After what has seemed like a long hard winter; organisers, teams and riders have been working hard in readiness for a cracking 2011 season which opens up at Brands on the Indy circuit on the middle weekend of March, on one of the few UK tracks not to suffer from ‘chicane blight’ in recent years.
Rewind only a matter of fifteen weeks and Hottrax Motorsport rocked up to Cadwell with all but one of the championships up for grabs and this year it looks just as open with some more classes added. Following a successful format change towards the end of last season we now see the National and Junior Endurance teams battling on the same piece of tarmac at the same time for a solid three hours on the Sunday of race weekend. Whilst 2010 Champions TM72 may have melted away from the action expect to see some new teams joining the fray as well as some of the experienced protagonists back in it for another term. This includes multi champions Sweatshop Racing who endured a troubled year in 2010 to finish in third place in the tables, a bit behind the well ridden Honda Fireblades of Graphic UK – expect to see Sweatshop replacing their pedigree Yamaha R1 for an all singing and dancing BMW. After ‘having a hoot’ on his Aprilia RSV4 at Cadwell last year South African BSB Superstock runner up Hudson Kennaugh will be entering Brands as a shake down for the season.
Junior teams will make up the lion’s share of the field, missing from this year’s action will be best of 2010 - AV-IT Racing who will leave the tussling to Ridgeback and Insignia who will be back for another stab at the title as well as another raft of new teams joining the circus. There will be 600 classes in the National and Junior divisions and silverware winning brothers Marc and Peter Dilks return under the Pit Stop Racing banner with their Hondas up against the multi team entrant Louth Bikes from Lincolnshire. Over in the Junior 600 camp DNA Racing made a last minute rush for honours to steal the cup from the experienced and professional crew of BLDS Couriers with MC Racing in a worthy third ahead of the Ducati focussed L A Stone Racing duo.
As very worthy support acts to the Sorrymate Endurance races we have a very welcome return of the Michelin Power Cup which saw the top three riders from the 1000 and 600 classes go off to Spain to be ‘shown the way round’ by non other that 250/500 World Champ Freddie Spencer. Main 2010 litre man Jonny 5 Otter will be returning and will have to be quicker than ever to fend off the attentions of multi South African rider Mike Dickinson who runs under the www.getfaster.co.uk banner on his newly acquired Robin Hooker fettled BMW. Joining them near the sharp end will be Andy Rouse who moves up from his third spot in 600s last year with a very quick Fireblade, he will also e going head to head with SBKCity lead rider Brazilian Rhalf Lo Torco who is also sporting a Beemer. They will be joined by another very rapid rider - instructor; Dave Stewardson who after a year off will be back in earnest on his trusty www.teambones.co.uk R1. Rhalf’s erstwhile SBKCity team-mate, Dominic de Leon comes back for more 600 action on his ex Padgetts machine thriving to improve on his finishing position from last year and he will be joined by Nottingham’s Ady Allsopp on his rapid R6 as well as a host of other exponents aiming to garb the wins, points and prizes. Many of the Michelin runners have taken full advantage of a Boot Camp back in the harsh weather in January as well as testing either in Spain or on UK tracks in readiness for a ‘tougher than last year’ Michelin Power Cup season.
In 2010 it was Sam Ludgate who graduated from trails champion to MotoGrande 600 champion, for the final round of the season he moved over to the Michelin PC and took three back to back wins, not detracting from eventual champion William Monies efforts who went on to wrap up the title in Lincolnshire. Colin Norris will be back for more MG600 wanting to improve on his runner up spot in the championship as he eases off the endurance racing. Expect to see the return of the well turned out Apex Racing effort who will combine endurance with sprint racing throughout the year and they will be joined by a number of other keen competitors getting as much track time as they can....More bangs for your Bucks.
In the big capacity MotoGrande race expect to see Pete Wilson defending his title against old rivals, Brummie Gary Bransgrove and Gerrard Fallon who all scored points consistently in last season’s series. Joining the MG cast this year will be Andy Carpenter who with Marcus Langford won the Junior endurance championship last year. Throughout the season they will be joined by quality riders who may not be doing the whole championship but can still rob valuable points from the regulars – expect to see fireworks.
New for 2011 are five ‘new to Hottrax Motorsport’ classes – MiniTwins and MaxiTwins for people who are passionate for the distinctive sound of two cylinders working in harmony and Streetbikes 1, 2 and 3 for enthusiasts who appreciate something naked in their lives.
So, with racing over Saturday and Sunday 12rd and 13th of March as well as a test day on the Friday it will be an open book as to who comes out on top in what will be a challenging and entertaining time at Brands Hatch, Round Two is in mid April at the ever demanding Mallory Park.