Tuesday May 10, 2022 at 10:30am
The Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club and the small army of willing volunteers have prepared the Darley Moor Motorsport Centre, near Ashbourne (DE6 2ET) in readiness for Round 2 of their Championship this weekend, Sunday 15th May 2022. The action out on track will start with practice sessions from 10am, the first race scheduled for 11.30am and in addition to the Championship classes there will be two kart races for fans of four wheeled motorsport, with regular guests the Long Circuit Kart Club.
As usual the racing will get underway with two non-Championship Allcomers races which have already proved to be very competitive. This weekend will see the Honda CB500, Classic and Forgotten Era competitors out on track vying for the first silverware of the day. Glenn Atkinson (Northampton), David Bradley (Matlock), Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield), Mike Lees (Congleton) and Mike Ley (Tipton) will all be in with a chance of claiming ‘first prize’ in their respective classes.
The Formula 600 machines will then be sharing the tarmac with the Pre-Injection Solos and Brailsford will no doubt be at the forefront once again with plenty of challengers coming in the form of David Glossop (Wilmslow), James Ford (High Peak), Albert Walker (Retford), Stuart Bradbury (Belper) and David Carson (Northwich).
Event Five will see the return of the annual Thunderfest event with a huge range of motorcycles out on track at the same time. Thunderfest is open to any motorcycle, road or race, built before 1978, from 50cc through to 990cc and with almost 40 riders registered there will be huge selection of machines out on track. After practice, the riders set their own target speed and attempt to lap the circuit for 20 minutes, plus 2 laps, as close to this time as possible, the rider nearest to their target wins. With the huge variety of machinery on track at the same time this requires a high degree of riding skill and concentration. Tony Head (Doncaster) won the last Thunderfest, in 2019, after lapping just 0.05sec from his predicted time! Just listing several local riders will give an indication of the variety of machinery that will be out on track during the event:
Richard Bewick (Biddulph) – 500 Ducati
Mick Smedley (Derby) – 49cc Van Veen Kreidler
Frank Melling (Chester) - Seeley Suzuki 500
Martin Head (Derby) – Honda CB500
Mick Harvey (Derby) – Triton 750
Dave Perry (Warrington) - CBX1000
The karts will then take to the circuit with the usual rolling start rather than the regular grid starts for solo and sidecar race machines.
Returning to two-wheel motorsport and the pre-Electronic 600s/750 Twins and Open Solos machines will take their own battles to the track. Atkinson, Bradbury and Glossop will return to the track once more, plus Dean Ephgrave (Hucknall), Mark Goodings (Doncaster) and Richard Eglin (Derby) are sure to be amongst those chasing the silverware.
Glossop will then be out in a third event along with Walker and Carson in the combined 700cc Twins/Lightweight races, plus long-time Darley Moor supporter Jim Hodson (Wigan) will surely be amongst the front-runners.
The final event of both the morning and afternoon sessions will be for fans of three-wheeled motorsport when the Formula 600 and Open sidecar machinery and pairings will be rounding things off. This Sunday will see Isle of Man TT front runner Dave Molyneux (IoM) with passenger Daryl Gibson (Beverley) bedding in their machine in readiness for the TT. Darley regulars and championship title contenders Howard Baker (Sutton Coldfield)/Mike Killingsworth (Washingborough), Keith Waddington (Barnsley)/Mick Storey (Holme upon Spalding Moor), Anthony Eades (Hyde)/Ash Gibson (Hyde) will be taking the challenge to them and finishing off the day on a high note.
The cost of adult admission to Darley Moor for all meetings, except the end of season Stars at Darley meeting, is £16.00 per day, children under 16 are free, and Senior Citizens are £12.00.
Advance Tickets at discount prices (£13 and £10) are also available on-line just visit the Darley Race Shop for full details - http://www.darleymoorstore.co.uk/.
There is ample room for spectators to camp and caravan at Darley Moor over the race weekends. The cost is £7.00 per unit per night (£6 in advance). Camping will normally be available from 4.00 pm on the Friday evening until 10.00 am on the day after the meeting or by special arrangement with the circuit management – Call 01335 343833.
Darley Moor is one of the few circuits in which dogs are welcome, provided they are always kept on a lead during race day and the owners act in a responsible manner.
Championship Tables (after Round 1)
Open Solos
1st Josh Daley, 15pts; 2nd Mark Goodings, 12pts; 3rd Dominic Herbertson, 10pts
Open Sidecars
1st Steve Thomas / Danny Lewis , 15ts; 2nd Anthony Eades / Ash Gibson, 12pts; 3rd Keith Waddington / Mick Storey, 10pts
Lightweight
1st Andy Whale, 15pts; 2nd Lewis Jones, 12pts; 3rd Peter Fell, 10
Formula 600
1st Richard Cooper, 15pts; 2nd Stephen Parsons, 12pts; 3rd Albert Walker, 10pts
Formula 600 Sidecar
1st Chris Schofield / Shane Colbrook, 15pts; 2nd Howard Baker / Mike Killingsworth, 12pts; 3rd Bruce Moore / Amy Dodd, 10pts
Pre-Electronic 600/750 Twin
1st Stuart Bradbury, 15pts; 2nd Adam Sherriff , 12pts; 3rd Wayne Kemp, 210
700 Twins
1st David Carson, 15pts; 2nd Jim Barnett, 12pts; 3rd Richard Saville, 10pts
Honda CB500 & Suzuki Bandit
1st Richard Cooper, 15pts; 2nd Daz Bellworthy, 12pts; 3rd Owen Monaghan, 10pts
Pre-Injection 1300
1st Adam Walters, 15pts; 2nd Adam Boulton, 12pts; 3rd Ian McKenzie, 10pts
Classic 500
1st Rob Hodson, 15pts; 2nd Oliver Presswood,12pts
Forgotten Era 1300
1st Mark Brailsford, 15pts; 2nd David Bradley, 12pts; 3rd Martin Davis, 10pts
Forgotten Era 500
1st Mike Lees, 15pts; 2nd Paul Hawksworth, 12pts; 3rd Nigel Rac, 10pts
Forgotten Era 250
1st Glenn Atkinson, 15pts