​The day started with the Open 600 Qualifying. Except for the steering damper being too firm (a carryover from the Aberdare meeting) which made it physically difficult to make quick direction changes through the back esses, we had a decent session and our lap time of 1:00.07 was good enough to give us a front-row start for the races in 3rd position.

After a short break we headed out in the combined Supertwins and Darley Cup Qualifying. We spent the first couple of laps ensuring that the new tyres were scrubbed in, but then after three laps the rear brake stuck on meaning we had no choice but to pull off track. We hobbled back to the paddock hoping that the issue would be obvious and we could resolve it quickly, but nothing obvious stuck out - so we disassembled the caliper, cleaned it, reinstalled it and hoped for the best... The worst news was that our "best" lap of 1:07.24 was taken as our qualifying time for the four races we had for the day - this placed us 12th on the Twins grid and 16th on the Darley Cup grid. This meant that we were now in "damage limitation" mode and any chances of podium results were looking unlikely  :-(

Our first race of the day was Open 600 Race 1. We got a decent start and kept 3rd position into the Wilsons Chicane, before Matt Zschieche came passed into Park corner on the opening lap. We followed Matt until the final corner on lap 6 where we were able to make a pass on the brakes. From there we got our head down, did a couple of clean laps (our best was a 58.82) and crossed the line in 3rd position!

Our next race was Supertwins Race 1, starting from 12th on the grid. Not knowing whether the rear brake issue was resolved, we warmed into the race whilst being alert to any potential issues. By the end of the opening lap we had moved up to 8th position, then to 6th by the end of lap 2 and up to 4th position by the end of lap 3. These opening laps had been (relatively) slow and by the end of lap 3 we were 8.26 seconds behind the race leader.

Feeling that the bike was OK to push on, we did - and the majority of the remaining laps were in the 1:00 barrier. By the end of the race we had set the fastest lap of the race (1:00.09) but that was only good enough for 3rd position, 1.41 seconds behind 2nd place and 6.10 behind the race winner. Our takeaway from the race was that "at least we were riding well"...

After a short break we headed out for Darley Cup Race 1, starting from 16th on the grid. We got a good start and by the end of the opening lap were up to 7th position on track. On lap 2 we moved into 6th position and on lap 3 we moved into 5th position. The gap to the next rider on track was 7.74 seconds at this point, but we decided to push on regardless. By the end of the race we had reduced the gap to 3.87 seconds and were the second-fastest rider on track - but we crossed the line in 5th position (4th in class).

After the lunch break we were out on the Kawasaki in Open 600 Race 2. This race was originally started, but then red-flagged on the opening lap. After a short break we were given another warm-up lap and then our full-length 8-lap race. In the restart, we didn't get a good launch and entered the Wilsons Chicane in 6th position, but managed to recover a position on the entry to Park corner on the opening lap. From there we worked hard to pass Peter Fell - who was doing a great job on corner exits (something we should maybe work on) - and we managed to sneak passed at the end of lap 3. At this point we were 2.26 behind 3rd-placed Matt Zschieche. We put in 3 hot laps but were not closing the gap, so knocked it off for the last couple of laps to secure our 4th position finish.

​Our last race of the day would prove to be Supertwins Race 2, again starting from 12th on the grid. We got a good start and wanted to make our way through the pack as quickly as possible - but even we were surprised when we managed to end the opening lap in 3rd place. From here we closed the gap the 2nd-placed Richard Fogg but struggled to make a move until he made a mistake at the Wilsons Chicane at the start of lap 6. We nipped through and then went into Park corner - but when we got on the gas the bike felt weird and sluggish. It turned out that the right front brake caliper had started to drag. Unfortunately this meant that we retired from the race. Once back in the paddock when things had cooled down, the brake operated like nothing was wrong - but on safety grounds we decided to retire the bike for the day...

What was really weird was the way in which the change occurred so quickly. The incident is shown from 5:30 in the video below.

​So that was the end of another day on track. We were happy because we felt we were riding well and we were happy with the lap times we were doing, but equally we were frustrated that machinery issues thwarted our day. And not like we needed reminding - but a decent qualifying session at Darley Moor really can make or break your day!

Due to the morning races we still walked away with a couple of trophies (and a rider in one piece) - so we didn't have the worst of days!

Our next planned event is Darley Moor Round 6 on Sunday 20th September. Before then we'll assess the machinery situation and hopefully come back stronger! Thanks for staying with us and as always, we'll let you know how we get on...

Our aim for 2026 was quite simple - we wanted to do better than in 2025! As we managed to qualify for all of the "Final" races last year, that wasn't necessarily a certainty... But with us going faster every time we headed out on circuit last year, the opportunity was there. For reference, our Personal Best lap times were: 43.573 on the Kawasaki 600 and 42.942 on the Aprilia RS660.

Saturday Race Day
Prior to the meeting we had revisited our setup notes from last year, so had suitably softened the suspension and wound up the steering damper - this meant that from our first outing the bike felt in the ballpark and was soaking up the bumpy (compared to where we usually ride) track conditions.

​Our first session was the Welsh Open free practice, where we learned that even more steering damper was needed and that the brake lever biting point needed to be moved closer to the bar for rider comfort. After an initial 7 laps we had set a time of 46.087, which was encouraging. We also applied the same changes to the Aprilia.

Before we could head out to our next session there was an unfortunate incident on circuit, which paused proceedings for around 3.5 hours and required the involvement of the air ambulance. We would like to wish a full and speedy recovery to the affected rider.

​The qualifying sessions and heat races for each of our classes were split just like last year - one session/race for odd-numbered bikes and one session/race for the even-numbered bikes. The grids for the "Finals" would be decided based upon lap times - with the fastest 16 riders from the (pair of) heat races making it through the main event...

We headed out for the Supersport 600 qualifying session and set a best of of 44.241 which placed us 7th on the Heat Race grid.

We then got our first time to try out the Aprilia on track and set a 43.740 lap time, which put us 7th on the Supertwins Heat Race grid.

After a short break we then headed out for the Open qualifying session, where a 43.772 lap placed us 9th on the grid.

It was now time for the races - and due to the earlier delays, the races had been shortened to 6-laps each. As mentioned earlier, the finishing position is actually less important than your fastest lap - so getting a clean lap is the most important thing! We headed out for Supersport 600 Heat 2 and finished 8th on track with the 8th fastest lap time in the race (15th fastest across the two heat races) - so had qualified for the Final! During the race we ran closely behind Sam Osborne, but never felt like we could make a sufficiently safe pass so stayed where we were - but it does make for an interesting video though! Our 43.114 lap time was also a new Personal Best lap for the Kawasaki.

Our next race was Supertwins Heat 2 where we experienced some "Italian Electrical Issues" with the quickshifter. Unfortunately, the race began with us having no shifter but was red-flagged on lap 2 due to geese wandering on the circuit! So it was restarted as a 5-lap race. All of this is shown in the video below. In the interim period we managed to reset the bike and get everything working again, but whilst doing some final checks we missed the starting lights and had a horrendous start (see 03:37 in video). Fortunately, we were able to recover and by the chequered flag had set the 5th-fastest lap in the race (7th fastest across the two heat races) and had again qualified for the Final race. We finished 7th on track and our lap time of 42.482 was a new Overall Personal Best lap time!

Our final race of the day (all others would be carried forward to Sunday morning) was the Welsh Open Heat 2. Our start was OK, as we didn't gain or lose any positions on the run to the first corner. We then settled into a quite lonely race, crossing the line in 8th position. Our lap time of 42.186 was another new Overall Personal Best lap time and was the 8th-fastest lap of our heat race (14th fastest across the two heat races) meaning that we had once again qualified for the Final race. Great news!

​With the racing done for the day we completed a few maintenance tasks, had a good freshen up, had some dinner whilst catching up on the Oulton Park BSB races, then headed into Aberdare town to sample a couple of the local pubs.

Sunday Race Day
We slept well and woke to another beautiful day - 2026 really is treating us well! There was a planned halt to proceedings for the church break at 10:30am, but the organisers planned a busy schedule from 9:00am which included three races for us (all slightly shortened).

Our first race was the very first race at 9:00am - the Welsh Open Final which was THE main race of the meeting. Starting from 14th on the grid we got a decent start and then settled into a lonely race, trying to hang on to the quicker guys ahead of us. After 8 laps we ended the race in 12th position, and set another new Overall Personal Best lap time of 42.096. Our lap timer lied to us and said we'd got into the "41s" but the official timing said different - so it gave us a new target to achieve...

Ten minutes later we were heading out again for the Supersport 600 Final, racing against the quickest 600-riders at the meeting. We got a decent start and in this race actually managed to make some passes - making the video below one of the most interesting of the meeting! By the end of the 6-lap race we finished in 12th place and had finally broken in the "41s" with a new Overall Personal Best lap time of 41.885 - this was just 2.46 seconds slower than the race winner, which we were happy with!

A further ten minutes later and we were heading out for the Supertwins Final - it really was a busy morning! From our 7th position grid spot we lost a few positions on the run up to and through the first corner, but then made our way through the field and onto the back wheel of Jack Andrews. We felt like we had some pace left in reserve but couldn't put ourselves into a position to make a pass so just enjoyed the ride. We even managed to get a couple of decent (for us at least!) wheelies coming out of Turn 2 (Chapel), see 2:35 in the video below. We crossed the chequered flag in 9th position having set a best lap time of 42.959.

It was then time for the church break, so the leathers came off and we relaxed and socialised for a bit. We were the first race after the break and were advised to be ready for a 12:15 start - so it came as a surprise when a final call was made at 12:00. We hurriedly got dressed and headed down to the assembly area...

We were now onto the races originally planned for Sunday, starting again with the heat races. But as there were only 16 Twins left running, they decided to roll everyone into the same race - so in effect, everyone made it to the "Finals". We started the 10-lap Supertwins Race 1 OK, falling back to 8th position by the first corner. From there we pressed on and caught the rear of Jack Andrews, moving up to 7th position when he ran wide at Turn 1 (Rosaries), then continued in a lonely race - with a 7.4 second gap ahead of us and a 5.6 second gap behind us when we crossed the line in 7th place. With the clean air, we were able to set a new Twins Personal Best lap of 42.034 - this was just 2.26 seconds slower than the race winner, which again, we were very happy with!

The final race we would take part in was the 10-lap Supersport 600 Heat 2. As this was a heat race we needed to be in the Fastest 16 to qualify for the Final. Our start was good enough to keep us in 6th position going into the first corner and that is where we stayed all race - with the quicker guys ahead stretching their lead whilst we pulled away from the guys behind. At the end of the race we finished in 6th position with a best lap of 42.099 - this was 6th quickest in our heat and the 10th quickest overall, meaning we had qualified for every "Final" race in all of the classes we entered.

Returning to the paddock we decided that we'd had a great meeting, but that we'd had enough track action for the weekend - so decided to pack up and enjoy an early departure.

We were packed up by 2.30pm and arrived back at Two Daves Racing HQ by 6.30pm. After catching up on some more Oulton Park BSB coverage we headed to bed at the end of what had been a truly fantastic weekend! Thanks to Ian McLeod for the invite and, since you got this far, thank you very much for taking the time to read about our adventures!

Our next outing will be at Darley Moor Round 5 this coming weekend - which was another reason for choosing to leave early with 2x working bikes and 1x fully functional rider - so we've not got long to wait before being out on track again  :-)

​As a nice surprise, Richard Fogg was also in attendance for this meeting on his brand new Aprilia RS660 Factory machine. Back in the mid-nineties when we started out, Richard was just starting racing too. We even shared a few battles at Darley Moor...

Saturday - Round 3
On the Saturday morning we were the first qualifying session out on track. After finding ourselves stuck in some traffic we left the circuit and then rejoined - finding some clear track that allowed us to set a 1:00.65 lap time which was good enough for 3rd on the Open 600 grid.

About an hour later we headed out for the combined Supertwins and Darley Moor qualifying session. Our 1:01.40 lap was good enough for 2nd on the Darley Cup grid and Pole Position for the Supertwins races.

It was then time for the races and Open 600 Race 1 was first. An OK start saw us retain our 3rd position into the Wilsons chicane and from there we maintained that position to the flag, finishing in 3rd place.

After a very short break we headed out for Supertwins Race 1. Entering the Wilsons chicane in 3rd position we managed to take the overall race lead into Park corner on the opening lap, then retain that lead for the 8 lap race - eventually winning the race by 14.79 seconds from GSX8R-mounted Jamie Badhams in 2nd position, with Richard Fogg taking the final podium spot.

Darley Cup Race 1 was unusual, as we secured a rare DNF in this race. The race started well, with us entering the chicane in 2nd position behind Jonathan Trezins, and then stretching a 10-second-gap over 3rd-placed David Wilson. But on lap 7 of 8, exiting Park corner (around 6:40 on the video below) the bike's dashboard started flashing like a neon sign in a cheap motel! It appeared that the Traction Control was being triggered by something, so my first thought was to disable the "assistance" and finish the race. Unfortunately that made little difference to the situation - but when I eventually pulled in the clutch I could feel the bike continue to decelerate as if the front brakes were still engaged. With this new info, I decided to retire to the pits to investigate - as we were out in another race just a few minutes later...

After playing with the brakes on the return journey and eventually reaching our "pit", things seemed a bit more normal. After some thorough checking, the best that we can surmise is that some small debris (such as a stone) may have got wedged between the outside pad and the caliper which caused the brake to drag on one side...

​The left caliper, pads and discs were fine. The right caliper had no stuck pistons - but the pads (shown below) had had some serious heat through them and the outer face of the disc looked like it had been machined flat. We found out problem - we just didn't know why it had happened...

Unsure of what was happening with the Aprilia, we hopped on the Kawasaki and ventured out into Open 600 Race 2. A poor start saw us enter the chicane in 7th position and have to fight our way through the pack to eventually finish in 3rd position, setting a fastest lap of 59.46 along the way.

After fitting a brand new set of pads to the right caliper, we cautiously headed out for Supertwins Race 2. We spent the first half of the race bedding in the pads and being (overly?) cautious of the bike, trying to sense whether it was going to do anything weird. We settled into 3rd on track whilst building up confidence then made clean overtakes to take the race lead. We won the race ahead of Jamie Badhams and Richard Fogg.

Our final race of the day was Darley Cup Race 2. On the warm-up lap, pole-sitter Jonathan Trezins had machinery issues so did not start the race. From the start we got the holeshot and led the entire race to take our first Darley Cup win of the season.

​Our results from the day had secured us with five trophies.

As a mini-celebration we got some hot food from the Darley Diner, opened a few beers and watched both the Czech MotoGP and Knockhill BSB action on TV...


Sunday - Round 4

​​Sunday was a special day - not just for being Round 4 of the championships - because it celebrated Father's Day. The family dressed up the caravan with balloons and both Daves were blessed with presents and cards from our loved ones!

Supertwins Race 1 was run in two parts (both shown below) due to a red flag. In the opening segment we entered the chicane in 3rd position behind Jamie Badhams and Richard Fogg. At the end of the opening lap Richard suffered an unfortunate crash, then on his second lap Anthony Thane had an unfortunate low-side at the hairpin - but the bike regripped and barrel-rolled itself, which resulted in some fluid escaping.

After a lengthy delay we were thankfully given two warm-up laps to reheat our tyres before our shortened 5-lap race. At the restart we entered the chicane in 2nd position and then took the race lead into Park corner on the opening lap. At the end of race, we won from Jamie Badhams with Russell Dodds taking the final podium position.

Darley Cup Race 1 was another lonely race. After entering the chicane in 2nd position we stayed there for the entire race.

After the lunch break, it was time for Open 600 Race 2 which was another lonely race. With the day's heat we were glad when the flag dropped and we took another 3rd-place finish.

Next up was Supertwins Race 2, which again was run in two parts (both shown below) due to a red flag at the hairpin. On the restart we managed to take the race lead into Park corner on the opening lap, then extended our lead to win the race from Jamie Badhams and Russell Dodds.

Our final race of the weekend was Darley Cup Race 2. On paper it shows that we held 2nd position all race long - but it was hard-fought, as through the weekend GSXR600-mounted Martyn Cooper had been getting quicker and quicker. At the chequered flag we were happy to secure another 2nd position finish to top off a great weekend.

​With all races completed we ended up with a total of 11 trophies (5x wins, 2x 2nds & 4x 3rds) from the weekend, which we think is a record for the team! When we got home we had some pizza delivered to celebrate - whilst we watched Sunday's Czech MotoGP and Knockhill BSB action of course!

There is now a short break until our next event - the Welsh park road race of Aberdare Park will take place on Saturday-Sunday 1st-2nd August, with Darley Moor Round 5 taking place just a week later on Sunday 9th August. As always, we'll let you know how we get on!  :-)