Here are some photos from Aintree Round 3, taken by official photographer Tony Else...
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As you might be able to tell from the report title - we have been crowned as Aintree champions for the first time ever! Here is our story from Aintree Round 3... Leaving straight after work on Friday we arrived to a very busy paddock and decided to setup opposite the "middle paddock entrance" on the hard standing. We decided to have dinner out in the awning so that we could catch up on the WorldSBK practice from Donington Park via the laptop - but despite it being mid-July (and summertime!) we needed some big jackets to keep warm! Based on the number of people that arrived and then very nicely asked if it was OK to enter the paddock, I think we were being mistaken for security... But we were nice and decided to let everyone in! ;-) We were up early for the 7am scrutineering and then signed on. Very quickly the paddock got very busy, which was great to see. And unlike the previous Aintree meeting it looked like we would be treated to a fully dry day of racing. Our first on-track action was with the Supersport 600 qualifying session. Michael Hanrahan had an unfortunate early crash (GWS Mikey!) at Becher's Bend and the red flag was shown. Several bikes (ourselves included) then slowed and headed back towards the paddock at low speed. At Club Corner a couple of riders came passed at high speed and continued to commence another lap. Not sure what was going on we left the circuit only to be advised the rejoin. So we got back into the swing of things and were getting quicker until we hit a bump at Village Corner and lost the front end at 65mph. You can see the crash in the video below. We would like to thank all the marshals, recovery staff, medical staff, etc for picking us up after our little mistake. Our lap time of 1:00.097 put us 7th on the grid. We returned to paddock in the back of the recovery van, then had to quickly have a medical check before swapping into our spare leathers/helmet/gloves and revisiting scrutineering so that we could ride the Aprilia in the remaining qualifying sessions. Out into 700cc Supertwins qualifying and we (understandably) rode relatively conservatively. The good news was that our 1:01.977 lap time was good enough to qualify in pole position in class (and 3rd on the combined grid). Back into the paddock and we assessed the damage to our Kawasaki ZX6R. The usual damage had occurred - rearset, handlebar and brake lever guard. The fairing was quite beaten up but still fairly solid - but unfortunately the fairing mounting point at the frame had been ripped out. So Dave Snr was sent to acquire a fibreglass repair kit from "the spares man" and then we set about fixing up the bike to be trackworthy again - albeit she wouldn't win any beauty contests today! Out into 750cc Twins qualifying and we struggled with traffic but set a 1:02.381 lap time that qualified us 2nd in class (5th on the combined grid), then we left the session early to head back to the paddock to finish final repairs before the 600 race. With the mechanical fixes complete, we were waiting for the fibreglass to set but it was still gooey. We decided to drill holes and use cable ties to get a bit of structural rigidity into the fairing, then bolted it on. We revisited scrutineering on our way to the race assembly area - and were signed off - we had made the race! But with the repairs untested and the tyres luke-warm we took it relatively easy on the first couple of laps to make sure that everything was OK before we started pushing on. On the last couple of laps some light rain made an appearance which slowed us slightly too. At the chequered flag we finished in 8th place, setting a best lap time of 1:00.860 during the race. Back in the paddock, waiting for 700cc Supertwins Race 1 the light rain sprinkles turned into proper rain - so we swapped to wet tyres. It was the right choice as the circuit was sufficiently wet. A decent start meant that we retained 3rd place through the first corner, then we decided to go "as quick as we felt comfortable". We dropped to 4th position on track (1st in class) during the opening lap, but then retained that position all the way to the flag - taking the class win and setting the class fastest lap of 1:08.601. During the short gap to 750cc Twins Race 1 the rain had stopped and the tarmac began to dry. After speaking to a rider who returned early from the race before ours, we decided to quickly change the rear tyre to a dry, going with a wet front and dry rear for the race. Out on track the conditions were occasional damp patches, so this choice was probably the right call for us. We got a decent start but were then boxed in on the inside of the first corner and plummeted down the positions, so then spent the rest of the race recovering as we became more comfortable with the conditions. During the race we set the fastest lap across all classes and eventually ran out of laps to finish 2nd in class. After a short break we were back out on the Kawasaki in Supersport 600 Race 2. An OK start saw us finish the opening lap in 8th position, which is where we finished. A best lap time of 59.356 showed that we were approaching our usual pace, which was encouraging - but as all the guys ahead were lapping quicker than us, we finished this race as well as we could. In 700cc Supertwins Race 2 we took the class lead on the opening lap and then had an interesting race with Thomas Hodge on his smoking Forgotten Era machine. By the end of the race we had made our way up to 2nd on track overall, set our class fastest lap and won the race to be crowned the 2024 Aintree 700cc Supertwins champion! Our final race of the day was also the final race of the day - 750cc Twins Race 2. An OK start meant that we exited the first corner in 5th position on track (from our 5th position grid spot) and then at the start of lap 2 we moved up to 4th position on track (2nd in class). We initially started to catch the leading trio before they began going quicker then we felt comfortable going, so we decided to bring it home. Some days you just have to be happy with the pace you have - and in this case it was enough for a trophy and some championship points, so we'll take that! With one more round of the Aintree championship still to go - and with 50 championship points per class still available - here is what the standings look like.
700cc Supertwins Championship Standings (Top 5) David Carson 150 Stephen Johnston 90 John Miller 77 Andrew Herd 40 Tim Walsh 40 750cc Twins Championship Standings (Top 5) David Carson 135 Stephen Johnston 93 Michael Bampton 75 John Miller 52 Tim Walsh 40 Supersport 600 Championship Standings (Top 10) Christopher Jones 136 Max Ainscouch 96 Stephen Gorton 90 Duncan Burns 62 David Carson 59 Matt Bell 51 James Leathan 44 Joseph Busfield 41 Caleb Williamson 32 Mark Pattinson 24 Our next race meeting will be the Aintree season-finale, on Saturday 3rd August. For the next meeting we will be treating ourselves to some new tyres, so are hoping to put in some decent lap times to challenge our Personal Bests... As always, we'll let you know how we get on! Here are some photos from the third round of the 2024 Wirral 100 championships, taken by official photographer Neil Lambert...
Our first meeting of "official summer" greeted us with rain on arrival to the circuit, but fortunately a superb weekend of sunshine lay ahead! With Dave Snr taking a vacation this week, it was more like a family holiday than a race meeting - which had both Pros and Cons... On Saturday morning we had the Twins qualifying session first. We casually got into the swing of things and set a best lap time of 1:16.1 which qualified us 5th position in class (9th on the combined grid). Shortly afterwards we headed out into the Supersport 600 qualifying session and set a more appropriate lap time of 1:14.717 which qualified us 2nd in class (10th on the combined grid). Our first race was Twins Race 1. From the start we settled into a race battle consisting of 4 riders for the entire race. We set a lap time of 1:14.597 (which was slower than we wanted - a 1:14.0 was our aim) and finished 5th in class, 7th overall on track. With the sun beating down on the track, we experienced track temperatures in excess of 40C! This made the circuit surface quite slippery (or more probably the tyre/track combination less than ideal) and on the opening lap we had rear-end slides at Church (Turn 3) and on the final corner. This woke us up and made us be a little more cautious getting on the gas - but on lap 5 the race was red-flagged after a faller at the Corkscrew section. After a short wait on the start line the race was restarted. This race was stopped on lap 2 following an unfortunate crash for (Aintree Steel Frame 600 championship leader) Wayne Pudge on his Butler Racing machine. Wayne suffered a dislocated hip and injured his thumb during the crash - we would like to wish Wayne all the best with his recovery! The club decided to call an early lunch and then restarted the race over 5 laps. By this point we just wanted to get through the race unscathed. We managed to set a best lap time of 1:15.321 and finished 4th in class, 10th overall. A couple of hours later we headed out for Twins Race 2. We had a good start and successfully dodged the stricken pole-position machine on the run to the first corner. From there we held our position all the way until the end of the race, finishing 5th in class (7th overall) and setting a best lap time of 1:14.616. Unfortunately there is no onboard video for Supersport 600 Race 2. Due to all of the excitement with the earlier races the battery had run out! That's a shame, as in this race we finished 1st in the Pre-2011 class and in 5th position overall - with a best lap time of 1:13.917, which is much closer to where we want to be! After a good start in the race we went faster and faster through the race, eventually setting our fastest lap on the final lap. In comparison, some of our competitors got slower towards the end of the race which meant we were able to pick off some extra positions during the final few laps. It was a good way to end the day and it meant that for the first time ever, we have won races with 3 different clubs in the same season! It was also 15 years since we had last won a Wirral 100 race. Onto Sunday and we decided to skip the morning warm-up session. During this weekend we, for whatever reason, were suffering from an overcautious approach to the races. We decided that doing some "not at 100% commitment" laps wouldn't help things so saved ourselves for the races instead. Into Twins Race 3 and we got a bit swamped during the opening lap. But we got our head down and set a best lap of 1:14.519 (which was the fastest Twin lap we would put in all weekend) during our way back through the field. At the chequered flag we finished 6th in class (10th overall in the combined field). During Supersport 600 Race 3 we managed to do quire a rare thing nowadays - we set a new Personal Best lap time of 1:13.338. As was becoming a tradition this weekend, we let a load of people pass us during the opening laps and then chased them down before the flag. In this race that worked quite well, as we finished 2nd in class (7th overall). In Twins Race 4 we rode as hard as we felt comfortable with, which was good enough to take another 5th place class finish (7th overall) with a best lap of 1:15.259. Our final race of the weekend was Supersport 600 Race 4. For an unknown reason, we were just more comfortable on the Kawasaki ZX6R than the Aprilia this weekend. In this race we were able to get into the 1:13s again (with a 1:13.760) and took another 2nd position in class (7th overall) which bagged us a few more championship points. Speaking of championship points... After this event, the Wirral 100 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. Pre-2011 Supersport Championship Standings (Top 5) Tom Harrison 86 David Carson 81 Matthew Perry 59 Caleb Williams 57 Rhys Forrest 42 Twins Championship Standings (Top 5) Louis Dawson 95 Scott McCrory 93 David Carson 65 Andy Herd 44 Robert Williams 43 The conclusion of this meeting marks the mid-point of our 2024 season. The season has gone particularly well for us so far. At present, this is how we stand within the various championships.
Aintree 750cc Twins --> Championship Leaders Aintree 700cc Supertwins --> Championship Leaders Darley Moor Darley Cup --> Championship Leaders Darley Moor 700cc Twins --> Championship Leaders Darley Moor Open 600cc --> 2nd in championship Wirral 100 Pre-2011 Supersport --> 2nd in championship Wirral 100 Twins --> 3rd in championship Aintree Supersport 600 --> 4th in championship We have a couple of weeks off now, before our next meeting at Aintree on Saturday 13th July. Here are some photos from Round 2 of the Darley Moor championships, taken by official Darley photographer Tony Else...
We arrived at Darley Moor Round 2 straight from Aintree Round 2 which meant a late setup in the paddock. Unfortunately, the rain that hit Aintree also landed at Darley - meaning that everywhere was soaking wet - but once setup we watched some of the day's British Superbike action via the laptop. Once again it was an early start to the day to get the scrutineering and sign on activities out of the way. Rain had fell overnight but stopped around 5am. The ground was wet but drying quickly. Fortunately we didn't need to do a single wheel swap during this meeting! Out into the Open 600 qualifying session and most corners had a dry line, with just the Pope Straight having wet patches. Things went well and we quickly got into the swing of things, catching and passing riders. We then decided to find some space so that we could attempt a quick lap - we found the space but when we came to the line to start our lap the chequered flag was already out... Our lap time of 1:02.47 was good enough for a front-row grid start (3rd position) and not too far away from the pole position time of 1:02.06. Our next qualifying session (on the Aprilia RS660 Trofeo) would provide our grid position for both the Darley Cup and 700cc Twins races. A 1:00.98 lap time put us in pole position for both classes. Our first race was the 10-lap Darley Cup Race 1. We got a good launch (for us) and entered the Wilson chicane 3rd in class, behind Nick Clare and Mark Pattinson. By the end of lap 5 we had managed to move into 2nd position but were 6.61 seconds behind the race leader. We put in some solid laps and set the fastest lap of the race (1:00.26) but at the chequered flag we finished in 2nd position, 4.25 seconds behind race winner Mark. We were hoping that we might be able to put a challenge to Mark in race 2... The grid numbers were low for the 700cc Twins at this meeting. Following a dispute with the organisers, the always-quick Sean Seddon decided to leave before the meeting had started. Josh Froggatt (son of Anthony Froggatt and current EMRA Supertwins championship leader) made a guest appearance to add some spice to the mix. After another decent (but not great) start we entered the chicane in 3rd position and then moved up into 2nd position by the end of the opening lap. We followed Josh for several laps, looking for an opportunity to move passed and (with hindsight) should probably have taken advantage of an opportunity to take the lead into Park corner on lap 5. Some unfortunately-timed backmarkers created a gap that we couldn't bridge and despite setting the fastest lap of the race (1:00.10) we crossed the line to take 2nd place, 1.65 seconds behind Josh who deserved the victory. Heading out to Open 600 Race 1 there was a long delay in the assembly area due to recovery of a kart and driver. Then when we went out onto track it started raining! On the third lap we took the overall race lead and then a few corners later the race was red-flagged. You can see this abandoned race below. The race was restarted after the lunch break in much better conditions. On the opening lap, coming out of the chicane in 4th position we moved into 3rd position into Park corner and then into 2nd position into Paddock corner - which put us just over a second behind race leader Mark Goodings. We managed to claw our way onto the back of Mark's bike (which was looking quite loose at the rear on corner entry) but a passing opportunity never presented itself. Despite setting another fastest lap of the race (59.40), we crossed the line in 2nd position once again, just 0.13 of a second behind the race winner. After a short break we headed out into Darley Cup Race 2. A lacklustre start put paid to our hope of challenging Race 1 winner Mark Pattinson, as we struggled to pass a bum-waggling Nick Clare. With the introduction of riders from other classes, the race leader disappeared into the distance whilst we just scrapped amongst ourselves. Our fastest lap time of 1:02.19 showed how much pace we had in reserve, but in this race it wasn't to be. At the end of the race we finished 3rd in class, just 0.26 of a second behind Nick. At the start of Twins Race 2, the bike electronically dropped revs at the start which resulted in a poor start for us. One day we'll sort out our starts... Entering the Wilsons chicane in 5th position, we managed to move up to 2nd on track by the end of the opening lap - but were 2.11 seconds behind race-leader Josh Froggatt. Try as we might - even by putting in a couple of 59-second laps with a fastest lap of 59.95 - we decreased the gap but could only finish in 2nd place, 1.41 seconds behind race winner Josh at the flag. Our final race was Open 600 Race 2. We were 5th into the chicane and remained there until lap 3 when Adam Green ran wide whilst attempting an overtake at Park corner, then later in the lap we overtook Adam Mather into Paddock corner. Now in 3rd position - but 3.40 seconds behind 2nd placed Joe Holdsworth - we had some clear track to put in some clean laps. Once again we set the fastest lap of the race (58.80) and on the last lap were on the back wheel of Joe. We tried an optimistic move into Paddock corner on the final lap which was ultimately unsuccessful. Mark Goodings took the win by 2.63 seconds from Joe, with us just a further 0.08 of a second behind in 3rd place. With the meeting now complete we reflected on the fact that we had set the fastest lap in 5 of our 6 races, but we didn't win any! We will take away the positive that we clearly had the speed this weekend and will try to put things in place for the future to capitalize on that. As the saying goes - you can't win them all... The championship tables at the end of this meeting look as follows.
700cc Twins Championship (Top 5) David Carson 54 Josh Froggatt 30 Sean Seddon 24 Aron Redmond 20 Tom Hodge 8 Darley Cup Championship (Top 5) David Carson 52 Nick Clare 46 Mark Pattinson 30 Aron Redmond 20 Martyn Cooper 16 Anthony Thane 16 Open 600 Championship (Top 5) Mark Goodings 57 David Carson 42 Joe Holdsworth 39 Adam Green 32 Chris Stuart 22 We don't have long to wait until riding again, as we will be racing at the Wirral 100 Anglesey meeting this coming weekend (22nd-23rd June). We'll let you know how that goes! |
AuthorDavid Carson Jnr, Archives
July 2024
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