Round one of the Darley Moor Motorcycle Road Race Championship kicked off in style over the weekend 21st/22nd March, at the circuit near Wyaston, Derbyshire. Considering we are still in March the large crowd were treated to some excellent racing, all under glorious sunshine providing enough heat to allow a race record to be broken. On top of this there was the added bonus of two British Superbike level riders taking the advantage of some

additional testing prior to their season’s beginning.

Unfortunately, not everyone was smiling as one of the current champions, Tim Poole (Northwich), Peak Cup and Open Solo Champion, suffered an engine blow-up whilst testing on Saturday and therefore unable to take any part in Sunday’s meeting.

The Peak Cup opened the race programme on Sunday and with the added interest of BSB rider Richard Cooper (Hucknall) and International Road Racer, Dan Cooper (Stroud) racing (without taking any championship points) it certainly provided entertainment for the opening race of the season.

Many may have thought both Coopers would pull out a gap on the Darley regulars, but they certainly used their knowledge of the circuit to good effect. Returning from the injury which curtailed his 2014 season Jim Hodson (Wigan) tried to stay in Dan Cooper’s wheel tracks throughout the 8 lap race, finally finishing just over 2 seconds behind at the flag. In 3rd place double Pre98’s (Up to 1300cc) Champion, Shane Pearson (Derby) proved he can still ride a modern machine quick,finishing a similar distance behind Hodson and just able to prevent Richard Cooper, a multiple Stars at Darley winner, from getting past in the final stages of the race, despite Cooper posting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 6.

The second Peak Cup race proved that Richard Cooper had sorted out any problems, or improved the set-up, with his new machine leading from start to finish and extending the lead to over 6seconds at the flag from Dan Cooper. A slower starting Pearson finally recovered his speed and passed Hodson on Lap 5 to record another 3rd place, with Hodson in 4th.

The combined Steel Framed/Pre Injection 600 race allowed 2014 Runner-Up, Andrew Lowe (Stone) to record a flag to flag victory on his Pre Injection machine, whilst Anthony Porter (Chesterfield) came home in second place, the first Steel framed machine, ahead of the 2015 SF600 Champion Dean Ephgrave (Hucknall).

Whilst the result may have been the same in the second race it was definitely a totally different race with Porter closing in on Lowe and finally passing him on Lap 5 only to have the lead snatched back on the final Lap. Whilst Ephgrave was able to stay on Porter’s tail, he didn’t manage to get into 2nd place at any point, but the trio were separated by just 0.75sec at the flag.
The size of the grid may have been small for the Classic classes and Classic 1000 Champion Jamie O’Brien (Liverpool) may have recorded two flag to flag victories of over 25seconds, but behind him there were some interesting battles.

In the first encounter David Bradley (Matlock) was 2nd on another Classic 1000 machine, but behind this David Smith (Nottingham), on a Classic 500, was embroiled in a race long battle with Mike Harding (Haslington), on another Classic 1000 machine and Gordon Thorpe (Matlock) on a Classic 500. The final outcome saw Smith pip Harding at the line, for 3rd place, by just 0.02sec and Thorpe in 5th.

In the second encounter Smith carried out a similar move at the flag, but on this occasion it was for 2nd place, beating Bradley to the line by just 0.1sec!

The combined Sound of Thunder and Lightweight race saw Gary Henriksen (Matlock) secure a start to finish victory in the first race whilst Paul Gibbs (Buxton) managed to pass the fast starting Mini Sound of Thunder machine of Brad Vicars (Tadcaster) on Lap 3, into 2nd place and stretch out an advantage to the flag. Vicars was impressive keeping his machine amongst the quicker, larger Sound of Thunder bikes, but on the final lap local rider Matthew Harwood (Snelston) pipped him to the line for 3rd place by just 0.04sec.

The second race saw another flag to flag victory, but on this occasion it was Harwood who took the win ahead of Henriksen, 2nd, Gibbs 3rd and Vicars again the first Mini Sound of Thunder machine home in 4th. 2014 Lightweight Champion Chris Moore (High Peak) started his title defence well taking class victories on both occasions, being 8th and 6th on track.

The two Open Solo races proved that Richard Cooper was certainly ‘up to speed’ on his new machine taking victory in both with flag to flag wins. In the first Shane Pearson won the race long battle with Dan Cooper for 2nd place, whilst Jim Hodson was able to pass Cooper into 3rd on the penultimate lap, but finally had to settle for 4th place. The second race proved less frantic with Dan Cooper trying to stay in Richard’s wake, with Pearson shad-owing and Hodson a short distance back right through to the flag.

2014 Formula 600 Champion Jamie Medhurst (Long Eaton) continued his dominant form from last season taking a comfortable victory in the first encounter over Richard Wardle (Stoke on Trent). Although their second encounter was very different with Wardle never more than 1second behind him and just 0.28sec behind at the finish. On both occasions Jamie Hodson (Wigan) was 3rd, with Brad Vicars, 4th having to make up from slower starts in the early stages.

The Pre98’s races had a similar outcome, Jamie Pearson (Derby) taking two flag to flag victories, with Ken Davis (Thornton Cleveleys) overcoming slower starts and having to fight his way up into 2nd place on both occasions. Virgil Stevenson (Derby) and Richard Stubbs (Stone) shared a 3rd and 4th place apiece, although Stubbs was only passed on the final lap by Davis for 2nd place. Chris Moore was the highest placed Pre98 (up to 500cc) machine on both occasions recording an impressive 5th place overall in both encounters against the larger (up to 1300cc) machines.

There were further double flag to flag victories in the combined Formula Darley/125 races, Brad Vicars taking the honours and incredibly breaking the Race Record in the first race! On both occasions Jamie Hodson (Wigan) fought his way up to 2nd place, with David Carson (Northwich) 3rd on their Formula Darley machines. First of the 125 machines in both races was Derek Clark (Hull), finishing 8th and 7th Overall.

The two sidecar races proved to be similar affairs with different pairings becoming the victors after chasing the early leaders down. In the first race Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth (Sutton Coldfield/Lincolnshire) chased the father & son duo of Gary Knight/ Dan Knight ((Macclesfield) duo down throughout the race and forcing them into a mistake on the final lap. The tables were switched in the second race with Baker/Killingsworth making the faster start, but the Knight pairing were determined to make a fight of it, passing them on Lap 6 of 8 and holding on until the line by just over 0.5sec. Both these teams were on the smaller 600cc outfits, the first of the 1000cc machines home, in both races, were Paul Bateman/ Neil Dutton (Chester) with overall 3rd in the first race and 4th in the second.

The day’s racing was certainly enough to whet the appetite for Round 2, which takes place on the 12th April 2015, then hopefully Tim Poole will be back and mixing it with Shane Pearson and Jim Hodson in the Peak Cup and Open Solo classes.

Results:

Darley Moor Racing, Round 1, March 22

Peak Cup – Rugeley Alloy Wheel Centre

Race 1 (8 laps):

1 D. Cooper (Honda) 7m
38.31s, 2 J. Hodson, 3 S. Pearson, 4 R. Cooper, 5 J. Medhurst, 6 B. Brown, 7 R.
Wardle, 8 J. Hodson, 9 C. Morris, 10 S. Bowyer, 11 B. Vicars, 12 R. Stubbs, 13
J. Oddy, 14 S. Bingley, 15 F. Gallagher, 16 K. Bond, 17 D. Shallcross, 18 N.
McLaren, 19 M. Smith, 20 MJ. Morgan, 21 A. Barber, 22 D. Marsden, 23 S.
Gibbons.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 R. Cooper (Kawasaki) 7m
31.79s, 2 D. Cooper, 3 S. Pearson, 4 J. Hodson, 5 J. Medhurst, 6 B. Brown, 7 R.
Wardle, 8 C. Morris, 9 J. Oddy, 10 B. Vicars, 11 S. Bowyer, 12 F. Gallagher, 13
A. Blake, 14 S. Bingley, 15 D. Shallcross, 16 K. Bond, 17 S. Gibbons, 18 MJ.
Morgan, 19 A. Barber, 20 D. Marsden, 21 M. Wright.

Steel Frame 600 & Pre-Injection 600 – Lee Marsh
Designs

Race 1 (8 laps):

1 A. Lowe (Yamaha) 8m
29.13s, 2 A. Porter, 3 D. Ephgrave, 4 R. Wise, 5 L. Patten, 6 C. Walton, 7 M.
Goodfield, 8 C. North, 9 M. Hudson, 10 M. Gloster, 11 M. Sumner, 12 D. Millner,
13 L. Southworth, 14 T. Brampton, 15 W. Bradbury.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 A. Lowe (Yamaha) 8m
28.99s, 2 A. Porter, 3 D. Ephgrave, 4 R. Wise, 5 L. Patten, 6 C. Walton, 7 C.
North, 8 M. Hudson, 9 M. Goodfield, 10 M. Gloster, 11 D. Millner, 12 M. Sumner,
13 T. Brampton, 14 L. Southworth, 15 W. Bradbury.

Classics – Taylor Transport Barton under Needwood

Race 1 (8 laps):

1 J. O’Brien (TTS Weslake)
9m 12.58s, 2 D. Bradley, 3 D. Smith, 4 M. Harding, 5 G. Thorpe, 6 G. Hadwin, 7
A. Wilson, 8 O. Presswood, 9 B. Prescott.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 J. O’Brien (TTS Weslake)
9m 17.16s, 2 D. Smith, 3 D. Bradley, 4 M. Harding, 5 G. Thorpe, 6 G. Hadwin, 7
A. Wilson, 8 B. Prescott, 9 O. Presswood.

Sound of Thunder & Lightweights – Pennine Tea
& Coffee

Race 1 (8 laps):

1 G. Henriksen (KTM) 8m 09.69s,
2 P. Gibbs, 3 M. Harwood, 4 B. Vicars, 5 J. Hodson, 6 D. Carson, 7 J.
Dransfield, 8 C. Moore, 9 M. Thompson, 10 J. Trezins, 11 M. Brookes, 12 S.
Hall, 13 M. Whelan, 14 N. Lloyd, 15 D. Smith, 16 S. Setchell, 17 N. Gilman.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 M. Harwood (Ducati) 8m
12.95s, 2 G. Henriksen, 3 P. Gibbs, 4 B. Vicars, 5 J. Hodson, 6 C. Moore, 7 J.
Dransfield, 8 D. Carson, 9 M. Thomkinson, 10 J. Trezins, 11 S. Hall, 12 M.
Brookes, 13 M. Whelan, 14 D. Smith, 15 N. Lloyd, 16 S. Setchell, 17 J. Bream,
18 N. Gilman.

Open Solos – Two Wheel Centre & Protyre

Race 1 (4 laps):

1 R. Cooper (Kawasaki) 3m
49.76s, 2 S. Pearson, 3 D. Cooper, 4 J. Hodson, 5 B. Brown, 6 R. Stubbs, 7 S.
Bowyer, 8 J. Oddy, 9 C. Morris, 10 K. Bond, 11 S. Bingley, 12 MJ. Morgan, 13 S.
Gibbons.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 R. Cooper (Kawasaki) 7m
31.43s, 2 D. Cooper, 3 S. Pearson, 4 J. Hodson, 5 B. Brown, 6 S. Bingley, 7 J.
Oddy, 8 C. Morris, 9 R. Stubbs, 10 K. Bond, 11 S. Gibbons, 12 MJ. Morgan.

Formula 600

Race 1 (8 laps):

1 J. Medhurst (Kawasaki)
7m 54.22s, 2 R. Wardle, 3 J. Hodson, 4 B. Vicars, 5 P. Gibbs, 6 A. Blake, 7 F.
Gallagher, 8 M. Smith, 9 A. Soar, 10 D. Shallcross, 11 A. Barber, 12 M.
Thomkinson, 13 R. Sabin, 14 D. Marsden, 15 J. Holmes, 16 J. Reveley, 17 J.
Horner, 18 J. Heritage, 19 D. Spencer.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 J. Medhurst (Kawasaki)
7m 53.26s, 2 R. Wardle, 3 J. Hodson, 4 B. Vicars, 5 A. Blake, 6 P. Gibbs, 7 F.
Gallagher, 8 A. Soar, 9 D. Shallcross, 10 D. Marsden, 11 A. Barber, 12 J.
Horner, 13 J. Holmes, 14 R. Sabin, 15 J. Reveley, 16 J. Heritage, 17 C. Stuart,
18 D. Spencer.

Pre 98

Race 1 (8 laps):

1 J. Pearson (Suzuki) 7m
58.59s, 2 K. Davis, 3 V. Stevenson, 4 R. Stubbs, 5 C. Moore, 6 D. Ephgrave, 7
G. Porter, 8 M. Brailsford, 9 M. Hudson, 10 A. Clarke, 11 J. O’Brien, 12 A.
Bailey, 13 R. Cox, 14 M. Wright, 15 M. Goodfield, 16 S. Hodgkinson, 17 M.
Whelan, 18 C. Petty.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 J. Pearson (Suzuki) 7m
59.18s, 2 K. Davis, 3 R. Stubbs, 4 V. Stevenson, 5 C. Moore, 6 D. Ephgrave, 7
G. Porter, 8 A. Bailey, 9 M. Brailsford, 10 M. Wright, 11 A. Clarke, 12 J.
O’Brien, 13 M. Hudson, 14 M. Goodfield, 15 S. Hodgkinson, 16 M. Whelan.

Formula Darley – Brookside Press Design & Print
Ltd Derby

Race 1 (8 laps):

1 B. Vicars (Kawasaki) 8m
15.01s, 2 J. Hodson, 3 D. Carson, 4 J. Dransfield, 5 J. Trezins, 6 S. Hall, 7
T. Sayers, 8 D. Clark, 9 R. Mortimer, 10 J. Hind, 11 S. Taylor, 12 A. Lunt, 13
G. Pidcock, 14 B. Smith, 15 A. Walrond.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 B. Vicars (Kawasaki) 8m
26.20s, 2 J. Hodson, 3 D. Carson, 4 J. Dransfield, 5 J. Trezins, 6 S. Hall, 7
D. Clark, 8 R. Mortimer, 9 J. Hind, 10 S. Taylor, 11 A. Lunt, 12 A. Walrond, 13
B. Smith.

Open Sidecars – Willow Catering & The Darley
Diner

Race 1 (8 laps):

1 Baker/Killingsworth
(Shelbourne Honda) 8m 42.75s, 2 Knight/Knight, 3 Bateman/Dutton, 4
Eades/Roberts, 5 Blackstock/Rosney, 6 Alflatt/Gorman, 7 Howse/Ricketts, 8
Carter/Fox, 9 Potts/Duplock, 10 Waddington/Lacey.

Race 2 (8 laps):

1 Knight/Knight (Suzuki)
8m 40.03s, 2 Baker/Killingsworth, 3 Blackstock/Rosney, 4 Bateman/Dutton, 5
Eades/Roberts, 6 Roberts/Roberts, 7 Alflatt/Gorman, 8 Potts/Duplock, 9
Waddington/Lacey.

Newcomers (8 laps):

1 R. Wise (Yamaha) 9m
16.93s, 2 K. Bond, 3 J. Horner, 4 C. Walton, 5 MJ. Morgan, 6 J. Reveley, 7 M.
Hudson, 8 M. Wright, 9 M. Brailsford, 10 C. Stuart, 11 W. Bradbury, 12 D. Spencer,
13 N. Gilman, 14 B. Smith.