HICKMAN- THE STAR OF DARLEY

Tuesday October 14, 2014 at 10:39am

What a way for the Darley Moor Road Race Club to finish their season off; one of the largest crowds, superb racing and a new outright lap record being set, all confirmation that the weather was perfect, in October!

Peter Hickman dominated the two 10 lap JBMI Group Ltd Stars at Darley races, in the first race he squeezed past Honda Racing’s John McGuinness on Lap 3 and then had to fend off a challenge from McGuinness’ Honda Racing team-mate, Jason O’Halloran. The challenge required

Hickman to break the outright Darley Moor Lap Record in order to keep him out front, finally managing a 1.4sec advantage at the flag. It was a similar story in the second JBMI Group Ltd Stars at Darley race, although on this occasion O’Halloran was quicker off the line than his team-mate and chased Hickman for the entire race distance, finishing just under 2.5sec behind at the flag. McGuinness lost his third place to Buildbase BMW’s Lee Jackson Jnr on the penultimate lap

The first of the regular Darley Moor riders, on both occasions, was Rob Hodson who was putting his injured father’s Kawasaki 1000 to good use, coming home 9th in the first race and 10th in the second. However, he had already put the machine to good effect in the opening Peak Cup race and took victory in the Open Solo race, between the two Stars races. The Peak Cup race had the crowd entertained from the very start with Tim Poole leading across the line after each lap, but this didn’t tell the story, in his slipstream were another two or three riders throughout the race. At the end the top four were separated by just over 1sec, Poole taking the victory, and the Championship title, by just 0.06sec from Matt Smith, Hodson 3rd and Shane Pearson 4th. The Open Solo race was similar, although with just two riders dicing at the head of the field. On this occasion Hodson crossed the line at the head of the field on each lap, but Mark Littler was never out of his slipstream throughout the 15laps, finishing just 0.14sec behind at the flag. Proving he can ride any type of machine Hodson also secured victory in the combined Classic/Lightweight race, after coming across the line on Lap 1 in 4th place he hit the front on Lap 5 on his Classic 250 machine and stretched a lead of over 14sec at the flag. After leading for the first 3 laps, Lightweight Championship leader Paul Hedison slid back to 3rd place, but then failed to complete Lap 8 allowing Chris Moore to finish with a class victory, the 36 points for the win allowing him to bridge the deficit in the standings and take the title at the final stage. Gordon Thorpe and Jamie O’Brien confirmed their champion elect status by taking the class wins in the Classic 500 and Classic 1000 respectively; and therefore the championship titles, whilst Dave Wildey secured his inaugural Classic 350 victory.

In the combined Steel Framed 600/Pre Injection 600 race Jamie Pearson had a relatively comfortable start – finish victory, having an 8sec margin at the flag and taking the Pre Injection title in the process. The Steel Framed 600 leaders provided a thrilling battle for the spectators despite the Championship being decided already, Lloyd Harrison taking his first class victory ahead of this year’s Champion Dean Ephgrave, Harrison’s efforts being rewarded by taking 2nd place in the final standings.

It wasn’t just solo stars this weekend as sidecar fans were treated to a master class by grand prix competitors Ben and Tom Birchall who, after passing the fast starting John and Jack Lowther on the second lap were able to stretch out a victory margin of over 18sec. There was no embarrassment for anybody though as the pairing have just finished Runners-Up in the 2014 World Championship.

After overcoming the fast starting Lloyd Shelley on the second lap Sound of Thunder champion elect Steven Hill pulled out a small gap midway through the 15 lap race, only to see a determined Shelley closing with an equally quick finish, the gap reduced to less than 1sec at the end. On his third type of machine of the day Rob Hodson secured the Mini Sound of Thunder class victory, taking the ‘win’ by over 25 seconds from Anthony Porter, the championship Runner-Up.

Ian Morgan secured a comfortable flag to flag victory in the Pre98 race on his (up to 1300cc) machine, Richard Stubbs finishing 2nd to him and cement his Runner-Up spot in the Championship. With just 2points separating Alan Jones and Andrew Clarke in the Pre98’s (up to 500cc) class this was one that was certainly going to be going ‘down to the wire’. Despite being lapped by several of the larger machines the pair remained in close proximity to each other with the ‘lead’ swapping on a number of occasions before finally going in favour of Jones at the flag, and with it the Championship title.

Several ‘Star’ riders took part in the Formula 600 race and got amongst the usual Darley regulars and ensured the crowd were kept entertained. After finishing the first two laps in fourth place Keenan Armstrong set about chasing leader Richard Wardle, 2014 champion Jamie Medhurst and Daley Mathison. Third on Lap3 and second on the fourth lap Armstrong finally hit the front on Lap6 and stretched a lead of over 7sec, leaving the other three to battle it out amongst each other, finishing with Wardle 2nd; Mathison 3rd and Medhurst 4th.

In the combined Formula Darley/125 race Anthony Porter secured his first victory of the season in the Formula Darley class, taking a start to finish victory over Joshua Dransfield, allowing him to take the Runner-Up spot in the championship. James Hind put in a determined effort and was able to turn the tables on Gavin Mills, taking the Formula 125 class victory and moving into championship lead at the best time.

With all the Championships finished the next event will be the Annual Dinner and Presentation of Awards on Saturday 7th February 2015 at Moat House Hotel, Stoke on Trent - everyone is welcome, please see website, www.darleymoor.co.uk, for details

Whilst the racing has finished the Darley Moor Motorcycle Road Race Club will be busy over the winter carry out improvements to the venue to benefit competitors and spectators in the 2015 season. The Club are always appreciative of any help assistance that can be offered throughout the closed season and racing season, if you would like to help out please contact the Club via the website, www.darleymoor.co.uk; or info@darleymoor.co.uk; Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club, Anvil House, Derby Road, Old Tupton, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S42 6LA; tel: 01246 866537; fax: 01246 861480.

Championship positions (Final standings)

Peak Cup

1st Tim Poole, 109pts; 2nd Jamie Medhurst, 67pts; 3rd Jim Hodson, 60pts;

Open Solo

1st Tim Poole, 72pts; 2nd Jim Hodson, 51pts; 3rd Mark Littler, 37pts

Open Sidecars

1st Tony Thompson/Jack Jones 90pts; 2nd Ray Thomas/Neil Aslaksen 82pts; 3rd Anthony Eades/Iain Greensmith, 61pts;

Lightweight

1st Chris Moore 84pts; 2nd Paul Hedison, 78pts; 3rd Mark Tyrrell, 45pts

GP125

1st Justin Brown, 89pts; 2nd Mark Tyrell, 45pts; 3rd Emma Franklin, 25pts

Formula 600