Darley Moor start their season…

Darley Moor Motorcycle Road Race Club got their 2017 season underway at the weekend (1st/ 2nd April) report by Brian George…

What a way to start the season; the largest entry for a Club Championship meeting for a long time and, despite the British Superbike meeting ‘just down the road’ at Donington Park, the biggest crowd for a while, excluding any Stars at Darley meetings of course, some very close racing and superb weather! Then, in addition to the racing, the Mayor of Ashbourne, Councillor Caroline Cooper opened the new Darley Moor Training facility. The Club were then delighted that after completing her official duties the Mayor then remained at the circuit for the entire day, thoroughly enjoying the racing….

With a 25 race programme on offer, dependant on machinery a number of compeittors had plenty of opportunity to be out on track and David Carson (Northwich) was the competitor to record the perfect score; four victories, four fastest laps from four starts. In the first Formula Darley race he was able to hold a 2 second advantage over the busiest rider of the day, Chris Moore (High Peak), his first of five races. The second race saw Moore get the better start and lead for the first four laps until Carson passed him on the fith lap and was able to stretch a 1.2sec advantage at the flag. Carson’s other two victories came in the Mini Sound of Thunder class, taking his smaller machine to 4th and 5th place overall, alongside the larger Sound of Thunder machines, but the first in his class. Stuart Hall (Rugeley) taking the class’s Runner-Up spot each me, recording 8th and 9th overall.

Lloyd Shelley (Burntwood) was another competitor to record four wins from four starts, with three fastest laps, getting his title defences o to the perfect start, but they were certainly not easy victories. In the first Formula 600 race he may have led across the line after each of the six laps, but Steven Proctor (Wakefield) was no more than 0.5sec behind throughout. In the second race Shelley had the better start leaving Proctor 1.5sec adrift after Lap1, but he was up for the challenge, closing the gap throughout race and after recording the fastest lap on the final circuit, had reduced the deficit to just 0.34sec at the ag. The second victory giving Shelley the advantage in the Curtis Milner Trophy, in memory of a young Darley Moor racer who lost his life in a road accident. The results show that Shelley had an easier time in both Sound of Thunder races, taking the victories, from Jamie Medhurst (Long Eaton), by 11 and 8 seconds respec vely, but the rst race wasn’t quite as easy as it seemed. On track Medhurst was a lot closer, crossing the line just 1.6sec behind, but he then had a 10 second penalty added to his me for jumping the start.

From four races Daley Mathison (Stockton on Tees) recorded three victories and four fastest laps, one of those victories, the second Open Solo race, also included a 10 second penalty for taking up an incorrect starting position, but he was still able to record a 0.12sec victory over Ben Scranage (Bolton). In the first Open Solo race Mathison was involved in a superb three way battle at the head of the field between Ben Crowe (Carnforth) and Scranage. The trio separated by less than 1sec for four laps, passing Scranage on Lap2, then Crowe on the 5th lap he tried to ensure the victory, but failed to finish the final lap, allowing Crowe to take the victory by 1.2sec from Scranage. Mathison’s Peak Cup races saw him lead all but the very first lap of the rst race, after overhauling Simon Bowyer (Newcastle under Lyme) he then went on the take the victory by 3.5sec. The second race saw a flag to flag victory and an advantage of over 12sec from Jim Hodson (Wigan) in 2nd place, Bowyer failing to finish the 4th lap on this occasion.

In addition on to his Formula Darley results Chris Moore (High Peak) was also in action on in the first UK Two Stroke Cup race and defending his champion’s title in the Lightweight class. Taking the Runner-Up spot in the Two Stroke Cup, with Graham Wilson (Kidsgrove) 3rd, he repeated the feat in the rst Lightweight race, again in front of Wilson, then went on to record a flag to flag victory in the second Lightweight race. Unfortunately, after shadowing Moore once again, Wilson failed to finish the final lap, handing James Hind (Nettleton) the Runner-Up spot, adding to his 4th place in the first race.

Jamie Pearson (Derby) recorded the very first victories in the new Pre Injection 1000 class; the first after coming from 3rd place on Lap1, into 2nd place on Lap3 and passing Michael Hand (Lincs) on the final lap for the victory by just 0.4sec, with Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield) 3rd. The second encounter was much more straight-forward for Pearson, after gettng the quicker start he recorded a flag to flag victory, with Hand and Brailsford repeating their 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

Andrew Lowe (Stone) recorded two flag to flag overall victories in the combined Steel Framed/Pre-Injection 600 races, with a 3 second advantage in the first and a very comfortable 13 second cushion in the second race, on his Pre Injection machine. Dean Ephgrave (Hucknall) took the Steel Framed honours on both occasions, with 4th and 5th overall.

The combined Classics and Formula 125 races also saw David Bradley (Matlock) take victory in both races, leading from the start in both, on his Classic 1000 machine.

The first of the Sidecar races saw Gary Knight and Dan Evanson (Macclesfield/Crewe) record a start to finish victory on their 1000cc machine, leaving the current Formula 600 Champions Howard Baker and Mike Killingsworth (Sutton Coldfield/Lincolnshire) to battle it out with Allan Schofield/Steve Thomas (Wirral) for 2nd and 3rd places. Only after Lap3 did the defending Champions put any distance between themselves and their class rivals. With Knight/Evanson not making it to the grid for the second race the battle for Formula 600 honours was played out at the head of the field. The current champions led early on, but on Lap 5 Schofield/Thomas found a way through and were able to hold on to the finish, taking victory by just over 1sec.

If the action at Round 1 was anything to go by we are in certainly in for a cracking season of racing. Not long to wait for Round 2, the decider of the Curtis Milner Trophy, plus the Thunderfest spectacle, which has a huge array of machinery on track and takes place on the 1st May 2017.

2017 Championship standings after Round 1

Peak Cup

1st Jim Hodson, 13pts; 2nd Simon Bowyer, 9pts; 3rd Frank Gallagher, 9pts Open Solo
1st Ben Scranage, 15pts; 2nd, Ben Crow, 9pts; 3rd, Jim Hodson, 9pts

Open Sidecars

1st Ray Thomas/Neil Aslaksen, 15pts; 2nd Gary Knight/Dan Evanson, 9pts; 3rd Brian Wilson/Mike Fairhurst, 8pts

Lightweight

1st Chris Moore, 15pts; 2nd Steve Neate, 9pts; 3rd James Hind, 9pts

Formula 600

1st Lloyd Shelley, 18pts; 2nd Steven Procter, 12pts; 3rd Jamie Hodson, 4pts

Formula Darley

1st David Carson, 18pts; 2nd Chris Moore, 12pts; 3rd Ma Zschiesche, 6pts

Formula 125

1st James Bull, 18pts; 2nd Ben David, 10pts; 3rd McAuley Longmore, 6pts

Formula 600 Sidecars

1st Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth, 15pts; 2nd Allan Scho eld/Steve Thomas, 15pts; 3rd Richard Hackney/ Andrew Mitchell, 6pts

Steel Framed 600
1st Dean Ephgrave, 18pts; 2nd Luke Southworth, 12pts; 3rd Wally Bradbury, 8pts Pre Injec on 600
1st Andy Lowe, 18pts; 2nd Chris North, 10pts; 3rd Richard Shipley, 9pts
Mini Sound of Thunder
1st David Carson, 18pts; 2nd Stuart Hall, 12pts; 3rd Jason Wilkes, 7pts
Sound of Thunder
1st Lloyd Shelley, 18pts; 2nd Jamie Medhurst, 12pts; 3rd Rich Baker, 5pts

CB500

1st Scot Gregg, 15pts; 2nd Andy Whale, 15pts; 3rd Paul Sawyer, 8pts

Pre Injec on up to 1300cc

1st Jamie Pearson, 18pts; 2nd Michael Hand, 12pts; 3rd Mark Brailsford, 8pts

Classic 250

1st Geo Hadwin, 18pts; 2nd Andy Wilson, 12pts;

Classic 350

1st Simon Collins, 18pts; 2nd Mark Cockerton, 12pts; 3rd Brian Presco , 7pts; Classic 500
1st Frank Melling, 18pts; 2nd Dave McCoy, 12pts; 3rd Oliver Presswood, 8pts Classic 1000
1st David Bradley, 18pts; 2nd Mike Harding, 10pts; 3rd Andrew Lee, 6pts.