Cadwell Park was the venue for the fourth meeting of the 2019 NG series and again the weather played a part in proceedings. Saturday had 26 degrees on the thermometer, wall to wall sunshine, lap records and everyone was happy. Sunday however was a completely different story with showers drifting over the Lincolnshire circuit with more and more regularity as the day went on. Red flags became more prolific…. the medical centre was put on standby and waterproofs and umbrellas were the order of the day.
After a series of race stoppages NG’s top brass were chasing the clock and the circuit noise curfew. With just two races to go it looked like they had pulled the timetable back on schedule, but a huge blow-up in the Sound of Thunder meant that the final race of the day had to be shelved as the clock ticked towards 6pm.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. When the sun shone the lap times were blistering with Charlie Nesbitt setting a new lap record in the 600 as one of the highlights. Joshua Whatley did the same in the 500 Open on his Moto 3 KTM, also Josh Day on his 959 Ducati. It was great to see the BSB runners taking on NG’s finest and using this meeting as some extra Cadwell track time. Nesbitt and Whatley were joined by Asher Durham, Jamie Davis, Joe Sheldon-Shaw, Liam Delves, Aaron Silvester, Brayden Elliot, Joe Thompson and a whole host of Steve Patrickson’s Moto 3 proteges.
Several riders swept through the weekend unbeaten, including Harley Prebble in the Motul Oils Bandit Challenge, Dan Harris in the Mini Twins, Aaron Staniforth in the Pre Injections, Sam Llewellyn in the 125 GP National and Jim Hind in the 250GP National series. Josh Day had his customary clean sweep in the Open and Powerbike, whilst Peter Bardell was unbeaten in the Lansdowne races. Austin Lachlan racked up another faultless weekend in the Desmo Dues and young Mason Johnson had wins all the way in the F125 as did John Tatham on his Formula Prostocker.
Most went home happy after an eventful weekend……except those that left the circuit a little late and got caught out by the road closures on the A46 out of Lincolnshire !!!!
Formula 125 | Backed by Steve Lynham Motorcycles
A new name to the NG F125 grid Mason Johnson took his Event Manufacturing Aprilia to three stunning wins, each time over Sean Able. Able with three podiums left the circuit happy in the knowledge that he has extended his championship lead over the absent James Chapman.
Formula 400 | Backed by A and R Racing Spares
Tim Bradley was in dominant form on Saturday in the dry conditions on his A and Z Taylor FZR Yamaha. The reigning multiple champ had a clear win over Dan Hanby and Steve Richards. It was a slightly closer affair on Sunday morning, but Bradley still looked in control, this time with Richards doing the chasing. However in the wet afternoon race despite Bradley gapping the field in the early laps Jay Able on his immaculate YZF R3 Phoenix Yamaha looked to have totally mastered the conditions and picked off rival after rival until only Bradley headed him. With two laps to go the youngster on the 300 Yamaha swept past championship leader Bradley to take a stunning maiden win in the F400 class.
500cc Open | Backed EDP Photo News
BSB Moto Star runners Asher Durham on his Microlise/Cresswell Mahindra and Joshua Whatley with the SRS Rail KTM Moto 3 traded lap records lap after lap revelling the hot dry and sunny conditions for the 500 Open with Nigel Palmer and Paul McCullaugh the best of the regulars. However when the call came for the 500’s to come to the grid for their third outing conditions were damp and sketchy. Many had the wrong tyre choices and in an incident-packed red-flagged race it was Phil Harvey that took the win on his RS125.
600cc Open | Backed by IMS Ltd
Charlie Nesbitt stormed to two wins on his Rapid Fulfillment R6. It was his first time at Cadwell on a 600 but still set new NG lap record figures on a succession of laps. Joe Thompson, Liam Delves, Max Symonds and Jordan Greenshilds and Aaron Silvester did the chasing….but to no avail. The final 600 outing of the weekend followed one of the heavy showers. Several riders failed to arrive to the grid and others like Nesbitt and Delves made a wrong tyre choice and pitted early doors. Max Symonds the former two time NG 600 champ left everyone in his wake (…literally !) to take a 15 second victory over Owen Hunt to take the series lead for 2019.
Open | Backed by Phoenix Motorcycles
It was his customary hat trick of wins for Josh Day in the Open with victories over Charlie Nesbitt, Brayden Elliott and Joe Sheldon Shaw. Josh is looking for his fourth consecutive open title and is well on the way to that goal. Chris Pope had two good outings to consolidate his runner up spot but parted company from his AFB R1 in the third outing at the high speed Coppice corner. Luckily he walked away from it. Class new boy Sean Montgomery pulled himself out of the proceedings after a promising start on his ZX10R after suffering clutch problems.
Powerbike | Backed by Bluebell Lakes
Series leader Josh Day took both Powerbike finals but had early race tussles with former Aussie champ Brayden Elliott. Brayden is a demon away from the lights on his CFS Suzuki and was able to hold Josh on his Dayo Racing R1 at bay in the early stages. Once Josh got into his stride it was a familiar tale for his rivals as they are forced to watch the multiple champ drag away into the distance. Chris Pope and Joe Sheldon-Shaw shared the podiums over the two outings. Only two outings as the final race was abandoned due to conditions and time constraints. This race will be re-run at Pembrey, although it is unlikely that JSS and Brayden will make the trip to south Wales.
Mini Twins | Backed by Racebuykz.com
Dan Harris took all three Mini Twins battles on his HP Racing SV 650 twice heading home nearest championship rival Olii Warren and once over Hayden Rushton. Warren hampered his challenge by tipping off at Hall bends in the early stages of timed qualifying forcing himself to start from the back of the grid. He did a great job to slice through to second but by then championship leader Harris had already built up a commanding lead. Rushton’s good weekend sees him now jump up to third in the series points table.
Super Twins | Backed by Racebuykz.com
Edward Giles grabbed two fine wins and a runner up spot on his Giles Motors ER650 Kawasaki as he got the better of regular front runner and two time twins champion Paul Wardell. Wardell looked to struggle through the weekend and it transpired that he is still not full fit after breaking his arm at Donington. However he still enjoyed the meeting and those solid if painful rides keep him in championship contention. The third outing for the Mini Twins saw a new class winner in Gareth Arnold with his ER6. Welshman Arnold will now look forward to Pembrey.
Sound of Thunder | Backed by 100% Suspension
South African Phil Atkinson took the first two outings in the Sound of Thunder on his Woodford Halse 959 Panigale over the chasing True Heroes runners of Dave Sellars and Dave Mackay. The final race of the weekend saw a damp slippery track that had many of the TriOptions runners think better of going out or pull in after the warm up lap like Dave Sellers. Reining NG champ Dave Mackay was up-for-it and out for more championship points but Ben Broadway really upped his pace a pressured race long on his Panigale, in the end the JHP Ducati runner had to tail Mackay over the line. Current National Ducati series leader Josh Day had just one outing on his Host-it.co.uk 959. He started from the back of the grid and stormed through to fourth setting a new lap record during his charge, but for Josh it was really all about testing the Ducati at Cadwell and not results.
Streetstock | Backed by DTR Racing Spares and Metzeler
Jon Wright took the first two outings for the 1300 Streetstock in style on his Controls and Safety R1 with lights to flag wins despite pressure from eventual runner up Jason Hill and third placed Daniel Boucher. His starts were as much a surprise to him as it was to the onlookers as John is not known for making the best of get-aways (….sorry Jon !!). The third race went to Boucher after Wright failed to finish and Jason Hill suffered a high-side, causing a red flag at the Hairpin. Hill emerged from the medical centre with damaged ribs, but was good to see he was walking wounded.
The 700 series is turning into a head to head between Simon Bastable and David Irons. This time out it was two wins to Bastable and one to Irons with Bastable on the WSC Performance/Wincanton Motorsport R6 extending his championship lead by a few more points over the Tom Warner Racing R6 on Irons. These two are really evenly matched !
Pre Injections | Backed by Love Life and Ride
Jon Wright on his Controls and Safety R1 and Daniel Boucher with his R1 in LBW Boucher colours are making the 1300 pre injections a bit of a two man head to head. Just two points between them as they went into the weekend it was vital to keep the pressure on. Wright took first blood with Boucher in second but on Sunday Boucher was in no mood to give any more points away to the Pre injection double NG champ. Boucher set a new class lap record to take the win, but just as important for the series is that Wright marked up a DNF and no points as Anthony Froggart had his best of the year to grab second.
The 700cc class was all about one man….Aaron Staniforth, the self-confessed lover of Cadwell demolished the opposition with three wins on his Paxford Garage CBR600, two over current series leader Daniel Nelmes and one over Dean Ratcliff. Daniel Jones had another troubled weekend off the podium. He will be hoping for a change of luck as he heads home to Wales with Pembrey next.
Bandits and Formula Prostocks | Backed by Motul Oils
It was four from four for Harley Prebble in the all action Bandit challenge on his Redneck Racing Suzuki. He never stole the hole-shot but each time bided his time and picked his rivals off one by one. Reigning champ James McHardy, Prebble’s season long rival, rode hard but again just failed in his bid to get back to winning ways, he also suffered a broken gear linkage when pressing for points on Saturday forcing a dnf. Carl Smalley made his now customary great starts but was a telling tenth-or-two off the pace when the races settled down. It was class new-boy and former CB500 Cup runner Sam Smith that stunned the regulars taking four strong podiums.
Also part of the Formula Prostock series are the FP1's (pre '81 Classic F1) where John Tatham took maximum points on his Harris Magnum. Neil Attenbourough did the same in the FP2's (pre '87 Production) on his Attenborough Heating FZ750 and FP3's (pre '95 Classic Superbikes) where former champ Phil Webber took his GSXR 750 to two wins with multiple NG champ from the 1990’s Nigel Manning-Morton taking the other on his Bike Torque racing ZXR 750.
Ducati Desmo | Backed by The Ducati Sporting Club
Duncan Baillie on the Notohashi/Jim Rodger bike, Dan James on his Saddletramps mount and Scott Wilson on his oddly monikered “Blomfields Shampoo fund Ducati” shared a win apiece in the Desmo Due 620cc A class. Baillie though with tree podiums is really starting to get control of this class extending his series lead yet again. Austin Lachlan continued his dominance in the B class for the 600’s with three more maximums.
It was great to see series co-ordinator Kevin Ellis getting back to full fitness after a health scare earlier on in the year taking a stunning A class podium on Saturday morning…. He underplayed it by saying he was gifted the place after rivals faltered… but as any racer knows, you have got to be in it to win it !!
Newcomers | Backed by Protect my Income.com
After an earlier crash at Hall bends Olii Warren dusted himself off….changed the fairing and went out to take his fourth win from four starts in the Mini Twins class on his Boutiqueolii SV650, this time over Hayden Rushton. Theo Pope grabbed the 25 points in the 500 class and Daniel Boucher took his LBW D Boucher R1 to a 10 second win over Chris Oliver to pull himself up to second in the championship behind Oliver.
125/250GP ACU National Championship | Backed by ACU, Dunlop and Hartsmere Logistics
Jim Hind racked up the prefect weekend in the 250GP series taking wins over Joshua Whatley and Joe Thompson. Hind had to work hard in the sprint race to hold off Whatley but unfortunately the third outing was brought to an early close after a downpour. The consensus was to call it as a race result. Despite a solid podium on Saturday local hero Andrew Sawford suffered a continuation of his bad luck as he tangled with another rider on the warm up lap in the second outing and then finished two laps down in the third. His luck must change soon.
Sam Llewellyn did his championship charge no harm at all taking all three 125GP races on his RS125, two over series leader Phil Atkinson and one over Osian Jones. Reigning champion Gavin Mills only racked up one finish all weekend after he suffered a huge high side landing on his back, he manfully went out to grab some points on Sunday but a fifth place was his reward……although he is now on the lookout for someone who can repair leathers!
Lansdowne Classic Championship.
This meeting saw classic series for race machines from the 1950's and 60's. All three going to Pater Bardell on the Ripley Land G50 Matchless despite the best efforts of Sam Clews who was constantly within sniffing distance on his 500 Manx. They also had the closes finish of the weekend with just 0.028 of a second separating them at the flag……. The results show it as 10.028 sconds as Clews had been slapped with a jump start penalty !!
For the full story of this round check out :
www.lansdowneclassic.co.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 Daniel Boucher who got the nod after a great newcomers race win and never being off the podium in the Streetstock and Pre Injections, even taking a couple of wins in the tricky wet conditions……Well done.
Words : Russ Gardner - NG Road Racing Media Officer
Images : EDP Photo News - www.edpphoto.co.uk Web Info: www.ngroadracing.org