Carson Takes Title, 12 More To Be Decided at Darley Moor

Round 6 of the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Championship took place on Sunday 11^th September 2022 and despite the potential of five champions being crowned, only one was able to lay claim to 2022 silverware.

Showing the investment in new machinery over the winter period had paid off David Carson (Northwich) was able to convert the Runner-Up spot last year to 2022 700 Twins Champion this year, recording maximum points haul from the five out of six rounds he competed in.  The day got off to a perfect start in the opening, non-championship Allcomers race, taking a start – finish victory, finishing with a 24sec advantage over the competitor that beat him to last year’s 700 Twins title, Jim Hodson (Wigan).  It wasn’t too long before the pair were out again in the 700 Twins race and whilst it was Hodson who had the faster start, leading the opening lap, but Carson then fought his way past on the 2^nd lap and was able to open up a small gap on last year’s champion and stretching it out to a 5.6sec advantage at the flag.  The only other rider able to prevent Carson lifting the title was Patrick Lord (Hatton), but he came across the line in 3^rd place.   The second race saw Carson make no mistake in his intentions recording another start – finish victory, with a 14sec advantage over Hodson, plus a 100% record for Round 6: three wins and three fastest laps.

Carson was also in with a chance of the Formula 600 title, but with a 21point deficit to Ben Dale (Warrington) at the head of the championship it was going to be a big task.  With one of the largest grids of the day the Formula 600 races can certainly provide some excellent entertainment for the spectators and Dale was up for any challenge leading the field away on the opening lap, with Liam Weston (Leyland), 2nd, Stephen Parsons (Cumbria), 3^rd and Carson 4^th.  Lap2 saw Parsons move into 2^nd, with Weston dropping a place.  With the positions remaining in this order until the final lap Parsons then put in the quickest lap, the only rider to dip into the 57sec bracket, and passed Dale, crossing the line 0.2sec ahead at the chequered flag, with Weston and Carson, 3^rd and 4^th respectively.  The second encounter saw a similar encounter between Parsons and Dale, Dale being the faster starter and leading the opening four laps, with Parson taking the lead on Lap5 and stretching out a 4sec advantage at the flag.

The second non-championship Allcomers race, for machines over 600c, saw Mark Goodings (Doncaster) record a start – finish victory with only Adrian Kershaw (Stockport) able to stay in contention with him, finishing the 10lap race 5sec behind, despite recording the fastest lap of the race.  This victory would certainly have struck a ‘chord’ with his title rivals in the Open Solo class, Matthew Bell (Sheffield), lying 3^rd in the standings, needed to bridge Goodings’ 22point advantage over him.  Unfortunately, Josh Daley (Wigan), Goodings closest challenger in the Open Class fell on the first lap of the Allcomers race and was unable to take any further part in the meeting.  In the first Championship race Goodings made another fast start and led across the line on the opening lap, with Bell 1sec behind and Kershaw in 5^th.   By Lap4 Kersahw was up into 2^nd, but Goodings still leading and with an 8sec advantage.  Lap 5 saw Bell’s challenge finish when he failed to complete the lap and all Kershaw could do was reduce the advantage down to 4sec at the chequered flag.  The second Open Solo race kept the spectators entertained throughout the 10lap race with Goodings leading throughout, but this time Kershaw was on his tail throughout the race, the gap see-sawing between 1.1sec and 0.1sec on occasions, finishing at 1.1sec at the flag.

Alongside the Open Solo machines, the Pre-Injection Open Class machines were battling for their own Championship, Adam Walters (Derby) enjoying a 21point advantage in the championship standings over Ian McKenzie (Long Eaton).  Walters was able to get his older machine amongst the newer machines in both races, recording a 6^th and 7^th Overall, whilst McKenzie could only manage 10^th and 11^th places, allowing Walters a 24point cushion going into the final race weekend.

The combined Lightweight and Honda CB500/Suzuki Bandit saw Daz Bellworthy (Derby) on his CB500 and Peter Fell (Burton on Trent) entertain the crowd with some close racing throughout, Bellworthy leading across the line each time in the opening 6-lap race, with Fell finishing just 1.1sec behind.  In the second encounter Fell had a similar advantage throughout the 10lap race, with Bellworthy finishing almost 2sec behind at the flag.  On both occasions Connor Woodman (Poulton Le Fylde), CB500 Championship leader was the 3^rd place finisher, over 15sec behind the leaders.  Bellworthy finishing just 14points behind the Championship leader, whilst Fell increased his Lightweight title lead to 28points. 

The Pre-Electronic 600 & 750 Twins races saw two dramatic finishes with the winner of both, Adam Sheriff (Barnsley) taking the lead in the final stages on both occasions.  The first race saw a three way battle at the head of the field  with son, Kaine, leading across the line for the first four laps, closely followed by Championship leader Stuart Bradbury (Belper) until Adam passed Bradbury for 2^nd and held it there for laps 3 and 4, then Kaine dropped down to 3^rd on Lap5, handing Adam the lead and Bradbury 2^nd place, but was then able to pass Bradbury back for 2^nd place on the final Lap, making it a Sheriff 1-2, but with the Championship leader in 3^rd, just 0.1 sec behind.  The second race saw the closest finish of the day, but this time Bradbury led from the opening lap, with Kaine Sheriff in close pursuit and Adam, on occasions up to 1sec behind, again until the closing stages.  Lap 8 of the 10 saw Adam move into 2^nd, just 0.28sec behind the leader as they crossed the line for the penultimate time and finding a way pass on the final lap to win from Bradbury by 0.08sec, with 3^rd placeman Kaine following close behind in 3^rd, just 0.23sec behind the winner.  Bradbury’s closest Championship contender, Dean Ephgrave (Hucknall) recorded 4^th and 5^th place finishes, allowing him to extend his lead in the championship slightly, to 16 points.

Two start – finish victories in the combined Forgotten Era & Classic races allowed Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield) to reduce the gap to Martin Davis (Manchester) at the head of the Forgotten Era 1300 Championship from 7points down to just 4points.  Davis finished Runner-Up on both occasions but could finish no closer than 4.5sec behind in the opening race.

Fans of three wheeled motorsport saw title favourites of both classes, the Open and Formula 600 battle it out throughout each race with leaders of the Open Class Championship, Steve Thomas/Danny Lewis (Rockferry/Wirral) taking the Overall victory from Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth (Sutton Coldfield/Lincoln) 3sec behind in the first race and 2sec back in the second race.  Allowing both teams to extend their advantage in both classes; Thomas/Lewis now have a 15point lead and Baker/Killingsworth a 16point lead in their respective classes.

The final weekend of racing will see Round 7 on Saturday 8^th October and Round 8 on Sunday 9^th October alongside the Stars at Darley Finale.

As always Practice will begin at 10.00 am with the first race scheduled for 11.30am.