After what seems like a lengthy summer break we were back out last weekend at Aberdare Park - the beautiful and picturesque tree-lined circuit nestled inside a Welsh park. We set off from Two Daves Racing HQ on the Friday morning and had a leisurely drive down, arriving at the circuit in the early afternoon and then we setup next to paddock-regular Dan Nurrish.
Just like last year the scrutineers visited us at the awning, which made for a completely relaxed afternoon. We walked a lap of the track - interrupted by a short pitstop at the pub - before grabbing some dinner from the local chip shop, where I had a deep-fried Mars Bar for the first time in my life!
Just like last year the scrutineers visited us at the awning, which made for a completely relaxed afternoon. We walked a lap of the track - interrupted by a short pitstop at the pub - before grabbing some dinner from the local chip shop, where I had a deep-fried Mars Bar for the first time in my life!
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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.
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.
Visitors queueing to get in. Photo by Bros-Photos.
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.
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.
Photo by Bros-Photos
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 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.
Photo by Bikefotos
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.
Photo by Greg Llewellyn
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.
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.
Following Sam Osborne. Photo by Bikefotos.
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!
Photo by Richard Moult
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!
Photo by Greg Llewellyn
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...
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...
Photo by Connor Rudman
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!
Photo by Bikefotos
Photo by JJP Media
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.
Photo by Christopher Onn
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!
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!
Photo by Bikefotos
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.
 Photo by Bikefotos |  Photo by Bikefotos |
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 :-)
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 :-)
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