Wednesday March 20, 2013 at 11:40am
With snow still lying in sheltered parts of Brands Hatch, after a week of arctic weather the NG Road Racing Club kicked of their 2013 season at the Kent venue.
With biting cold wins and intermittent freezing showers it was just about the worst conditions to race a motorcycle in. So it was a day to draw on experience, and that is exactly what Michael Blank did. The vastly experienced Blank, riding at one of his favourite circuits did not put a foot wrong as he racked up three wins…four runner spots and a third placing across the Phoenix Open and Simon Consulting Powerbikes. He also set three fastest laps and qualified on pole for the Open.
Blank had to hold of a challenge from defending champion in both superbike classes Phil Bevan (who had an uncustomary off at Druids) and a whole host of young fast BSB riders. We had The Be Wiser Kawasaki team of Josh Day, Josh Wainright and Nick Anderson as well Jonathan Railton on the big bike grids. It was only another experienced racer Grant Wagstaff that was able to get in front of Blank more than once.
Three of the pre-season favourites for the Superbike classes were unable to make their presence felt as Shaun Hennessey crashed his new GSXR Suzuki twice in two outings, whilst Roo Cotton had mechanical problems that could not be sorted at the circuit. Tom Garness has grip issues on Saturday with his BMW, but stayed upright, however Sunday saw him crash heavily at Paddock Hill. Luckily he was OK…which was more than could be said for the big BM.
But Blank used his head and was not off the podium all weekend, proving the old adage that “….there is no substitute for experience”. For his efforts he was also awarded the Wayside Garages performance of the meeting trophy and cash from Marcus Bridewell
Wayside Garages 600cc
Nick Anderson took his Be Wiser ZX6R Kawasaki to Saturdays win ahead of rain specialist Peter Carr but Sunday saw terrible conditions as the 600’s came to the grid. As expected front runners, Carr, Leon Jeacoock, Ben Godfrey, Paul Jeffery and Levi Day all succumbed to the wet and slippery track Murray McConnachie just kept on going faster and faster on his 675 Triumph to take the win over Anderson and Chris Hawkes on his Suzuki
125GP / Moto 3
Oliver Simpson was unbeaten in the 125GP / Moto 3 as the young rider from down-under took his Moto 3 Honda to a pair of convincing wins over Bradley Ray on his Fab-Moto 3 Yamaha and Arnie Shelton who was still on his old RS125 Honda. Catherine Green had a weekend to forget, as she fell from her 125GP Honda whilst leading Saturday’s race. She did not venture back out on track after the tumble.
Fraser’s of Gloucester 500cc Open
Australian Oliver Simpson took his Moto 3 250 fourstroke through an unbeaten run in the 500cc class proving that he will be a force to be reckoned with on the National grids with his high corner speed style.
Steve Lynham Formula 125
11 year old mini-moto star Charlie Nesbitt lapped all of his rivals on Saturday on his first NG outing on his production RS125 Aprilia, but family commitments took his back to Swindon on Sunday leaving Saturdays runner up Josh Owens to take the win. Nesbitt rarely rolled off the throttle as he carried massive corner speed on the little Aprilia proved to everyone he really is a name for the future.
Pirelli UK GP45
In the tricky conditions Mark Carkeek drew on all his years of racing experience on his new 450 Corby Kawasaki to grab a maximum points haul in the GP 45’s as he headed home Robbie Robson and Tony Bridgefoot
A and R Racing Formula 400
With no pre-season testing and very little winter bike preparation defending F400 champ Shannon Hale decided at the last minute to enter Brands on her Black Lion Transport ZXR400 that is affectionately known as Bridgette (….no, I have no idea why either !!!!). So she was delighted to come away with two wins ahead of Neil Parsons who has returned to the F400 ranks after 5 years away from racing. Parson’s got quicker and quicker all weekend and by the end of the two days was lapping just a few tenths off defending champ Hale’s pace
MPH Bikes Mini Twins
Kevin Davies has moved away from the Powerbike this year and has taken up the challenge of the Mini Twins class aboard one of Neil Pearson’s SV650’s. To say he clicked with the bike immediately is an understatement. He won both finals, setting the fastest lap in both races, and that was despite starting Saturday’s final from the back row. The back row start was due to the bike stopping in the qualifier…. The fault was tracked down to the tank that had recently been re-sprayed and the breather was found to be blocked causing a vacuum in the tank…..so starving the bike of fuel…and coasting to a halt at Druids. Sean Montgomery and Rob Garland were the runner up men that had to watch class new boy Davies disappear into the distance.
Peter Hammond Motorcycles Sound of Thunder
Paul Willis and Shane Smith shared top honours in the sound of thunder. Willis had a quick-shifter problem on Saturday that stilted his progress but Sunday saw the electric’s sorted and former champion of brands (….back in the 1980’s) Willis back on form finishing 20 seconds ahead of Smith and lapping everyone up to third place on his Willis Developments KTM
Metzeler and DTR Streetstock
Dan Millard on his DDR ZX10 R came through the first lap mele that saw last years series runner up Simon O’Donnell taken out at Druids. After a hard fight with novice Paul Dawson and Tom Cook, Millard claimed the win. He was not able to repeat that on Sunday after not appearing on the grid. That meant that Tom Cook on his new R1 grabbed Sundays victory, although Paul Dawson was poised to challenge him before running straight on at Graham Hill Bend 4 laps from the end. That handed O’Donnell a few move valuable points as he moved through to second at the flag. The 700cc class saw Justin Collins and his R6 take both finals, setting the fastest lap in both races. In the smallest Streetstocks class, the 400’s honours were equally shared with Corey Lewis and Colm Warner both taking wins. It was good to see cash-strapped Corey back on the grids after a few years ago being the youngest rider ever to grace a 125 BSB grid.
TPC Construction Pre Injection
Michael Hobbs, has over the last couple of years built up a reputation as a bit of a crasher on the aptly named DCI/Bin Club Racing R1, bit this weekend it was he who kept it upright as his rivals threw bikes down the road. Hobbs took maximum points as past champion Adam Jeffery and reigning champion Tom Palmer both crashed out of the 1300 pre injection class. Meanwhile in the 700cc division Kevin Davies and Rob Garland were head an shoulders above the rest with Davies on his NP Mini Twins SV whilst Garland had an un-faired street-fighter style SV with wide flat bars.
CSC Racing Sidecars
Simon Gilbert and Nathan Robinson lapped the whole field of open sidecars as they tested their newly rebuilt epayme.co.uk backed R1 LCR Yamaha on Saturday in preparation for the year long National BSB series. It was pole position again on Sunday, but the R1 did not get off the line cleanly and they were rear-ended by another outfit. Start line accidents are very unpredictable but luckily the worst injury was a cut finger. That meant that Roger Body and Paul Knapton with the Santander Salt Suzuki had a relatively easy run to victory.
It was a very different story in the F2 category as Andy King / Kenny Cole and Tom Quaye / Thomas Quaye were never more that a few lengths apart all weekend. So it was probably a fair result that they took a final each to sit jointly at the top of the championship table
April UK Newcomers
With three classes for the newcomers we had Sean Montgomery take the Mini Twins class on his SV…… Colm Warner take a narrow win over Chris Baker in the 500 class and Dave MacKay victorious on his KTM in the open class
Wayside Garages Performance of the Meeting
Number 138 - Michael Blank – AFB Motorcycles ZX10R Kawasaki – Open and Powerbike
Top-Oils Bardahl Newcomer Performance of the Meeting
Number 11 - Mark Labudek – Xtreme van.co.uk SV650 Suzuki – Newcomer and Mini Twins