In stark contrast to the opening meeting of the season the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club enjoyed perfect racing conditions throughout the day at the Darley Moor Sports Centre, near Ashbourne for Rounds 3 and 4 of the Club Championship on Sunday 10th May 2026.
Four competitors certainly ensured the crowd were on their feet during the races in which they lined up on the grid. Jordan Rushby (Beverley), Matt Bell (Sheffield), Stephen Parsons (Carnforth) and John Ingram (Wigan) had some fantastic battles in the Open Solo and Ben Godfrey Trophy races. However, with there only being races for the Club Championship classes and no guest championship for this meeting, the first race, for each class, were longer 10 and 12-lappers, which unfortunately proved too long, for some. The first Open Solo race saw Bell leading from the flag, having a 0.7sec advantage over Parsons after the opening lap, with Rushby 0.5sec back and Ingram a similar distance behind in 4th place. Lap 2 saw Rushby move into 2nd and the top4 positions remained the same as they crossed the line each lap, with just 2sec covering the quartet, until Lap9 when Rushby made a move into the lead and crossing the line with a 0.4sec lead, but now with two backmarkers amongst the same 2sec blanket, covering the six. Lap11 saw Bell drop to 3rd spot when Parsons passed him, then on the final lap Ingram managed to squeeze through, dropping Bell to 4th place. Rushby taking the win by 4.6sec, with Parsons and Ingram split by just 0.25sec and Bell 2sec back. The four then took to the grid again in the opening Ben Godfrey Trophy race and, once again, Bell was quickest off the line leading Rushby by almost 2sec, after Lap1, Ingram 0.4sec and Parsons another 0.3sec behind. The four crossed the line in the same positions until Lap6, split by just 0.9sec, when Rushby hit the front and the places then maintained the same until the penultimate lap, when Parsons passed Bell, for 2nd spot and holding it to the flag. Rushby taking the win by 0.4sec, from Parsons, Bell 0.9sec behind, with Ingram just 0.1sec behind in 4th place. The second Open Solo race saw Ingram quickest off the line, in fact too quick, as he jumped the start and was given a 10sec penalty, which would see him drop to 5th place, in the result. With Bell just 0.5sec behind Ingram throughout the race, Rushby a further 1sec back after the opening lap, reeling Bell in as the race progressed, but running out of time, finally finishing 0.3sec back from the winner, with Parsons 0.8sec back in 3rd place. Mark Goodings (Doncaster) inherited 4th place after Ingram’s penalty was added to his times. The second Ben Godfrey Trophy race provided the closest finish of the day, after Lap1, separated by just 1sec it was Bell, Parsons, Ingram, with Rushby in 4th place. Ingram took the lead on Lap3, but Bell regained it on the final lap, the same time as Rushby squeezed passed Parsons, into 3rd, the four split by just 1sec, again, with Goodings 2sec adrift, in 5th.
The spectators were also kept entertained when the Honda CB500/Suzuki Bandit 600 classes were out on track, the opening race seeing Joe Holdsworth (Huddersfield) lead the opening lap, only for Richard Hughes (Wolverhampton) to pass him on Lap2 and then stretch out a 3sec advantage by Lap5. However, Holdsworth was not giving up and Lap6 saw the lead reduced to 2sec, but then Hughes found an extra 0.5sec over Laps 7 and 8, before Holdsworth attempted to get back on terms, reducing the advantage to just 0.5sec at the end of the 10lap race. The second race saw Hughes lead the opening lap, from Holdsworth, who then turned the tables on Lap2, having a similar 0.25 sec lead, by Lap3 the lead was 1sec, then Lap4 2.5sec, over Hughes. Lap5 sees Jamie Badhams (Wellington) pass Hughes into 2nd place and the on the final lap Hughes drops another two places, into 5th place, with Holdsworth having 9sec advantage, over Badhams, at the flag.
Jonathan Trezins (Wisbech) took a double victory in the combined Darley Cup/Wilson Trophy races and winning the second Golden Supersport 600 race after a hard-fought 3rd place in the classes opening race of the day. This first race saw Benjamin Dale (Warrington) record a dominant start-finish victory, almost 40sec ahead of 2nd place finisher Liam Ashton (Hyde), who was over 8sec in front of Trezins, who was 3rd. However, Trezins race was far from straight-forward, after being 3rd on Lap1, 3sec back on Ashton, he was 11th at the end of Lap2, losing almost half a lap on those at the head of the field and 10sec back on 10th place. Lap3 saw that gap drop to under 5sec on 10th, then Lap4 he was 7th, Lap 7, 4th, then into 3rd on the Final Lap. The second race, without Dale, was more straightforward, achieving another start-finish victory, with Ashton, 2nd, 13sec back, and Martyn Cooper (Stoke on Trent) a further 1.5sec back in 3rd. In the first Wilson Trophy/Darley Cup race despite David Carson (Northwich) pushing him all the way and recording the fastest lap of the race, on the final lap, he could only cross the line just 0.15sec behind Trezins, at the chequered flag. Freddy Oakley (Chesterfield) took a class victory in the Wilson Trophy race, finishing 3rd Overall, 9sec back on the Darley Cup pair. The second race, the final race of the day saw Trezins again lead throughout, but it was Oakley who was challenging this time, finally finishing 3sec adrift, with Carson 3rd Overall, 4sec back, but almost 7sec behind fellow Darley Cup competitor, Trezins. In addition to the Wilson Trophy victories, Oakley, again, recorded two dominant performances in the Lightweight races, start – finish victories, over Ant Porter (Chesterfield), with Steve Price (Stockport) 3rd, on both occasions.
David Carson secured two overall victories in the combined SuperTwin/MiniTwin races, although he did have a battle on his hands in the opening race, despite eventually having an 11sec advantage at the chequered flag. Lap1 saw him cross the line 3rd, then 2nd after Lap2 and finally hitting the front on Lap4, dropping Anthony Thane (Stoke on Trent) MiniTwins machine down to overall 2nd place. Following both home, on each occasion, were Russell Dodds (Bedale), Overall 3rd and Paul Evans (Awsworth) on SuperTwin machines.
Ricky Tarren (Swadlincote) recorded two start-finish victories in the Open 600 class over Jack Worth (Barnsley), 2nd and Joseph Busefield (Stoke on Trent). Although the first result does not tell the full story because Tarren was challenged early on, in the race, by Benjamin Dale, who was just over 1sec behind after the opening lap, but could not match Tarren’s lap times and dropping to around 6sec behind, before failing to finish the penultimate lap.
Onto three-wheels and it was the Open class pairing of Alan Molyneux/Courtney Anderson (Rufford/Houghton Le Spring) that were quickest off the line in the opening race, closely followed by Formula 600 outfit of Howard Baker/Taylor Oldroyd (Sutton Coldfield/Batley) until passenger Oldroyd lost his grip and fell out of the outfit, uninjured. This left another Formula 600 machine, of father and daughter pairing of Mark Berry/Amelia Berry (Bolton/Bolton) to assume the challenge and pass the leaders on Lap8. Another Formula 600 machine of Lee Eastell/Max Eastell (Thetford/Thetford) moved into 3rd place, following the Baker/Oldroyd outfit being disqualified. The three machines separated by a little under 6sec at the flag. Race 2 saw the Berry/Berry machine record a start – finish victory, leading the Open Class outfit of Molyneux/Anderson until the James Hanks/Jonathan Kirk (Wakefield/Carlisle) Formula 600 machine pipped them at the flag, by just 0.2sec.
Thankfully, Rounds 3 and 4 were run in quite different weather conditions to the opening Rounds, much calmer and consistent throughout the day, but with the next meeting being a two-day event in June, with Rounds 5 – 8, being held over Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st June 2026, it will hopefully be much warmer.
Rounds Tickets are available on the gate, but you can also get them in advance, at a discounted rate, from the website, www.darleymoorstore.com.
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. 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 3 & 4)
Wilson Trophy
1st Freddy Oakley, 60pts; 2nd Ant Porter, 44pts; 3rd Brad Cheesmond, 26pts
Darley Cup
1st Jonathan Trezins, 60pts; 2nd Paul Evans, 36pts; David Carson, 34pts
Ben Godfrey Trophy
1st Stephen Parsons, 50pts; 2nd Jordan Rushby/Matt Bell, 37pts
Open 600cc
1st Ricky Tarren, 57pts; 2nd Joseph Busfield, 38pts; 3rd Matthew Rostron, 32pts
Open Solos
1st Jordan Rushby, 50pts; 2nd Matt Bell, 48pts; 3rd Stephen Parsons, 46pts
Golden SuperSport 600
1st Jonathan Trezins, 52pts; 2nd Benjamin Dale, 30pts; 3rd Martyn Cooper, 26pts
Mini Twins & GP250
1st Anthony Thane, 60pts; 2nd Liam Clements, 32pts; 3rd Thomas Gallagher, 28pts
Super Twins
1st David Carson, 45pts; 2nd Paul Evans/Russell Dodds, 42pts
Lightweight Class
1st Freddy Oakley, 60pts; 2nd Ant Porter, 48pts; 3rd Steve Price, 38pts
Honda CB500 & Suzuki Bandits
1st Richard Hughes, 51pts; 2nd Joe Holdsworth, 27pts; 3rd Jamie Badhams, 22pts
Formula 600 Sidecars
1st Lee Eastell/Mark Eastell, 41pts; 2nd Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth, 32pts; 3rd Richard Butler/Derek Taylor, 30pts
Open Sidecars to 1300cc
1st Alan Molyneaux/Courtney Anderson, 48pts; 2nd Keith Waddington/Kyia Illman, 34pts; 3rd Eddie Wakley/Ben Hughes, 27pts
Report by Brian George
Photos by Tony Else Photography