As you can tell from the title, we have once again been crowned as a Darley Moor champion (for the 12th time if you were counting!) as we successfully retained the Darley Moor Twins championship to add to the Aintree championships previously secured.
Another championship means another T-Shirt... :-)
With Dave Snr away on holiday in the USA, the girls travelled down with Dave Jnr on the Saturday for a relaxed day which consisted of... Three trips to the scrutineering bay (which seems to get further away every time!), the return of the perpetual championship trophies, a track walk with the "Skating Sisters" and then some viewing of the day's MotoGP and WorldSBK action - along with a quiet beer with the returning Daniel Nurrish.
Trophies ready to be returned
 A full lap completed... |  ...on 8 wheels rather than 2 |
The weather forecast was for some overnight rain that would have dried up before the qualifying sessions - but that forecast was far from accurate!
We were out in the first session of day - 700cc Twins and Darley Cup qualifying - which was (just on the right side of) borderline safe to ride on due to the vast amount of standing water on the track surface. We went as quickly as we felt comfortable but when we came in and saw that our best lap was a 1:15 we felt a little dejected - but it turned out that we were actually the fourth quickest rider on track during the session!
Shortly after our session the rain stopped and the conditions began to improve, but as we headed out for the Open 600 qualifying session the heavens opened once again. We managed a 1:10 lap on the Kawasaki which put us 6th on the starting grid. The Kawasaki felt a lot more supple in the wet conditions than the Aprilia, so we made some suspension adjustments on the Aprilia. Despite backing out all compression damping the rear end was still very solid - so the fitment of a softer spring (that we don't own) would be required for further improvement...
Our first race was also the first race of the day, 700cc Twins Race 1. The Aprilia was still very firm and unforgiving but fortunately the weather conditions had also greatly improved and the harder we pushed the better the bike responded. After a steady start to the race we got quicker on each and every lap until the chequered flag, eventually setting the fastest lap in our class and taking the win - and with it we secured the 2024 Darley Moor 700cc Twins championship!
We were out in the first session of day - 700cc Twins and Darley Cup qualifying - which was (just on the right side of) borderline safe to ride on due to the vast amount of standing water on the track surface. We went as quickly as we felt comfortable but when we came in and saw that our best lap was a 1:15 we felt a little dejected - but it turned out that we were actually the fourth quickest rider on track during the session!
Shortly after our session the rain stopped and the conditions began to improve, but as we headed out for the Open 600 qualifying session the heavens opened once again. We managed a 1:10 lap on the Kawasaki which put us 6th on the starting grid. The Kawasaki felt a lot more supple in the wet conditions than the Aprilia, so we made some suspension adjustments on the Aprilia. Despite backing out all compression damping the rear end was still very solid - so the fitment of a softer spring (that we don't own) would be required for further improvement...
Our first race was also the first race of the day, 700cc Twins Race 1. The Aprilia was still very firm and unforgiving but fortunately the weather conditions had also greatly improved and the harder we pushed the better the bike responded. After a steady start to the race we got quicker on each and every lap until the chequered flag, eventually setting the fastest lap in our class and taking the win - and with it we secured the 2024 Darley Moor 700cc Twins championship!
It was a wet start to the day! (Photo by Tony Else)
The Open 600 and Darley Cup races were scheduled to be back-to-back. As we were riding different machines in each race we decided to take the Aprilia up to the assembly area early, as the wet tyres did not require tyre warmers.
A good start in Open 600 Race 1 saw us enter the Wilson chicane in 5th position before we moved into 4th position at Park corner on the opening lap, just behind championship leader Mark Goodings. We remained in 4th position all race until on the final lap Adam Green came past us on the Pope Straight - but we managed to regain the position into Paddock corner and crossed the line just 0.06 of a second ahead of Adam and 1.57 behind 3rd-placed Mark Goodings. Out front, Joe Holdsworth won the race from Adam Mather.
A good start in Open 600 Race 1 saw us enter the Wilson chicane in 5th position before we moved into 4th position at Park corner on the opening lap, just behind championship leader Mark Goodings. We remained in 4th position all race until on the final lap Adam Green came past us on the Pope Straight - but we managed to regain the position into Paddock corner and crossed the line just 0.06 of a second ahead of Adam and 1.57 behind 3rd-placed Mark Goodings. Out front, Joe Holdsworth won the race from Adam Mather.
Good weather for ducks! (Photo by Ton Else)
We rushed around the cooldown lap, quickly swapped over the transponder and rejoined the grid for the next race. The track was beginning to dry which made our firm setup and soft tyre combination a little unnerving. On lap 3 our closest championship contender, Nick Clare, lost the front end and crashed at the hairpin - reinforcing our belief that we just needed to get to the finishing line. After what seemed like a very long race we crossed the line 2nd in class (5th on the combined grid).
During the break between the Darley Cup race ending and the (shortened) lunch break beginning, the circuit had dried so much that it was destroying wet tyres. As we did not have the dry tyres on warmers (due to some generator issues we are still investigating) and there was not enough time for the tyres to be fully up to temperature by Twins Race 2, we made the decision that we would focus on preparing the bikes for the two remaining races rather than knowingly destroy a low-mileage set of wets tyres. The prep involved changing the wheels, updating the suspension settings and removing the fairing bellypans to empty out the water.
With the conditions now dry - but the remaining two races being back-to-back - we decided to chance leaving the Aprilia in the awning and plugged into tyre warmers. We just hoped that we could perform the changeover before the warm-up lap began.
We were first out in Open 600 Race 2 and another solid start saw us enter the Wilson chicane in 5th position once again. From here we remained in 5th position throughout the race, struggling to break the 1-minute lap with a best of a 1:00.29. At the end of the 8-lap race Mark Goodings took a narrow 0.20 of a second victory from Joe Holdsworth with Adam Green taking the final podium position by just 0.24 of a second from Adam Mather.
With the conditions now dry - but the remaining two races being back-to-back - we decided to chance leaving the Aprilia in the awning and plugged into tyre warmers. We just hoped that we could perform the changeover before the warm-up lap began.
We were first out in Open 600 Race 2 and another solid start saw us enter the Wilson chicane in 5th position once again. From here we remained in 5th position throughout the race, struggling to break the 1-minute lap with a best of a 1:00.29. At the end of the 8-lap race Mark Goodings took a narrow 0.20 of a second victory from Joe Holdsworth with Adam Green taking the final podium position by just 0.24 of a second from Adam Mather.
After another speedy cooldown lap, we quickly swapped bikes and headed out for Darley Cup Race 2. We just made the grid!
From our 8th place grid spot we retained our position into the Wilson chicane - but the quickshifter was not working so we had to revert to manual shifts instead... By the end of the opening lap we were up to 6th position on track (3rd in class) and had moved behind Nick Clare. On lap 3 Nick moved past Forgotten Era rider Tom Hodge so we followed suit. Then on lap 5 we made a move at Park corner and passed Nick to move up to 4th position on track (2nd in class). With the track ahead clear we managed to set the fastest overall lap of the race and were catching the leading trio. At the end of the race, Daniel Pearson took the class win and we finished in 2nd position with Nick Clare taking the final podium position.
Despite not winning any of the Darley Cup races we managed to extend our championship lead from 12 points to 26 points at this meeting.
From our 8th place grid spot we retained our position into the Wilson chicane - but the quickshifter was not working so we had to revert to manual shifts instead... By the end of the opening lap we were up to 6th position on track (3rd in class) and had moved behind Nick Clare. On lap 3 Nick moved past Forgotten Era rider Tom Hodge so we followed suit. Then on lap 5 we made a move at Park corner and passed Nick to move up to 4th position on track (2nd in class). With the track ahead clear we managed to set the fastest overall lap of the race and were catching the leading trio. At the end of the race, Daniel Pearson took the class win and we finished in 2nd position with Nick Clare taking the final podium position.
Despite not winning any of the Darley Cup races we managed to extend our championship lead from 12 points to 26 points at this meeting.
After this meeting, the updated Darley Moor championship standings are as follows. There are 60 championship points still available for each class.
700cc Twins Championship (Top 5)
David Carson 99
Tom Hodge 35
Josh Froggatt 30
Sean Seddon 24
Aron Redmond 20
Darley Cup Championship (Top 5)
David Carson 106
Nick Clare 80
Mark Pattinson 30
Daniel Pearson 30
Aron Redmond 20
Open 600 Championship (Top 5)
Mark Goodings 102
Joe Holdsworth 81
David Carson 77
Adam Mather 61
Adam Green 48
Our next time out on track will be back at Darley Moor for the prestigious "Stars at Darley" event on Saturday/Sunday 5th/6th October, which will also be the Darley Moor season finale. Then a week later we will bring our season to a close at the Wirral 100 "Anglesey Grand" meeting.
700cc Twins Championship (Top 5)
David Carson 99
Tom Hodge 35
Josh Froggatt 30
Sean Seddon 24
Aron Redmond 20
Darley Cup Championship (Top 5)
David Carson 106
Nick Clare 80
Mark Pattinson 30
Daniel Pearson 30
Aron Redmond 20
Open 600 Championship (Top 5)
Mark Goodings 102
Joe Holdsworth 81
David Carson 77
Adam Mather 61
Adam Green 48
Our next time out on track will be back at Darley Moor for the prestigious "Stars at Darley" event on Saturday/Sunday 5th/6th October, which will also be the Darley Moor season finale. Then a week later we will bring our season to a close at the Wirral 100 "Anglesey Grand" meeting.
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