The Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club’s 2026 season kicked off last weekend, 11th – 12th April, at the Darley Moor Sports Centre, near Ashbourne, DE6 2ET (or What3words: bounty.behalf.charm) with a twenty-race programme that included a variety of races for machines of two, three and four-wheels. Not only was there a variety of machinery being raced, but the weather also provided a mixture from beautiful sunshine, rain, hail and even snow at times, which would test the competitors’ ability to adapt to different track conditions!
Closest race of the day was the first Open Solo race which saw three riders cross the line within 1.5sec apart, albeit a shortened race distance of just four laps, from eight, due to a red-flag incident, but the
afternoon’s race proved the competition in this class will keep the crowd entertained throughout the year. Matt Bell (Sheffield) was quickest off the line, stretching out a lead of 0.6sec over Jake Hopper (East Rainton), with Alfie Jenkinson (Knutsford) 3rd and Stephen Parsons (Carnforth) 4th, 2sec behind Bell. By the end of Lap2 Parsons had reduced the gap to Bell down to 0.2sec, whilst Parsons was into 3rd, but 2.2sec back from the head of the field. Lap3 and Parsons, still in 3rd, but after setting the fastest lap of the race he had closed the gap to 1.4sec, then on Lap4 he managed to pass Hopper, claiming 2nd place, within 1sec of
leader, Bell, with Hopper 0.4sec back. Unfortunately, the race had to be stopped after the red-flag incident in which there were no serious injuries. After finishing 5th in the opening race Jordan Rushby certainly
mastered the conditions in the second race, taking a start – finish victory, 1.4sec ahead of Parsons, who had passed Bell on Lap2, to move into 2nd place and set about closing the 3sec to Rushby. After, once again,
recording the fastest lap of the race, on Lap 7, Parsons had reduced the gap significantly to the leader, whilst Bell was unable to match the pace, finishing almost 17sec behind the leading pair. Parsons and Rushby were at the head of the field, once more, in the first Ben Godfrey Trophy race, although it was Parsons again mastering the conditions, albeit almost 7sec slower, per lap, than the Open Solo races. Lapping, at times, 1.5sec quicker than his nearest challenger, Rushby, Parsons crossed the line with an 18sec advantage, unfortunately Bell’s challenge failed to materialise, failing to complete Lap3, after crossing the line 6th on Lap2. The second Ben Godfrey Trophy race gave Parsons a third victory, after setting another fastest lap of a race, this time finishing 19sec ahead of Bell , with Rushby not making it to the grid.
Benjamin Dale (Warrington) took a start-finish victory in the first Open 600 race with Ricky Tarren (Swadlincote) his closest challenger, within 1sec of Dale after the opening lap, but unable to get any closer, finally finishing 4.6sec behind the victor at the chequered flag. The second race saw Tarren record a
start-finish win, but whilst Dale was down in eighth after the opening lap, it was Joseph Busefield that attempted to take the challenge to Tarren, 0.6sec behind after Lap1, but Tarren’s pace was too quick,
finishing 8sec back at the flag. Dale, however, could only fight his way up to 4th place once the flag came down on the eight-lap race.
Dale also suffered mixed fortunes in the Golden Supersport 600 races, challenging Jonathan Trezins (Wisbech) on the opening lap of the first race, trailing by 0.5sec as they crossed the line, but by the end of Lap2 there was almost 4sec separating the pair at the head of the field, but that lap was to be Dale’s last this time, failing to finish Lap3 and allowing Trezins a start-finish victory, with Taylor Garner (Isle of Axholme) finishing 2nd, over 30sec back. Their second encounter, the afternoon’s race, saw Dale finish Lap1 with a 1.8sec advantage over Trezins, with Garner a similar distance back, in 3rd place. On this occasion Dale’s pace was too much for Trezins, finally finishing almost 10sec behind at the flag, with Garner also dropping back from Trezins, at a similar rate, in 3rd place.
Trezins and Garner were back out on the grid for the combined Darley Cup and Wilson Trophy races and
Trezins did not suffer any mixed fortunes in either race, recording two start-finish victories. Whilst Garner was able to hang onto 2nd place despite having a fast-approaching David Carson (Northwich) finishing just 1sec behind at the chequered flag. By Lap5 there was a 4sec gap between Garner and Carson, 3rd, but finding a better route through backmarkers allowed Carson to close the gap in the latter stages of the 8-lap race. The top three being taken by Darley Cup machines, but in 4th place overall and claiming Wilson Trophy honours, Freddy Oakley (Chesterfield) comfortably took the class victory, with an advantage of almost 20sec ahead of Ant Porter (Chesterfield), in 6th place, overall. The second encounter saw Trezins claim a start-finish overall victory, with Freddy Oakley tailing him throughout, finally finishing 13.5sec behind, 2nd overall, but a second Wilson Trophy victory, Porter suffering ‘issues’ this time out and another 6th place overall, but a lap behind.
Oakley and Porter were on the grid once again competing for the honours in the Lightweight Championship, taking to the grid with Honda CB500/Suzuki Bandit machines. Another two start-finish victories and two
fastest laps, in the Lightweight class, made Oakley the most successful competitor of the weekend (4 wins, 4
Fastest Laps, from 4 starts). For Porter, things were much better with two 2nd place Overall and crossing the line just seconds adrift of Oakley. 2025 Champion, Richard Hughes (Wolverhampton) continued the defence of his championship in the best way possible with two class victories, never being headed by any other
competitor in the class. Hughes recorded an overall 3rd in the first race, with Daniel Capper (Cheshire) taking 2nd in class, 6th overall, 6sec behind the class victor. The second race gave another overall 3rd, for Hughes, with Richard Parker-Davis () claiming 2nd, in class and 4th overall, 4.5sec behind the class winner.
The final two Club championship solo classes, SuperTwins and Mini Twins, were out on the grid together and SuperTwin honours were shared between Chris Moore (High Peak), in the first and David Carson, the second race, both taking the overall victory, whilst Anthony Thane (Stoke on Trent ) claimed the Mini Twins victories, taking an overall 2nd place in both races.
Onto three-wheels and the Open Sidecar pairing of Andy Peach/Josh Hope (Fawkham/Maidstone) claimed the first outing with a start-finish win over Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement (Market Rasen/North Kelsey), the
victors in the Formula 600 Sidecar class. The two teams separated by 4.4sec but beating the respective
Runners-Up for each class by almost 20sec, Eddie Wakley/Ben Hughes (Hayling Island/Northwold) for the Open class and Thomas Stringer/Jamie Stringer (Huddersfield) for the 600 class. Being the final race of the day the class suffered from several delays earlier and time was a serious factor in getting the race
completed, unfortunately on the second lap there was an incident at the hairpin, no serious injuries, but damage was caused to the protection barriers which would have taken too long to fix, so the second race was abandoned.
This Round saw two guest championship classes in the programme, firstly the ACU Ultra Lightweight
Championship were the first machines to the grid when racing started and David DeGroot (Wellingborough) recorded two start-finish victories, firstly from Shane Norval (Didcot), 14sec behind and the second, by
holding off a late charge from David McGlone (Hull), finishing just 3sec behind.
Regular guests Superkarting UK InterClub Championship provided the four wheeled action and whilst Paul von Gerard (Warwick) claimed a straightforward victory, heading the field from start-finish ahead of Nathan Barton (North Somercates), 18sec adrift. The second race had to be restarted on two occasions, due to
serious accidents, thankfully without a bad injury, but with the time to clear the track it was necessary to cancel a third start and results taken after just the one race.
Hopefully, Rounds 3 & 4 scheduled to take place on Sunday 10th May will provide much more stable weather conditions and allow all races to run their full distance.
The action starts at 10am at each meeting, with the first race scheduled for 11.30am on race days.
Unfortunately, for the first time since 2018, the Club have had to increase the prices, slightly, for this coming season:
Test Days – Adults £10 (£8 in advance), Seniors £8 (£6 in advance)
Race days – Adults £18 (£15 in advance), Seniors £14 (£12 in advance)
Stars at Darley meeting - Adults £20 (£17 in advance), Seniors £17 (£14 in advance)
Camping is also available at £10 per night from Friday night through to Monday morning, for just £10 per night. Advance tickets at are available now, just visit www.darleymoorstore.com.
The Chequered Flag Café, open to all, every weekend, but with longer hours on a race weekend (Friday 2pm – 8pm, Saturday 8am – 8pm, Sunday 8am – 6pm) and with its own set of very regular customers.
2026 Championship (after Rounds 1 & 2)
Wilson Trophy
1st Freddy Oakley, 30pts; 2nd Ant Porter/Iain Davis, 20pts.
Darley Cup
1sgt Jonathan Trezins, 30pts; 2nd Paul Evans, 20pts; Taylor Garner, 12pts
Ben Godfrey Trophy
1st Stephen Parsons, 30pts; 2nd Mark Goodings, 20pts; 3rd Jordan Rushby, 12pts
Open 600cc
1st Ricky Tarren, 27pts; 2nd Benjamin Dale, 23pts; 3rd Joseph Busfield, 20pts
Open Solos
1st Matt Bell, 25pts; 2nd Stephen Parsons, 24pts; 3rd Jordan Rushby, 23pts
Golden SuperSport 600
1st Jonathan Trezins, 27pts; 2nd Taylor Garner, 22pts; 3rd Benjamin Dale, 15pts
Mini Twins & GP250
1st Anthony Thane, 30pts; 2nd Mikey Taylor, 22pts; 3rd Thomas Gallagher, 12pts
Super Twins
1st Paul Evans, 22pts; 2nd Callum Beach, 20pts; 3rd Russell Dodds
Lightweight Class
1st Freddy Oakley, 30pts; 2nd Ant Porter, 24pts; 3rd Iain Davis/Steve Price, 18pts
Honda CB500 & Suzuki Bandits
1st Richard Hughes, 30pts; 2nd Daniel Capper/Lyndon Williams, 20pts; 3rd Richard Parker-Davis, 16pts
Formula 600 Sidecars
1st Lee Eastell/Mark Eastell, 23pts; 2nd Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth, 22pts; 3rd Thomas Stringer/ Jamie Stringer, 20pts
Open Sidecars to 1300cc
1st Eddie Wakley/Ben Hughes, 27pts; 2nd Alan Molyneaux/Courtney Anderson, 20pts
Report by Brian George
Photos by Tony Else Photography