​Here are some photos from the recent rounds of the 2026 Darley Moor championships, taken by official Darley photographer Tony Else...

As you might be able to tell from the report title - we have been crowned as 2026 Darley Moor champions, having now secured our 14th Darley Moor championship title! Here is our story from Darley Moor Rounds 7 and 8...

As mentioned in the race preview we would be running borrowed machinery at this season finale, so went into the weekend with a mindset saying: "No heroics, just bring it home!"

We arrived to the circuit on Friday afternoon after battling through horrendous M6 motorway traffic, and were surprised to find our 'usual spot' in the paddock still available. We were parked nearby to Stephen Degnan, Richard Fogg and Tim Poole which made for a sociable weekend.

The weather forecast leading up to the weekend was looking OK - but said that we might get a little rain shower on the Saturday morning - that turned out to be highly inaccurate...


Saturday Race Day

After staying dry overnight, consistent light rain arrived at 9.15am and then steadily got heavier. We swapped both bikes across to wet tyres for the qualifying sessions.

We didn't time our attendance to the noise testing very well and ended up missing the first few minutes of the Open 600 qualifying session (which was the first session of the day). Out on track and the conditions were truly miserable. We managed to put in 5 laps during the session - our best of 1:14.82 qualified us 11th (of 18), which wasn't great.

About an hour later we headed out for the Supertwins qualifying session on our borrowed bike. Equally wet, our 1:12.38 lap time qualified us 6th of the Supertwins (and 7th on the combined Twins grid).

Supertwins Race 1 was the first race of the weekend, only 20 minutes after the qualifying session finished. After a lousy start we managed to go a little quicker during the race (1:11.41) and finished in 4th position. Our 23 point lead had been reduced to 21 points, with a maximum of 45 points still available.

By the time Open 600 Race 1 started, the rain had stopped and the track was damp in some places and wet in others. We had a steady start and finished the opening lap in 9th position, then on lap 4 managed to move up to 8th position which is where we ended the race. Those few points were enough to secure us 3rd position in the Open 600 championship  :-)

Due to a number of delays during the day (including a shortened "Stars" race - where Josh Bannister had a big crash), the remaining races were shortened to 5 laps. Due to the weather still being undecisive, we decided to leave the wet tyres in to play safe and to just collect some points in Supertwins Race 2. At the start we got swallowed by the pack and finished the opening lap in 8th place in class, before moving up to 6th place by the end of the race. Our championship lead was now 22 points, with a maximum of 30 points still available.

We were invited up to the commentary booth, so spent around 45 minutes chatting live on-air with the commentary team.

We decided to opt out of Open 600 Race 2, as it was too wet for slicks and too dry for wets. So instead we cleaned and prepared the bikes for Sunday, including swapping both bikes across to dry tyres.

Rain continued all through the evening until around midnight, but we were assured that Sunday would be a brighter day...


Sunday Race Day

We awoke to blue skies and wet tarmac. The sun even came out to dry up the track, but the question was whether it would be dry enough for slicks.

​We headed out for Open 600 Qualifying on our slick tyres and immediately knew that we would have been able to go quicker on wet tyres. The track was damp in most places but with dry patches, but the hairpin was fully damp and Park corner was wet. As we had already committed to our tyre choice and were already out there, we had no option but to stick it out. Lap after lap we were knocking seconds off our lap time as we got more comfortable, until we plateaued at 1:10.71, which placed us 12th on the grid.

When we headed out for Supertwins qualifying there was only Park corner that was damp - all the rest of the track was dry. Coming into the weekend we had a "1:03.00" target lap time in mind for the dry conditions, so when we saw a 1:02.86 lap pop up onto the dash we pulled in. This time was good enough for 3rd on the grid (pole position was 1:02.38), which we were happy with.

Just 20 minutes later we were on the grid for Supertwins Race 1. We managed to make an appalling start and finished the opening lap in 7th position. So we got our head down and moved into 5th position on lap 2, then into 4th position on lap 5 when we set our fastest lap of 1:01.65 (against the race winners best lap of 1:01.24 - so we were in the ballpark). On the final lap we kept it smooth and safe, crossing the line to take the 2026 Supertwins Championship title!

​With our job for the weekend done, we decided to park the bikes up early and put an end to this difficult ending to the season. After saying our goodbyes we went home, ordered an (extra-cheesy) takeaway pizza and watched the weekend's MotoGP and WorldSBK action on TV.

With all remaining races run, the final championship positions for the various classes are now confirmed as follows:

700cc Supertwins (Top 5)
David Carson    144 (7 wins)
Russell Dodds      128
Paul Evans          126
Aaron Redmond   76
Richard Fogg        69

Open 600 (Top 5)
Ricky Tarren         232
Benjamin Dale     147
David Carson     103
Lee Whitehouse    73
Jack Worth           54

Darley Cup (Top 5)
Jonathan Trezins   225
Martyn Cooper      105
Paul Evans           101
David Carson      89 (1 win)
Patrick Lord           60

Our championship victory means that we have now won 20 club racing championships across 5 organisations (plus a "Best 125" title from the Junior Roadracing Association).

With the season now finished, we will gather together some stats regarding the season to produce another "Season Summary" blog. But in the meantime we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters (if you're reading this - then that's you!), Dave Carson Snr, Steph Carson, Lorna Carson & I would particularly like to thank Peraison and Rock Oil for their support. Thank you all for making 2026 another very special year!  :-)
​

As mentioned in the last race report our Aprilia RS660 Trofeo engine unfortunately suffered damage due to low/no oil pressure due to the previously-mentioned oil pressure relief valve issues. With only a few weeks before the "Stars at Darley" meeting, this left us in a position where we had very little time to repair the engine.

With a 23-point lead in the 700cc Supertwins championship (and a maximum of 60 points remaining) we decided to ask whether anyone would be willing to let us ride their machinery so that we could attempt to secure our 14th Darley Moor championship title.

We were astounded by the response we received and would like to send a special thanks to the following:

• Stuart Fitton - who has a Yamaha R7 Supertwin that just needed a new fairing. Despite chasing down suppliers unfortunately the parts would not arrive in time, so that was ruled out. Stuart did also offer his Husqvarna 701 Vitpilen (with KTM 690 engine) which appears to fit within the class rules.
• Anthony Froggatt - who offered the use of Josh's 2023 Aprilia RS660 which won the 2025 Darley Moor 700cc Supertwins championship last year (before Josh advanced to the British championships this season). Darley Moor regulars may recognise this bike-rider-combo as being the fastest-ever Supertwin to lap the circuit. I am very glad to say that we will be riding this bike at the season finale.

​Looking through our photo archives I found a photo of the two Aprilias during the 2024 season.

​We couldn't resist asking an AI to merge the photos together - so here is an advance preview of what we may look like out on track...

Our goals for the meeting
We feel grateful and relieved that we will have the opportunity to try to secure the 700cc Supertwin championship - so that will be our primary aim! There are usually a few fast wildcards that arrive to just the "Stars" meeting, so that may actually help us to achieve our goal.

We will also be trying to secure 3rd place in the Open 600 championship. There is a 21-point gap to 2nd place and a 45-point gap to 4th place, so securing 3rd looks likely.

​We will not be entering the Darley Cup races - which use the same machinery as the 700cc Supertwin - and will therefore forfeit our opportunity to claim the runner-up spot. Looking at the current standings, we anticipate a 4th-place finish in that championship.

With a few parts swapped between the bikes (and some other minor tweaking to make ourselves comfortable), we are now ready for the meeting.

If you are attending the meeting, please swing by and say hello. Otherwise, we'll let you know how we get on...
​

Here are some photos from the recent round of the 2026 Darley Moor championships, taken by official Darley photographer Tony Else...

After all of the issues in the previous meeting we were hoping for a trouble-free event at the penultimate Darley Moor weekend, but it wasn't to be...

To resolve the brake issues we decided to do a complete overhaul of the braking systems - and had all three calipers sent away to Powerhouse to be rebuilt, bought some new Brembo HPK front discs and Z04 pads (along with some new EBC sintered rear pads) and gave the entire system a boatload of care and attention.

​We didn't want a repeat of the poor qualifying like we experienced at the last round, but with only a 12-minute qualifying session to bed the brakes in and then set a time, timings were tight - so we proactively made a plan using AI...  Out into qualifying and on lap four the front brakes were starting to feel "normal" - but we could feel something weird on the rear so had to quickly return to the paddock. Arriving back to our setup we found that the rear master cylinder rod was adjusted slightly too long and was applying slight pressure to the rear brake, causing it to heat up and eventually drag. We quickly resolved that and headed back to the circuit, where we found the session had been red-flagged due to a crash. After a short delay they cancelled the session, so we ended up exactly where we didn't want to be - 11th on the Darley Cup grid and 9th on the Twins grid after setting a 1'06.48 lap time. It was going to be another difficult day...

Prior to the Twins qualifying we had gone out in the Open 600 qualifying session and (once up to speed after a few laps) posted a 1:00.68 time that was good enough for 4th on the grid. Ben Luxton (who is a multiple Stars at Darley podium finisher) had a guest appearance and took the pole with a 56.91 lap.

Our first race of the day was the Open 600 Race 1. Typically we have run 15-47 sprockets, but for this race we made a change to a 15-48 setup to see whether we could gain any extra acceleration out of the slower corners. From the start we got a couple of mini-wheelies and slotted into 5th place, before moving up to 4th position on lap 4 where we stayed until the flag, setting a best lap time of 59.29 on our way. The shortened gearing was hitting the soft-limiter towards the back esses in 5th gear so we believed it was losing us time, so we made another gearing change before the second Open 600 race.

Supertwin Race 1 was next up for us. Again, prior to the meeting we had decided to try a different gearing setting of 16-44 (compared to our usual 16-43). A poor start saw us end the opening lap 9th on track before working our way through the pack to 4th position by the end of lap 4. From there we had clear air and were the 2nd-fastest rider on track. We set a best lap of 1:00.75 and finished in 4th position.

There was only a couple of races before Darley Cup Race 1, but it was long enough for us to switch our gearing back to 16-43 which is our preferred option. We got a decent launch but got boxed in at the chicane and ran across the exit kerbs. Once again we made our way through the pack whilst having a close race with Martyn Cooper (which makes for a good onboard video). At the end of the race we finished 4th in class, just 0.28 of a second behind Martyn in 3rd.

For Open 600 Race 2 we made a big change and went from 15-48 to 15-45 gearing, in the hope that it would allow us to carry 3rd gear through the Wilson chicane. This gearing was recommended to us by Richard Cooper a few years ago - and he's no slouch, so we thought we'd give it another shot. We got a crap start but managed to regain a couple of places before Park corner. On lap 3 we managed an "around the outside" move at Townleys - which put us a bit closer to the grass that we'd like - then used the remaining laps to focus on the gearing changes.

The 15-45 meant that we could carry 3rd through the Wilson chicane, but still needed to upshift to 4th before braking for Park. For the final two laps we reverted to 4th gear through the chicane and found it a lot more comfortable, eventually setting a best lap time of 58.71 which we're happy with. Initial drive on the 15-45 out of Park corner feels sluggish, so I think we'll try 15-46 at the Stars meeting. At the end of the 8-lap race we finished in 4th, but as Ben Luxton decided to opt out of points and trophies we were awarded the 3rd-placed points and trophies for the Open 600 races  :-)

​Our final race of the day would turn out to be Supertwin Race 2. Unfortunately the GoPro battery ran out so there is no video available. We got a better start in this race, finishing the opening lap in 6th position and were up to 4th position by the end of lap 2 - 5.51 seconds behind the battling duo in 2nd and 3rd position. By the end of lap 6 we had set a best lap time of 1:00.34 and reduced the gap to 2.25 seconds and still closing. Then on the Pope straight on lap 7 an oil pressure alert was shown on the dash, so we immediately retired from the race - and our day was over.

​Upon returning to Two Daves Racing HQ we found that the oil pressure relief valve had unscrewed itself. Despite the engine not appearing to have suffered much damage (based on preliminary checks) everyone who has experienced that same issue in the past has said that the engine probably won’t last too much longer... So we are looking into options for the final round of the Darley Moor championships.

​With some bad luck behind us, we collected our trophies and then headed home for takeaway pizza whilst watching MotoGP from Austria and British Superbikes from Assen.

At the end of the 2024 season we announced our "retirement from championship competition" but we have somehow found ourselves being dragged back into some potentially-decent end-of-year results. It's been almost two years since we have announced any championship standings - but here is where we currently sit in the various classes...

700cc Supertwins
David Carson    123
Russell Dodds      100
Paul Evans           93

Darley Cup
Jonathan Trezins   165 (already crowned champion)
David Carson      89
Martyn Cooper      86

Open 600
Ricky Tarren         177
Benjamin Dale      119
David Carson      98
Peter Fell              53

We only have one event remaining this year - Darley Moor Rounds 7 & 8 (including the "Stars at Darley" races) on Saturday-Sunday 10th-11th October. As always, we'll let you know how we get on...

Here are some photos from the recent round of the 2026 Darley Moor championships, taken by official Darley photographer Tony Else...