Champion campaign Ratcliff joy as he takes North Glos Club title
WHITMINSTER motorcycle racer Dean Ratcliff is celebrating after becoming champion in his class in the North Glos Road Racing Club’s 2023 season.
Ratcliff was competing in the pre2001 600cc veterans class, designed to provide affordable and enjoyable racing for more ‘mature’ riders on earlier machinery.
The season opened at Brands Hatch in March and for Ratcliff it began with a bang, in more ways than one.
After qualifying at the front of his class for the first of three races, he went on to take his first win of the season by more than five seconds. However, during practice the following morning everything went wrong.
“The session was wet and unfortunately I got caught out at Clearways” said Ratcliff. “This resulted in a fractured and dislocated shoulder. Big thanks to the marshals and medics who scooped me and the bike up.”
With the next three rounds at Castle Combe less than a month away he faced a battle to be fit enough in time: “I thought really hard about racing as I was still in a lot of pain with restricted movement.
“However, after some painkillers, heavy strapping and a big dose of adrenalin, we went for it and I was pleasantly surprised with the results! It turned out to be a cracking weekend with family and friends”
Two second places and a win resulted and left Ratcliff with a good haul of points towards the championship.
Three weeks later in May the championship moved to Donington Park and a highly successful weekend it was but not without some tribulations along the way.
Ratcliff said: “I was still really struggling with my shoulder and the strapping was making it difficult to position myself on the bike for cornering. This caused the exhaust to ground out on right handers making sparks fly and there were a few close high-sides that I was lucky to get away with. I had to get some fast laps early on as I knew I would struggle later in the race.”
Ratcliff’s efforts were well rewarded with a trio of wins to keep him in contention for the championship.
In June the series moved to the old WW2 Spitfire base at Pembrey in South Wales where two more wins and a second place resulted.
“Things didn’t come easy as I was still having trouble with my shoulder” said Ratcliff. “Also, I didn’t hear the last call for the final race so I had to start at the back of the grid in 32nd place. To say I was mad with myself is an understatement but after some bold and sketchy moves I was able to get up to second place by the end of the race!”
The championship returned to Castle Combe in July and while Ratcliff was understandably cautious in the wet conditions, two more wins and a second place had given him a substantial but not yet decisive lead in the title race.
It was back to Wales in August for the next round at the picturesque Anglesey circuit but the weather intervened in spectacular fashion.
Ratcliff said: “The Friday test session went well but then storm Betty arrived and literally blew the paddock to bits, so Saturday’s racing was cancelled for safety reasons. Conditions were better on Sunday and it went great with two more wins. I left Anglesey 83 points ahead so the championship was in the bag with one round remaining”.
This meant that Ratcliff could go into the final triple header at Cadwell Park with no pressure.
He said: “This was probably the most enjoyable round of the season. The weather was great, packed grids and some elbows out close racing.”
The results were academic at that point but he still came away from the meeting with a second and two third places.
Summing up the season, Ratcliff said: “This year has been a blast and I never thought the championship win was possible after the injury at the beginning of the season but a combination of painkillers, perseverance and the help of Sue Hunt LSSM paid off!
I also want to give massive thanks to family, friends and Roadrunner Motorcycles of Stroud for their continued support. I’m looking forward to 2024 already.”