The moment that we had been waiting for had finally arrived... Stars at Darley weekend!
This meeting has been a personal highlight of ours for many years so we took particular care in preparing the race machines as best as we could, as well as doing little jobs like replacing tank rubbers, replacing various insignificant bolts and fixings - just to make sure that everything was perfect. We even gave the caravan a thorough wash!
This meeting has been a personal highlight of ours for many years so we took particular care in preparing the race machines as best as we could, as well as doing little jobs like replacing tank rubbers, replacing various insignificant bolts and fixings - just to make sure that everything was perfect. We even gave the caravan a thorough wash!
 Loaded up... |  ...and ready to roll! |
We arrived at the circuit on Friday evening. Due to heavy rain all week leading up to the event there were puddles everywhere in the paddock, but after finding a 'shallow spot' we setup for the weekend.
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In the weeks leading up to the event, the Carson household had suffered from various bugs and illnesses - and even though Dave Jnr wasn't fully over his "manflu-like" symptoms when we arrived at the circuit, he was feeling good enough to compete!
SATURDAY
On Saturday we were only out on track for the hour-long Stars free practice session. The track conditions were dry but there was heavy wind. We went out and realised that we were overgeared for the conditions, so came back in and added 2 teeth to rear sprocket. This then made us slight undergeared, but would be ideal if the forecast rainy conditions arrived on the Sunday.
When we returned out on track for the second outing, the rear tyre didn't feel particularly hot to the touch. After some investigation, Dave Snr declared the rear tyre warmer as 'broken' - so over the winter a new set of warmers will be acquired.
SATURDAY
On Saturday we were only out on track for the hour-long Stars free practice session. The track conditions were dry but there was heavy wind. We went out and realised that we were overgeared for the conditions, so came back in and added 2 teeth to rear sprocket. This then made us slight undergeared, but would be ideal if the forecast rainy conditions arrived on the Sunday.
When we returned out on track for the second outing, the rear tyre didn't feel particularly hot to the touch. After some investigation, Dave Snr declared the rear tyre warmer as 'broken' - so over the winter a new set of warmers will be acquired.
 If they weren't broken before... |  ...they are now! |
With our time on track now finished, we whipped out the wheels and had our new tyres fitted to the Kawasaki ZX6R wheels - ready for either wet or dry conditions on the Sunday - before nipping to scrutineering.
The 'party bus' arrived on Saturday night to take ~80 people (Stars riders and their team members) to a local pub for some much-needed food and drink.
After feeding ourselves, and watching a bit of TV, we were tucked up in bed shortly after 9pm to prepare for the busy day ahead!
SUNDAY
Overnight, and all morning, the rain fell... This prompted a delay to proceedings and a reduction in qualifying session duration and a reduction in the race lengths.
SUNDAY
Overnight, and all morning, the rain fell... This prompted a delay to proceedings and a reduction in qualifying session duration and a reduction in the race lengths.
There was 'some' standing water...
Our first venture onto track was in the Mini Sound of Thunder qualifying session. We started off steady and just built speed as we felt comfortable. As always, traffic was an issue and just as we were about to start a clean lap the chequered flag was shown. But we had done well - we qualified in 2nd place by 0.13 of a second behind pole-sitter Brad Vicars, with Ross Richards taking third and Richard Saville completing the front row.
 Photo by Glyn Richardson |  Photo by Glyn Richardson |
The Stars qualifying session was directly after the Mini Sound of Thunder qualifying session, but due to all the delays we didn't realise. After spending a couple of minutes getting the Kawasaki Supersport engine up to temperature, we headed out on our brand new wet tyres - which span up on the exit from the first chicane at a very moderate speed (see video below!) - so we spent a couple of laps warming the tyres and scrubbing off the tyre release compound, so we could work towards putting in a lap time within 110% of Richard Cooper's pole time (which was 1.25 seconds quicker than 2nd place!). We rode until the flag and although we didn't qualify last, we didn't manage to stay within the 110% mark (we were 113%). Regardless, our name appeared on the starting grid in 16th place - so we had been allowed to race!
Formula 600 qualifying went well and we were feeling comfortable, until our visor began to steam up. So we pulled in and at the end of the session we had qualified on the front row in 4th place - sharing the front row with Brad Vicars, Joey "Yorkshire" Thompson and Stephen Parsons. Behind us were some very established names (such as Jim Hodson) as well as our championship rival Rich Baker who had qualified on the third row in 8th place.
 Photo by Glyn Richardson |  Photo by Glyn Richardson |
Our first race of the day was the Formula 600 race, which had been reduced from 15 to 12 laps due to the earlier delays. We managed to get a good start and kept our 4th place position for the opening four laps and were consistently around 2 seconds behind 3rd-placed Brad Vicars.
On lap 5 there were yellow flags waving through the back esses all the way to the hairpin, so Brad Vicars slowed behind a backmarker which allowed us to catch up. Rich Baker made a cheeky pass under yellow flags (slap on the wrist for Rich!) which demoted us to 5th on track. By this time, and despite our best efforts, our helmet had started to steam up again and throughout the following laps just got worse and worse - so we were left with no other option than to retire from the race on lap 10.
On lap 5 there were yellow flags waving through the back esses all the way to the hairpin, so Brad Vicars slowed behind a backmarker which allowed us to catch up. Rich Baker made a cheeky pass under yellow flags (slap on the wrist for Rich!) which demoted us to 5th on track. By this time, and despite our best efforts, our helmet had started to steam up again and throughout the following laps just got worse and worse - so we were left with no other option than to retire from the race on lap 10.
 Photo by Glyn Richardson |  The reason we retired... :-( |
Annoyed and disappointed that despite all the preparation, an unforeseen issue was preventing us from pushing as hard as we wanted at this final meeting, we decided to withdraw from the remaining races.
Looking back at the season, this has been a fantastic year for us which has exceeded our expectations set at the beginning of the season! So we had a little celebration :-)
Looking back at the season, this has been a fantastic year for us which has exceeded our expectations set at the beginning of the season! So we had a little celebration :-)
After the final round, the end-of-season championship point tables look as follows:
MINI SOUND OF THUNDER CHAMPIONSHIP (TOP 5)
David Carson 92
Richard Hunt 58
Richard Saville 42
Mike Gittings 28
Martin Robbins 26
FORMULA 600 CHAMPIONSHIP (TOP 5)
Rich Baker 90
David Carson 61
David Shallcross 48
Brad Vicars 45
David Glossop 31
MINI SOUND OF THUNDER CHAMPIONSHIP (TOP 5)
David Carson 92
Richard Hunt 58
Richard Saville 42
Mike Gittings 28
Martin Robbins 26
FORMULA 600 CHAMPIONSHIP (TOP 5)
Rich Baker 90
David Carson 61
David Shallcross 48
Brad Vicars 45
David Glossop 31
Two Daves Racing's next superstar??
Our 2020 plans are still yet to be decided (except that we will be tuning our Kawasaki ZX6R machine to "Supersport spec"), but we are very pleased and proud with what we have accomplished during the 2019 season...
* 2019 Darley Moor "Mini Sound of Thunder" Champion
* 2019 Darley Moor "Formula 600" Championship Runner-Up
* First ever "Formula 600" race win
And last but not least I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my supporters (if you're reading this - then that's you!), Dave Carson Snr, Steph Carson, Lorna Carson & I would particularly like to thank Pomerol Partners, Rock Oil, Eazi-Grip, Sam Pointon and Jason Sedgwick for their support.
* 2019 Darley Moor "Mini Sound of Thunder" Champion
* 2019 Darley Moor "Formula 600" Championship Runner-Up
* First ever "Formula 600" race win
And last but not least I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my supporters (if you're reading this - then that's you!), Dave Carson Snr, Steph Carson, Lorna Carson & I would particularly like to thank Pomerol Partners, Rock Oil, Eazi-Grip, Sam Pointon and Jason Sedgwick for their support.
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