Smokin’ Joe takes six from six
Joe Sheldon-Shaw turned twenty two just five days before Donington and obviously did not over do things with the birthday cake as he was untouchable here taking all three Open and all three Powerbike finals. No matter what the conditions whether it be Saturdays wet, Sunday mornings damp or even the short Sunday afternoon dry spell he was in top form on the Protect my Income GSXR Suzuki. The former National 600 Superstock series runner up has really clicked with the new 1000cc Suzuki that he will compete in the 1000 Superstock series this year.
The open wins were over current series leader Daniel Cooper who was happy with three sets of 20 points for runner up spots on his 600 Honda to increase his series lead over 2020 champ Max Symonds who took two podiums and a fourth place. True Heroes teamster Dave Mackay is certainly coming to terms with his ex-OMG Suzuki after moving up from the Ducati Panigale taking a hard earner podium on Saturday.
JSS also took all three Powerbike finals, each time over current series leader Max Symonds, three runner up spots though keep saw Max increase his series lead over Chris Pope who was never out of the top four all weekend with a podium in race two as he out-dragged former Streetstock champion, and Saturday’s podium finisher Richard Hughes to the line. Pope though had the out dragging done to him in the third race for the superbikes as his AFB teammate Aaron Hughes did the job on him.
When all was said and done young Sheldon-Shaw looking a cut above and despite the tricky track conditions was consistently carding lap times withing a second of the lap record, so looks set for a good year in the National series that kicks off in June.
Donington tested the mettle of riders, mechanic, organisers, and marshals with the mixed and changeable conditions. A special mention needs to go out the invaluable Orange Army, particularly those that manned Redgate on Saturday as they had a grand total of twenty-nine incidents to mop up…… that is an awful lot of running through gravel !!!!!
Race Round-Up.
Lucca Allen on the Autosmart R3 and Joe Ellis on his EX400 Kawasaki shared the glory in the Junior Supersport with Lucca taking two wins, one in the wet and one in the dry for good measure. Tim Bradley took all three Formula 400 victories although he made life hard for himself in Sunday’s first outing after missing the call to the grid, so was forced to start from the back of the forty strong grid. Undaunted he picked off all his rivals including Shaun Wynne, James Seath, Andrew Jones, Tony Brabazon, Zak Holmes, and Simon Wilkins who all tasted podium glory. Wilkins took a heavy tumble in the final outing of the day and suffered some injuries….. we wish him a speedy recovery.
Paul Metcalfe took a hard-fought victory on his RS250 Honda in the 500cc Open on Saturday over the impressive James Seath. Seath has suffered more that his share of mechanical bad luck this year but managed to take both victories on Sundays races to lead the championship on his Ovenden/GS Motors ZXR Kawasaki.
Dan Harris the 2019 Mini-Twins champion has returned to the series and took three faultless wins over fellow HP Racing team member, who just happens to be his brother Richard. Richard could not quite make it a family clean sweep as he got bested by Dave Crampton by less that the width of a tyre on Sunday morning. However, they are one-two in the championship table. In the Super- Twins, three-time Twin’s champ Paul Wardell had to give second best to class new-boy Dean Ratcliff as Dean on the Roadrunner SV650 took the hat-trick. Simon Bastable is looking comfortable on his WSC/Wincanton Ducati Panigale that he will campaign in the National series at BSB level and took two good wins over
Matt Venn and Owen Hunt, but Hunt on a 675 Triumph Daytona was in no mood to leave Donington without a win and duly pulled it out of the bag in the third outing of the year to keep him in touch of series leader Bastable in the title table.
Daniel Cooper backed up his impressive Open outing by repeating his Brands Hatch 600cc class clean sweep with three untroubled wins over a strong field that included Shane Norval, Owen Hunt, Bradley Richman, Gareth Roberts, and Aaron Ridewood. With six wins from the opening six rounds, Cooper tops the points table as we head into Combe, where we must not forget he is the reigning King-of-Combe.
Jason Hill took his Raptor Pest Services/WSM ZX10R Kawasaki to three impressive wins. He gapped everyone in the early laps, and he seemed to come to terms with the conditions faster that anyone else. Gary Walters, Chris Oliver, and Alex Henshaw challenged at various times. Henshaw was in line to get the better of Hill on Sunday morning but crashed out of the lead on the last lap. So, Hill emulated his team sponsors and kept all the “pests” at bay for a trio of 1300 Streetstock wins. The 700-category had Kurtis Butler on the 3VK Racing R6 in dominant form again taking all three wins and amazingly considering the far from perfect conditions setting a new class lap record on his way to victory over Daniel Nelmes, Daniel Jones and Eddie Whitehurst.
Thomas Pickford claimed a double win in the 700 Pre-Injection class on his R6 over Scott McQuire and Vincent Butler. it was a double rather that a treble because as they approached their final race of the weekend, and the final race of the meeting, the heavens opened, the lightning flashed, and the thunder rumbled. The organisers delayed the start and then consulted the rider who almost to a man/woman agreed to abandon the start and postpone the race to a future meeting. The 1300 pre injections did get all three races in with Richard Stather taking his RS Moto Racing R1 to two wins over former Bandit champ James McHardy, but after taking two races trying to find a setting for his R1 McHardy got the better of Stather and now looks forward to Combe in June, and the hope of more settled weather.
125/250GP ACU National Championship.
Race one for the 250GP runners saw Philip Atkinson take a comfortable win on his Rose MOT Centre TZ heading home James Hobson and Nick Sansome. Sansome upped his game in the second outing pressuring Atkinson to the flag with Daniel Walling taking third. It was the third outing of the weekend though that gave us all the drama as Atkinsons TZ bogged on the line and the ailing bike was directed down pit lane at the end of lap one. Nick Sansome was edging away on his Double Take RS250, that was until Coppice on lap two where Nick and his immaculate Honda parted company. James Hobson now led but was being chased by Ant Hart. Hart nicked it on the last lap after pulling back 5 seconds over the last two laps and performing a late braking job at the final corner. Gavin Mills had a stunning ride through to third after starting from the back of the grid on his TZ that had been playing his up all weekend.
The 125GP series saw Tom Hayward take the hat-trick of win on his MDJ Racing RS125 each time heading home Sian Brooks. 1989/90 NG 125 champion Simon Varderplank is back in the grids, but on an underperforming TZ125 Yamaha, despite this he picked up decent points all weekend, and is looking forward to getting his hands on a DTR Racing TZ250 very soon.
Suzuki Bandits and Formula Prostocks. Formula Prostocks include the Motul Suzuki Bandit challenge, as well as the FPR classes for classic superbikes, Supersport, Production and Battle of the Twins machinery.
Harley Prebble continued his 2021 win-fest taking all three Suzuki Bandit races on his Suzuki GB Redneck Racing Bandit. Gary Cutts and Dave Crampton were the best of the rest, but newcomer Ian Agnew also caught the eye as he continues to get to grips with his Suzuki and is looking forward to his local meeting next time out at Castle Combe. Tony Hart took two wins from three starts in the FP1 series on his XR69 Suzuki, it was almost three from three but was just out dragged to the line by Keith Higgs in the other as he used his Harris Kawasaki power out of the Roberts Esses.
Nick Williamson took both FP2 races on his SP1 Honda, while Lewis Rees and Matthew Jones shared the wins in the FP3’s and Mark Carels-Watson grabbing both FP4 podiums. Their final race of the weekend had to be cancelled as the weather turned bad. After consultation with the riders, it was decided to cancel the race and run it at a future meeting.
To find out more about the Formula Prostock Series : www.formulaprostockracing.co.uk
Ducati Desmo Series.
The Desmo Due Ducati’s have two classes, class A for 620cc fuel injected models and the B class for the older 600cc carburettor fed machines.
Chris Norris traded wins and lap records with Dominic Cann all weekend with Norris eventually winning the wins count two to one in the 620cc A class. The B class had Luke Brackenbury take two wins but narrowly missed out on a third as Peter Cooper headed him home by just a bikes length for his first win of the year.
To find out more about the Desmo Due Series : www.ducatisportingclub.com
ACU/FSRA F2 British Sidecar Championship.
The Formula Sidecar Racing Association promoted championship is the British Championship for 600cc sidecar outfits with two categories. There is the Super class for the experienced crews, including many that have campaigned at World level, and the Cup series for those with a lesser licence and experience grade.
The perfect start to 2021 continued for Lee Crawford and Scott Hardie on the ARC Newton Aycliffe LCR Suzuki with a pair of convincing victories over Alan Founds and Jake Lowther on Sunday but it was impressive Cup pairing of Harry Payne and Emmanuelle Clement that took runner up spot in Saturday’s red flagged race.
To find out more about the FSRA F2 Sidecars: www.fsra.org.uk
GP Originals.
The 1970s and early ’80s was an exciting time for motorcycle Grand Prix – probably the last time privateers had a genuine chance of mixing it with works bikes. GP Originals presents the sights, sounds and smells of this Post Classic racing era.
The Series highlights post-classic racing motorcycles such as the ubiquitous Yamaha TZ250 and TZ350 with a wealth of frame-makers, including Maxton and Harris involved. Naturally, the series also includes customer and replica machines that embrace the concept of our Series.
Philip Atkinson took both 350cc races on his Rose MOT TZ each time over Ant Hart, whilst Phil Stead did the double in the 250cc series on his Premium Motorhomes TZ both times pipping Nigel Palmer. Palmer in turn tasted victory in the Masters class with his QRG TZ as he got the better of Nick Williamson.
To find out more about the GP Originals Series: www.gporiginals.co.uk
Wiz Knee 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 team in Somerset. This meetings winner was Dan Harris from the Mini Twins class.
To find out more about WIZ Sliders: www.wizkneesliders.com
Images courtesy: Hairy Beast Pix | www.hairybeastpix.co.uk
Words: Russ Gardner - NG Road Racing Media Officer
Next Round: Castle Combe | 5th and 6th June.