Thursday May 21, 2015 at 3:02pm
Can AC Racing (Greg Allsop/Richard Charlton) make it three wins in succession in round four of the ACU/Towergate National 1000 Championship at Snetterton on May 23 and 24?
Their victory at Pembrey may have been more than a shade lucky, but fact is that the points’ table shows them leading the competition by 26 points from their closest rivals, Team Army 1 (Peter Brown/Laurence Williams), the Clubman 1000 squad.
The race in Norfolk is even more difficult than usual, six-hours long instead of the usual three-hour format.
For many teams that means adding a third rider to their ranks.
AC Racing have the talented Steve Neate with them.
Clubman 1000 class winners at Pembrey, Team Army 1, will rely on just their regular duo of Brown and Williams to do the job.
Team Edge RST 2 add former British Superstock 1000 champion, Hudson Kennaugh and Robin Hooker, who raced in the Le Mans 24 hour race in April, to their usual line up of Gary Johnson and Mick Brown. A lot will depend on whether Brown’s broken collar bone, sustained at Pembrey, has recovered enough.
Go Racing Developments (Andy Carpenter/James McBride), down in 17th place in the championship after a terrible start to the season, will rely on their regular partnership. They know they must start scoring big points, soon.
Seton Tuning, another team desperate for points in the National 1000 class, have a strong line-up for round four. Joining Mark Clark and Andy Goddard, will be team owner, Phil Seton.
Team Edge RST 1 (Nick Edgeley/Jonny Towers), who won the National 600 class in Wales, but who are only fifth in the standings, have also listed Gary Johnson as their third rider.
Fast Past Pits, the newcomers in the ACU/Towergate National Endurance 600 series, missed the Pembrey event, but return for the Snetterton race, with a very different from usual line-up.
Harry Truelove will be joined by the highly experienced and fast Lee Wilson.
Team Army 2, who leads the National 600 class by 15 points, add Sam Cox, the 23-year-old Londoner, who is contesting the British Supersport EVO championship, to their regular duo of Wayne Morgan and Richard-Spencer-Fleet.
Team Army 4, the top Rookie 600 team, will run Andrew Day, Paul Godfrey and Leon Wilton.
More Moto (Byron Beckett/Chris Kent), third at present in the National 1000 class, rely on their regular pair for this Snetterton race.
Tech 5 Racing (Nick Ford/Matt Stevens), at present second in the Clubman 1000 class, have added the experience Arron Bird to their squad.
Gaz Evans, normally in 2 Fat 2 Tall, will line up with injury hit Sorrymate.com team, who have Colin Norris and Warren Verwey, recovering from big crashes.
Parish Brothers Racing (James and Chris Parish) made an impressive Endurance racing debut at Pembrey. Winners of the Clubmans 600 class there, the brothers return for round four with Alan Harland joining them for the six-hour event.
Liquidskinz Hydrographic (Stuart Fitton/Martin Tromans) hold a 23point lead over Mild Hogs Racing (David Hall/Patrick Hurst) in the Towergate Clubman 600 class.
Dan Gregory joins Fitton and Tromans at Snetterton, while Mild Hogs stick with their usual two man squad.
T. Watson Bikes (Rick Dickinson/Tom Stephens) had a tough meeting at Pembrey and dropped from second in the main championship to fourth third, 33, 30 points behind the leaders.
They will rely on their two man squad to do the job
Team Big Lads (Joe Connolly/Bob Barton), leaders in the Modern Classics class, add their regular number three, Laurie Sands for the weekend.
Newcomers GRS Racing (Karl Smith/Glen Rixon), who are second in the championship hope to do the job on their own.
Team Leanangle.co.uk (Nigel Baldwin/Martyn Bollards), second in the Rookies 1000 class, add Gary Bollands for this up-coming race.
Gavin Bartlett stepped at the last minute to replace the injured John Kilcar in the Full On Racing team at Pembrey. Kilcar is fit again now to resume his place alongside Terry Fuller and Bartlett.
Practice on May 23 starts at 9.0am, with the 6-hour race beginning at 12.25pm.
Warm up on the Sunday takes place at 9.0am, with racing underway at 9.48am.
Adult admission is £14 each day, with children under 13 free of charge.