Cooper The History Maker

Well, what a finish to the 2022 season who would’ve thought it was October with the glorious weather and some excellent racing on both days.  By the end of the weekend the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club were rewriting their history books after this year’s Star of Darley emerged as the most successful.   In addition to this eight more Club Champions were crowned on the Saturday alone and the remaining four going down to Sunday’s final round at the Darley Moor Motorsport Centre near Ashbourne (DE6 2ET).

Saturday and the Stars Qualifying saw six times winner Richard Cooper (Nottingham) fastest, with team-mate Leon Jeacock (Leicester) 2^nd, just 0.2sec slower, then and another six-time winner, John McGuinness (Lancaster) 3^rd quickest, 1.5sec slower.  Highest placed Club regular was Josh Daley (Wigan) with the 5^th quickest time, the only regular to get within 3sec of Cooper’s Qualifying Lap Time, 2.2sec slower.

Saturday Stars at Darley, Race 1 saw Richard Cooper set a blistering opening lap, the only rider to dip below 56sec, and cross the line with a 1sec lead over Jeacock.  It wasn’t until Lap3 that Jeacock put a quicker time in, but with a 1sec gap to reduce to his team-mate.  Lap5 was the closest he could get to Cooperman, 0.6sec, but then the pace was upped again, and his advantage stretched out to 1sec once more.  There were only three more laps that Jeacock’s time was better than Cooper’s and the gap at the flag, after the 12laps was once again 1.1sec.  McGuinness circulated throughout the race in 3^rd place, 20sec behind the winner at the flag, but had his pace been any slower then Daley would have been on his case, finishing just 4.4sec behind the TT Legend.  An impressive showing from Daley, who was 6^th after the opening couple of laps, then 5^th for another two laps before moving into his finishing position on the 5^th lap.

Saturday’s racing began with the usual Allcomers races, and it was David Carson (Northwich) who opened his weekend’s tally with another Allcomers ‘up to 650 Twin’ victory, but he did have to make his way to the front.  After the opening lap it was Albert Walker (Retford) with a 2sec lead over Ian Robinson (Eccleshall) and Carson in 3^rd.  Up into 2^nd place on Lap2, then hitting the front on Lap5 and stretching out a 4.5sec lead at the flag, in the opening 10Lap race.

The Lap chart for the Allcomers over 600cc race shows Jack Keaton (Doncaster) leading across the line each time, but although he may have had several seconds advantage over the field in the opening laps it was who was catching him from way down field that kept the spectators entertained.  Daniel Stubbs (Derby) was down in 10^th place, almost 5sec behind the leader after Lap1, then a ‘busy’ Lap2 saw him 5^th, but 6.2sec behind the pacesetter.  Up into 4^th place for Laps 3 and 4, then into 3^rd on Lap5, but with the gap reduced to 3sec, another Lap saw him up into 2^nd place, but the battling with Dave Glossop (Wilmslow) and Adam Walters (Derby) had seen Keaton’s advantage stretch a little to 3.2sec.  Then with is sights set firmly on the leader, other than the occasional backmarker who did thwart his progress a little, but after setting the fastest lap of the race on the final circuit, Stubbs could only get within 0.4sec of Keaton at the flag.

The opening championship classes saw the combined Lightweight and Honda CB500 machines take to the track with Andy Whale’s (Birmingham) Lightweight machine setting the pace and leading from Lap 1.   By Lap6 he had 7sec lead, but then failed to finish Lap7, allowing Daz Bellworthy’s (Derby) CB500 machine to take the chequered flag after Lap8 with a 3sec advantage over Jamie Hanks-Elliott’s (Birmingham) Lightweight machine.  The Lightweight machines of Peter Fell (Burton on Trent) and Lewis Jones (Mansfield) were 3^rd and 4^th and the CB500 of championship leader Connor Woodman (Poulton Le Fylde) ‘home’ in 5^th place Overall and with challengers Jordan Poole (Stoke on Trent) and Alistair Corr (Alfreton) behind him, this handed Woodman the title.  The afternoon’s race could have been a decider for both classes, but with Andy Whale not making the grid on his Lightweight machine, effectively handing the Lightweight title to its current leader, Peter Fell.  Bellworthy made no mistakes in the opening laps, leading from Lap1 and opening out a 5sec lead by Lap6.  However, once again it was a rider from further back on the grid that was keeping the spectators entertained, non other than a certain Richard Cooper.  The six-time Star of Darley was languishing down in 15^th on the opening lap, Lap2 saw him up to 12^th, 9^th on Lap3, 7^th on Lap4, 5^th on Lap6, Lap7 3^rd and into 2^nd on Lap8, 3sec adrift of good friend and leader Bellworthy.  Lap9 then saw the pair pass the finish-line, separated by 0.75sec and the final lap saw Cooper pass Bellworthy and take the chequered flag by a tiny 0.05sec.  Once more the Lightweight honours were being decided by Fell and Jones, locked in a race-long battle with Fell finishing Overall 3^rd and Jones 4^th, separated by just 0.23sec.    

The Formula 600 class and it was Championship leader, Ben Dale (Warrington) who led for the opening couple of laps with 3^rd place in Championship, Jake Hopper (Durham), Richard Wardle (Stoke on Trent) and David Carson the only riders to regularly break the ‘magic’ 60sec mark for a Darley Moor lap.  Whilst Hopper and Wardle were 2^nd and 3^rd respectively, after the opening lap, Carson, 2^nd in Championship standings, was down in 10^th place.  Lap3 saw Hopper hit the front, with Carson now making steady progress into 8^th, but could only get his machine up to 5^th place.  The second race saw Liam Weston (Leyland) and Hopper cross the line on the opening lap side by side with Wardle and Carson, 3^rd and 4^th respectively.  Lap2 gave the opening for Hopper to stretch a 1sec lead over Weston whilst Wardle and Carson stayed in the same positions, but with Dale not making the grid for this race Carson needed to score maximum points to take the title race to the final Round.  Unfortunately, Carson was unable to make any in-roads to those ahead, the only movement being Wardle finding a way through on Weston on Lap5, allowing Dale to claim the Championship.

The combined Open Solo and Pre-Injection Open race was another where two champions could be decided on Saturday, however, both leaders of the respective championship needed to have a bad weekend.  However, first it was the ‘sprint’ race, and it was the Open Solo machines of Richard Cooper, again, having a busy weekend of racing, who was quickest off the line, with Tony Waistnage (Rotherham), Josh Daley (Wigan)and Richard Charlton (Co Durham) all within 2.5sec of him after Lap1.  Waistnage and Daley swapped places on Lap2, then Cooper failed to finish Lap3, allowing Daley to fend off the Waistnage challenge, with Charlton crossing the line almost 6sec behind.  The first of the Pre-Injection Open machines was Championship leader Adam Walters (Derby), 8^th Overall and his championship challenger Ian Mackenzie (Long Eaton) in 15th Overall.   For the Championship race Cooper never made it to the grid, allowing the challengers to their race and the top three finishers had a similar race to the earlier one: Daley taking the win after passing Waistnage, on Lap2, then Charlton following the pair home, at a distance.  Championship leader, Mark Goodings (Doncaster) dropped a place from the first race, down to 5^th, but the points being enough to claim the Open Solo Championship.  The Pre-Injection Open title challengers finished 9^th and 11^th Overall, but with Walters’ finishing ahead of McKenzie was all it needed to claim the Pre-Injection Open Championship, taking it out of McKenzie’s reach.

The 700 Twins Championship had already been decided with David Carson (Northwich) lifting the title at the previous round, but that was no reason to not try as hard, going for a clean sweep of wins for all those races entered.  Albert Walker (Retford) led the opening race for the first three laps, with Ian Robinson (Eccleshall) in 2^nd spot until Carson passed him on Lap3, then taking the lead on Lap4 he then opened out an advantage of 7.5sec at the flag, over Walker and becoming the first 700 Twins competitor to break that ‘magic’ 60sec lap.  The second race was similar, but on this occasion, Carson took the lead on the second Lap and Jim Hodson (Wigan) was able to get in between Walker and Robinson for the entire race.  Carson finishing 8sec ahead at the flag.

The Pre-Electronic 600/750 Twins Championship is another to be decided this weekend but recently there has been a father and son duo that have been upsetting the regulars, so would their attendance at the final round have any sway on the Championship?  They certainly had an impact on the opening race Adam Sheriff (Barnsley) being quickest off the line with son, Kaine in pursuit, James Crawford (Cupar), 3^rd, 2^nd in Championship Dean Ephgrave (Hucknall) 4^th and title leader Stuart Bradbury (Kilburn) 5^th and staying in this order for Lap2.  Lap3 saw everything change with Crawford and Bradbury failing to finish and Kaine pass his father for the lead and maintain the advantage to the flag.  Ephgrave then had to contain with a slower starting Chris Sammons (Chesterfield) who finished Lap1 7^th, benefitting from the Crawford/Bradbury demise, but only able to reduce the gap to 3^rd placeman, Ephgrave to just 0.3sec at the flag.  The all-important points race saw the Kaine’s take the same positions and Bradbury overcome a slower start to pass his championship rival on Lap3 and maintain the advantage, plus have Sammons separating the pair, giving Bradbury enough points for the Championship.

The combined Forgotten Era and Classic races had one of the closest Championships going into Saturday’s Round with just 4points separating Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield) from leader Martin Davis (Manchester) in the Forgotten Era 1300 class, whilst Paul Hawksworth (Castle Donington) enjoyed a 13point advantage over Steve Price (Cheadle) in the Forgotten Era 500 class.  The opening race may have been an extra practice run that saw Brailsford achieve what he needed to do later in the day and finish ahead of Martin Davis, a start – finish victory finishing with a 6sec advantage over his rival.  Coming home 3^rd Overall, Price also finished ahead of his rival, although with Hawksworth, 5^th Overall and just 2^nd in Class, the points difference between the two would not be enough for Price to take the title.  Brailsford proved in the second encounter that he had not given up on the title, finishing 25sec ahead of his nearest rival, who came home in 2^nd place, the gap between the pair at the head of the table now reduced to just a single point.  Price again did what he needed to in the Forgotten Era 500 class finishing 3^rd Overall, but 1^st in class, whilst Hawksworth finished 6^th Overall, but again 2^nd in class leaving the gap at the head of the table at 15points, meaning Price needs to win and Hawksworth register no points, for a joint finish and decided on next best result. 

Finally, the three-wheel action was also another two championships able to be decided on Saturday, both leaders of the Formula 600 Sidecar and Open Sidecar needed to have disastrous weekends to lose their respective championship. Formula 600 leaders Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth (Sutton Coldfield/Lincoln) got off to the ideal start taking the lead of the first race on Lap2 never to be headed again.  The David Schofield/Josh Smith (Rawtenstall) pairing, on another Formula 600 outfit, followed them home 3sec adrift, whilst title rivals Bill Roberts/Nick Roberts (Coventry) failed to complete the opening lap.  The Open Sidecar challenge saw leaders Steve Thomas / Danny Lewis (Rockferry/Wirral) finish 6^th Overall, 2nd in class behind rivals Anthony Eades /Ash Gibson (Hyde) who finished 4^th Overall, 23sec ahead of the rival pairing.  The second race saw Baker/Killingsworth lead for the opening four laps, but Schofield/Smith were able to find a way through on Lap5 and stretched their advantage to just 2sec at the flag.  Championship challengers’ outfit of the Roberts could only manage 7^th Overall, 5^th in class, giving Baker/Killingsworth an unassailable 20point advantage at the head of the Championship.  The Open Sidecar Championship leaders Thomas/Lewis were able to improve on their first race performance and finished 3^rd Overall, but more importantly the first Open outfit home leaving their closest rivals, Eades/Gibson, who finished 4^th Overall, with a 16point deficit to make up, with just 15points available.

After Saturday’s action it leaves just four Club Championships and, of course, the main piece of silverware for the year, the Stars of Darley Trophy to be decided.

Sunday Stars at Darley, in similar conditions as Saturday’s and Race 2 saw Leon Jeacock being the faster starter leading the opening lap and crossing the Starline with a 0.4sec advantage, but it was team-mate Richard Cooper that was in his wheel tracks, with John McGuinness MBE a further 1sec back, with Josh Daley, again the highest placed Club regular.  Jeacock held the lead for just one more lap before Cooper found a way past on Lap3 and the pair then began to stretch out a small advantage over McGuinness.  Despite recording in the fastest lap of the weekend Jeacock could not get back on terms with Cooper, the pair split by 2.9sec at the chequered flag.  Cooper’s double victory in the Stars at Darley races put him above all previous winners and is now the most successful rider having won it a record seven times, between 2008 – 2022.   Behind the Hawk Racing pairing it was McGuinness, almost 15sec back, with Daley waving the Club ‘flag’ in a comfortable 4th place to claim the John Newbold Trophy for being the highest place Club competitor.

As usual it was the Allcomers Up to 650cc Twins that got the race action underway and once again it was David Carson that recorded a start-finish with Albert Walker and Andy Whale the only riders to get anywhere near to him, finishing 3.6sec and 4.6sec behind, respectively.

The Allcomers Over 600cc wasn’t quite as straightforward with Nigel Rea (Blackburn) leading the opening lap before Jack Keeton made his way from 3^rd on Lap1 into leading Lap2 with Dave Glossop (Wilmslow) following him through from 4^th on the opening lap, to 3^rd on Lap2 and 2^nd on Lap3.  Keeton held onto the lead until Lap8 when Glossop hit the front and Daniel Stubbs also squeezed through on Keeton, pushing him back to 3^rd.  However, the three-way battle was then reduced to two when Stubbs failed to finish Lap8, leaving Keeton to take the battle to Glossop, but despite putting in the quicker lap of the two riders, he could not get pass Glossop, the pair finally crossing the line just 0.8sec apart. 

The first of the Championship races was the combined Lightweight and CB500 classes and with the CB500 title still to be decided.  The opening race saw Andy Whale, 2022 Runner-Up in the Lightweight class, record a start – finish victory, with Lewis Jones lying 2^nd until 2022 Champion, Peter Fell passed him on Lap4 and able to hold the position until the chequered flag, the trio crossing the line just 1.2sec apart.  Jamie Hanks Elliott (Birmingham) took her Lightweight machine to 4^th place.  Behind the top4, Stars winner, Cooper, on a CB500, was providing the crowd with more entertainment after finishing Lap1 in 20^th spot and watching his progress through the field whilst recording the fastest lap of the race, finally finishing 5^th after 8laps.  The second encounter saw the same top4, but the ‘played’ out in a different format completely; Hanks Elliott was quickest on the opening Lap, crossing the line ahead of Fell and Jones a mere 0.5sec behind her, with Whale close behind.  Lap2 and Hanks-Elliott drops to 3^rd with Fell and Whale all moving up a place, the Jones moves pass Hanks-Elliott on Lap3.  The quartet maintain these positions until Whale hits the front on the penultimate lap and holds on until the flag, the four split by just 1sec.  Behind these the CB500 Championship was already decided but a race-long battle between Champion, Connor Woodman and 3^rd place Jordan Poole for overall 5^th place was also providing the entertainment.  Woodman eventually coming out on top, by just 0.1sec.

The Formula 600 class was again dominated by Jake Hopper taking a start – finish victory in the opening race, but with David Carson just 0.5sec behind throughout the race.  Richard Wardle the only other rider to get within 5sec of the pair.  Whilst the result of the second race was the same it unfolded in a totally different way with Carson leading the opening couple of laps, with Wardle 2^nd and Hopper 3^rd on the opening lap. Hopper made it through to 2^nd on Lap2 and hit the front on Lap3 with Carson and Wardle staying in close pursuit through the remaining laps, split by just 1.2sec at the flag.

Richard Charlton took a start-finish victory in the first combined Open Solo/Pre-Injection 1300 races, finishing the opening lap with a 3sec lead and lapping almost 2sec quicker than anybody else throughout the 5lap race.  2022 Pre-Injection 1300 Champion, Adam Walters, took his older machine to an overall 3^rd place behind Matthew Bell’s Open Solo machine.  Whilst Charlton was faster off the line in the second race it was Club Star Daley that set the required pace, lying in 2^nd place until Lap4 when he passed Charlton and proceeded to open a 5.3sec advantage over Charlton, with Bell a further 16sec behind.  Walters was again the first of the Pre- Injection Open class machines, getting amongst the newer machines in an Overall 5^th place.

The first 700 Twins race provided a battle between the 660 Aprilia’s of Andy Whale and David Carson.  Whale was the quicker starter with Jim Hodson hanging on to 2^nd place until Carson caught and passed and him on Lap3 to keep the spectators happy with a hard-fought battle for the lead, the pair eventually separated by just 0.21sec at the flag, whilst Albert Walker pushed Hodson down to 4^th on Lap4 and stretched out a 3sec ‘buffer’.  The second encounter gave Andy Whale an easier time after Carson recorded a rare ‘dnf’ after failing to finish lap7 whilst in a three-way battle with Hodson and Walker for 2^nd place.  Walker finally claimed 2^nd place with Hodson 3^rd.

The Pre-Electronic600/750Twin class provided another dominant display by father and son duo, Adam & Kaine Sheriff.  In the first race Kaine had at least a 2sec advantage at the head of the field for 7 of the 8lap race, then he seemed to slow, or took his time picking his moment to pass a backmarker allowing his father, Adam to close in, the pair crossing the finish-line just 0.3sec apart.  Chris Sammons was next across the line almost 14sec down on the pair.   Race two gave the same top3; K Sheriff; A Sheriff and C Sammons, but this time Kaine ensured there was no narrow escape at the end, finishing 3sec ahead of his father, with Sammons another 12sec back.  For the Championship, leader Stuart Bradbury was able to finish ahead of his closest competitor Dean Ephgrave in both races, 5^th and 6^th in the opening race and 4^th and 5^th, respectively, in the second.

The final solo race of the day, combined Forgotten Era and Classics, had the subject of two championships to be decided, Forgotten Era 1300 and 500 classes.  The first race, with no points at stake, saw 2^nd in 1300 Championship, Mark Brailsford lead from Championship leader, Martin Davis for the opening 4laps, then Davis passed him to lead for a couple of laps until Brailsford found the quicker route pass backmarkers and led the final two laps, taking victory by 3.8sec. The 500-class challenger, Steve Price, was able to beat Championship leader, Paul Hawksworth by almost 40sec on track, Price taking overall 3^rd, compared to 6^th Overall for the title leader, but in class terms it was still 1^st and 2^nd places.  Brailsford took control of the points race and recorded a start – finish victory, leaving Davis in 2^nd place, over 10sec behind at the flag and this being enough to snatch the Championship title, by just 2points, from Davis.  Price was able to get the quicker start, getting himself into 3^rd place Overall on the opening lap, whilst Hawksworth could only get into 6^th place Overall, the pair finishing in the same positions as the opening race and the points awarded were not enough for Price to do the same ‘job’ on his rival, finishing Runner-Up, just 12points separating the pair.

The final race result for the season for the Sidecar classes was the opening race on Sunday which saw Conrad Harrison/Matthew Rostrony (Bradford/Formby) record a start-finish victory ahead of Formula 600 Champions Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth finishing just 1.3sec behind, whilst Open Sidecar Champions, Steve Thomas/Danny Lewis started the opening lap 3^rd Overall, but slipped back to finish 5^th, just ahead of the championship rivals Anthony Eades/Ash Gibson.

The next event for the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club will be the 2022 Stars at Darley and Club Championships Presentation of Awards and Annual Dinner on Saturday 28^th January 2023 at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, Festival Way, Stoke on Trent, ST1 5BQ.  Tickets are available at £35 each on https://darleymoorstore.com/.