Darley Moor - Round 4 Race Review (2023)

Darley Moor Round 4 marks the midway point in the Darley Moor club championships. After an 8-week break since the previous Darley meeting it seemed like a very long time since we were last at the circuit, but we soon felt at home again. We expected a fully dry weekend, but some unexpected rain arrived to add some challenges along the way...

​After getting setup on the Saturday evening, we took a now customary visit to the pop-up food stands and then settled down in the awning to watch Saturday's British Superbike action on TV.

It was a relaxed Sunday morning where we managed to catch up with lots of people prior to the qualifying sessions.

​We were out in the opening two qualifying sessions. Whilst sat in the assembly area light rain started to fall and continued throughout the sessions. We didn't have chance to swap tyres so were on dry tyres and didn't really feel comfortable, so tried not to make any silly mistakes. We put in a 1'11 lap in Twins qualifying and then a 1'18 lap on the Kawasaki ZX6R. Surprisingly, these results were good enough for 7th on the Darley Cup grid, 6th on the Formula 600 grid and 5th on the Twins grid. Only a couple of riders managed to switch to wets and they were massively quicker than anyone else.

Our first race was Darley Cup Race 1. The rain had stopped and the track was drying quickly. After speaking to some riders in an earlier race about the current track conditions, we decided to fit a wet front tyre and a dry rear tyre. The assembly area was a mix from full slicks to full wets! Out onto track there were some damp sections at Park corner and at the hairpin, but dry tyres would probably have been the right choice - especially when the sun started to shine! We finished the opening lap in 6th position and then managed to work our way up to 2nd position by the end of lap 4. With some clear track we managed to set the fastest lap of the race, but as the leader was around 5 seconds up the road that was as far as we could get. We finished in 2nd place.

Photo by Graham Mallen

After a quick front wheel change (to a dry tyre), it was time for Formula 600 Race 1. From our 6th place grid position we ended the opening lap in 4th place, before moving into the lead by the end of lap 4. We then managed to set the fastest lap of the race along with the race win.

Photo by Kevin Randle

Photo by Kevin Randle

After a short wait we headed out for Twins Race 1. An OK start saw us manage to get up to 4th position by the end of the opening lap, before slowly picking off 1 rider per lap to take the race lead on lap 4. We were happy to get back into the 59-second bracket with a 59.92 fastest lap and took the race win.

Photo by Kevin Randle

After the lunch break it was time for the "final" races, where the points and trophies were awarded.

First up was Darley Cup Race 2. We managed to get a great start and got the hole shot - from here we decided to push as hard as we could and set a 59.72 lap on the opening lap, followed by a 58.96 on lap 2. This gave us a 5.98 second lead by the end of the second lap! From here we just tried to put in clean laps and eventually won the race by 10.90 seconds from Isle of Man TT racer Mark Goodings.

Photo by Kevin Randle

Photo by Kevin Randle

Another good start in Formula 600 Race 2 saw us take the race lead on the opening lap and then hold it until almost the end of lap 9 (of 10). Throughout the race, despite us putting in laps as good as 58.56, Mark Goodings slowly but surely caught us up and was on our tail. Trying to push hard we were just too greedy on the brakes into Paddock corner on lap 9 and ran wide, which allowed Mark to take the lead and cruise to victory. You can also see his onboard footage here. We took 2nd place, content that we had given all that we could!

Our final race of the weekend was also the final race of the day, Twins Race 2. Unfortunately, the camera battery expired before the race started - which is a shame as some of the footage would have been great to watch.

We got an OK start but Nick Clare and Adam Sheriff (both in the PreElectronic 600 class) separated us from race leader Andy Whale. Due to the different bikes having different strengths/weaknesses, it look us until the end of lap 3 to move into 2nd place on track - and 3.68 seconds back from Andy who was putting strong and consistent laps in. We dug in and managed to catch Andy and then spent a few laps figuring out how to make a pass. On lap 9 we made a successful move for the lead and then with the clear track ahead pushed as hard as we could to set a new Twins Personal Best lap time of 59.77! After a clean final lap we took the win and then stopped to wish Andy all the best as he heads off to the Manx Grand Prix later this week.

Smile for the camera!

​With 42 (out of a possible 45) championship points captured this weekend, we have moved up to become championship leader in two classes and into 2nd place of the Formula 600 class:

Darley Cup Championship (Top 5)
1st: David Carson     45
2nd: Adam Green        35
3rd: Stephen England  24
4th: Matthew Rostron  20
5th: Nick Clare            15

700cc Twins Championship (Top 5)
1st: David Carson    45
2nd: Anthony Thane   37
3rd: Ben Wilkinson     34
4th: Andy Whale        24
5th: Matthew Birks     20

Formula 600 Championship (Top 5)
1st: Mark Goodings      31
2nd: David Carson    27
3rd: Matthew Rostron  24
4th: Adam Green         22
5th: Jack Worth           21

Another great race weekend! :-)

With a great weekend behind us, there isn't long to wait until our next racing action - as we will be heading to the NG Anglesey meeting in just a few days. Due to calendar clashes, the NG Anglesey meeting will be the last NG meeting that we will attend this season.