Tuesday September 27, 2011 at 11:17am
This weekend, 1st & 2nd October 2011 will see the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club end their 2011 season in style with the traditional finale – the ‘Stars at Darley’ meeting. With six champions still to be decided you can once again expect to see superb racing, but add in a host of British Championship competitors and several big stars from the pure road racing scene and the Adult entry fee of £15 (*) offers excellent value for money. If you cannot get to the circuit on Sunday then you will have the opportunity to see everybody during Saturday practice for no more than £6 (*).
The two 10 lap ‘Stars at Darley’ races will see the Honda TT Legends Team of John McGuiness and Keith Amor; Irish Road Race star William Dunlop; Profile Racing’s Luke Stapleford; James McBride, PB Motorsport; Tom Fisher Team Green G&S Racing and the Buildbase BMW Superbike Team of Richard Cooper, Barry Burrell and Lee Jackson all battling it out with Darley regulars such as Shane Pearson, Richard Wardle and this year’s Peak Cup and Open Solo Champion Jim Hodson.
With six champions still to be decided there will be plenty of action throughout the day and with local competitors in with a shout of lifting the silverware come along and offer your support. Ben Godfrey and Chris Spooner will be trying to stop Rob Hodson becoming Lightweight Champion. Godfrey is currently 2nd, just 5 points behind, whilst Spooner has a much harder task being 18 points adrift.
Yet another Hodson is leading the GP125 Championship, Jamie, currently holds a 7 point advantage over Andrew Fisher, while Ricky Tarren has a 14 point gap to reduce.
There is an 8 point cushion at the head of the Open Sidecar Championship for Anthony Eades/Iain Greensmith but with the dominant performance of Allen Schofield/Steve Thomas at the last round they certainly showed they have not given up on the laurels.
The Pre-Injection 600 Championship will definitely going to a local racer with current leader Gavin Salt holding a 10 point lead over Jon Skelson.
Richard Wardle has a healthy 17 point advantage in the Formula 600 standings, but with 18 points available if mechanical gremlins or bad luck strike him it may help Jim Hodson become a triple champion.
With the absence of Jamie Medhurst at recent Rounds James Ford has all but secured the Sound of Thunder Championship, holding an 18 point lead, if Medhurst returns this weekend he will need to win and Ford fail to score any points to be in with a chance of lifting the title.
Whilst the remaining Championships may have been decided there will be some tense battles for the Runner-Up places. Anthony Porter is another double Champion - Mini Sound of Thunder and Formula Darley classes, but the Runner-Up spot in Formula Darley currently has Rob Hodson holding a 2 point advantage over Chris Spooner.
Roy Hanks/Julie Hanks-Elliott are the FII Sidecar Champions, but Christopher Schofield/Daniel Schofield hold just a 1 point lead over Dean Banks/James Stonier.
Steve Price is this year’s Steel Framed 600 Champion and Dave Thomasson holds a slender 6 point lead over Dean Ephgrave, but Chris Sammons has only competed in two Rounds this year and won each time, he could easily turn a 13 point deficit around and finish in the Runner-Up spot.
Wez Pearce is the Pre 98 (Up to 500cc) Champion and Kev Cooper the Pre 98 (Up to 1300cc) Champion, but the battle behind Cooper see’s Gavin Heath with a 12 point advantage over Jon Skelson.
Last year’s Stars meeting had to be abandoned on safety grounds after suffering from a rare race day sight at Darley – heavy rainfall. According to the weather reports spectators could well be in t-shirts and shorts for this year’s meeting, so why not get along to Darley for this superb finale before the long range forecasts bring the snow in few weeks’ time!
Saturday Practice will be between 10.00am – 5.00pm, with an Untimed practice for Stars competitors between 2.00pm – 3.00pm. On Sunday practice will start at 10.00am, with Timed practice for the Stars races scheduled for approx. 11.15am and the first race at 12.00 noon.
(*)Entrance admission on Saturday; Adults £6.00, Senior Citizens £3.00, kids under 16 free. Sunday admission; Adults £15.00, Senior Citizens £8.00, as always parking & paddock transfer free, with Programmes £3.00.
Advanced tickets are available from www.darleymoorstore.co.uk at a special rate of £13.00 (Senior Citizens £7.00) for the Sunday, £5.00 (Senior Citizens £2.00) for Saturday
Food is available throughout both days at the ‘Darley Diner’.
Camping and caravanning is available from Friday night through to Monday at a cost of £5 per night.
For further information please log onto the Club’s website www.darleymoor.co.uk where you can also listen to live commentary direct from the meeting if you cannot attend.
Championship Standings (after 7 Rounds)
Peak Cup
1st Jim Hodson, 114pts; 2nd Shane Pearson 66pts; 3rd Richard Wardle 43pts
Open Solos
1st Jim Hodson 108pts; 2nd Shane Pearson 66pts; 3rd Lee Vernon 26pts
Open Sidecars
1st Anthony Eades/Iain Greensmith 80pts; 2nd Allan Schoefield/Steve Thomas 72pts; 3rd Ray Thomas/Neil Aslaksen 48pts;
Lightweight Championship
1st Rob Hodson 83pts; 2nd Ben Godfrey 78pts; 3rd Chris Spooner 65pts;
GP125
1st Jamie Hodson 78pts; 2nd Andrew Fisher 71pts; 3rd Ricky Tarren 64pts
Formula 600
1st Richard Wardle 89pts; 2nd Jim Hodson 72pts; 3rd Danny Smith 49pts
Formula Darley
1st Anthony Porter 95pts; 2nd Rob Hodson 68pts 3rd Chris Spooner 66pts;
Formula 125
1st David Carson 114pts; 2nd Jordan Rushby 54pts; 3rd Asher Durham 37pts
FII Sidecars
1st Roy Hanks/Julie Hanks Elliott 87pts; 2nd Christopher Schofield/Daniel Schofield 28pts; 3rd Dean Banks/Kelly Lewis 27pts
Steel Framed 600
1st Steve Price 102pts; 2nd Dave Thomasson 49pts; 3rd Dean Ephgrave 43pts
Pre Injection 600
1st Gavin Salt 91pts; 2nd Jon Skelson 81pts; 3rd Daniel Pritchard 38pts
Mini Sound of Thunder
1st Anthony Porter 108pts; 2nd Gary Dangerfield 88pts; 3rd Alex Woodhouse 29pts
Sound of Thunder
1st James Ford 90pts; 2nd Jamie Medhurst 72pts; 3rd Chris Gardner 45pts
Pre 98’s (up to 500cc)
1st Wez Pearce 96pts; 2nd David Carson 71pts; 3rd Robert Garmory 29pts
Pre 98’s (up to 1300cc)
1st Kev Cooper 84pts; 2nd Gavin Heath 55pts; 2nd Jon Skelson 43pts