Moor the merrier!
THE Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club’s new season got off to a fine start at the weekend with 12 different winners in 22 races played out in the dry and with the sun shining.
Former world champion sidecar duo the Birchall brothers, Ben and Tom, from Mansfield, used the meeting for their annual extended “test session”, claiming no championship points, on their F600 machine.
Their opening race saw them win by more than 13 seconds, although two Darley Moor regular crews, Bruce Moore/amy Dodd and Steve Thomas/danny Lewis, did have the pleasure of leading them for a short while.
Thomas and Lewis finished second in the first race of the Open Sidecar class but when the Birchalls failed to complete the opening lap in the second race, the Formula 600 outfit of Chris Schofield/shane Colbrook claimed a start to finish win.
Multiple Stars at Darley winner Richard Cooper (Hucknall) had three different machines on hand for the weekend: Suzuki 1000, 600 and Honda CB500.
In the second race of the day, the non-championship Allcomers 2 race, for machines up to 1300cc, Josh Daley (Wigan) took a start–finish victory, 6.5s ahead of Cooper.
Cooper was back out again in the first Championship race of the day, with two separate classes lining up on the grid together, Honda CB500S and Classic machines up to 500cc.
Cooper and good friend Daz Bellworthy (Derby), on CB500S, plus Rob Hodson (Wigan) on a Classic machine, battled it out at the head of the field throughout the six-lap race, Cooper leading the trio over the line separated by half a second, with Hodson second.
Cooper added a slightly more comfortable win in the second race over eight laps, although he had to work his way back from ninth on the first lap to do it.
His third machine came out for the Formula 600 races and he enjoyed two start–finish wins.
David Carson and Albert Walker were involved in a battle at the head of the field in the Allcomers 1, up to 650cc Twins, race, which started with Walker leading for the first three laps, then Hod
son led for two laps, with Carson third. Walker hit the front again on lap six, while Carson moved into second on lap eight and into the lead on the last lap, hanging on to win.
The Carson/walker battle continued in the 700cc Twins races. The first saw Carson take a start-finish victory, with Walker second.
Carson adeed a second win, with Walker failing to finish and Jim Barnett (Stafford) taking second, albeit 35s behind.
The Forgotten Era class, now split from the Classic machines, had a close battle at the head of the field throughout the first race between David Bradley (Matlock) and Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield).
Brailsford led narrowly for most of the first race but Bradley made his move on the final lap to win by 0.54s.
The second encounter saw Brailsford take a start-finish victory with Bradley not able to get any closer than a second away.
Mark Goodings (Doncaster) and Josh Daley (Wigan) shared a win apiece in the combined Open Solo/pre-injection Open races.
In the first, Goodings hit the front on lap two, with Daley fifth, but after recording the fastest lap on lap five, he had moved up into second.
Goodings was quickest off the line in the second encounter but Daley got past him and won it by a second.
Pre-injection honours went to Adam Walters (Derby) who finished sixth and seventh overall in the two races.
Andy Whale (Birmingham) had to battle for both victories in the Lightweight class with Lewis Jones (Clipstone), who took second twice.
The first race saw Jones lead for four laps, until Whale found a way past on the penultimate lap and won by 1.1s.
Race two saw Jones at the front until four of eight, then Whale found a way past again and won by the slightly larger margin of 1.6s.
Stuart Bradbury (Belper) recorded start–finish victories in the pre-electronic 600 class, taking the first by almost 14s and the second by more 20s.
In addition to the regular club championships this opening round played host to the ACU 50cc Championship and Owen Monaghan (Ilkeston) secured two victories, the first with a winning margin of 5.3s over Philip Atkinson (Horley), with Luis Murphy (Warrington) a further 4s behind.
The second race was much closer between the trio, Monaghan taking the win from Murphy with Atkinson third.
This opening round always brings several competitors in who wish to ensure their machines are ready for the full season of national or international racing but it also gives those new to the sport their first taste of track action.
Round Two is on Sunday May 15. Ticket details: www. darleymoorstore.co.uk/