DARLEY MOOR MCRRC FLAG LIFTS ON ANOTHER SEASON AT DARLEY MOOR

Wednesday April 8, 2026 at 6:42pm

Six months of silence is about to come to an end at the Darley Moor Sports Centre, near Ashbourne, DE6 2ET (or What3words: bounty.behalf.charm) when Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club open the gates for their Test Day on Saturday 11^th April, prior to Round 1 of their Championship on Sunday 12^th April 2026.

Despite the lack of competitive action, the Club have still been busy continuing to improve the facilities for both competitors and spectators alike. The biggest project over the closed season has been to improve the Townley’s approach to the Hairpin, with a lorry load of gravel, courtesy of Martyn Bosworth, Bosworth Grab Hire, to fill the newly extended run-off area.

At the time of writing there is already one of the biggest entries for the three-wheeled sidecar classes, for several years. Both pairs of 2024 & 2025 Champions head the list: Alan Molyneux/Courtney Anderson (Rufford/Houghton le Spring) the Open Class Champions and Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth (Sutton Coldfield/Lincoln) the Formula 600 Champions for the past 2 years. Alongside the pairing of Keith Waddington/Kyia Illman (Barnsley/Crewe), 3^rd place in both years too, other entries include Ben Birchall/Mark Wilkes (Mansfield/Cumbria) and Maria Costello MBE/Shaun Parker (Northampton/Portishead).

The solo entries include eleven Champions from the past two season, topping the list is Matt Bell (Sheffield) 2025 and 2024 Ben Godfrey Trophy holder, 2025 Open Solo Champion and Runner-Up in 2024. 2024 Open Solo Champion, Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield), Jordan Rushby (Bevereley) 3^rd place man last season in both Championships and 3^rd place 2024 Ben Godfrey Trophy, Mark Goodings (Doncaster) will be all be looking to stop Bell’s dominance.

The Super Twins class sees the Champion of 2024, David Carson(Northwich) and the 2025 Champion, Josh Froggatt (Worksop) go head-to-head. Ben Dale (Warrington), Golden Supersport 600 Champion last season will be defending his title and resuming his on-track battles with Jonathon Trezins (Wisbech) and Liam Ashton (Hyde) who finished 2^nd and 3^rd, respectively, in last year’s Championship. The Open 600 class will see both Carson, who finished 3^rd last season and Dale line up on the grid together. Looking to be one of the busier competitors on the day, again, Carson is also entered for the Darley Cup, in which he was Champion in the 2024 season. Third place finishers in 2025, Trezins and 2024, Joseph Lord (Derby) will be taking the fight to Carson.

Richard Hughes (Wolverhampton), the 2025 Honda CB500/Suzuki Bandit 600 Champion and 3^rd in 2024 will be defending his championship title, whilst Shane Watson (Sutton in Ashfield) will be looking to improve on his 3^rd place finish last season.

The Mini Twins class currently has the 2024 Champion Anthony Thane (Stoke on Trent) and last years 3^rd place finisher Mikey Taylor (Whitehaven) heading the list of entries, so far.

Freddy Oakley (Chesterfield), Runner-Up in last year’s Lightweight class, plus 3^rd place man last year, but Runner-Up in 2024, Iain Davis (Ashbourne) and Mike Lees (Congleton) 3^rd in 2024 will all be lining up again for the Lightweight class. Ant Porter (Chesterfield) is likely to be somewhere in the mix for honours. Then, Oakley, Lees and Porter will be returning to the grid for the Wilson Trophy class races.

Alongside the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club’s classes there is also a Round of the ACU Ultra-Lightweight Championship and regular guest runners, Superkarting UK. The list below shows all the Rounds for the forthcoming Championship season.

Saturday 11^th April Test Day

Sunday 12^th April Round 1 & 2 DMMCRRC Championship & Superkarting UK

Sunday 10^th May Round 3 & 4 DMMCRRC Championship

Saturday 20^th June Round 5 & 6 DMMCRRC Championship & Superkarting UK

Sunday 21^st June Round 7 & 8 DMMCRRC Championship & Superkarting UK

Sunday 9^th August Round 9 & 10 DMMCRRC Championship & Superkarting UK

Sunday 20^th September Round 11 & 12 DMMCRRC Championship & Superkarting UK

Saturday 10^th October Round 13 & 14 DMMCRRC, Stars at Darley & Superkarting UK

Sunday 11^th October Round 15 & 16 DMMCRRC, Stars at Darley & Superkarting UK

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.

2025 Championship Final Standings

Golden Formula 400

1st Stephen Gorton, 165pts; 2nd Steve Price, 102pts; 3rd Ant Porter, 83pts

Wilson Trophy

1st Stephen Gorton, 90pts; 2nd Mike White, 86points; Corey Brown, 60pts

Darley Cup

1st Benjamin Dale, 153pts; 2nd Josh Froggatt, 147pts; 3rd Jonathan Trezins, 94pts

Ben Godfrey Trophy

1st Matthew Bell, 174pts; 2nd Adam Walters, 122pts; 3rd Jordan Rushby, 66pts

Open 600cc

1st Stephen Parsons, 142pts; 2nd Matt Zschiesche, 131pts; 3rd Jack Worth, 122pts

Golden Superbike