BUMPER WEEKEND OF RACING AT DARLEY MOOR

Wednesday July 1, 2015 at 11:14am

The Darley Moor Motorcycle Road Race Championship entered the second half of the season over last weekend with Round 4 on Saturday 27th June being enjoyed in hot and sunny conditions and Round 5 on Sunday 28th June, starting in damp, miserable conditions until the sun and heat returned for the afternoon. Both days providing some excellent racing and with several of the front runners in the championships suffering machine problems, accident damage in the early stages of Saturday or still damaged from previous outings, the standings have a totally different look!

With some of the main protagonists having to sit the races out the Newcastle Under Lyme duo of Simon Bowyer and Brendan Brown ensured the spectators were on their feet from the opening Peak Cup race. Brown got a fantastic start, finishing Lap 1 with a 1sec lead and Bowyer in 4th place, 3sec down. Bowyer then increased his pace and was lapping quicker than Brown and had bridged the gap by the last lap where he managed to make the pass and beat Brown to the line by just 0.31sec! Their next encounter was the Open Solo, Race 4, but with Bowyer making a better starts on this occasion, following Brown across the line just 0.64sec behind after the first lap. After passing Brown on the second lap the inevitable could have been expected, but Brown wasn’t giving up, the pair circulated the remaining laps less than 0.5sec apart, until the final lap when, Brown returned the move Bowyer had made earlier, passed and beat him to the line by just 0.41sec! Battle number 3, Peak Cup race 2 saw a similar plot, Brown away quickest, Bowyer about 0.5sec behind until he made his move on Lap 3, but unable to extend an advantage any more than 0.5sec Brown retook the position on Lap 6 extended the winning margin to more than 3sec at the flag. The second Open Solo race saw Brown make no mistake and lead from the flag, finishing almost 1.5sec in front at the flag.

Immediately after both Peak Cup races Brown switched from his 1000cc four stroke machine to his 125cc two stroke GP race bike, a machine at least half the weight and requiring a totally different style, to compete in the combined Formula Darley and 125GP races. Finishing 4th and 3rd overall in the races, but taking the 125GP class victories! Stuart Hall was the quickest starter on both occasions, on a Formula Darley machine, but in the first Brad Vicars was able to squeeze by on the 5th Lap to take to Overall victory, with David Carson following Hall across the line for 3rd place. Their second race saw Hall drop to 4th place by Lap 4 and then failed to complete the fifth lap, leaving Carson to take the Runner-Up spot. Carson, Vicars and Hall were again battling it out on track in the combined Sound of Thunder/Mini Sound of Thunder/Lightweight races; and again they were locked together throughout the races finishing 3rd, 4th and 5th Overall in the first race; Carson taking the class victory, Vicars 2nd and Hall 3rd place.

In the second race the trio recorded a 7th, 8th and 9th Overall, with Vicars taking the class win from Carson and Hall 3rd. Ahead of these racers Lloyd Shelley headed the field, on his Sound of Thunder machine, on all but one of the laps, unfortunately that lap was the final lap of the first race, in which he failed to finish, therefore just taking the one victory, in the second race! Paul Gibbs spent a similar amount of time chasing Shelley down in 2nd spot, he also failed to finish the final lap of the first race, handing the victory to Gary Henriksen. Similar to Shelley, Gibbs completed the second race, recording a Runner Up position, with Henriksen, 3rd. Amongst the booming Sound of Thunder machines Chris Moore took his 250cc Lightweight machine to 6th and 5th place overall finishes to record two Lightweight class victories.

Shelley and Gibbs were also out in action in the Formula 600 races and along with Steven Proctor took the top 3 positions on both occasions. In the first Shelley was quickest off the line again until Proctor passed him on Lap3 and went on to take the victory, from Shelley, with Gibbs, 3rd. With no mistakes in the second Shelley recorded a faultless victory, leaving Gibbs and Proctor to battle for the Runner-up position, taken by Gibbs with a narrow advantage over Proctor.

In the combined Steel Framed 600/Pre Injection 600 races Anthony Porter took two victories on his Steel Framed machine after a near faultless display leading all bar the first lap of the first race from Andrew Lowe’s Pre Injection machine.

Virgil Stevenson was another rider with a near faultless display, leading all bar one lap in both Pre 98’s races; taking victory in the first by over 18sec, from Dean Ephgrave on their (Up to 1300cc) machines. However, in the second race Richard Stubbs had lined up on the grid and after Stevenson better start saw him lead for the first seven laps Stubbs had hunted him down and passed him on the final lap to win by 0.5sec, with Ephgrave coming out on top in a race long dice with Chris Moore for 3rd place.

Although the Sidecar races were won by Ray Thomas/Neil Aslaksen with Anthony Eades and stand-in passenger Stu Lacey 2nd, on both occasions they were certainly entertaining, especially the first race after Thomas/Aslaksen were almost dead last after the first lap! Threading through the pack they, impressively, hit the front on Lap5 of 8 and went on to win by almost 5sec. While both of the pairings were on 1000cc machines the Derby pairing of Roy Tansley/Chris Judge were 3rd until failing to complete Lap7, handing 3rd place and the 600cc class victory to John Chandler/Karl Schofield, who also secured the class victory in the second race.

Despite the damp conditions Sunday morning the battles between Brendan Brown and Simon Bowyer continued to ‘rage’ in the Peak Cup and Open Solo classes. With Brown literally getting a grip of the conditions quicker he almost pulled out a 2sec lead, by the 2nd lap, in the first Peak Cup race, but Bowyer dug deep and pulled the deficit back to just 0.17sec at the flag. The first Open Solo race saw Bowyer get a lightening start and lead the race for the entire distance, although Brown was never any further than 0.7sec behind, closing to within 0.1sec at mid race distance and stretching back out to 0.7sec at the flag. The 10 lap Peak Cup race proved another epic battle with Brown making the better start and leading, just, until mid-race distance when Bowyer had the better run past a backmarker and managing to put 2.5sec between himself and Brown at the flag. Not to be outdone Brown ensured the pair would finish the day equal by taking the second Open Solo victory, with the pairing separated by little more than 0.5sec until the final laps when a backmarker perhaps slowed Bowyer up, leaving a gap of 1.3sec at the flag.

Brown was again out in between the Peak Cup and Open Solo races on his 125GP machine, and winning his class in the Formula Darley/125GP races with two 4th places Overall. However, at the head of the field it was another epic battle that followed on from Saturday’s races with between Brad Vicars, David Carson and Stuart Hall. Again Vicars came out on top on both occasions, but it certainly wasn’t easy. The first encounter saw Vicars get the better start with Carson behind Hall until Lap3 and then taking the lead on Lap4 only for Vicars to retake it on the penultimate lap and hold on until the finish, 0.5sec ahead. With a better start in the second race Carson was right behind Vicars after Lap1, then passing him on the second lap, only for Vicars to retake it on the third lap. Lap4 saw Carson retake the lead and hold it for 3 laps until Vicars took the lead on the penultimate lap and manage to hold it until the flag, the winning margin being just 0.17sec!

The trio were up against each other in the combined Sound of Thunder/Lightweight class and again the final order in the Mini Sound of Thunder class was Vicars taking the ‘win’, Carson 2nd and Hall 3rd. At the head of the field it was another trio that had been battling it out on Saturday; Paul Gibbs, Gary Henriksen and Lloyd Shelley. Paul Gibbs took the lead from the start and managed to break away from the other pair in the first race, but just as it was looking to be a battle between the other two Shelley failed to complete the third lap leaving Henriksen to settle for 2nd place. Their second race saw Shelley make no mistakes, taking the holeshot with Gibbs trying to follow and Henriksen having no choice but to settle for 3rd place. As per Saturday Chris Moore took his Light-weight machine to class victories and finishing with two 5th places overall.

The Shelley/Gibbs battle resumed for the Formula 600 races; in both it was Shelley who came out on top, but only after Gibbs had failed to complete the final lap in the first race and after pushing Shelley hard in the second, finishing just over 2sec back at the flag.

The closest finish of the weekend was in the first Pre98 (up to 1300cc) race which saw Richard Stubbs pass Virgil Stevenson on the second lap and hold the advantage to the end of the 6 lap race, but with Stevenson just 0.1sec behind at the flag! In their second race Stevenson turned the tables taking a flag to flag victory, although Stubbs was only 0.36sec behind at the flag. Dean Ephgrave recorded two 3rd places but, such was the pairs pace he was over 20sec down by the final lap! However, Ephgrave did claim a hard fought victory in the first Steel Framed 600/ Pre Injection 600 race. After lying 3rd after two laps, he made his way into 2nd on the 3rd lap and into the lead on Lap 4, following in his tracks throughout was Andrew Lowe who finished 2nd, just 0.68sec at the flag, after leading early on Anthony Porter had to settle for 3rd place. Ensuring the same never happened in the second race Porter took the lead on the 2nd lap and extended a lead of almost 6sec at the flag, leaving Lowe and Ephgrave to battle it out for 2nd place, which was taken by Lowe on this occasion.

In the two Sidecar races it was the Howard Baker/Mike Killinsgworth duo that showed everybody the way on their 600cc outfit, winning by over 6sec each time. Behind these Saturday’s Overall double victors took 2nd place, although first in the 1000cc class with Derby’s Roy Tansley/Chris Judge recorded a 2nd and 3rd place in the class.

In addition to the regular guests to each meeting, the Long Circuit Kart Club, Sunday saw the Classic 50 Club have two races, both won convincingly by Derby’s Samuel Grief.

With this weekend providing some superb racing don’t worry you will not need to wait long for Round 6, which takes place on Sunday 26th July and you can be sure some of the regular names will be back to make amends!

As always Practice will starts at 10am, with the first race scheduled for 11.30am. The cost of adult admission to Darley Moor for all meetings, except the end of season Stars at Darley meeting, is £12.00 per day, children under 16 are free, and Senior Citizens are £8.00. Parking and Paddock Transfer is free and a programme costs just £3.00. Adult admission to the Test Days is £6.00, Senior Citizens 65 and over £4.00.

For the Stars at Darley event on 11th October the adult admission price is £16.00 and Senior Citizens £10.00.

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

There is ample room for spectators to camp and caravan at Darley Moor over the race weekends. The cost is £5.00 per unit per night. 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 kept on a lead at all times during race day and the owners act in a responsible manner.

Championship positions (after Round 5)

Peak Cup

1st Brendan Brown, 55pts; 2nd, Simon Bowyer 36pts; 3rd Jamie Medhurst, 31pts

Open Solo

1st Brendan Brown, 60pts; 2nd, Simon Bowyer 39pts; 3rd, Jim Hodson 30pts

Open Sidecars

1st Anthony Eades/Nick Roberts 57pts; 2nd Dave Thomas/Neil Aslaksen, 36pts; 3rd Keith Waddington/Stu Lacey, 20pts

Lightweight

1st Chris Moore 63pts; 2nd Matty Whelan, 26pts; 3rd Darren Spruce, 18pts

GP125

1st Brendan Brown, 58pts; 2nd Derek Clark, 54pts; 3rd Richard Mortimer, 46pts

Formula 600