BSSO 2016 #7
In the middle of the year the BSSO were faced with the cancellation of the planned Cadwell event by the organising club, but after much work behind the scenes a car event, Petrol & Pistons, rescued the race weekend. For the first time since the Donington
Thrills and spills at Croft – plus Petrol & Pistons report.
So the BSSO riders found themselves in the race paddock of a car event with lots of different things going on. There were to be six races over the Sunday – three each for geared and automatic scooters, and a very different crowd of spectators to try and impress. As soon as practice started, the scooters proved attention grabbing for an audience that had come to see some very fast cars time trialling around the Croft circuit. There was much pointing and shaking of heads as the BSSO boys scraped knees and exhausts around the fast Croft bends.
Italian Luca Zani was absent, being unable to make the trip from Italy, but Paulo Birtele was on the Casa Lambretta for the day. On the pace right from the start in the geared scooter practice was Luca Fuschini and Replay rider Darren Conneely both immediately two seconds faster than anyone else. Tom Russell on the JB Tuning Lambretta was looking strong too. The auto scooters were next up and Lee Bamber and Justin Price were turning heads going even faster than the geared scooters and were both 3.5 seconds quicker than anyone else.
So with much anticipation the first geared race was on the grid, but after a nasty crash was red flagged. Craig Robinson was the rider down, unfortunately totalling his newly-built street class machine, bending the forks and frame in the crash. As the riders lined up on the grid with the Group 6 riders at the front, Luca Fuschini immediately pulled into the garage with engine
problems leaving Mike Bonett to get the holeshot with his usual super-fast start. Being chased hard by his JB Tuning team mate Tom Russell, who was past him and into the lead by the second lap, with Italian Paulo Birtele soon getting to grips with the Lambretta being a change to his usual small frame Vespa and chasing them down. Bonett slowed with an engine issue on the third lap letting Birtele through to second.
In Group 4, Steve Conneely was again dominant and mixing it with the more powerful Group 6 machines but it was not to last and he was out on lap 3 with lost power. In the LCGB Production class, Barrie Braithwaite pulled out an unusual lead in the ultra-competitive class from James Lancaster in second and Zak Tingle in third place returning for the first time after breaking his wrist early in the season. Tim Simpson was having a good race, getting in front of local rider Stephen Hamilton. In a superb fifth place was brand new rider Josh Foreman who was racing a Lambretta for the very first time at this event. At the chequered flag it was a very popular win for Tom Russell as his season gets better and better. Birtele second and Bonett taking third from Stewart Mackenzie on his Vespa who had a superb race passing Darren Conneely on the last lap. In Group 4, it was SRP’s Chris Geyton picking up the honours after Steve Conneely was forced out. Unfortunately there was a list of nonfinishers led by Damon Tunnicliffe who has had little luck this year, Darren Westgarth was out after a trip into the gravel, and Steve Wright and Dave Bristowe both had issues to force them out.
Next up was the first automatic race with the Group 6a riders at the front. Lee Bamber looked untouchable, building a big lead of almost 10 seconds from Justin Price, with DKS rider Scott Chapman settling into a solid third place. Behind them Gary Peacock, Steve Wright and Ryan Clipstone were all having a really close race, swapping positions. In Group 10 Stephen Graves built a lead from Dave Delaney. Then on the last bend of the last lap there was drama with race leader Bamber suffering a drive issue with around 300 yards to go. Justin Price went past, then Chapman, then Peacock… Lee was left running with his broken scooter to get to the line eventually making it over in sixth place overall.
After a break to see some car racing it was time for the second set of races. In the geared scooters, Mike Bonett had stripped his engine after race one and found a cracked piston to be the cause of his slowing engine. So with new parts fitted he was back on the grid along with Italian Fuschini who took an early lead before being forced out again with mechanical issues, leaving fellow Italian Birtele to take the lead and start to build a gap from Mike Bonett. After his first race glory unfortunately Russell was also out on lap 4 with a burnt out clutch.
In Group 4, Steve Conneely had solved his first race issue and was riding brilliantly to build another dominant lead and right at the sharp end mixing it with the Group 6 bikes and building a 24 second gap to Dave Bristowe who had also solved his earlier issues and had a race long battle with Chris Geyton. Darren Westgarth put his first race crash behind him and had a solid race to finish fourth in Group 4
In Group 6 the usual contenders at the front are being chased by a set of riders who are having some great races of their own. Veteran racer Doug Turner has an extremely fast scooter which regularly appears around the top of the speed trap list, and multiple champion Stuart Day is always in there fighting for places. Mark Cook goes from strength to strength with a new more powerful Replay engine for this year and his lap times are dropping each time out.
LCGB Production class saw locals Barrie Braithwaite and Stephen Hamilton taking first and second, pushing each other on to pull away from third place James Lancaster. Josh Foreman took another fifth place at his first race weekend, proving he will definitely be one to watch for the future. He finished half way up the new class.
The second auto race saw a terrific opening couple of laps from Scott
Chapman who managed to just stay in front of Justin Price before a reed valve bolt came adrift and went through his engine, destroying much of it in the process! Gary Peacock has been developing his scooter during the year and that work was really showing in this race as he set about reeling in Price and closed a gap of almost 10 seconds down to under three seconds by the last lap, but just behind them was Steve Wright who was having probably his best race of the year aboard the PSN Gilera to take a wellearned third place just ahead of Ryan Clipstone. In Group 10, Dave Delaney had an engine failure leaving Stephen Graves free to chase down the bigger cc autos which he did very well. Damon Tunnicliffe had a rare outing on a Group 6a auto but unfortunately his luck was out and he didn't finish which sadly is the story of his season so far.
After a slight delay the third race of the day for the geared scooters was on track. In Group 6, Luca Fuschini was back on the grid after work on his engine and took an early lead from Mike Bonett and Darren Conneely but they were being chased hard by Tom Russell and the Group 4 scooter of Steve Conneely. After edging out a three second lead and setting fastest lap Fuschini’s luck ran out again and he suffered another DNF – gifting the lead to Mike Bonett but Paulo Birtele was on his way through the field and by the last lap he’d taken the lead to keep the Casa honour. Bonett and Russell took the podium places to make it a Casa/JB podium. Across the line Steve Conneely was right in among the Group 6 scooters with a fourth place overall in front of Stuart Day and Doug Turner. Bringing up the Group 4 class, Chris Geyton and Daz Westgarth had a race-long battle with Geyton edging it over the line to take second in class.
In the LCGB class it was again birthday boy Barrie Braithwaite taking a very hard fought win from Stephen Hamilton as they again pushed each other onto a larger than usual gap in the class from third place James Lancaster. The LCGB Production class provided some great racing behind its leading trio as new riders continue to find their feet in the new class and again Josh Foreman was impressive with another fifth place behind Zak Tingle. Last scooter race of the day saw the autos back on track but unfortunately without Scott Chapman who was unable to repair his smashed engine in the time available, but Lee Bamber had managed to fix his issue from race one which turned out to be broken primary drive. Off the line it was Justin Price again in the lead but Bamber snapped at his heels edging past on the third lap before managing to build a 2.6 second lead by the flag. Warren Wilkinson had great straight line speed; he couldn’t reel in the leading two but managed to edge in front of Gary Peacock and Steve Wright. Finally, Damon Tunnicliffe found some luck and finished a race on the Jahspeed auto to bring a smile to his face. In Group 10, Dave Delaney was unable to repair his engine after race 2 so Stephen Graves was left to take a clean sweep in the class for the weekend. With just one meeting to go it’s set to be a firecracker at Cadwell Park for the final and deciding round with all classes still up for grabs. Expect some fierce racing ahead. For up-to-date standings visit www.scooterracing.org.uk