Five Wins For Super Scranage

Tuesday September 18, 2018 at 11:56am

Round 6 of the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club Championship ensured marshals were kept busy and officials had their work cut out to try and squeeze a full day’s racing in following several incidents and red flags being brought out to stop racing whilst the track was made safe. Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt and just the final event, the non-championship Newcomers race was the only not to run.

Some people may have had a difficult day, but for Ben Scranage (Bolton) the day could hardly have gone any better; taking a start-to finish victory in the opening All-comers non-championship race from Lloyd Shelley (Burntwood). The first Peak Cup race saw a similar theme, leaving Harry Jackson (Mansfield) to win the 2nd place battle over Richard Eglin (Derby) 3rd, with Shelley having to settle for 4th place. The first Open Solo race had to be stopped because of an incident, but the 4lap re-run saw Scranage take the honours ahead of Eglin. The domination continued with another start-finish victory in the second Peak Cup race, again leaving Eglin to enjoy a race-long battle with Shelley. The second Open Solo race saw Andy Taylor (Chesterfield) lead the opening laps until Eglin took over the lead on Lap3, then Scranage hit the front on Lap4 whilst Jackson fought his way through to 2nd on Lap6. Just to underline his dominance on the day Scranage also recorded the fastest lap of each race and the quickest of the day.

Lloyd Shelley was able to put his Formula 600 machine amongst the larger 1000cc machines in the Peak Cup and Open Solo races and when it came to the Formula 600 races he still had a battle on his hands. He recorded the victory in both races, but he didn’t hit the front until Lap3 of both races, having to find a way past the faster starting Rich Baker (Crewe), with Matt Zschiesche (Biddulph) following the pair home, on both occasions.

The only other competitor to be first past the chequered flag in two races was Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield) who took the Overall Victory in the combined Classics/Formula 125 events, leading from start – finish on both occasions on his Classic 1000 machine. David Bradley (Matlock), on another Classic 1000, and Mick Fox (Derby) on a Classic 500 recorded 2nd and 3rd place, respectively in both races. Corey Tinker (Ipswich) justified his selection for the 2019 British Talent Cup by being the first Formula 125 machine home, recording two 5th places. An overall 7th in the first and 6th in the second saw Chris Moore (High Peak) take the Classic 350 victories, whilst Glenn Atkinson (Northampton) took the Classic 250 honours with an 8th and 11th place.

Brailsford and Moore were also out in the combined Honda CB500/Formula Darley/Lightweight races and both recorded an Overall 2nd place, plus the fastest lap for class in one race. In the first race, shortened to just 3laps after the red flags had to be brought out, Moore was 2nd, the first Lightweight machine home behind Tony Griffiths’ (Pontypridd) Formula Darley machine. Brailsford was the 2nd CB500 machine home in 6th place, behind Andy Whale’s (Birmingham), overall 5th. The second race, shortened to 5laps to help all classes get both races in, saw Gillian McGaw (Kilmarnock) take a convincing win on her Formula Darley machine with Brailsford recording Overall 2nd ahead of Griffiths’ with James Ford (High Peak) the first Lightweight machine home in 4th place.

The first combined Steel Framed 600/Pre-Injection 600 race ensured the spectators were kept entertained with the top three crossing the line less than 1sec apart, with 4th place being just 0.2sec further behind! From Lap2 onwards Dave Marsden (Birkenhead) was first over the line, on his Steel Framed machine, but Andrew Lowe’s (Stone) Pre-Injection machine was never any further than 0.5sec behind, crossing the finish line just 0.43sec at the flag. Two more Pre-Injection machines followed the pair home, after moving up to 3rd place, Tim Walsh (Buxton) was 0.93sec behind the leader, then after recording the quickest lap of the race on the fifth lap Andrew Scanlon (Thatcham) took 4th place, just a further 0.17sec behind Walsh. The second encounter saw Lowe lead from Lap2, whilst Walton passed Ant Porter’s (Chesterfield) Steel Framed machine on the final lap to claim Overall 2nd place, but Porter was able to follow-up his 2nd in class in the first race with a class victory, overall 3rd place.

The combined Pre-Injection (up to 1300cc)/Mini Sound of Thunder races saw Anthony Froggatt (Worksop) and Adam Walters (Derby) record an Overall Victory and 2nd place apiece; Froggatt taking the first with a start – finish victory and a winning margin of almost 4sec, whilst Walters found a way past Froggatt on Lap 2 of the second race and went on to stretch a similar winning margin. The first Mini Sound of Thunder machine home was 6th in the first, Eliot Williams (Flintshire) and David Carson (Northwich) with 5th in the second race.

The sidecar pairings of Steve Thomas/Neil Aslaksen (Wirral), on an Open class outfit and Roy Tansley/Chris Judge (Derby/Derby), on a Formula 600 outfit, kept the spectators entertained in the opening sidecar race with a race long battle. Firstly, Thomas/Aslaksen led for the first two laps, then Tansley/Judge enjoyed a lap at the front, but Thomas/Aslaksen regained the lead on Lap4 and held on until the flag, a winning margin of just 0.59sec. Their second race proved to be the closest finish of the day, as per the results sheet, with four outfits crossing the line less than 1sec apart! However, it wasn’t quite like it on the track, although the battle for 2nd certainly provided entertainment. Roger and Bradley Stockton (Winsford/Crewe) were quickest off the start and led for the opening four laps until the Tansley/Judge outfit caught and passed them, stretching out a lead of almost 10sec at the flag. Behind them Thomas/Aslaksen and Richard Hackney/Joe Gaunt (Doncaster/Louth) were closing down the Stockton machine, the trio split by just 0.57sec at the flag, but after Tansley/Judge were deemed to have jumped the start a 10sec penalty was added to their time, pushing them back to 4th spot, handing the victory to Stockton/Stockton.

Proving how close this season has been with just one Round of the Championship left, on Sunday 7th October, there are still no definite Champions, yes just a couple may need some bad luck to lose, but there are still seven classes in which a single figure separates the leader from the Runner-Up spot. The final round has just one long race for each Championship class, with 36 points, four times the usual availability of points for a win so there could easily be a dramatic climax for all classes. In addition to the Championships there will obviously be the two main 10 Lap Stars at Darley races.

The Stars at Darley weekend starts with a Practice Day on Saturday 6th October followed by race day on Sunday. Admission to the Test Day is £6.00, Senior Citizens 65 and over £4.00, whilst adult admission price to Sunday’s Stars at Darley is £16.00 and Senior Citizens £10.00. Parking and Paddock Transfer is free and a programme costs just £3.00.

Advance Tickets at discount prices are also available on-line just visit the Darley Race Shop for full details - http://www.darleymoorstore.co.uk/.

Darley Moor is one of the few circuits in which dogs are welcome, provided they are kept on a lead at all times during race day and the owners act in a responsible manner.

2018 Championship standings (After 6 Rounds)

Peak Cup

1st Ben Scranage, 73pts; 2nd Harry Jackson, 64pts; 3rd Richard Eglin, 40pts;

Open Solo

1st Ben Scranage, 90pts; 2nd Harry Jackson, 60pts; 3rd Richard Eglin, 42pts;

Open Sidecars

1st Anthony Eades/Keith Box, 66pts; 2nd Steve Thomas/Neil Aslaksen, 58pts; 3rd Roy Tansley/Chris Judge,42pts;

Formula 600

1st Lloyd Shelley, 45pts; 2nd Jamie Pearson, 39pts; 3rd Rich Baker, 38pts

Formula Darley

1st Martin Robbins, 68pts; 2nd Tony Griffiths, 66pts; 3rd Gillian McGaw, 25pts;

Formula 125