2015 will certainly stick in the memory for some time, and for several reasons. Phil Bevan re-wrote the record books once more by taking his seventeenth class championship, by taking the prestigious Phoenix Open series for the eighth time.....and astonishingly for the seventh time on the bounce.
Again the range of circuits and often the weather conditions over the year meant that each of the class championships was hard fought for, and hard earned.
For me, the stand out moment of 2015 was the new outright lap record at Pembrey by Phil Bevan on his ZX10R at 57.85 seconds for the 1.456-mile circuit, as he battled with Dan Cooper for the Prince of Pembrey title.
The Sound of Thunder championship was a tie, decided on count-back and a number of others were decided by just a handful of points.
As well as the NG series, we also played host to the full 250GP ACU National series... and welcomed rounds of the ACU/FSRA F2 championship.... The Lansdowne series... and the European Moto E Electric bikes.
Again NG were the only UK club to race at Castle Combe and Thruxton, with Castle Combe now turning into a stunning annual Grand National festival event.
NG Road Racing is still affectionately know as "The North Glos" harking back to the clubs early roots when racing in mainly Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, but the reach of the club 45 years on saw 2015 class champions this year from England... Wales... Scotland... The Isle of Man... The Isle of White.... and South Africa. No other club can boast such a spread of champions.
Phil Bevan... Open and Powerbike winner
No apologies here for giving Phil a paragraph to himself. Mr B won the Open Championship for the eight time and the Powerbike for the seventh time in 2015. Add that to his 2000 and 2001 Sound of Thunder wins and that makes an astonishing seventeen NG titles since he started as a newcomer at the tail end on 1999.
His Open win was by massive 275 points over Daniel Cooper and Darren Rumley and his dominance was such that of the nineteen rounds he won eleven of them, had a 100% finish record and was only twice off the podium on his Phil Bevan Track Days backed ZX10R Kawasaki.
His Powerbike win saw him better Roo Cotton, who was having his best season on the R1 and David Irons who muscled his 1098 Ducati to third.
Phil only failed to finish one race all year and that was again at his bogey track, Anglesey. He had his only no score of 2014 there too!!!!.
Phil has not fully firmed up his plans for 2016, but if rumours are to be believed then his full focus may lie elsewhere, including a trip to the Isle of Man. So that may open the door for a new name to go on the Superbike trophies. Whatever his plans he has re-written the NG record books again this year, and leads every set of club stats.
250 GP ACU National
NG again got the nod from the ACU to run the 250 series, again giving it full National championship status. It was the story of two men, 2011 champ Ant Hodson, and 2014 nearly man Phil Atkinson who was out for revenge. There was a strong supporting cast though with another ex-champ Daniel Jackson and Dave Hampton taking hard-earned wins. Hodson on his FCL TZ had lead the season from Brands Hatch all the way through to the final round at Pembrey, but went into that final meeting with a slender three point lead. What unfolded at that final meeting could not have been scripted...... As Atkinson's Declans Racing crew fired up his TZ the carburettor popped off and he missed the warm up lap. Race direction then made him start from the back of the grid, but did not start from the very back, which saw him slapped with a 10 second penalty…..as all this was happening front row starter Hodson got a jump start……and a 10 second penalty. Former champ Dan Jackson took the win from Atkinson and Hodson. This saw one point between the top two going into the final race of the year. South African Atkinson nearly wrecked his race as he let the clutch out on the TZ... the front wheel came up and then slapped down on the Welsh tarmac, breaking a fairing mounting. Atkinson though took a stunning win over the hard riding Hodson who finished just over half a second behind his season long rival…..Atkinson was visibly overwhelmed as the team welcomed the new 250 National champ into pit lane.
Manxman Paul Metcalfe took his RS250 to the NG Cup title for non-National license holders as he overhauled 2014 runner up Steven Howard with five wins on the bounce to make Howard the bridesmaid again.
125's... GP and Formula
Liam Delves picked up his third NG title by retaining the 125GP crown that he won last term. Riding the Crucials sauce / Moto Engineering RS125 Honda 15 year old Liam took eight wins, plus three other podiums from the thirteen rounds to take the title. Liam used the NG rounds as valuable testing time for his foray into BSB Moto star series where he race under for Pete Banks Racing team with Crucials backing alongside Ed Rendell. On the RS125 Liam took a creditable fourth in the BSB series behind two other NG men Andrew Sawford and Mark Clayton.
In the NG class he headed Adrian Bowman and Harry Rowlings in the points table.
Former Mini GP UK rider Caleb Smith did his ACU Training and Assessment at a cold and wet Pembrey in March, and when the 12 year old schoolboy got on track he looked comfortable and quick on his elderly Formula 125 RS Aprilia. Caleb turned up for round one....and took victory first time out. Five more wins came during the year, to take the title. It could have gone wrong after Thruxton through, when he took a fairly major tumble, but the youngster bounced back, although battered and bruised to grab a pair of podiums at the next round. The title was his, outscoring Benjamin Smith and Josh Singh.
Middleweights.... 500's, GP45's and F400's
Just four points separated the top three in the Open 500 series. Long time series leader Liam Delves saw his 35 points advantage whittled down by Paul Metcalfe and Dave Hampton in the second half of the year. Delves had just a slender 5 point lead going into the final meeting but was outscored by Thomas Lawlor, Dave Hampton and Paul Metcalfe as his 125 Honda just didn't have the power to match the bigger machines. Hampton outscored everyone in the second half of the year on his Single Cell Racing Tigcraft, but the honours for the class went to Metcalfe, his second 500cc title in three years.
Tony Bridgefoot had lead the GP45 title chase from round three, and going into the last meeting it seemed a formality, but an early meeting tumble saw him sidelined. Karl Horton who had been pressuring Tony mid season with three wins, saw his opening and took two stunning victories at Pembrey to steal away the title. Bridgefoot retained second and William Caines third. Top GP45 single runner was Ewan Potter who was a very impressive fourth in the overall points table.
Tim Bradley has won F400 championships with EMRA and Wirral in the past, but for 2015 he turned his attention to the NG series. Proving again his championship winning credentials, he was fast and safe. Tim's style on a bike never looks hurried...until you look at the time sheets that is. He put in a flawless run of eight wins and three other podiums to take a 100% finish record. Two fourth placings at Thruxton the only time off the podium as Thruxton lovers Steven Palmer, Ben Harrison and Simon Gates ran away with things. Bradley though knew when to push and when to bank as he took the series by nigh on 100 points from Ben Harrison and Brian Wyles. Wyles joined Bradley as one of just a handful of riders across all classes to finish every race in the points.
600...
If anyone had told Sean Montgomery that he would be 2015 600 Open champ whist he was sat in hospital after three rounds with just six points on the board and a broken should after two crashes, he would have laughed you out of the room. After early season front runners Keenan Armstrong and Scot Adam moved out of the NG series to concentrate on BSB it was initially Mark Hughes that took up the running. Hughes was not able to find race winning pace but his consistency was not in question as he bagged decent points at every round. When Josh Day re-entered the fray after his BSB ride went sour he took four wins in a row to put himself back in contention. Josh was then offered the Crank Racing ZX10 at Thundersport (.....where !!!!!), opening the door for the now fully fit Montgomery, who put in two solid rides at Pembrey to take the 600 crown on his ex-Gearlink ZX6R...... proving that in racing you should never give up.
Sound of Thunder...
Seven different winners in the Sound of Thunder class made it very open, but when all was said and done the top two in the series were tied on points. Peter Carr on this 675 and Ben Broadway on the 899 Ducati both had 206 points on the board. Carr had looked as though he had got half a hand on the title and with just two meetings to go he turned up at Anglesey with a 39-point lead.... Things were about to change!. Carr suffered two massive dnf's, while Broadway turned in two wins..... Advantage Ben by 11 points with just Pembrey to go. Ben fell in morning qualifying and had to start from the back of the grid for the first final.....he came through but his lead was slashed to 4 points !. The last race of the year saw Jon Railton take the win with Pete second and Ben third..... a tie !!. The nod went to Pete in the race win count 4 vs 2. Both riders hugged in pit lane....true respect. Dave Irons was in third in the series backing up a good year on his 1098. Pete has now won NG titles in Steetstock, GP45, 600 and now Thunder.
Twins... Mini and Super
Still a teenager, but Aaron Silvester has been racing since he was 4 years old. He won the Newcomers title last season and moved into the main Mini Twins class this year on his Stralia Race Tech SV. A steady start to the year at a cold Brands Hatch saw Aaron stay on two wheels as his soon to be title opponent Richard Goode took a win. Young Aaron got quicker as the year went on taking six wins and setting a few new lap records on the way to ease out over Goode and Paul Wardell to take the title, before we see him more onwards and upwards to the 600 open class in 2016.
Wayne Axon started his bid for Super Twins silverware in fine style as he took the first four rounds to build up a good lead before turning is focus to the TT. He took his TART Racing ER6 to the Island and just missed out on a replica setting a best lap at 108mph. When he returned to the club fray at Thruxton the wins kept coming at he lifted the title over Paul Williams and Dan Cooper.
Streetstocks... 700 and 1300cc
With 2014 1300 Streetstock champ Richard Hughes concentrating on some of the pure roads events this year we wondered who would step up. We didn't have to wait long to find out as track day rider Paul "Potchy" Williams stunned everyone first time out at Brands. Admittedly his riding style is not what you would call classic….. His lines were a little erratic…. But as for speed and entertainment value, well that came in spades. As the year went on Martin Lowe who returned to racing after a 4 year break proved to be a worthy rival, but Lowe blew his bike apart late season, and with the racing budget bank empty he had to sit the rest of the year out. By now though with guidance from Shaun Wynne and Phil Bevan, Potchy and the BMW S1000R were gelling nicely, and took the series by over 100 points from Lowe and Paul Jeffery.
The smaller 700 class had another big points margin as young Welshman Thomas Williams stormed to seven wins building up a big lead over Justin Collins and Chris Whitehouse who squabbled with Jim Walker and Jeffery White for the final championship podium slots. Williams, and his R6 sat out the final round of the year after the team celebrated a little too much......hangovers preventing racing!!!!. There is a rumour of an R1 for the hard riding Welshman in 2016......perpetuated by young Thomas we think, as he tries to persuade his dad that it is a good idea !!!
Pre Injections... 700 and 1300cc
Mike Hobbs defended his 1300 pre injection title on the DCI R1 Yamaha. Defending a title is never easy but Mike took eight wins from the first nine rounds to put things well out of reach of his rivals. It was a good job really as the next round at Anglesey proved his lowest scoring round. That was nothing though to what happened at Pembrey as he and his R1 parted company, ruling him out with injury as his nearest rival Kevin Clayton banged in two wins. Hobbs though was safe that the points he bagged early season had given him a safe margin to take title number two.
The 700 class had Mikes Hobbs' son Chris defending his 2014 crown, and things were looking good after race one, round one with a good win over Phil Webber. Webber was down saying neither he nor his CBR could stay with Hobbs jnr, and maybe he should sit the year out. After a few people talked him round he went out for round two....and won....he then took the next four.....and was never off the podium for the rest of the year to hold off Hobbs jnr, who did all he could to catch Phil in the points table. These two fought out last years title to the final round...it was the same in 2015...but with rolls reversed. Advantage Webber.
Sidecars... Open and Formula 2
To be brutally honest the Sidecar grids have generally been a little thin on the ground in 2015, but the chairs still gave us two thrilling championships. The open series went right to the final race of the year with two-time champ Jim Hamilton with stand in passenger Alan Schofield (...Mick Fairhurst was out for this round) going for a third championship. They just needed to follow home Rob Biggs and Ben Ransley....and they did just that in both very nervy races. Title three goes up to Scotland, Biggs took second with British champ Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood third even though they only did a handful of rounds.
F2's had Sean Reeves and Mark Wilkes taking the first four rounds of the year, before moving into the ACU/FSRA F2 championship. But that early season form continued into the National series and the pair took the National Cup series. The fight was then on to overhaul that early season points advantage with first Tom and Thomas Quaye and then Nev Jones with Giles Stainton heading the point’s table. But outscoring everyone in the second half of the year it was Jones and Stainton that took the title.
Newcomers... Three classes for the newbies
Paul Williams, affectionately known as "Potchy" dominated the Open newcomers. The track day rider took up racing on a S1000R BMW and was immediately quick, although his lines were a little erratic !. He took advice from the SMW team and NG multi-champ Phil Bevan and his lines improved and his speed increased, eventually taking all five wins in the newcomer’s series ahead of Gary Stevens and Jim Walker.
Alan Pearce was another newcomer to impress, this time in the Mini Twins division, taking four of the five rounds. Pearce really mastered getting the SV650 off the line, making blindingly quick starts grabbing the hole-shot with ease leaving rivals Jon Rutherford and Edward Giles chasing all year.
Not to be outdone the 500cc bikes had their own series with Greg Maden taking the win on his GP450 Aprilia. The Aprilia went bang before the final round, and had to run a borrowed and very standard Supermoto machine at Pembrey. The viciously handling off-roader wobbled and weaved his to the line though to grab the points for fifth place that he needed to take the series over Dan Hanby and Mickey Daly.
Desmo Due
When the shock news that the Hottrax club had folded came through there was a flurry of activity to find the popular Ducati Sporting Clubs Desmo Due series a new home.
NG stepped in, and with the help of Kevin Ellis a former NG rider himself and now main man for the Desmo’s, negotiation were swift and the 600 and 620 Dukes had a new home for the last two rounds of the year to complete there championship. Anglesey and Pembrey decided the outcome of the hotly contested series that allows the riders to drop their weakest scores, After all the calculations were done Scott Wilson took the 600cc division on his Team Badger Racing bike (…..it’s cos it’s back and white !!) and the aggressive riding Dallas Hornblow the 620cc. They will be a full time and welcome addition to the NG paddock in 2016.
End of year special award winners
As ever the club picks out a number of people for a special mention at the end of the year, be they riders, marshals or paddock personalities.
This years Hambro Life Flying start award for most promising rider went to Aaron Silvester who has previously raced super-moto winning championships since the age of 14 in the UK series. This year he picked up his second NG Mini Twins title and his progression continues next year in the 600 Open series.
Phil Bevan again picked up the Anderson trophy for the most points picked up by a rider. This trophy will become the Champion of champion’s trophy in 2016 for the most points in any given class. Paul Jeffery got the EDP Photo News Canvas for achievement, supplied by club official "snapper" Nigel Eddleston-Dike.
Sean Montgomery had The Jason Kasch Achievement trophy after bouncing back from a broken shoulder to win the 600 open series.
Jim Walker was the best newcomer on a 600, so collecting the Gary Teague trophy. There were also special one off awards for the successful NG riders in the Manx GP with one to Gary Vines for his Newcomer class win and also for Rhys Hardisty, Justin Collins and Like Collins after their team winning performance in the Senior Manx.
Neville Jones is retired at the end of this season after many years as NG's Chief Technical officer, and was a well-deserved winner of the "51" Award for services to the club.
Finally and coming as a total surprise to him was the presentation on the Jamie Adam Spirit of Racing trophy to Kevin Tompkins. Kev, is Phil Bevan's technical man, and also looks after Shaun Wynne's SMW team. But is the go-to-man for many riders with machine issues, and has been known to work late into the night to get machines rebuilt or set up... often for his own team's rivals !!!!. He was one of the most popular winners on the night.
2015 Guest events
During 2015 NG hosted rounds of the European Moto E Electric bikes, The Lansdowne Classic series and the ACU / FSRA Formula 2 sidecar series
......... Roll on 2016 !!!!