We sent Ben to play with the kids… and get his arse kicked.
Loads of top racers are spending their weekends racing in the British Mini Bike Championship these days, so to find out what all the fuss is about we sent Ben to get the lowdown.
It was a tough decision to make but when the opportunity arose to go pull some skids, have a laugh, get my elbows out and go racing again, I hastily rejected my invite to the royal wedding – sorry Harry and Megs, your prezzie is in the post. My weekend's playground was nestled in the Northamptonshire countryside with Whilton Mill hosting round three of the British Mini Bike Championship and I was chompin' at the bit to see what all the fuss was about. With all 860m of this sweet little kart track linked together with a varied medley of tight hairpin turns and flat-stick, close your eyes and hope for the best shenanigans, if in doubt, flat out! Upon arrival at the circuit I was greeted by a somewhat energetic loon, leaping and bounding about like an over-excited puppy. Said chap was Matt Pierce, BMB marketing manager and racer. If the rest of the paddock was this friendly and welcoming then was clearly going to be a good place to spend a weekend.
Heading over to sign on for the weekends frolics, the first thing that stuck me was the surprising ratio of adults outweighing nippers by what seemed like a hefty number. Secondly, as my peepers panned the crammed room, I spotted a few familiar faces from the BSB paddock. It was at that point I knew I was in for a proper whuppin'! With the likes of Richard Cooper, Kyle Ryde, Lee Jackson, Brad Ray, Dan Linfoot and Storm Stacey to name drop a few, it's fair to say that was clear from the off how popular and highly respected this championship is.
BMB has been continuously gaining traction since it was established, and with a couple of hundred regular riders rocking up for the 10 rounds the championship has to offer, it got me wondering what the appeal is. From my previous experience and time in various big-bike racing paddocks, there are usually two words that don't bode well together when they are in the same sentence – ‘affordable' and ‘racing'. Simply put, big bike racing is an absolute dosh pit and unless you have uber deep pockets, that financial barrier is more often than not for most a bridge too far. Thankfully, BMB does offer affordability, there are no licence requirements and a full race weekend entry fee that sets you back £95 provides you with five 10-minute practice sessions on the Saturday, one quali to determine your grid position and two races on the Sunday.
For those that are a bit whipped (not that any of us will swallow our pride and admit it) and have to spend their Saturdays playing personal shopping assistant for their other halves then you can opt to skip day one and partake in just the race day carnage, which weighs in at a meagre £55, with the option to throw in an additional class entry (if your bike meets the regs) for £25 – a no-brainier! The class I was entered into was the South Coast Honda Superminis Ultimate/SM Open, which allows any Supermoto-style mini bike under 88cm seat height, running either a Honda CRF 150 engine with a maximum displacement of 180cc or a single cylinder two-stroke with a maximum capacity of 110cc and on 12in wheels. Other than that, you can do as you please or as you can rightly afford!
There's a minimum age of 14 for this particular class, which was good news, as I was a little concerned I'd be riding against younger sprogs, meaning I'd be faced with the prospect of riling some over-protective parents with my less empathetic approach to diving down the inside, which may result in fisticuffs in the paddock.
The introduction of this class whereby the competitors can invest in what we would deem a ‘proper bit of kit' over the cheaper, budget – but equally as fun – Chinese pit bikes, has helped to elevate the profile of the championship. They may be a more expensive option to purchase, however these reputable little Hondas offer improved reliability and prove to be more tunable.
Full factory
With my tail between my legs I set off to find my mini steed for the upcoming practice session. Luckily for me, I didn't have to look too hard, as South Coast Honda Racing (the team running me for the weekend) had a wagon that was all liveried-up and looking the part with two Honda CRF 150Rs alongside a two-zinger CR 85R. These MX bikes, which you'd usually see wazzin' round a dirt track by schoolboy motocross lads, look properly trick shod with 12in slicks and blingy anodised goodies here and there.
South Coast Honda's supported rider and 2017 championship runner-up, Dayne Kent Blackburn's set of wheels strikes me straight away as being something else entirely. Never before has a measly 150cc ever looked more boisterously enjoyable and it's clear to see just how seriously some of these lads take it with kit like this. It's obvious that Dayne has spared no expense on his bike that he hopes will take him to a championship win in 2018.
There's no denying that this is no ordinary CRF 150R – there's a trick-looking four-pot, radially mounted Discacciati uprated caliper coupled with a Moto-Master master cylinder for improved braking performance. There's some fancy anodised, adjustable triple clamps gripping reworked stock forks, with the rear shock also being given the once over and sprung to suit.
The engine has been blueprinted from the cases up and a blingy AaSa cylinder head running a Hotcam camshaft, high compression piston and a full Nova gearbox complete the powerhouse. It doesn't stop there though, as there's a Vortex ECU with adjustable map switch and an Aim Solo GPS data logger quickshifter. The list goes on but you get the gist, and with a value of around £15k, this sort of ride doesn't come cheap.
South Coast Honda, based in Chichester, West Sussex, is owned and run by Rob Booth, who was also joining in on the weekend's antics onboard the two-stroke, CR 85R. Rob is a national level MX racer, so he is pretty handy on the dirty stuff and I'm sure that his familiarity with the motocross machines will make the transition to Tarmac all the easier.
Both Rob's buzzy little 85cc and my 150cc thumper are standard bikes that have been adapted from MX to SM. Companies like Gloucester Bike Specialist Ltd stock conversion kits ready to bolt onto your ride for £520 comprising 12in wheels, tyres (compound of your choice), wheel spacers, rear wheel bearings, front and rear brake discs, catch tray, hand guards, crash bobbin set and a talon rear sprocket of your choice. Or if you're feeling flush, then for an extra £170 – which will hardly bust the bank – gets you K-Tech fork and shock springs to upgrade the standard pogos.
You can pick up a clean, ready-to-race CRF for around £2-2.5k or if you like things all shiny and new, Honda are currently offering 0% credit on the £3999 cost spread over 24 months, which will leave you having to swap over the supermoto goodies to get it track-ready – a tempting proposition for sure.
Having been introduced to the lads and lasses in the team, it was time to familiarise myself with my miniature moto. Being a virgin to these vicious wee steeds, I was beginning to feel a slight surge of unease as I faced the reality of making a complete twat of myself. However, after cockin' a leg over, I was initially surprised that all didn't feel quite so small and, after a few adjustments and tinkering of the levers, I began to feel surprisingly at home.
Before long it was time to don the leathers and kick-start the little thumper to life for the first of my practice sessions. Pulling out of the pit lane for the first time I was anticipating a surge of power that didn't come and my first impression was that it felt a bit flat. Tipping into the first turn saw me having to correct my line several times – I was taken back by just how eagerly this thing wanted to fall on its ear. After a couple of wobbly laps I was beginning to get an idea of what to do, where I needed to be and how I needed to adapt to riding these mini motards and it wasn't long before I was picking my way through the pack and gaining confidence in the process.
All in all, it was a positive first session, I hadn't killed myself nor maimed anyone else in the process, I hadn't tossed the bike at the scenery and I had learnt which way the track went so I was buzzin' for the second session of the day.
After a natter with the lads in the paddock, I was told that a 54 to 53sec lap is a respectable time at this technical little track. Having that etched into the back of my mind for the next run gave me a boot up the jacksy and something to aim for. If I can get down to that time for my first foray into this mini bike malarkey and at a track that I've never seen, then I'd be happy with that.
Spinning
When the time came to spin some laps, I couldn't wait, and after a couple of circulations of the black stuff it was time to crack on. Straight away I felt more comfortable having got a feel for things in the first session and knowing what to expect. However, it wasn't long before I began to find the limits of the stock bike, with the front end in particular giving me warnings of impending disaster on several sections of track but, worse of all, through the fast and final right-hander leading on to the start/finish straight whereby on every lap the front would try to tuck, leaving me to desperately dig my knee in and get the thing stood up as soon as the apex would allow.
That aside, at this point I was beginning to understand the appeal. Big bike racing may be more exhilarating, but this discipline is as fun – if not more fun – and at a fraction of the cost. There's also the reassurance that if (or inevitably when) you do spank it, you won't need to remortgage the house to put the bike back together. Take a tumble on these things, you scrape up some plastics, wreck some bungs or bend a set of bars, and a few quid later you're out in the next session. I recall, back in my racing days where self-funding a sport could see you spunk as much money on a season's racing as it would cost to buy a small house up north, carrying with it the worry that if you did lob it, then you had to find the dollar to put it right. Even a small off on a big bike can cost upwards of a grand by the time you've replaced fairings, sprayed 'em up, chucked some new levers and bars on, and that concern can be enough to hold you back by a few per cent, which can translate into the difference between winning races and finishing off the podium.
Talking about lobbing it – lob it I did. Impatience got the better of me when trying to find a way past a rider of similar pace meaning I was scrabbling about, altering my lines to allow me to get back on full throttle at the earliest opportunity to get a better run out and make a pass on the brakes going into the next turn. That, combined with already pushing the front, meant that when I ran a little too much inside kerb the front washed out before I had time to react. With nothing more than a bruised ego and a bent handlebar, it made me start to think a little more about setup to try to improve front end grip. A few tweaks here and there I finished the day bagging a 0:53.6, which meant I was on for a good one come race day!
Learning from the best
That evening, BSB fast man Richard Cooper took the time to walk the track with a group of eager juniors who wanted to benefit from the Cooperman's wealth of knowledge. It's supporting the next generation of motorcycle racers in this way that is the key to nurturing talent to give them the best possible start in their careers and in my opinion, up until now this is something that has been lacking in our sport. Where else can you or your sprogs race on a shoestring budget, benefit from pro riders' knowledge and develop racecraft among some of the fastest guys our domestic Superbike championship has to offer?
The Sunday morning's proceedings were held up with a nasty crash during one of the warm-up sessions in which a rider smashed himself up pretty badly, which sent a sobering warning that although these are small bikes, the dangers are still very real.
With a hefty entry list, our class was divided into A and B groups, with group A the faster of the two. I'd spent the practice day learning the ropes in the B half and aiming to be able to break into the faster group for the races – even if it would mean I'd be running around at the back while the BSB lads duelled it out up front.
Qualifying saw me scrape through to the A race, which I was dead chuffed about but when team-mate Dayne suffered an engine failure, having thrown a rod through the casing, I told him to take the engine from my ride and plonk it in his chassis – at least that way he'd have his setup, even if it was at the detriment of power – allowing him the opportunity to bag some all-important championship points. Just when I thought my weekend was over, team owner Rob pointed to his CR 85 and told me that I'd be racing on that little zinger!
Let's just say that the races were interesting to say the least! Having to adapt to the two-stroke in a race situation and on a different circuit layout – which I wasn't aware of until the first lap – was nothing short of challenging. I hadn't ridden a two-stroke for the best part of a decade, so it felt a little alien and, if I'm honest, bloody hard work.
Having to rinse the gearbox trying desperately to keep the revs in the sweet-spot and just where they need to be left no time to catch a breath. I managed to make up a few places in the first few corners in both races but as soon as the track opened up onto faster sections, the measly little 85cc was left in the wake of the more adequate 150s. I crossed the line in both races in last position but I can honestly say that finishing last has never been such a hoot.
Have you ever fancied a crack at racing yourself? Or maybe you have a little one that you'd like to introduce to the wonderful world of two wheels? If so, then I'd bet that in most cases a lack of reddies would be the main reason for not taking the plunge.
Well, with the British Mini Bike Championship offering 10 classes and catering for the little 'uns in the Junior SM90 (Bambino) class from six years of age, right through to the Veterans class, which is open to coffin dodgers (40+), there really is something for everyone of any ability and at almost any budget.
Now I hear some of you super macho masculinos saying “get yourself a proper bike” or “they don't go fast enough”. Well, you wouldn't be too far wrong, but don't knock it till you've tried it.