Here are some photos from the opening round of the 2024 Darley Moor championships, taken by official Darley photographer Tony Else...
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The eagerly awaited start to the Darley Moor season was upon us! Over the winter the organisers made many changes to the race classes but the main difference for the 2024 season was that every race would now have points allocated - meaning that a maximum of 30 points per class were now available per meeting, using the 15/12/10/8/6/5/4/3/2/1 point-scoring system where the Top 10 riders would earn championship points. Saturday Test Day We decided to head up to Darley Moor early on the Saturday morning for the two-day meeting, which meant an unusual early start for us. Having arrived at the track and setup - it almost immediately started raining! We didn't think there was anything to gain from going out in wet or damp conditions so had a relaxed day waiting for the circuit to dry. After the lunch break we headed out for a shakedown test on the Kawasaki Supersport machine and during the session the quickshifter stopped working. Following investigation we found a break in one of the wires, which when fixed solved our problem. We then took the Aprilia RS660 Trofeo for a run and everything was fine so we parked that bike up, before heading back out on the Kawasaki to make sure that was working - it was and we managed to pop in a 59.92 lap time which we felt provided a sufficient warm up for the race day. As it was a test day we had the luxury of riding both machines to scrutineering, which made life a bit easier. We then went to sign on to complete the end of our leisurely day, however... Whilst we were in the race office the wind picked up, ripped through the awning and knocked over the toolbox! :-( After putting everything back in its place, we setup the TV in the awning and watched the MotoGP coverage from COTA. Whilst we were sat outside - which was needed as we were streaming the coverage via mobile phone - all sorts of weather arrived, from wind and rain to a glorious sunset and even a rainbow! Sunday Race Day We awoke to beautiful sunshine which had dried up the overnight rain and the weather forecast for the day was looking promising. The majority of the grids were far from full at the meeting. With racing taking place at Donington Park, Cadwell Park, Pembrey and Olivers Mount on the same weekend it meant that riders were spread quite thin due to the multiple options available. Our first qualifying session was for the Open 600 class. We were getting into the swing of things when the quickshifter stopped working again. We worked around the issue for a few laps and posted a 1:01.38 lap time that put us 5th on the grid. Back in the paddock we inspected the test day repair and found it to be intact - and then found that the wire had broken off the negative battery terminal. With that fixed we had a working quickshifter once again! Our next qualifying session (on the Aprilia RS660 Trofeo) would provide our grid position for both the Darley Cup and 700cc Twins races. Our lap time of 1:01.34 was good enough to put us on pole position for both classes. Our first race of the day was Darley Cup Race 1. When leaving the awning we discovered that the plug for the rear tyre warmer had been pulled slightly out of the socket and the rear tyre was luke-warm rather than being up to temperature. With this in mind we headed out on track and took it easy for the first few laps of the 10-lap race to make sure that some heat could build up in the tyre before we increased the pace. By the time we were comfortable Nick Clare had established a decent gap at the front, so we pushed hard and managed to catch him. After taking the race lead on lap 5 we focused on trimming our lap times - getting down to a 1:00.77 before almost catching the inside kerb at Wilson's chicane so decided to back it off a bit. At the chequered flag we had won the race by 28.55 seconds from Nick Clare, with Aron Redmond taking the final podium spot. Next up was Twins Race 1 which shared the track with the PreElectronic 600 class. An OK start saw us enter the Wilsons chicane in 4th position overall (2nd in class). We managed to move up to 3rd overall on the opening lap and then into 2nd overall (2nd in class) on lap 2. From there we chased down Sean Seddon to move into the race lead on the Pope Straight on lap 3. Once in the lead we tried to put in a series of clean laps, setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1:00.25 and eventually taking the win by 11.36 seconds from Sean, with Aron Redmond coming home in third place. We got a decent start in Open 600 Race 1 to enter Wilsons chicane in 4th position and then moved forward into 3rd position on the entry to Park corner. We were then sat behind Adam Green and were weighing up where to try to make a move when Joe Holdsworth overtook us both and then disappeared into the distance. We then closely followed Adam for the remainder of the race - but as he was getting on the gas better than us and was good on the brakes no obvious passing opportunity was making itself available. Then on the final lap we managed to get a decent drive out of the hairpin and along with a slipstream were able to move into 3rd position at Paddock corner on the final lap. Up at the front, Mark Goodings took the win with Joe securing second place. Darley Cup Race 2 was very unusual in that we were the only competitor to arrive to the assembly area on time! The officials joked that we might be having a 10-lap parade by ourselves! Fortunately the other three competitors arrived and completed the sparse grid. After getting the hole shot into the Wilsons chicane we managed to retain the lead to the flag to win by 25.86 seconds from Nick Clare, with Aron Redmond coming home in third. In Twins Race 2 we got a decent start to enter Wilsons chicane in 2nd position (2nd in class) behind Sean Seddon. As you can see in the video Sean was riding really well (and was even pulling rolling stoppies - the show off!) but when almost ran out of track at the Wilsons chicane at the start of lap 3 it allowed us the chance to nip through. Once ahead, we just tried to put in clean laps and manage to set a fastest lap of 1:00.85 on our way to victory. Sean finished in 2nd place and Aron Redmond took another third place. Our final race of the day was Open 600 Race 2. Another decent start saw us retain our 5th position into the chicane, but queueing with the pack into Park corner allowed Chris Stuart to come around a bunch of us, which relegated us to 6th position. On lap 3 we managed to pass Adam Mather at Park corner to move up to 5th position, on lap 5 we managed to pass Chris Stuart into Paddock corner and then exactly a lap later we managed to pass Adam Green to move into 3rd position. For the final four laps we were in clean air and managed to set a lap time of 59.18, which was actually quicker than the race winner. Joe Holdsworth took the win, Mark Goodings took second place and we secured the final podium spot. We leave this meeting feeling very happy with the performances and results. As always there are areas of improvement for us to focus on, but as we were riding well that is a good position to work from. The championship tables at the end of the opening meeting look as follows.
Darley Cup Championship David Carson 30 Nick Clare 24 Aron Redmond 20 Martyn Cooper 16 700cc Twins Championship David Carson 30 Sean Seddon 24 Aron Redmond 20 Tom Hodge 8 Open 600 Championship (Top 5) Mark Goodings 27 Joe Holdsworth 27 David Carson 20 Adam Green 14 Adam Mather 10 We don't have long to wait until riding again, as we will be racing at the Wirral 100 Oulton Park meeting this coming Saturday 20th April. We'll let you know how that goes! Here are some photos from the opening round of the 2024 Wirral 100 championships, taken by official photographer Neil Lambert...
Our 2024 season opener took place at the picturesque Anglesey circuit - and with a mains-electricity hookup and a promising weather forecast, it looked like we had all the ingredients for a perfect weekend ahead! Sunday Test Day We took the opportunity to enter the Sunday test day prior to the Monday race day. This gave us the possibility of four on-track sessions, but due to some delays in getting ourselves ready we decided to miss the first session of the day. For test session 2 we decided to take the Kawasaki Supersport machine for a shakedown. Everything was working fine but our riding was a little rusty and it was taking us some time to get up to speed. For test session 3 we then took the Aprilia RS660 Trofeo out for a shakedown. Once again, everything on the machine was fine and we started to get more comfortable out on track. However, out of Rocket corner (aka turn 7) we were struggling to quickly move our left foot underneath the gearshift due to the shape of the toe section of our RST boots. So in test session 4 we swapped the left boot to an old TCX boot which (despite being mismatched!) helped and allowed us to put in a series of consistent laps in the 1:15s - which was promising and we were looking forward to building on during the Monday race day. With scrutineering and signon completed, we then performed a series of machine checks and prepared the bikes for race day. After a quick check of the data we (well, the kids!) then headed on-track for some rollerskating. Monday Race Day The weather forecast had turned overnight and there was now a "possibility" of some rain showers. As it turned out, very light rain started to fall during our qualifying sessions and continued to fall intermittently throughout the day. As it's early spring there just wasn't enough temperature to properly dry the track - so after qualifying on dry tyres on a track that was getting wetter (where we just didn't commit ourselves enough) we switched to wet tyres for the remainder of the day. The outcome of qualifying was that we qualified 8th in class (10th on the combined grid) for the Twins class and 6th in class (24th overall) for the Supersport class. After a promising test day we found this to be a bit disappointing, mainly because we had pushed as hard as we felt comfortable - but that level of performance was very far away from where we needed to be! With no easy solution in sight, this created a grumpy rider - so apologies for anyone that had to deal with me during this period! We had back-to-back races so had to make a tyre choice quite early and then hope it was correct. We decided to put full wets in so that we could build some confidence and headed out for Twins Race 1. The wet setup ended up being the correct choice as more rain sprinkles fell on the warm-up lap. At the race start we fell back a few places and then when we got more comfortable we gained the time and positions back. The race was very spread out and was red-flagged on lap 8 after the race leader fell. We had no idea where we had finished but were surprised and delighted to learn that we had finished in 3rd place overall. After a quick bike swap we were straight back out onto track for Supersport Race 1. The race was reduced from 10 to 8 laps following a faller on the warm-up lap causing a temporary halt to proceedings. Starting so far back in the pack meant that we were involved in a few battles throughout the race (which makes for an interesting video!), but once again we had no idea where we finished. It turned out that we finished in 15th position overall and in 3rd in our "Pre 2011" class. During the lunch break more rain fell, so we decided to stay on full wet tyres for the afternoon races. Curiously, the track was part-wet/part-dry - but with so much time spent "not upright" at the Anglesey circuit it was the safe choice. The rest of the grid appeared to agree and in Twins Race 2 it was a case of learning how far we could push the limits of wet tyres on a drying track - without overstepping the mark! We tried our best and, despite a slower start, managed to gain a few places before the end of the race. We managed to secure another 3rd place finish by just 0.291 of a second. We were then straight out for our final race of the day, which was Supersport Race 2. By now the track was mainly dry and the wet tyres were struggling to stay together. We took our time getting up to speed again (something that we might need to work on, but hopefully its just some "winter rustiness" that we're still to shake off) and we set our fastest lap of the race on the final lap. We finished in 15th position overall once again, but in 6th place in the "Pre 2011" sub-class. At the end of the opening weekend it felt like we had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions - from hope to despair, then from disappointment through to contentment. It took until we were halfway home to realise that leaving the opening round of the season with a collection of trophies, a handful of points, a pair of working bikes and a decent level of riding in the fully-dry conditions that this race meeting was actually very successful! After the opening event, the championship points tables look as follows - with the 15/12/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1 point structure giving points to the Top 12 riders.
Twins Championship Standings (Top 5) Scott McCrory 27 David Carson 20 Andy Herd 20 Alun Brooks 18 Louis Dawson 15 Pre-2011 Supersport Championship Standings (Top 5) Sam Grayson 24 Matthew Perry 20 David Carson 17 Mike Bates 15 Tom Harrison 15 There isn't long to wait for more racing action, as we will be out again very soon at Darley Moor on the weekend of 13th/14th April and then at the Wirral 100 Oulton Park meeting on Saturday 20th April. With the first race meeting of our 2024 season taking place this coming weekend, we thought we would provide an update of what has been going on behind the scenes over the "winter off-season"... Machine Maintenance No massive changes have occurred over the winter - just some maintenance and refinements:
Spares We have performed another proper assessment of the spares kit that we carry to race events. As van space is limited we cannot take everything we have, so this is always an important task. Our spares kit will help to get us back on track in case of a minor off - so we hope that nothing more severe occurs! Race Clothing A new pair of RST gloves have been acquired and our race gear has received some minor touch-ups. We did consider having some new bespoke race leathers created for this season, but decided to continue with our current suits for the time being. Race Support Vehicles The caravan has been treated to a thorough wash and clean, along with some repairs to the waste piping. Our trusty van has passed its MOT and is ready for another year. However, some pre-season issues became apparent meaning that a turbo wastegate actuator needed to be replaced to keep the van running in tiptop order. 2024 Sponsors We have been fortunate to retain Rock Oil and Pomerol Partners for the coming season. Although not technically a sponsor, the Darley Moor club's award of free entry fees for the 2024 season will save us a substantial figure - so we are certainly grateful for that! Physical Training During March we participated in a gruelling bootcamp-style training programme run by BSB-superstar Christian Iddon. Our test results showed a distinct improvement between the fitness test at the start of the programme and the fitness test at the end, so we're glad that the effort was worth it! Trophy Cabinet As you may have seen, at the start of the year we also consolidated our end-of-season trophies into a dedicated cabinet. The Wirral 100 club will host our first race meeting of the 2024 season at the Anglesey circuit, with a test day on Sunday 31st March followed by the race day on Bank Holiday Monday 1st April - wish us luck!
After much deliberation, we are finally ready to announce our race dates for the 2024 season! As per previous seasons we plan to race with Darley Moor once again, as well as revisiting Wirral 100 and Aintree. Unfortunately we will not be racing with NG Road Racing this season due to date clashes. Racing with three clubs means that our Kawasaki Supersport machine along with our fantastic Aprilia RS660 Trofeo will be racing in a total of eight different race classes/championships! And once again we aim to compete in the prestigious "Stars at Darley" event at the close of the season. 2024 Race Dates Sunday 31st March - Wirral 100 (Anglesey Test Day) Monday 1st April - Wirral 100 Round 1 (Anglesey) Saturday 13th April - Darley Moor Test Day Sunday 14th April - Darley Moor Round 1 Saturday 20th April - Wirral 100 Round 2 (Oulton Park) Wednesday 1st May - Aintree Test Day Saturday 11th May - Aintree Round 1 Saturday 15th June - Aintree Round 2 Sunday 16th June - Darley Moor Round 2 Saturday-Sunday 22nd-23rd June - Wirral 100 Rounds 3 & 4 (Anglesey) Saturday 13th July - Aintree Round 3 Saturday 3rd August - Aintree Round 4 Saturday 10th August - Wirral 100 Round 5 (Oulton Park) Sunday 11th August - Darley Moor Round 3 Sunday 8th September - Darley Moor Round 4 Saturday-Sunday 5th-6th October - Darley Moor Rounds 5 & 6 (including "Stars at Darley") Saturday-Sunday 12th-13th October - Wirral 100 Rounds 6 & 7 (Anglesey) Darley Moor have changed some of their championship classes for the 2024 season - so we will compete in the following classes:
At Aintree we will compete in the following classes:
At Wirral 100 we will compete in the following classes:
Race Numbers Our race numbers for the 2024 season have now also been confirmed. We will use the following numbers at the above events:
Throughout the winter there have been a number of changes made behind the scenes, so prior to the start of the season we will share a full update! Until then we would like to wish you all the best for the 2024 season ahead! |
AuthorDavid Carson Jnr, Archives
April 2024
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