the win over Josh Wood and Jamie Coward. Truelove headed home Max in the second and third outings with Truelove again dropping into the sub-31 bracket.
Josh Day was using the weekend as test time, and they managed to iron out a few issues on the Panigale taking a couple of top fives….. from the back of the grid, and bettering his previous lap times….. job done.
Race Round up.
Lets take a run through of all the regular NG classes starting with the Junior Supersport, and it was 15 year old Ash Barnes that dominated taking three convincing wins and lowering the lap record each and every time he went out on his DMJ R3 Yamaha. Joe Farragher and James Rose fought over the remaining podium positions all weekend. Tim Bradley was another three-time winner on his A and Z Taylor FZR 400 with three lonely rides out front, as again no one could match his pace. Steve Richards and Tony Brabazon shared the best of the rest title. Steve Richards was also out in the 500 open and bagged another brace of runner-up spots this time behind Michael McKerr with the TZ250 Yamaha.
The 600 class saw another set of 100% lights to flag races out front for Daniel Cooper on the immaculate DCM CBR600. Bradley Richman and Toby Shann tried to keep Cooper in their sights in the first two outings to no avail. Their final race of the weekend had Cameron Hall finally on form and chased through from his lowly grid position to catch Richman on the last lap. Hall made his move for second but young Bradley wanted to get that runner up spot back, pushing the front of his Kawasaki at the final Barn Corner sliding out of the race. He still holds a secure second place in the championship despite this slight misdemeanour. Newcomer George Edwards had a great weekend with three top six finishes in this very competitive class….. (…..if you removed Cooper !!!).
Dan Harris currently leads the Mini Twins class with his brother Richard in second, both on HP Racing SV’s. However Dan was a no-show this weekend and Brother Richard took no second asking to grab the advantage taking three wins to not take over the series lead. Scott Larkin, Max Silvester and Bevan Plumley gave the sun-baked crowds three handlebar-banging races as they followed Harris home. Paul “Potchy” Williams was gifted an ER6 for the weekend by its benevolent owner Marc Harrison. He repaid that generosity with two wins and a runner-up spot. The one race he did not win went to Paul Wardell the multiple Twins champion who was looking to win his 100th career trophy here at Cadwell….. job done. Dave Hewson was never too far from the action on his special CF Moto MK600.
Benjamin Falla bounced back from an early Saturday morning tumble from his True Heroes 959 Panigale to not only take three wins, but to take over the championship lead from Owen Hunt. Hunt had finished second in Saturday’s first race on his Daytona Triple but went out of race two on the final lap ant the mountain injuring his wrist, and was unable to get out for the third race handing the series lead to Falla. Chris Lavisher had three podiums on his 675 to leap up to third in the title table.
The 1300cc Streetstock class has seen some of the closest racing this season with the standard road going bikes from each manufacturer very evenly matched. Chris Oliver heads the series at present and he uses The Garage Trowbridge R1 Yamaha. The former Newcomers champion took two of the three races this weekend to extend his series lead over Jason Hill who uses a RJ Motorsport/WSM/JT Racing ZX10R. Hill took race three by just half a bike length. The third of the top trio was Jon Wright less than a half a second back. Wright a four-time champion has switched from R1 to ZX10R power this year and is still searching for that comfortable feeling, but this weekend proved he is certainly getting there. The 700cc street class saw Daniel Nelmes drag himself off his sick bed after suffering with tonsillitis and an ear infection to take three wins from three and extend his series lead. Eddie Whitehurst, Mike Knorr and Joshua Humphries squabbled over the minor placings. Nelmes’ points haul was even more satisfying as his nearest title challenger Kurtis Bultler did not appear on the grids all weekend despite being on the entry list.
Cadwell must be Aaron Staniforth’s favourite track because as in previous seasons whenever NG arrive at the Lincolnshire circuit his name is on the 700 Pre Injection entry list. As previous years he left with three winners trophies in the van as he dominated the class on his Paxford Garage CBR600. Chester Norton followed him home each outing.
Sam Neate took his beautiful RC30 to two wins in the first two outings for the 1300 Pre Injection machines including setting and then lowering the class lap record both times over James McHardy. Neate was denied a third win after his RC30 went sick on lap one of the third race leaving class new boy (…ex Bandit champ) McHardy to take his second win of the year heading home series leader Richard Stather.
Suzuki Bandits and Formula Prostocks.
The FPR runners had four races this weekend after the cancellation of the Donington race due to bad weather.
The FP1 class for F1 machines had one win for Mark Carels-Watson, one for Nick Allinson and two for Brian McCall. FP2 Battle of the Twins had two wins for Tony Hart and two for Nick Pillborough with Tony and Nick besting the old lap record numerous times. FP3 Classic 750cc Superbikes had Shaun Hennessey on track for four from four but was just bettered by Tom Vear in the final outing of the weekend…… FP4’s were thin on the grounds this weekend with no finishers for the Classic 1300cc Superbikes.
The Bandit results show four wins again for Harley Prebble to extend his unbeaten run to 13 wins from 13 as they go into their showdown rounds at Oulton and Pembrey. Gary Cutts looked to have the pace to hassle Harley on Saturday, challenging to the flag in their first outing but after a lap 1 crash was left a little de-tuned. Cutts was left to battle through to join the frantic podium squabbles between Dave Crampton, Neil Attenborough, Lee Marks and David Greenwood.
Reigning champion Prebble looks in dominant for the Showdown and it would be a brave man who would bet against him retain the Bandit title a racing the Suzuki GB bike again in 2022.
To find out more about the Formula Prostock Series : www.formulaprostockracing.co.uk
125/250GP ACU National Championship.
Robert Varey is better know for racing a 600, but he was given the Fastline Superbikes Club59 TZ250 Yamaha that is reported to be the Ex Kevin Mitchell bike (Kevin and Graham were both supporting Varey this weekend). Varey repayed them with three wins from three starts heading home Steven Neate in race one, Gavin Mills in race two and James Hobson in race three. Cadwell fan John Lea grabbed three podium finishes, but Philip Atkinson struggled a little this weekend on his TZ unusually not getting a taste of podium bubbly but with a run of fourth placings saw him leave the meeting with an extended lead. Gavin Mills had been set for another great weekend backing up his Castle Combe performances but parted company with his TZ which preceded to totally destroy itself as it barrel-rolled across the Lincolnshire countryside…..
MDJ Racing’s Tom Hayward took two wins in the first two outings for the 125GP category but retired on the last lap of the third race. Former 250 National champ Ant Hodson took the win, however it looked like Ant was on for the win anyway, collecting the 25 points for the TSM Team.
Ducati Desmo Series.
The Desmo Due Ducatis have two classes, class A for 620cc fuel injected models and the B class for the older 600cc carburettor fed machines. Chris Norris took al three wins in the Desmo A class heading home Scott Wilson twice and Andy Blomfield once. Norris revelled in the Cadwell heat wave as he set a new class lap record on Saturday, however it only lasted one day as Paul Garner bettered those figures on Sunday knocking another 0.2 of a second of the previous figures. Lee Brackenbury was top dog in the B class taking all three races in convincing style on his Lee Ash vehicle repairs 600 SS.
To find out more about the Desmo Due Series : www.ducatisportingclub.com
Lansdowne Classic Championship.
The Lansdowne Classic Series were a welcome guest class at Cadwell giving us the sounds on the 60’s. The whole weekend really revolved around two men, Sam Clewes and Michael Russell, there was never more than a couple of bike lengths between them. Clewes took the first two races, but Russell was in no mood to miss out a third time. Despite Clewes leading into the final lap Russell on his 500 Manx out dragged his fellow Norton rider to the line taking it by just 0.001 of a second. David Tetley took all three third placings.
To find out more about the Lansdowne Series: www.lansdowneclassic.co.uk
Newcomers.
As ever NG give the newcomers to racing their own dedicated races and championships running three categories for the Open, Mini-Twin and 500cc bikes. For this meeting George Edwards took a great win in the Open on his Edwards Builders R6 Yamaha, whilst Max Silvester took his maiden Mini Twins victory on his Dads track day SV650! The 500 class saw Jack Worth take his RS125 to the win.
Wiz Knee Sliders Performance of the Meeting.
At every NG round one lucky rider is selected for the Wiz Sliders Performance award. The chosen one gets a special set of one-off sliders made by the Wiz guy's in Somerset. This meeting the winner was Robert Varey.
To find out more about WIZ Sliders: www.wizkneesliders.com
Bill Barrowcliffe Special Award.
Bill comes along to Cadwell every year armed with a trophy and a bottle of bubbly that he presents to what is, in his opinion the best turned out bike in the paddock. This year he actually gave it to a team, the Dan Cooper Motorsport Team Running Dan and Dave Tilling on a pair of CBR600 Hondas.
….. and finally.
Saturday lunchtime saw a marriage proposal as Suzuki Bandit racer Craig Harris proposed to his other half in the middle of the circuit at the top of The Mountain. There were beads of sweat on his brow that were not just down to the 29 degree heat !!!! Luckily his partner Fern accepted (…phew) and became his fiancée as the massed ranks of Bandit competitors cheered on.
Images courtesy | Hairy Beast Pix | www.hairybeastpix.co.uk