Wednesday May 15, 2019 at 4:22pm
Round three of the 2019 NG Road Racing season saw the trip to Donington Park on the 11th and 12th May. As expected, being just two weeks before the BSB boys and girls arrive the grids were packed with Moto3, Supersport and Superstock support riders. George Stanley was the stand out rider on the big Hawk Suzuki who took all three Powerbike wins and Charlie Nesbitt showed that he is suffering no ill effects from his recent Oulton Park crash by taking the wins in two out of three of the 600 finals breaking the lap record no fewer than half a dozen times over the weekend. Josh Day, NG’s top man for the last few seasons did not come away with his regular full set of wins but scored podiums all weekend (……bar one slip up !!) but that did not worry him as he set a new NG outright lap record for the 1.96 mile circuit lapping at exactly 103mph average…. that’s 1min 8.36seconds, and he did it on the very last lap of the very last race of the weekend. Of the regular club series runners Daniel Nelmes took a perfect points haul in the pre-injection class and set a new lap record. Sean Able did the same in the F125’s and John Tatham was unbeatable in the Formula Prostock FP1. Most other classes saw with wins spread around which reflected the closeness of the racing this weekend with more races than I can list here resulting in drag races from the right-left Roberts chicane to Donington’s finish line. All the Donington Action | Class by Class Formula 125 | Backed by Steve Lynham Motorcycles Sean Able took another three dominant wins in the F125 class on his Hire Standards Ltd Aprilia despite the best attempts of James Chapman. He now has a 45 point advantage in the championship. Formula 400 | Backed by A and R Racing Spares The experienced multi F400 champ Tim Bradley showed the Ninja kids the way to go on Saturday in sketchy conditions with his trusty FZR that was built before any of the chasing pack headed by Kade Verwey, Luke Verwey, Owen Jenner, Lynden Leatherland, Lewis Jones, Cameron Hall, Brody Crockford and Chloe Jones were even born. However when the sun was out on Sunday Kade Verwey took both wins, one over little brother Luke and one over reigning Ninja Team Green champ Owen Jenner. Bradley took third and fourth placings though to extend his series lead over Dan Hanby who had no answer for the new breed of F400 / Supersport 300 bikes this weekend. 500cc Open | Backed EDP Photo News We had a similar pattern in the 500’s as in the F400’s. Tim Bradley stole the march on his A and Z Taylor FZR in the short-sharp-shower effected race on Saturday afternoon to take a clear win whist on Sunday in the gorgeous sun it was Kade Verwey that too both wins on the Team XG Racing 400 Ninja Kawasaki. He was made to fight for the final win though as brother Luke was again all over his rear wheel, and had a final attempt to grab that elusive win with a drag race to the like which failed by just 0.024 of a second (…about a tyres width to you and me !!!). Thank goodness for transponders !! 600cc Open | Backed by IMS Ltd Liam Delves used his old R6 here in preparation for the upcoming BSB round as his ViaMoto Kawasaki is being prepped after an Oulton Park crash, but he took his first NG 600 win over Max Symonds and Owen Hunt. Sunday though saw former British Moto 3 champ Charlie Nesbit join the fray taking both wins in impressive style and setting a new class lap record on his Rapidforfliment R6. Series leader at the start of the meeting Ross Walker suffered all weekend picking up just 3 points. He will be hoping to get his championship back on track at Cadwell. Open | Backed by Phoenix Motorcycles Braydon Elliot the former NSW Australian Dirt Track champion used all his sideways knowledge in the wet Open race on Saturday during one of the brief showers. He took his Complete Filtration Suzuki GSXR to the win over fellow BSB Superstock runner George Stanley and Michael Blank. Habitual NG Open class winner had to sit this one out as he crashed out of a podium placing with his R1. Sundays bone dry races saw Stanley take them both setting multiple lap records along the way as he fought off the attentions of Josh Day, Braydon Elliott and Charlie Nesbitt who was pitting his 600 against the 1000’s. Heading the supporting class were Peter Baker, Chris Pope, David Hewson and Allister Haynes. Powerbike | Backed by Bluebell Lakes All three Powerbike finals saw the same outcome…..1st George Stanley on the Hawk Suzuki…. 2nd Josh Day and 3rd Braydon Elliot. Former Aussie 600 champ Elliot always seemed to get the start, before Stanley hit the front with Day in close company. Despite not taking a win in the class that he is the current NG champion got one thing he sought though and that was the new lap record at 103mph…… and I think he can thank Stanley for dragging that lap out of him !! Mini Twins | Backed by Racebuykz.com Dan Harris went into this meeting with a one point advantage and things were looking good for him as he took a relatively comfortable win on his HP Racing SV after early race pressure from close championship rival Olii Warren and class new boy and ex-F400 race winner Ben Harrison on his recently built 650. However Harrison is a quick learner and soon adapted his style to the Twin after years on a screaming 400 and took the next two wins in impressive style on the BH Racing / Carby Crew Suzuki, not only taking the wins but set a new class lap record in the process removing a seven year old mark that had stood to Dale Thomas since 2012. I bet Harris and Warren are happy that Harrison did not have his bike ready for rounds one and two !!! Super Twins | Backed by Racebuykz.com Tom Harrison (….the younger Harrison boy) also has an SV 650 for 2019 although his ran in the Super Twins. His WSC Performance / St Ives Signs bike took him to the win on Saturday first time out, but he was only a one day entry as he is preparing to take his Masters exams this week. Current series leader Paul Wardell had been setting the pace on his ER6 but pulled into pit lane with a problem that ended his weekend on track. With no Harrison or Wardell the way was open for a new class winner, and Edward Giles stepped up on the Giles Motors SV to take the spoils in outings two and three. Sound of Thunder | Backed by 100% Suspension Series leader and reigning champ Dave Mackay took his True Heroes Panigale to Saturdays win over 675 Triumph Daytona runner Paul Pridmore and Ben Broadway. However Mackays 959 suffered a cracked header pipe forcing some running repairs courtesy of sidecar chassis builder Richard Lumley who wheeled his welding kit in to put a temporary fix in place. Dave then nursed the Ducati over the next two outings to fifth and third, not reving the big twin over 6000rpm. Up front in both of those races was Josh Day getting some valuable track time on his Host-it.co.uk 959 that he uses in the Trioptions BSB series. He has totally settled with the different riding style and set a new class lap record on his way to victory over Ben Broadway. Streetstock | Backed by DTR Racing Spares and Metzeler Simon Bastable took Saturday’s wet race on his WSC / Wincanton R6 over acknowledged rain-man Adam Grosch and reigning (…sorry!!) champ David Irons. Once it dried out on Sunday though Irons on his TWR Racing R6 was back to winning ways taking both victories and setting a new lap record. In the bigger 1300cc class series leader going into the weekend Jason Hill took his JT Racing / Weston M/C’s ZX10 to the race one win over Chris Oliver and Damon Hill with Jon Wright in an uncustomary fourth. Jon Wright bounced back on Sunday with two wins and a new class lap record to make this a real three way battle for the title already. Pre Injections | Backed by Love Life and Ride Daniel Nelmes continued his winning ways in the 700 pre injection class on his R6 Yamaha, again getting the better of Gary Rodwell and Daniel Jones. Jones again suffered machine issues on Saturday and had to use his unfavoured wet bike all weekend. Nelmes is starting to build a good lead in the series and is over 75 points clear and we are not at the half season point yet. The 1300 series had a win for Daniel Boucher on Saturday on his LBW-D Boucher R1, with Jon Wright in second. Wright though had his R1 die on him and was forced to wheel out his other R1 that runs in Streetstock spec on Sunday. Boucher too had problems and had to fit a new clutch overnight. Wright took both wins on Sunday with Boucher in close company. It is no surprise then that Wright was the winner of the Performance award for this round (….especially when you bear in mind his Streetstock results). Bandits and Formula Prostocks | Backed by Motul Oils Again some for the closest battles for victory were in the Bandits between Harley Prebble and James McHardy. The pair were never more than a second apart at any part of any of the four Bandit races. Prebble on his Redneck racing Suzuki had the upper hand….just with three wins. McHardy used his European Vacuum Drainage bike to somehow out-drag the lightweight Prebble to the line in the other. Carl Smalley is loving the racing after five years off a bike and picked up a series of podium placings. But this class really is looking like a two horse race at the moment. Also part of the Formula Prostock series are the FP1's (pre '81 Classic F1) where John Tatham was not headed on his Harris Magnum, FP2's (pre '87 Production) where Mark Carels-Watson and David Lenton shared the spoils and FP3's (pre '95 Classic Superbikes) with one win for Tony Hart on his 916 and two for fellow 916 pilot Mike Burke. Ducati Desmo | Backed by The Ducati Sporting Club Duncan Baillie leads the Desmo series this year on the Saddletramps 620SS but as yet has not had to pit himself against multiple class champ and defending champion Andy Blomfield as the number 1 plate holder had not attended Brands or Snetterton. Blomfield though with a refreshed BB Racing 620 Monster broke cover this weekend but had to follow Scotsman Baillie over the line in the first two outings. The third race saw Blomfield get back to winning ways…but only by a bikes length at the line. The 600 “B” class had two more wins for Austin Lachlan, but James Topliss took his maiden victory in Sundays bright conditions. Newcomers | Backed by Protect my Income.com Chris Oliver extended his lead in the Open Newcomers with a win on his The Garage Trowbridge R1, after his nearest rival Daniel Boucher was unfortunately excluded from the results after not heeding to the black and orange flag (…..it turned out his R1 was about to destroy it’s clutch). Antony Stroud took second to elevate himself in the series. The Mini Twins category saw Olli Warren take his third win of the year on his Boutiqueolii SV650, this time over Grant Seymour. The 500 competitors were a little thin on the ground this weekend but a great race for the victory saw Theodore Pope snatch it on his CBR400 by just 0.3 sec. Sidecars | Backed by NG Road Racing Sam and Tom Christie took to convincing wins in the Club sidecar finals by 35 and 38 seconds respectively on the Christie Engineering LCR 600 with Michael Russell/Tom Bryant and Darren Hope/Lenny Bumfrey doing the chasing. For Sunday’s final race for the chairs it was a similar story with the Christie building up a 30-odd second cushion, but oddly pulled into pit lane on the very final lap with just meters to go to the line with seemingly a still healthy LCR. They left the way open for NG’s reigning sidecar champ Michael Russell, with Tom Bryant in the chair this year on the True Heroes Shelborne 600 to take the flag and the points. Sharing the NG grid here we had the FSRA Pre Injections with all three F2 wins going to 10 time TT winner Rob Fisher and Rick Long on the Express Tyre Services Baker Thundercat, with the Joe Heys / Gary Wheeler with their big 1200cc Heys Kawasaki being unbeaten in the F1 class 125/250GP ACU National Championship Despite struggling to get his TZ250 Yamaha off the line, due to having no first gear the 250GP ACU National championship leader James Hind soon gathered momentum and got ahead of hole-shot man Bruce Dunn. Hind gradually kept pulling away as Dunn gradually got caught by the perusing, Nigel Palmer and Daniel Walling. Dunn hung on to second despite not having the correct set up as a brief shower hit Donington but took the 20 points by less than half a second over the charging Palmer. Dunn was in no mood to miss out in the sprint race as he held of Hind for the win on his Bilstein SGT Services TZ with Walling in third. Hind was left smarting and the ex-125 National champion totally dominated the third race for the 250’s with an 11 second win over again Dunn with Tomas Lawlor taking the final podium spot in his first outing of the year. Pre season tip Andrew Sawford had another weekend to forget as he failed to get his Honda to finish all weekend. The 125 National series looks like it will be a straight fight between defending champion Gavin Mills and former multiple 250 champ Phil Atkinson, who has moved to the 125’s after his 2019 250 deal fell through. Phil took the first two outing, one of which had Mills as a dnf as he low-sided his Honda out of contention. But Mills bounced back to secure the long race as Atkinson limped round with a cracked exhaust to grab any points he could. Bryn Owen, Gary Arden Phil Harvey and Osian Jones mopped up the other podiums. Sam Llewellyn, who went into the weekend in a strong championship position, put a huge dent in his 2019 chances as he failed to finish a race all weekend……roll on Cadwell ACU/FSRA F2 British Sidecar Championship This meeting saw NG host rounds of the prestigious national sidecar series. This weekend saw Saturday’s win going to Lee Crawford and Scott Hardie over reigning champions Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley. Whilst on Sunday rolls were reversed with Gleave Life Engineers Team Founds taking it over the ARC boys. For the full story of this round check out : www.fsra.org.uk Wiz Sliders Performance of the Meeting. At every NG round one lucky rider is selected for the Wiz Sliders Performance award. The chosen one gets a special set of one-off sliders made by the Wiz guy's in Somerset. For this meeting it was Jon Wright with his Controls and Safety R1’s who took a series of hard fought wins in both Streetstock and Pre Injection classes despite a catalogue of machine problems. P.S. …… Sorry for a much longer report than normal, but those of you that were there you will be so aware of what a great event it was and what a great display the riders put on……. It’s just a shame that, “one” I cannot recall everything and “two” I could not mention everyone. Words: Russ Gardner - NG Road Racing Media Officer Images of Donington through the lens of Stephen and Gordon who were on duty for EDP Photo News