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

Junior and National 3 Hour Endurance Race

Hottrax Motorsport was pragmatic enough to merge the National race with Saturday’s Junior fixture so we had four classes with titles all to play for. Combined qualifying resulted in pole for Sweatshop Racing (Hugh Brasher/Rod Lynn) which saw Rodders ride the quickest throughout qualifying for all classes, posting a 60.490s lap to take pole from newcomers Council Racing (Danny Lister/Larry Halliday), possible champs TM72 and RS Racing (Dan Cousins/Gerrard Spear).

If three National 1000 teams were quickest then top Junior thousands were RS Racing, we also saw Pit Stop Racing (Mark Dilks/Mark Affleck) nudge out Roundall Racing (Simon Allen/Sean Moss) for top National 600 accolade and BLDS Couriers (Bill Lilly/George Harvey) make their mark as premier 600 Junior team, this team having a decent history at Pembrey.

National championship leaders TM72 had a spill in the morning with Andy McKnight at the wheel; this was the team who could mathematically tie up their class in South Wales from Graphic UK and Sweatshop. When it mattered and the Welsh flag was dropped by an Irishman it was Welsh wizard Rod Lynn who started working on building up a respectable lead. At the start RAF rider Simon Allen was last off the grid and Racing Snakes (Ian Charles/Steve Griffiths) started with only one bike as Griffiths' R1 continued to play up in qualifying. After 30 minutes Sweatshop held a 20s lead over TM72 who were another ten seconds in front of Graphics, BLDS and RS Racing - as nearly all the teams pitted, Sweatshop stayed out as they were running one machine, an opportunity to build up more lead with Lynn at the helm.

Half way point was the next benchmark and Sweatshop, who are still in with a shout for back to back championships maintained a strong two lap advantage over tough opponents TM72 who just need to keep racking up the points here and at Cadwell to earn them their first national 1000 title. In third spot were second in the Junior 1000 table; AV-IT Racing only 11 seconds ahead of principal Junior 600s BLDS and they were being shadowed by National 600 team Pit Stop. Making up the top dozen were also 1491, Insignia, DNA, Graphic UK, Louth Bikes National and Council Racing. Leaving the action at the 90 minute mark were Banzai who retired and Snug Racing who fell off but rejoined after a visit into the pits. RS Racing who had started so well fell at Brooklands with just over an hour to go which meant their race was put on hold until they could make their way back to the pits prior to continuing.

Just as the combined National and Junior race entered the final hour the pace car was deployed as debris was on the track, some teams were able to use their experience and/or luck to capitalise on this situation. Sweatshop held their two lap lead over TM72, three laps over AV-IT, Pit Stop, BLDS and four over Council as the pace car disappeared and racing continued at an unabated pace.

Endurance racing can be so unpredictable and to demonstrate this the Sweatshop R1 gearbox cried ‘enough’ with less than fifty minutes to go and Rod Lynn nursed the stricken machine back to it's pit box, this left TM72 with a slight 32s grace over BLDS who are in a separate class so no real dramas there then. At the 30 minutes to go time these two were one lap ahead of AV-IT and two laps ahead of Council who were on a charge with Pit Stop, Louth Bikes, 1491 and Graphics all pressing on behind.

Dark clouds signified the end of the three hour race, Sweatshop chose not to struggle out back on the circuit to try and finish within 75% of the winner's distance to try and earn some points. TM72 did exactly what they had to by winning the race and their class by a mere 45 seconds over newcomers Council Racing. Mathematically Graphic UK, who finished third in class, must win at the final round at Cadwell with TM72 nowhere to be seen to win the championship. Sweatshop is unfortunately too far away from success and unable to replicate their 2009 title.

In the National 600 race Pit Stop won their class and was third overall to drag down max points in front of the hard pushing Louth Bikes National with 1491 in third. Class leaders fatblokeracewear.com (Colin Norris/Andy Rouse) were a few laps adrift in fourth but ahead of Spark Endurance (Rob Noyle/Shelley Pike) and stablemates Roundall Racing (Simon Allen/Sean Moss) who put their Anglesey woes behind them to post fastest lap in class, setting Cadwell up as an almost 'winner takes all' race.
Talk about close finishes, second sport in this class was settled by a mere 9 seconds leaving 1491 to reflect on how they might have been quicker in a pit stop or two and even closer were Spark and Roundall, who share the same tent, mechanics and resources, were only split by a photo finish of 5.5 seconds.

In the Junior 600s BLDS dominated the race from championship leading DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Robbie Moore) who rode like Trojans and have enjoyed a really successful season to date, to cross the line ahead of L A Stone Racing (Tony Hathaway/Tom Luton) on their brace of super Ducatis. The rest of the field was made up by Apex Racing (Nick Matthews/Adam Woby), Louth Bikes Junior A (Stephen Bullas/Richard Hough), sorrymate.com (Mark Cooper/Fergus Dalgarno), MC Racing (Richard Payne/Jason McKinnon) and Snug Racing (Keith Dickie/Dave Roberts). DNA and BLDS go to Lincolnshire at the end of October near enough needing a win to tie up the 2010 title and march away with the silverware.

AV-IT were delighted with their class win which enabled them to leap frog previous points leaders Ridgeback Racing (Mark Clark/David Stolliday) in the tables who recorded a solid second from Insignia (Rob Loveday/Carl Hodgkins) with Derek Redmond 400 (Crossman/Garnham), (Pirate Racing (Andrew Main/Paul Whiteman) & Pirate Racing V2 (Emma Hodges/Tom Nicolaou). In the largest class of the race the intriguingly named Thelma Shanks Racing (John Hopkins/Martin Jones) finished in seventh and in their wake were; Derek Redmond 200 (Andy Dix/Derek Redmond), GT Racing (Steve Palmer/Keith Tribe), RS Racing (Dan Cousins/Gerrard Spear), Banzai (Ben Jenkins/Rupert Thompson) and Racing Snakes (Ian Charles/Steve Griffiths) who put in 4 laps before the Snakes realised it probably wasn't worth continuing on one bike! Where are we in the table? AV-IT and Ridgeback are both in a strong position for the championship at the end of October however, Insignia or TM17, missing from Pembrey, would have to be the luckiest people on earth to take the championship.

Michelin Power Cup Championship

Race One

Points leader and consistent performer Scott Shand grabbed pole from perennial ‘thorn in the side’ Greg Allsop in a healthy grid for the Michelin Power Cup encounter, William Monie was quickest 600 rider on his tidy R6.

Father and son pairing of Richard and William White both retired their 675 Triumphs in the opening race which was red flagged after leading man Shand was shaken off his Fireblade coming onto the start/finish straight on lap two only moments after 600 charger Ady Allsopp parted company with his R6 at Debeni. At the restart P1 was fought over by Greg Allsop, Jonny Otter and Tony Rogers - the rapid trio finishing in this order after a reduced race distance. They were followed home by local man Ty Jones who finished fourth ahead of the first 600 of class dominant William Monie who was well ahead of Chris Mason who celebrated his birthday at the Welsh track. At the end 600 mounted Monie finished over a minute ahead of the very sociable Ryan Peters, Andy Rouse, a returning Chris Hunt-Terry, Nick Matthews from Apex Racing and Dominic De Leon.

Race Two

With Scott Shand a non starter it was left to Jonny Otter to maintain challenge on Greg Allsop in the 15 lapper. Otter managed to slide past Allsopp at the hairpin on lap 4 and maintain a lead for four laps before the somewhat stately R1 got passed the Suzuki after which Otter was disadvantaged with a misty visor and backmarkers having an effect on his race plan. At the close of play Allsopp won and extended his lead in the points, Otter was a safe second from top 600 man William Monie ahead of Chris Mason, Ty Jones in his first season on big bikes from Andy Rouse, Ryan Peters, yesterdays faller Ady Alsopp the returning Chris Hunt-Terry, Adam Rudd, Graham Marks and Pete Douglas. The top six 600s were rounded off by series improving Richard Dilks.

Race Three

Whilst Greg Allsop may have started from pole and already won the first two races of the weekend it was Otter who was smart off the line with Allsopp in his wake. 600 hot shot William Monie got away in third and kept it that way for the rest of the 17 laps. At times Otter felt his opponent breathing down his neck and this got very interesting when the leading pair approached backmarkers as the race progressed. At two thirds distance the leading Due were only separated by less than a quarter of a second and Ady Allsopp was getting a wriggle on to defend his 600 second place as he was put under pressure by Ryan Peters. At the drop of the flag Otter was delighted with preventing Allsopp from doing the Welsh triple; Monie was on the money with third on the road and first in class. Ty Jones and Chris Mason were next litre men home in front of Allsopp and Peters with Rouse and Rudd following up. In tenth was Chris Hunt-Terry coming in before Boakye, Douglas, Lance and Dilks. So it all goes down to the wire at Cadwell Park at the end of October for the inaugural Michelin Power Cup runners and who will be on the top step.

MotoGrande Race 1

600 rider Sam Ludgate was fastest in qualifying with a 61.683s lap, ahead of five one litre machines as the MotoGrande grid pulled together for 3 races over the weekend, 1000cc leader Pete Wilson was a non starter in South Wales as was runner up man Simon Fenwick which would affect the championship tables going into the final round.

There was no stopping Ludgate as he converted pole into a dominant win leaving an early battle for second involving Raymond Stagg, Gerrard Fallon, Steve Bridle and Gary Bransgrove before Gaz he went missing at the two thirds mark having been as high as second due to lack of petrol! You had to go down to seventh in the race to sight the second 600 outfit of John Lawrence who was a smidge behind Tom Palmer and Lee Rawlings. Colin Norris finished in 8th on last year’s 600 Suzuki after destroying his quicker Triumph at Anglesey three weeks ago.

600 Race 2

Sunday's timetable saw the 600s and the 1000 run as separate races, at the end of two laps of the 600 it was red flagged after John Lawrence tipped off at the hairpin leaving the machine in the middle of the track. At the restart Sam Ludgate continued to dominate the MotoGrande 600 seen and just blitzed the opposition leaving a distant Sean Moss to chase second spot until the florescent green Honda cried 'enough' and pulling off after the start line, allowing Colin Norris to take up runner up spot in front of Glen Levy and Luke Joyce at the end of the reduced 13 lap race.

1000 Race 2

Raymond Stagg was caught out by cold tyres on the warm up lap causing a slight delay. At the restart Gerrard Fallon shot off like a rocket to take up a position he was never going to relinquish whilst keeping a weatherly eye on the pursuing Gary Bransgrove and Steve Bridle who held station for the 15 laps. Beyond the top three was ex endurance racer Lee Rawlings, Redmond Racing man Neil Garnham, Tom Palmer, Darren Walker, South African Nick Grobler and series regular Mark Gilbert.

Race Three

Back to the combined class format and no real surprise that it was young Sam Ludgate who wasn't hanging about leaving the opposition for dead and steadily amassing a huge lead of 45 seconds. Behind Sam it was the status quo of Gary Bransgrove and Gerrard Fallon who battled closely for the whole race ducking and diving as backmarkers began to make an impression.

Allcomers Race

A 12 lap Allcomers race finished off the weekend nicely and it marked a much deserved result for Nottingham rider Peter Dilks who took his Honda 600 to win from Suzuki 1000 mounted Steve Bridle by less than a second, Endurance man Mark Affleck finished a tenth of a second down on Bridle. Local man Ty Jones was fourth ahead of Richard Dilks and Redmond Racing Due Neil Garnham and Wayne Crossman.