Champions in 2024

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...

An interesting day - with a crash, unexpected rain, race wins and becoming champion!

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.

All good to go... And yes, a new table for the toolbox!

Perhaps we should have paid attention!

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!

In need of repair...

...and some patching...

...applying fibreglass repairs...

All mechanical fixes applied!

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 together again...

...and then it rained!

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!

Photo by Kipax Greenwood

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!