After a 2-month summer break, the Darley Moor season resumed with Round 6 of the club championships. Prior to the meeting we fit a new set of Continental Race Attack 2 tyres to the Aprilia RS660 Trofeo for the first time, having liked them on the Kawasaki Supersport machine.
The week of rain leading up to the event had subsided, so when we arrived to setup on the Saturday evening it was lovely and dry.
The week of rain leading up to the event had subsided, so when we arrived to setup on the Saturday evening it was lovely and dry.
 |  |  |
The Sunday morning brought heavy fog, which delayed the start of the event by 45 minutes. We were in the first two qualifying sessions out on track and we felt like we took it fairly steady - when the timesheets appeared, it looked like everyone had taken the same approach as we had qualified in pole position for both the Twins and Formula 600 classes.
 I tried to catch the fog... |  ...but I "mist" :-) |
After the practice sessions there was a 2-minute silence, followed by the national anthem, in remembrance of the Queen.
Photo by Simon Smith
We were then onto the races! The first of which was Allcomers Race 1, where our chosen peg gave us 12th position on the starting grid. We got a good start and managed to take the lead on the opening lap.
Knowing that there was some "meat on the bones" of the race record - which we had set at the previous round - we decided to see whether we could better it. We put in 6 (out of the 10) laps in the 1:00-bracket, with a best of 1:00.77, and won the race by 24.40 seconds - breaking the existing race record by a massive 7 seconds!
Knowing that there was some "meat on the bones" of the race record - which we had set at the previous round - we decided to see whether we could better it. We put in 6 (out of the 10) laps in the 1:00-bracket, with a best of 1:00.77, and won the race by 24.40 seconds - breaking the existing race record by a massive 7 seconds!
Photo by David Chapman
The next race was Twins Race 1, where we were 3rd into the Wilsons chicane, behind Jim Hodson and Anthony Thane. We used the superior power of the Aprilia to drive past Anthony's Suzuki and moved into 2nd before the back esses. We then tailed Jim Hodson for a couple of laps before taking the lead at Paddock corner at the end of lap 2, which we held until the chequered flag taking the win.
 Photo by Kevin Randle |  Photo by Kevin Randle |
Our final race before the lunch break was Formula 600 Race 1. We got a decent start from pole position but were squeezed into the chicane and got pushed back to 4th place. As the race developed we were on the rear wheel of Liam Weston in 3rd place but couldn't find a way through, despite the majority of our laps being in the 58-second bracket. Stephen Parsons narrowly won the race by 0.21 of a second from Ben Dale, whilst we were a further 3 seconds back - finishing in 4th place.
Photo by Kevin Randle
After the lunch break it was time for the points races. First up was Twins Race 2, which gave us the opportunity to secure the championship. We couldn't hear the tannoy so decided to leave for the assembly area when Jim Hodson did. We left around 10 seconds after Jim but he managed to take the grid - but by the time we arrived the warm-up lap had just started, so we had to start from the back of the grid instead. Due to the diminished grid, that put us on the 8th place spot (directly behind the pole position spot we should have started from).
A decent start meant that we were 4th into the Wilsons chicane, and we managed to pass Anthony Thane and Patrick Lord on the brakes into Park corner on the opening lap, to move up to 2nd position. A good run through the rest of the opening lap put us in a position to make a successful move on Jim Hodson and we moved into the lead at Paddock corner. From there we tried to run a clean race - which seemed like it took forever - and took the win to take the championship. On the cooldown lap we stopped at Park corner to celebrate with the marshals!
A decent start meant that we were 4th into the Wilsons chicane, and we managed to pass Anthony Thane and Patrick Lord on the brakes into Park corner on the opening lap, to move up to 2nd position. A good run through the rest of the opening lap put us in a position to make a successful move on Jim Hodson and we moved into the lead at Paddock corner. From there we tried to run a clean race - which seemed like it took forever - and took the win to take the championship. On the cooldown lap we stopped at Park corner to celebrate with the marshals!
 Photo by Kevin Randle |  Photo by Kevin Randle |
Photo by Kevin Randle
Championship celebrations were on hold until we got our final race - Formula 600 Race 2 - out of the way. Starting from the front row we got an appalling start - but managed to recover a few positions into the chicane (where we entered in 8th), before moving into 7th position at Park corner, then up to 6th position by the end of the opening lap. There was a big gap to the battle for 3rd-5th places, so we got our head down and managed to bridge the gap by the end of lap 4 (of 10). There was a lot of battling within the group but we managed to move up to 5th place by the end of lap 6. Then on lap 7 on the run from Park corner to the back esses (see approx 6:30 in the video) the bike shut off...
We quickly whipped in the clutch, got as close to the track edge as we could and came to a stop. A look behind showed no ploom of smoke, and the ignition/dash was still on. We decided to key off the bike and then prod the starter (to see if any nasty noises were apparent). No untoward noises appeared so we prodded the starter button again and it sprung into life. A look behind showed a big gap so we cautiously rejoined the race to see whether the issue would reoccur. By the time we got back to the start/finish line we decided that it would be best to push on and see whether it happens again.
The issue did not reoccur and in the "second part" of our race we managed to set our fastest lap time of 58.57 (which set us as the third-fastest rider in the race). At the chequered flag we crossed the line in 8th position. Looking back at the video footage, we believe that the quickshifter may have temporarily got stuck in the 'kill' position - but I guess time will tell on that...
We quickly whipped in the clutch, got as close to the track edge as we could and came to a stop. A look behind showed no ploom of smoke, and the ignition/dash was still on. We decided to key off the bike and then prod the starter (to see if any nasty noises were apparent). No untoward noises appeared so we prodded the starter button again and it sprung into life. A look behind showed a big gap so we cautiously rejoined the race to see whether the issue would reoccur. By the time we got back to the start/finish line we decided that it would be best to push on and see whether it happens again.
The issue did not reoccur and in the "second part" of our race we managed to set our fastest lap time of 58.57 (which set us as the third-fastest rider in the race). At the chequered flag we crossed the line in 8th position. Looking back at the video footage, we believe that the quickshifter may have temporarily got stuck in the 'kill' position - but I guess time will tell on that...
Back into the paddock and the celebrations could take place! Looking back to this time last year we couldn't imagine achieving what we have done in the 2022 season, which is why we have enjoyed celebrating the success so much with the whole family :-)
 |  |
After 6 (of 8 rounds) of the Darley Moor championships, the standings look as follows:
Twins Championship Standings (Top 5)
1st - David Carson 75
2nd - Ian Robinson 34
3rd - Patrick Lord 34
4th - Ben Wilkinson 28
5th - Chris Barton 22
Formula 600 Championship Standings (Top 5)
1st - Ben Dale 73
2nd - David Carson 43
3rd - Richard Cooper 30
4th - Stephen Parsons 27
5th - Albert Walker 22
Our next race meeting will be NG Anglesey this coming weekend (16th-18th September), so there will likely be some late nights to make sure that everything is prepared and ready for another weekend of racing action! :-)
Twins Championship Standings (Top 5)
1st - David Carson 75
2nd - Ian Robinson 34
3rd - Patrick Lord 34
4th - Ben Wilkinson 28
5th - Chris Barton 22
Formula 600 Championship Standings (Top 5)
1st - Ben Dale 73
2nd - David Carson 43
3rd - Richard Cooper 30
4th - Stephen Parsons 27
5th - Albert Walker 22
Our next race meeting will be NG Anglesey this coming weekend (16th-18th September), so there will likely be some late nights to make sure that everything is prepared and ready for another weekend of racing action! :-)
RSS Feed