Round 4 of the Darley Moor club championships took place on Sunday 23rd June. The weather forecasts leading up to the meeting initially showed "thunderstorms", but later calmed to forecast "showers" instead. With Saturday being forecast as the worst of the weekend weather, we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at a mainly dry and partially sunny race paddock - but the rain beating down on the top of the caravan on Saturday night gave us an indication of what Sunday would really be like!
The early-morning rain showers had stopped long before the Formula Darley qualifying session, meaning that the track was wet/damp - but issues with the quickshifter not working (again!) & the bike running a little cold meant that I needed to pull in to disconnect the quickshifter and apply some duct tape to the radiator before I had completed a single lap. Whilst I was doing these small tasks, the session was 'red flagged' and brought to a halt. A few minutes later, the session was restarted for a quick 4-minute dash! I managed to put in a half-decent lap which put me 4th on the combined Formula Darley grid (3rd in class); a front row starting position.
By the Sound of Thunder qualifying session, the heavens had opened and the track was now soaking wet. The classic bike classes were out on track with us (qualifying for their own race) which meant that the track was very busy and finding a clear lap was difficult. After 5 congested laps, I managed to find some free space and put in a lap that put me 4th on the Sound of Thunder grid (3rd in class). At least remembering my grid position would be easy!!
Onto the first Formula Darley race & the track was still very wet. After an OK start, I entered a race-long battle with Ricky Tarren on a 125GP bike for 3rd place. The race leaders were close, but were taking circa 0.5 second out of us each lap, until on lap 6 the race was 'red flagged' after one of the other 125GP riders crashed and required medical attention (GWS!), meaning that the race was called at lap 5, giving me 3rd place.
In the first Sound of Thunder race, I got a good start and managed to run in 4th place on track (3rd in class) before being caught and passed by two Aprilia RSV1000 riders during the race. It was a particularly lonely race for me but at the flag I had managed to keep hold of 3rd place - with a gap of 12 seconds to the rider in front of me & a gap of 12 seconds to the rider behind me!
The second Formula Darley race was after lunch, where a few showers had been and gone, but the track was generally drier now. I managed to get another good start and entered the first chicane in 2nd place. After being passed by Ricky Tarren, I managed to keep in touch with the race leaders until I lost the front at the hairpin on lap 3. This lost me some valuable time and after this, the leaders slowly eeked out some more distance each lap until the flag. At the end of the race I was 3rd on track (2nd in class), 5.5 seconds behind the class winner.
By the time the second Sound of Thunder race had arrived, the track had now dried considerably; but due to the grey clouds we had decided to stay on wet tyres, which started to overheat quite quickly. Fortunately, as the ER650 does not have considerable power - even though the ride got a bit 'wobbly' - the tyres stayed together in one piece. The race itself was spent dicing with another ER650 and an RSV1000. This was the most fun race of the day and there were a few scary moments into the fast back esses and into the hairpin, but unfortunately as the battery on onboard camera ran out, I won't be able to share it with you! By the end of the race, I'd managed to pass the other ER650 to secure another 3rd in class.
With three 3rd places and a 2nd, the results are not quite where we want to be - but considering the unfavourable conditions, we consider them to be OK for now! As time is passing by, we are continuing to collect more championship points, which has now brought us up to second place in both championships.
FORMULA DARLEY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (TOP 10)
Brad Vicars 42
David Carson 32
Gary Dangerfield 27
Keenan Armstrong 21
Joshua Dransfield 15
Tim Poole 15
Phil Johnson 9
Ross Richards 9
Michael Brookes 7
Jordan Rushby 6
MINI SOUND OF THUNDER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (TOP 10)
Brad Vicars 58
David Carson 30
Gary Dangerfield 30
Keenan Armstrong 20
Joshua Dransfield 17
Ross Richards 9
Jordan Rushby 7
Jeff Ward 6
Michael Brookes 4
Tim Sayers 2
The early-morning rain showers had stopped long before the Formula Darley qualifying session, meaning that the track was wet/damp - but issues with the quickshifter not working (again!) & the bike running a little cold meant that I needed to pull in to disconnect the quickshifter and apply some duct tape to the radiator before I had completed a single lap. Whilst I was doing these small tasks, the session was 'red flagged' and brought to a halt. A few minutes later, the session was restarted for a quick 4-minute dash! I managed to put in a half-decent lap which put me 4th on the combined Formula Darley grid (3rd in class); a front row starting position.
By the Sound of Thunder qualifying session, the heavens had opened and the track was now soaking wet. The classic bike classes were out on track with us (qualifying for their own race) which meant that the track was very busy and finding a clear lap was difficult. After 5 congested laps, I managed to find some free space and put in a lap that put me 4th on the Sound of Thunder grid (3rd in class). At least remembering my grid position would be easy!!
Onto the first Formula Darley race & the track was still very wet. After an OK start, I entered a race-long battle with Ricky Tarren on a 125GP bike for 3rd place. The race leaders were close, but were taking circa 0.5 second out of us each lap, until on lap 6 the race was 'red flagged' after one of the other 125GP riders crashed and required medical attention (GWS!), meaning that the race was called at lap 5, giving me 3rd place.
In the first Sound of Thunder race, I got a good start and managed to run in 4th place on track (3rd in class) before being caught and passed by two Aprilia RSV1000 riders during the race. It was a particularly lonely race for me but at the flag I had managed to keep hold of 3rd place - with a gap of 12 seconds to the rider in front of me & a gap of 12 seconds to the rider behind me!
The second Formula Darley race was after lunch, where a few showers had been and gone, but the track was generally drier now. I managed to get another good start and entered the first chicane in 2nd place. After being passed by Ricky Tarren, I managed to keep in touch with the race leaders until I lost the front at the hairpin on lap 3. This lost me some valuable time and after this, the leaders slowly eeked out some more distance each lap until the flag. At the end of the race I was 3rd on track (2nd in class), 5.5 seconds behind the class winner.
By the time the second Sound of Thunder race had arrived, the track had now dried considerably; but due to the grey clouds we had decided to stay on wet tyres, which started to overheat quite quickly. Fortunately, as the ER650 does not have considerable power - even though the ride got a bit 'wobbly' - the tyres stayed together in one piece. The race itself was spent dicing with another ER650 and an RSV1000. This was the most fun race of the day and there were a few scary moments into the fast back esses and into the hairpin, but unfortunately as the battery on onboard camera ran out, I won't be able to share it with you! By the end of the race, I'd managed to pass the other ER650 to secure another 3rd in class.
With three 3rd places and a 2nd, the results are not quite where we want to be - but considering the unfavourable conditions, we consider them to be OK for now! As time is passing by, we are continuing to collect more championship points, which has now brought us up to second place in both championships.
FORMULA DARLEY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (TOP 10)
Brad Vicars 42
David Carson 32
Gary Dangerfield 27
Keenan Armstrong 21
Joshua Dransfield 15
Tim Poole 15
Phil Johnson 9
Ross Richards 9
Michael Brookes 7
Jordan Rushby 6
MINI SOUND OF THUNDER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (TOP 10)
Brad Vicars 58
David Carson 30
Gary Dangerfield 30
Keenan Armstrong 20
Joshua Dransfield 17
Ross Richards 9
Jordan Rushby 7
Jeff Ward 6
Michael Brookes 4
Tim Sayers 2
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