Hottrax Motorsport Racing Club Motorcycle Endurance Championship
words and photos by Alfonso Lygo

National and Junior 600 + 1000cc 3 hour Race

Dramas for some as last year’s champs Sweatshop Racing (Hugh Brasher/Mick Godfrey) struggled with R1 reliability issues meaning Godfrey's ZX10 might be commissioned for the race. Easing the pressure on leading team TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) was the fact that Graphic UK (Basil Bannayi/Dean Skipper/Matt Layt) chose not to enter the final round, that said - joining the regulars were IQ Communications (Mark Linscott/Mike Dickinson), Linscott losing his SMR Fireblade in Friday testing so now using his 2009 R1.Also on the billing was Splitlath Racing (Hudson Kennaugh/John Dimbylow) who poled up with a brace of very effective Evo spec Aprilia RSV4s and another potent Due were in the shape of Jenny Tinmouth and James McBride (Sorrymate.com/Downview Finance). Rejoining the series after a brilliant Pembrey was Council Racing (Danny Lister/Larry Halliday) and after a year away from long distance racing we had Best Choice Racing (Terry Joensen/Dave Hockham) on their potent R6.

In morning qualifying, held in near perfect autumn conditions, it was Hudson Kennaugh who dominated things stopping the clocks at an impressive 1m 34.290s. The 600 pairing of Tinmouth and McBride were second quickest in front of Sweatshop with IQ Comms in fourth ahead of nearly crowned 2010 British National Endurance Champions - TM72, Best Choice were in the top six courtesy of Faroe Island’s only road racer - Terje Joensen and Council Racing in seventh on another pair of litre machines.

Sunshine and warmth ran on into the afternoon for the start of the three hour National and Junior 600 and 1000 race as 36 machines barrelled into Charlies, it was IQ Comms who emerged as leaders for the opening laps to be quickly overhauled by the Splitlath Aprilia. Sorrymate.com were on a massive push as they gained P2 but spare a thought for fast in practice BCE which saw Terje crash twice in the first thirty minutes leaving Greg Wilson and his team a mountain to climb. After sixty minutes of racing action the Sorrymate 600 led by a dozen seconds from Sweatshop and 47s over IQ Comms. Ducks Cross Racing (Grant Wagstaff/Martin Landmann) were a lap down just ahead of TM72 - now this year's champions - on the same lap as Pembrey stars Council Racing and Dales Racing (Richard Steadman/Will Sawyer) who did so well at Silverstone.

Casting an eye over the battle for 600 Junior honours; table toppers BLDS (Bill Lilly/George Harvey) were some way down after pit stops with nearest rivals DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons) who were ahead on the road but were still within easy reach of BLDS. Only a short distance separated Pit Stop (Mark + Peter Dilks) from fatblokeracewear.com (Colin Norris/Andy Rouse) as they were both gunning for the National 600 honour. Also worth watching was the ongoing battle for Junior 1000 between AV-IT (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) and Ridgeback (Mark Clark/David Stolliday) who were yards apart on the Tarmac, and it would also be a case of 'winner takes all' for the title.

In the middle hour the pace car made an appearance following a spill and this allowed 'bunching' to occur, prior to this Linscott retired his IQ Comms R1 with an engine blow so it was over and out for Limpy but team mate Dickinson carried on regardless on his similar R1. DNA performed some mercurial runs and was still some way ahead of title rivals BLDS, however the outcome could have been determined after the hard pushing George Harvey lost the BLDS machine after 46 laps taking some of the pressure off Jennings & Parsons. At the sharp end serious contenders Splitlath lost some all important tie after their quicker rider, Kennaugh, tried to exit the pit lane after a scheduled stop without his yellow arm band, running back into pitlane including the WC searching for the errant bit of plastic. Yellow duct tape found and fitted it was back to normal as Hudson posted the fastest lap of the race within minutes to get back amongst it. Further up the road and with sixty minutes left on the clock, Sorrymate had a single lap comfort break over Sweatshop who were conscious of a delicate gearbox, new champs TM72 were 9 seconds adrift of Sweatshop and a lap down were fourth placed Council Racing with 600 National title hopefuls Pit Stop Racing another nine seconds in front of nearest class rivals Louth Bikes National (Sean Hooson/Ralph Naden) , a second ahead of Dales - it’s tight at the top!

Top Junior 1000 crew were AV-IT luxuriating in a lap held over nearest rivals Ridgeback and at the start of the final hour fatblokeracewear took a knock after Colin Norris' Triumph sprung a leak potentially ending their campaign and possibly handing victory in the championship to Pit Stop Racing depending on where the Louth Bikes National team finished.

As teams bought machines and riders in for a final rash of pit stops Sweatshop negated a rear wheel change to save valuable time and keep the pressure on TM72 for the race win, they were separated by 6 seconds at the 45 minute to go mark. MAD (Andy McLellan/Richard Dilks) fell at the Gooseneck and retired as TM72 vaulted ahead of Sweatshop and Derek Redmond 400 (Andy Dix/Wayne Crossman) crashed at Mansfield, very soon Grant Wagstaff totalled the Ducks X R6 which caused a load of final pit stops to set up for the end of the race.

It was in these all important closing moments that Junior 600 hopefuls DNA crashed but smart pit work enabled Dan ’n Adam to get back out quickly, however the pressure was still on for these two team mates as a non finish would hand the title back to BLDS. With fifteen minutes to go we lost Council Racing from fourth on the road, they made it back into the hunt but had lost too many laps to feature on the leader board and even closer to the end one of the L A Stone Ducatis (Tony Hathaway/Tim Howard) stopped at the chicane in the dying moments and posted a DNF.

As the autumnal light began to darken 600 team Sorrymate were well chuffed to have won the race with a single lap over deposed National champions Sweatshop who kept their R1 running and beat incoming National 1000cc champs TM72 who were only seconds in front of the hard charging Splitlath, Louth Bikes were fifth on the road from a brace of Junior 600s - M & M and Dales Racing. Pit Stop did enough to amass the same number of championship points as Louth Bikes National so the race result placings for the season came into play and the team from Nottingham got their hands on the 600 National trophy, that's racing! Next on the road to Pit Stop were AV-IT who were the first Junior 1000 home and romped away with the championship in their debut year over Ridgeback a couple of places down.

To recap - TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon) won the 1000cc National title, that’s three consecutive championships in the three years of competing with Hottrax, the runners up were Graphic UK (Basil Bannayi/Dean Skipper/Matt Layt). It was Pit Stop Racing (Mark + Peter Dilks/Mark Affleck) who, after finishing on the same points as Louth Bikes National. After the season’s positions were counted it was the lads from Nottingham who were crowned as National 600 champions. AV-IT Racing (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) nicked the Junior 1000 cup from Ridgeback (Mark Clark/David Stolliday) but it was a close thing and went down to the wire. A massive applause for DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons) whose season long campaign was rewarded with the Junior 600 title after narrowly winning from close rivals BLDS Couriers who have also enjoyed a fantastic season.

Fastest Lap Natural and FA Ability 1m 38.499

MotoGrande Cadwell

Newcomer Brad Howell, supported by Ian Roebuck, turned his second row starting position to P1 in the opening lap and worked hard at building a substantial lead over pole man Gerrard Fallon with Pete Wilson in a solid third spot. By half way point of the opening MG race Howell was comfy over a scrapping Fallon and Wilson after Wilson making second place look a possibility and the 2010 championship also. With points hunting Gary Bransgrove in a secure fourth - top 600 rider was Colin Norris with eighth on the road to win his class and haul some points. At the close Howell took a superb win from Wilson, Bransgrove and Fallon after being slowed by a backmarker. Stephen Bridle was sixth from Tom Palmer with top 600 Norris some little way in front of Graham Bennett and Adrian Peters on his R6. This closed up the points for the championship making it a nail biting final two laps on the Sunday.

Fastest lap Colin Norris 1m 42.959s

Fastest Lap Brad Howell 1m 38.304s

Race 2

Race 2 was held on a damp but drying track so tyre choice was crucial, at the start it was Race 1 winner Brad Howell who bombed off into the distance being little troubled by a following Gerrard Fallon who had relative newcomer Tom Palmer breathing down his neck until planting his '99 R1 into the scenery at the exit of Charlies. At close of play Howell stayed ahead and trailing in his exhaust fumes were Fallon, 2010 1000 Champion Pete Wilson, Graham Bennett, Tony Hird, DR 400, Lee Rawlings, Adrian 'Womble' Peters, Gary Bransgrove and Glen Levy.

Fastest lap Wayne Crossman 1m 46.097s

Fastest Lap Brad Howell 1m 41.623s

Race 3

No real surprise that Brad Howells roared off the line for the first of twelve laps, leaving in his wake the usual suspects of Peter Wilson and Gerrard Fallon with Steve Bridle and Gary Bransgrove making the most of the extra horsepower over eventual sixth place finisher Colin Norris the top 600 rider on the same Suzuki that let him down in the previous days 3 hour endurance encounter. Brad was content to hold a safe ten second lead over Wilson with Fallon and Bridle scrapping over third spot and only split by less than half a second. Wayne Crossman was second 600 across line just behind Tony Hird who was seventh on the road with Graham Bennett and Adrian Peters rounding out the top ten.

Fastest lap Wayne Crossman 1m 41.305s

Fastest Lap Brad Howell 1m 37.482s

Allcomers Cadwell

Race One

For the Allcomers race, champ and champ elect Sam Ludgate and Jon Otter arrived on the grid with fresh French rubber on board, Ralf Lo Turco was late to leave the paddock an started from the back of the grid. There were spot of rain in the air as the race cracked off, Otter was off like a rocket and led for the whole race, Lo Turco passed a dozen riders before the first bend and was up to third by lap 3. In the shortened race, stopped after 8 laps, Otter took first ahead of Rhalf, another MPC man with 600 pilot Lewis O'Regan in third. Ludgate was fourth after being as high as second, endurance man Lewis Mason. slid into fifth ahead of James Kaye.

Fastest Lap Jonny 5 Otter 1m 36.652s

Race Two

In the final race of the weekend and, for many the final race of the year it was an excellent turn out in quality and quantity. It would be the first time Otter would line up against newbie but already triple winner Howells and it was Otter who was emphatic about winning as he crossed the line 8 seconds ahead of the other one litre machine, however Brad managed to post the fastest lap of the race. Rhalf Lo Turco was in bronze position with Peter Dilks peddling the first 600 home in fourth, O’Regan continued his bountiful weekend with fifth in front of Ralph Naden, Mark Affleck and Steph Waddelow. Another fact - the three Dilks riders and Mark Affleck, all finishers in this race all rode as part of the championship winning National 600 endurance team!

Fastest Lap Brad Howells 1m 36.518s

Michelin Power Cup

Race One

The Michelin Power Cup lost Ty Jones after a spill in practice resulting in an unsolicited visit to Grimsby's best, so qualifying resulted in local man Jon Otter making the most of things as his nearest title rival Greg Allsop was away on best man duty on Saturday, following a blown engine in Friday's testing and a no show on Sunday. Jonny 5 snatched pole from Triumph 675 mounted Steph Waddelow.

2010 MotoGrande 600 champ Sam Ludgate joined the Michelin race nailing a place on row 2, and moving from R1 to BMW power was Brazilian Rhalf Lo Tourco and 600 leader William Monie joined Steph and Jon on the front row. When it mattered most Monie shot off from the line to be overhauled by Otter making hay in the bright sunshine. As two riders ran up on the grass at Charlies, Otter maintained his lead for the whole race pulling out from second man Rhalf, just in front of the scrapping 600s of Steph and Ludgate some way ahead of Monie, it wasn't long before Ludgate dispensed with Steph and set about catching the BMW. Rhalf hung onto second on the road using the extra horses on the straights, Sam being chuffed with a 3rd place overall and first in class on his MPC debut. Steph hung onto second in class and fourth on the road with 600 leader Monie gave the talented Scotsman the Michelin Power Cup 600 title, he was a sliver ahead of fellow class mate Mark Affleck.

Fastest Lap Sam Ludgate 1m 38.254

Fastest Lap Jonathon Otter 1m 37.702s

Race Two

With a damp track 2010 1000cc champion elect Jon Otter just needed to keep going and in the points to earn the title he deserved, as the grid formed on a combination of Michelin Power compounds and profiles. Steph Waddelow was on wets and took to the grass in the opening stages, so it was MotoGrande migrant Sam Ludgate who got the holeshot from fellow 600 jockeys Ady Allsopp and Ryan Peters in the chase, Otter was back in twelfth at this stage and rode a sensible race. Confirmed 600 champ William Monie was giving this race a miss and was spectating at Mansfield when Paul Pickering fell off in front of Will at around half distance bringing out the red flags, marshals, medics and cement dust. The result was declared and showed four 600s at the top with Ludgate winning from Allsopp, Ryan Peters and Richard Walker. First big bike home was Chris Mason keeping his nose ahead of Rhalf Lo Turco, another 600 crossed the line in the hands of Tim Connor who was later excluded for using another manufacturers tyres. Andy Rouse continued to rack up points on his Honda ahead of Dave Wood and Jonny 5.

Fastest Lap Richard Walker 1m 47.346s

Fastest Laps Jonathan Otter 1m 49.273

Race Three

Jonathon Otter was emphatic at making the 2010 Michelin Power Cup all his as he led from the lights in the third race pulling out a substantial lead over 600 battlers Ludgate and Monie. Steph had started brightly but dropped back in the race from fourth to sixth place, whilst Lewis O’Regan was having his best weekend of the season finishing in fourth just ahead of Mark Affleck who joined the Michelin people just for Cadwell. Richard Walker was outside the top six just in front of Ady Allsopp who had done enough on the day to make second in the championship his very own. All these 600s were sandwiched by Otter and ninth placed Chris Mason who was on for a real points haul this weekend. Rhalf Lo Turco was not classified as a finisher as he started the race on Michelin slicks as an evaluation ride.