Ben stays in top gear for Trophy
BEN Dale lifted the Curtis Milner Trophy at the second round of the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club’s championship.
The Trophy is in memory of a young Darley Moor racer who lost his life in a road accident and is decided over the second Formula 600 races from rounds one and two.
After recording a seventh place in the second race at round one, Dale (Warrington) was in determined mood, opening the latest weekend’s tally with a third place in the Non-championship Allcomers2 race, behind winner Adrian Kershaw (Stockport) and Matthew Bell (Sheffield).
He then recorded two startto-finish victories in the Formula 600 class, taking both races by around eight seconds, to secure the Curtis Milner Trophy.
Behind Dale, David Carson (Northwich) was able to keep ahead of James Ford (High Peak) to take second place in race one with a two-second advantage.
Race two saw Carson again trailing Dale in second place but, after finishing the opening lap in fourth, Albert Walker (Retford) was chasing him down.
By lap four, Walker was on Carson’s tail and able to pass him on the next circuit.
The battle between the pair then lasted for the remaining five laps, Carson finishing 0.3 seconds behind for third.
Prior to the Formula 600 outings Walker and Carson were battling it out in the opening race of the day, the non-championship Allcomers1 (up to 650cc).
Walker led for the opening laps before failing to finish lap three and handing the race lead to Carson, who went on to take the win by over 20 seconds.
Carson was also out in both combined 700cc Twin/lightweight races, taking a start-tofinish victory in the first, winning by over 13 seconds.
Then, after a battle with Josh Froggatt (Worksop) in the opening laps of the second race, he went onto to claim his third victory of the day by over seven seconds.
The first Lightweight machine over the line recorded overall third place in both races but the honour was shared between Andy Whale (Birmingham) and Peter Fell (Burton upon Trent).
Kershaw also lined up on the grid in the combined Open Solo and Pre-injection Open races, with Mark Goodings (Doncaster) and the pair certainly ensured the crowd were entertained, sharing a win and second place apiece.
Two race-long battles saw Kershaw take the first win by less than 0.5 seconds, the second went to Goodings by the same margin.
Adam Walters (Derby) was the first Pre-injection machine home each time, securing fifth in the first and fourth in the second race.
The closest finish of the day came in the opening pre-electronic 600 race, Joe Yeardsley (Isle of Man) winning by 0.03 seconds ahead of Stuart Bradbury (Belper).