We travelled to Darley Moor straight from the NG Donington Park meeting. Arriving late we were expecting to scrabble for some paddock space, but were able to setup nearby our usual spot, which was great.
The evening weather was lovely - warm and calm - but as we were too late for scrutineering we leisurely setup and made sure that the bikes were ready to be inspected first thing in the morning. It certainly was nice to have a night's sleep uninterrupted by overnight aircraft take-offs!
The weather forecast for the Sunday (both for Donington and Darley) was constantly changing - so we were unsure whether it would be wet, dry, damp - or anywhere inbetween! Around 3am, the rain started falling on the caravan and when we woke, the paddock and track were wet... It didn't take long for most of the wet surfaces to dry, but it looked like there were still wet patches on the track so we walked to the circuit to take a better look - and it was then that Andy Barber invited us to a lap in the course car (our first ever car lap around Darley!) and we saw that the majority of the course was dry... So dry tyres it was then!
The evening weather was lovely - warm and calm - but as we were too late for scrutineering we leisurely setup and made sure that the bikes were ready to be inspected first thing in the morning. It certainly was nice to have a night's sleep uninterrupted by overnight aircraft take-offs!
The weather forecast for the Sunday (both for Donington and Darley) was constantly changing - so we were unsure whether it would be wet, dry, damp - or anywhere inbetween! Around 3am, the rain started falling on the caravan and when we woke, the paddock and track were wet... It didn't take long for most of the wet surfaces to dry, but it looked like there were still wet patches on the track so we walked to the circuit to take a better look - and it was then that Andy Barber invited us to a lap in the course car (our first ever car lap around Darley!) and we saw that the majority of the course was dry... So dry tyres it was then!
 Tony Else sniping Dave Snr... |  ...whilst being sniped himself! |
When we headed out into the qualifying sessions, the only wet patches were along the Pope Straight. Not wanting to do anything silly we decided to take it relatively easy and to try for a front-row start on each bike. It looks like our approach wasn't too different from everyone else - as we managed to secure pole position in the Twins class and 2nd position on the Formula 600 grid.
Grabbing a decent peg for the Allcomers race
Onto the races, and for the Allcomers race we picked the #3 peg for the race which gave us a front-row start. Getting the RS660 Trofeo off the line was still a mixed bag - especially with some added punch from the revised gearing ratio. Albert Walker initially led the race and we followed closely, the pair of us making a large gap from the chasing pack. Our initial pace was a lot slower than what we achieved at Round 1, yet we didn't feel like we had enough extra speed to immediately pass Albert and make a gap on him, so planned to wait until we warmed into the race - hoping that our pace would increase - and then try to make a move. Unexpectedly, Albert's race came to an end at Paddock corner on lap 3, which left us to manage the rest of the race - we took the win by 22 seconds in the end, setting the fastest lap of the race along the way.
 Photo by Graham Mallen |  Photo by Tony Else |
It was only a short wait until we headed out for Formula 600 Race 1. Albert Walker didn't start the race due to an overheating bike, so was unfortunately having an unlucky day! A good start saw us enter the Wilson's Chicane in 2nd place, where we remained until the chequered flag. The new rear tyre that we fitted for Donington Park had seen a lot of use/abuse over the weekend and was starting to protest, but we managed to put in a series of laps within the 59 second barrier. We were just hoping that we would be able to be competitive in the "points" race...
 Photo by Jon Ratcliffe |  Photo by Graham Mallen |
Next up was Twins Race 1. Albert had not been able to repair his machine, so it looked like it was unlikely we would have a battle on track in this race. We started from pole position but had a bad start - managing to pop a wheelie in the first four gears by using the fronts forks like a pogo stick! Despite this, we managed to take the race lead by the end of the first lap, then put in a series of clean laps - the best of which was the race fastest lap of 1:01.59. Unfortunately, the race was red-flagged on lap 7 (of 8) and the result was called. We were classified as the winner.
 Photo by Leah Jackson |  Photo by Graham Mallen |
After the lunch break we were back to racing! Somehow... despite bringing a combined 97L of fuel (in tanks and jerry cans), we were running low on fuel for the generator. James Ford came to the rescue with a couple of litres of unleaded to make sure that we could complete the day - cheers James!
A quite poor Formula 600 Race 2 start saw us enter the chicane in 3rd position, before moving up to 2nd position at Park corner on the opening lap. From this point we should have been chasing down Ben Dale to challenge for the win, but it seemed that we didn't have either the tyre nor the enthusiasm to push beyond the limits that we were encountering - so circulated as fast as we could without making any mistakes. That plan worked fine until lap 5 when we missed a gear coming out of the hairpin, which allowed Albert Walker to come passed. This mistake, plus a couple of the following lap, allowed him to established a gap... With a new race-face on, we got our head down and closed the gap back up. We were close enough to attempt a pass at the hairpin at the final lap, but decided to wait until Paddock corner for a last-corner last-lap manoeuvre - but unfortunately the opportunity wasn't there. We crossed the line in 3rd place!
A quite poor Formula 600 Race 2 start saw us enter the chicane in 3rd position, before moving up to 2nd position at Park corner on the opening lap. From this point we should have been chasing down Ben Dale to challenge for the win, but it seemed that we didn't have either the tyre nor the enthusiasm to push beyond the limits that we were encountering - so circulated as fast as we could without making any mistakes. That plan worked fine until lap 5 when we missed a gear coming out of the hairpin, which allowed Albert Walker to come passed. This mistake, plus a couple of the following lap, allowed him to established a gap... With a new race-face on, we got our head down and closed the gap back up. We were close enough to attempt a pass at the hairpin at the final lap, but decided to wait until Paddock corner for a last-corner last-lap manoeuvre - but unfortunately the opportunity wasn't there. We crossed the line in 3rd place!
Prior to Twins Race 2, we spent some time adjusting the clutch to see if we could improve the biting point - and therefore improve our race starts. We got a relatively good launch (compared to some of our others), but shifted up to neutral instead of 2nd gear, which halted our progress and put us back to 4th place.
This race was tricky as we knew we had speed, but needed to make sure that we secured some decent championship points, so we took our time to make careful overtakes. Putting in some quicker laps the traction control was kicking in, meaning that we couldn't lap as quick as we wanted to. After doing some calculations after the race it turns out that the tyres had done almost 300 laps - so we had certainly got our money's worth!
After taking the race lead on lap 3, we set the fastest lap of the race on lap 5 - but again didn't manage to see the chequered flag as the red flag was shown on lap 9 (of 10). Winning the race was a relief after what had become a long and exhausting weekend. Some new rubber will be fit to both machines for the next race meeting!
This race was tricky as we knew we had speed, but needed to make sure that we secured some decent championship points, so we took our time to make careful overtakes. Putting in some quicker laps the traction control was kicking in, meaning that we couldn't lap as quick as we wanted to. After doing some calculations after the race it turns out that the tyres had done almost 300 laps - so we had certainly got our money's worth!
After taking the race lead on lap 3, we set the fastest lap of the race on lap 5 - but again didn't manage to see the chequered flag as the red flag was shown on lap 9 (of 10). Winning the race was a relief after what had become a long and exhausting weekend. Some new rubber will be fit to both machines for the next race meeting!
 Photo by John Lockett |  Photo by John Lockett |
After 2 (of 8 rounds) of the Darley Moor championships, the standings look as follows:
Twins Championship Standings (Top 5)
1st - David Carson 30
2nd - Chris Barton 16
3rd - Jim Barnett 12
4th - Josh Froggatt 12
5th - Richard Saville 10
Formula 600 Championship Standings (Top 5)
1st - Albert Walker 22
2nd - Ben Dale 19
3rd - David Carson 18
4th - Richard Cooper 15
5th - Stephen Parsons 12
Twins Championship Standings (Top 5)
1st - David Carson 30
2nd - Chris Barton 16
3rd - Jim Barnett 12
4th - Josh Froggatt 12
5th - Richard Saville 10
Formula 600 Championship Standings (Top 5)
1st - Albert Walker 22
2nd - Ben Dale 19
3rd - David Carson 18
4th - Richard Cooper 15
5th - Stephen Parsons 12
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Our next race meeting will be NG Pembrey on 11th/12th June - meaning that we will be voluntarily missing our first ever Darley Moor meeting since March 2009! It is an unfortunate situation, but we need to attend Pembrey in order to capture some more NG championship points to stay in the battle for the Supertwin championship with Steve Moody and Edward Giles.
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