AC Racing (Greg Allsop/Richard Charlton) snatched a dramatic victory in the third round of the ACU/Towergate National 1000 Championship at Pembrey, but they were lucky, very lucky.

Go Racing Developments (Andy Carpenter/James McBride) held a five lap lead over them, with just nine minutes to go.
Then McBride crashed.

The transponder was retrieved from the damaged bike and Carpenter went out to finish the job. It looked an easy task, but he fell at the first corner and they were out of the race.
Team Edge RST 2 (Gary Johnson/Mick Brown) was second over the line, also having completed 162 laps.

Remarkably Brown had had to pull out of the race with a broken collarbone.

He had crashed in an earlier sprint race, hurting his shoulder. Then, while doing his second stint in the Endurance race, his collar bone broke under heavy braking.

With thirty minutes of the three-hour race to go, the team was second, behind Go Racing Developments.

At the chequered flag they were still second, just under two minutes behind the AC Racing. Unfortunately Team Edge RST2 had their points revoked for a technical infringement.

Conditions were tricky over the two days. Rain made qualifying difficult and there were spits of rain throughout the race, with many crashes. It was cold, too, with the temperature never above 10 degrees c.

Friday test day was dry, giving AC Racing a good opportunity to set up their machines well. Charlton was still riding his Yamaha R6 because the new Honda Fireblade has major electrical issues, which needed sending away to get fixed.

Allsop had an excursion onto the grass early on, hitting a huge bump which threw him and the bike over, causing a fair bit of cosmetic damage. He spent a lot of his day replacing damaged parts, but was able to get three sessions in the afternoon allowing him to get up to a pretty respectable pace and make sure the bike was ok!

In qualifying they were on pole in the wet, but the track dried out surprisingly quickly. Unfortunately they had no slicks with tyre warmers ready and so slipped back to sixth fastest.
The race started on a wet track and the team decided that Allsop would start so that Charlton on the R6 would not get caught in traffic amongst the 1000cc machines.

Unfortunately Allsop’s bike did not fire as quickly as normal and he lost a lot of places straight away. After the first lap the team were tenth. Riding steadily in the wet, Allsop was up to sixth after three laps.

The track started to dry quickly and the wet rear was overheating, but after 30 minutes they were fourth and not too far behind the opposition. Charlton then took over and, as the track was still damp in places, kept a wet on the front with a slick rear.

He upped the pace, keeping them in fourth place.  The track was now dry, but rain was threatening, with spots often falling, so they opted to stay safe with a wet front and slick rear.
A good pace put them third at the halfway point. With the two teams in front in great form, posting fast laps, it was hard to gain any ground. And they stayed third until those dramatic final 30 minutes.

Andy Carpenter’s fall led to the safety car coming out and gave AC Racing the lead with only minutes to go.
Team Army 1 (Peter Brown/Laurence Williams) were third home, first in the Clubman 1000 class.

This was the first visit to Pembrey for all four Army teams.
Test day was interrupted a few times with big offs as cold tyres and lack of grip caught out many riders.

Shortly before the race it started to pour down. It meant a few eleventh hour changes to rider running order, based on whoever had the best tyres on. All the Team Army squads were on wets, then it stopped raining.

Within five minutes the track began drying out and by the end of the first 30 minute session all the wet tyres were destroyed!
Leon Wilton, in Team Army 4, had to come in early after his gear linkage came loose. It would mean an extra stop to keep the riders’ overall race time within the rules.

At the 30 minute stage T2 were ninth, T1 tenth, T3 in 21st place and T4 26th.

It was now a dry track and everyone was on their best tyres. By the hour point T1 were third overall and T2 fifth, both leading their respective classes.

Into the final session T1 was well placed in fourth spot, but T2 had their first problem. Wayne Morgan out braked himself into the hairpin and while trying to turn around and get back on track, he stumbled and fell over, breaking his front brake protector and lever.

Team Army 1 won the Clubman 1000 class, two laps ahead of their nearest rivals and only 2 laps down on the winners, in third place overall.

Team Army 2 were third in their class, closing to within one point of the absent Fast Past Pits in the ACU/Towergate National Endurance 600 championship.

T3 was fifth in their class and only a few laps off that elusive 3rd spot. T4 climbed away to 20th, finishing top Rookie 600s again and fourth in the Clubman 600s. They lead Grit Racing (Kate Mustill/Ian Jack) by 15 points in the Rookie series.

Team Edge RST 1 (Nick Edgeley/Jonny Towers) were back in action after missing the last round, taking victory in the National 600 series.

They lead Tech 5 Racing by one point in the championship.
Edgeley started the race in the wet and then Towers went out in damp conditions. As the track dried out, on dry tyres, he started to make up places.

After four sessions the team took the lead in their class and never let up, with Towers setting the fastest 600 lap of race.
Fifth overall was More Moto (Byron Beckett/Chris Kent), the pole-setters in qualifying, third home in the National 1000 class, on 160 laps, the same as Team Army 1, two laps down on the top two.

Tech 5 Racing (Nick Ford/Matt Stevens) were sixth overall, runners up in the Clubman 1000 class, just six seconds in front of 2 Fat 2 Tall, who had Laurie Sanders stepping into join Gaz Evans, in place of the injured  Tom Robinson.

That gap would have been greater, but for the team collecting a sixty second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Just behind 2 Fat 2 Tall was National 600 squad, Team Army 2 (Wayne Morgan/Richard Spencer-Fleet), three seconds adrift.
Sixth, seventh and eighth completed 158 laps.

Parish Brothers Racing (James and Chris Parish) were making their Endurance racing debut. They were ninth overall and winners of the Clubmans 600 class.

The weekend did not start well, with the brothers’ van breaking down on Thursday night. The bikes finally arriving at the circuit early Friday morning for the test day.
Friday was spent finding the right gearing and set-up, while learning the circuit.
The pair set out to do the minimum three laps each and managed 15th fastest time and first in class.
The brothers did not know what to expect in their first endurance race. Their aim was to just keep things steady and consistent. A mix up in signals in the first stint meant an early pit-stop, but luckily they were leading.
In fact they led their class from start to finish. With quick pit stops and consistent lap times, they managed to take the class win by 3 laps.
AC Racing’s win, the second in succession, gives them a 29 point lead in the overall 1000 title chase.
First Towergate Clubman 600 over the line was Liquidskinz Hydrographic (Stuart Fitton/Martin Tromans) giving them a 23 point lead in that series over Mild Hogs Racing (David Hall/Patrick Hurst), who were 13th overall.
T. Watson Bikes (Rick Dickinson/Tom Stephens) had a difficult meeting, including crashes. They completed only 14 laps, picking up seven points.
That dropped them from second in the championship to joint third, with Team Army 1, on 33, 30 points behind the leaders.
Team Big Lads (Joe Connolly/Bob Barton), were again first Modern Classics home.
Saturday morning was wet and this was the first time the team had ridden round Pembrey in the wet. They qualified a respectable 14th out of 25 and first in class.
The endurance race started at 2pm in the rain on a wet track. Connolly  took the first stint, but within 16 laps the track had begun to dry and his wet tyres were ruined.  Severe grip problems led to an early pit stop.
Barton then went out for his first stint with a slick rear and wet front tyre as the track still had a lot of damp patches. After a solid stint Barton was due in when it started to rain again.
Connolly’s bike went from full slicks to a wet front and slick rear, ready for the rider change. The team was 15th overall and first in class.
Connolly went out for his second session, but after just two corners he lost the front and crashed heavily into the barrier leaving the bike unusable. The crash cost the team eight minutes, but they managed to convert to a one bike team and carry on the race.
Barton went back out and the team climbed back into contention, holding second place.  The last hour went without incident and they managed to climb their way back up to 16th place overall and first in class.
That win kept TBL top of the Modern Classic class, ten points ahead of GRS Racing (Karl Smith/Glen Rixon), who were 24th overall and second in class.
Top 1000 Rookies was Team Leanangle.co.uk  (Nigel Baldwin/Martyn Bollards), but G&M Racing still leads the championship.
Gavin Bartlett stepped at the last minute to replace the injured John Kilcar in the Full On Racing team, alongside Terry Fuller.
Bartlett went out to qualify for the Endurance race, but track was wet and he was on slicks that had not been fitted with warmers.
They started from 18th on grid and pulled through to 11th overall and third in the National 1000 class. By the two hour mark they had dropped to fourth, but they pushed hard and regained third place at the chequered flag, giving the team their first podium place of the season.
Mick Brown was hoping to take the lead and open a gap at the top of the Moto Grand Powerbike 1000 points table, but a crash in the first of four races, put paid to that plan,
Brown hurt his shoulder in the accident and in the later Endurance event, his collar bone broke putting him out of the rest of the meeting.
Graham Hornby took advantage of the situation, finishing third, first, second and third in his four rides to take his tally for the year to 134 and go to the top of the standings, 34 ahead of the absent Lee Wilson.
Matthew Rees, who missed the first day’s racing to save money for his up-coming NW 200 and Isle of Man TT outings, won both races on the Sunday to take his points’ total to 92 and third place in the championship.
 Paul Barker opened up a 68 point lead over James Vevers in the Moto Grande Pre National 1000 class, thanks to four hard fought wins, which included the fastest lap in all four.
Vevers consolidated second spot, thanks to two wins, a third and a fourth.
Craig Kennelly stays third in the points’ table, 104 behind Barker.
Kennelly had a trying weekend in changeable conditions.
He was fifth in his first race, still feeling his way round the circuit and searching for good set up. He bagged a lucky fourth in the second, after having an air-duct come loose and caught behind his brake lever, He ripped that off and continued at race pace on slicks and in heavy rain for the last two laps.
He was a lucky fourth again in a tricky, wet, third race. He made a great start, but was punted off the track on the second lap. He quickly decided that 90mph on wet grass is not fun.
He saved the best for the last race, taking second place and lapping only a second off the fasted boys of the weekend.
Dave Wymer stretched his lead in the V&M Motogrande Powersport Rookie 1000 class, He now has 286 points, 106 more than his closest rival, James Young.
Wymer won three of his four races and was third in the other.
Andrew Cockburn increased his lead in the Pro Moto class, taking his points’ tally to 275.
Jack Bleakley stayed top of the Motogrande Powersport 600 class after grabbing four victories over the weekend.
He now has 207 points, 42 more than Gaz Evans, who climbed into second spot, overtaking the absent John Lea.
Things are hotting up in the MotoGrande Pre-National 600 championship, with James Parish the new leader on 179 points, after he took three wins and a second.
Just 29 points separate the top five, with Matt Johnson, who topped the table coming into the meeting, down in fourth place.  
The other Parish brother, Chris, took his first ever Pre-national win and third place overall in the combined line-up in race one. James was second Pre-national and fourth overall.
James Parish made a good start in race two. He took second place early on and kept it to the flag.
Chris was second in his class and fourth overall.
Rain overnight meant a very wet track for qualifying. After some steady laps to get into it, James took pole position by just half a second from Chris.
The track was still wet for the first race on Sunday. The brothers started first and second on the grid.  James got a good start, braked as late as he dared into turn 1 and held the lead.
He managed to open a lead and went on to take the overall win. Chris rode well to finish second in Pre-national class and fourth overall.
A dry track for race two meant a win was unlikely, with Jack Bleakley too strong in the dry conditions.
James made a good start, holding second spot with Bleakley pulling away. With the amount of racing beginning to take its toll, James was struggling to hang on to the bike.
He finished third overall, winning his class, with Chris second in class and fourth overall.
Kevin Clive retained his lead in the V&M Motogrande Rookie 600 class, thanks to two wins and two seconds.
He now leads Mitch DuCran by 37 points and Jack Harvey by 39.
DuCran was making his Pembrey debut and though the test day was dry, Saturday morning’s qualifying was on a wet track.
DuCran has not yet bought a set of spare wheels and changing tyres is an hour’s job. He laboured away, changed tyres and finished third overall and first in his class.
The track dried a bit before race one and most of DuCran’s rivals switched to either a dry rear or full dry tyres. He stayed on wets and held second place in his class, until he got stuck in the wrong gear at the hairpin.
He dropped to third on the last lap and just was not able to pull it back.
The track was fully dry for race two and as his rear tyre was down to just one mm, he decided to fit a new one.
Cautious on the start, he dropped back a few places but was able to grab first place after just a lap when Harvey’s chain snapped.
Starting lap three, DuCran momentarily lost the front on a bump coming onto the start/finish and he ran onto the grass at around 100mph.
He hit one of the trackside markers, which ripped the belly pan off and he retired.
Locating the pieces of the belly pan, DuCran used a fibreglass kit to rebuild it ready for Sunday, not forgetting to use a few strips of gaffa tape to hold it all together!
It was wet again on Sunday morning and he fitted wets, but the real problem was his visor steaming up. He pulled in after a few laps, finishing 13th overall out of 14!
His aim was to take third in race one, where conditions were still wet and he was able to run the same times as Saturday. Unfortunately the rest of the pack had dropped a few seconds, so he was not able to go with them.
It was dry for race two, but because DuCran was by now getting fed up with the ever changing weather conditions, he decided to go out on wets again.
He was the only one to do so, but instead of finding it tough he managed another third.
Desmo Due Class A Championship leader, Dallas Hornblow, stayed on top of the points’ table, but his lead in the series is down to eight over Andy Claridge.
Reigning Class A Champion Matt Lawson was ruled out of the meeting with a mechanical problem.
A damp qualifying session had Andy Claridge on pole, with Hornblow heading up row three in ninth place.
Steve Mason, who had spent Friday’s practice day traveling down from his home near Knockhill, took an early lead in Saturday’s 12 lap race going on to secure the Class A win.
There was a close battle for second and third places, won by Matt Larrett, with 2014 Class B Champion Andy Blomfield, taking his first Class A podium in third.
Scott Wilson was first Class B home, followed by a distant Miles Watson-Cort and then Jim Robinson.
Race two on the Sunday was wet and shortened to 16 laps.  
After a good battle at the front, early race leader, Larrett, was passed at the half way stage by Claridge, who went on to win by just over a quarter of second from Larrett.  
This was Claridge’s second win of the season and with Hornblow not scoring points, he moved to the top of the Class  A championship.
The final podium position was fought out between Jim Brian, Harrison Warren and Alex Tennant, but it was Brian who crossed the line to take the third overall.  
Wilson won Class B again, followed closely by Jim Robinson and Watson Court.
The track had dried up for the third and final, 14-lap race.
Again Mason took an early lead, going on to take his second Class A win of the weekend. Behind him there was a tight race between Hornblow, Larrett, Claridge, Blomfield and Tennant for the remaining podium positions.  
With eight laps remaining Larrett moved into second place, leaving the others to fight for third.  The other positions changed many times, with Tennant finally third, taking his first trophy with the Ducati series.
Hornblow was fourth, regaining the lead in Class A, eight points ahead of Claridge and 37 clear of Matt Lawson.
Wilson wrapped his perfect weekend up with his third win giving him a clear 66 point lead in the Class B championship over Watson-Cort.  

Despite only scoring points on the Saturday, Owen Richardson moved to the top of the points’ standings in the Modern Classics Superbike class.
He has 117 points, 17 more than Laurie Sands.
The absent Paul Baleta is third, with Jason Edwards now down to fourth on 85, three ahead of Pattinson.  
The TBL boys, Bob Barton and Joe Connolly did not go out in the qualifying for the Modern Classic Superbike EVO sprint races on Saturday morning, so had to start at the back of the grid in the morning race, which they used as valuable track time.
Despite their tough starting position Connolly won the race, with Barton third, behind Joe McNally after a great battle on track.
The pair gave the second race a miss, but Barton raced in both of Sunday’s races and rode faultlessly finishing first in class and first overall.
Connolly tops the points’ table on 201, with Barton on 173 and Duncan Appleby third with 97.
Martin Morris grabbed a third and two seconds to move to the top of the  Formula One championship. He has 125 points, five more than Darryl Hodder.
Brian Gibbs slipped back to third on 95.
Ross Walker stays leading the Formula Two class on 100 points, 50 more than Jack Harvey.
Jon Bolsover was absent from Pembrey, but remains the leader in the Modern Classics Supersport EVO class, on 195 points.
Adam Shepherd is second, with 80.
Corey Wilson tops the Lightweight class on 120 from Rob Garland with 100.
Teenager Kade Verwey stays leading the Formula 400 class.
Jonny Towers remains the leader in the Super Twin class.
Nick Wainwright stretched his lead in the Modern Classics Supersport Pre-I class.
He is on 240, 83 more that David Stiff.