BSSO 2024 Round 2 : Lydden Hill, April 20/21
With the second meeting following on quite quickly from Round 1, there already seems a momentum building for the season.
The first of two visits this season to the spectator-friendly Lydden Hill Circuit saw the weather being very cold, some sun and inevitably some rain just to make things awkward for riders! There was a bit of everything after an initial delay to the first scooter race after oil was laid pretty much all around the circuit. This led to a lot of lost time, with track officials having to emergency clean things; which was a little bizarre as the same thing happened at the first round!
As usual, first up was the Standards grid with Production Class. The expected battle between Steve Wright and Nikita Donoghue didn’t look like it would initially happen as a carb issue meant Nikita didn’t set a qualifying time and was to start at the back of the grid. However, as we all know, Nikita is made of sterner stuff and that wasn’t going to last. All fired up, she was soon towards the sharp end, although naturally the passes got harder the closer she got to the front. But in every race she managed to repeat the feat, ending the weekend with a clean sweep of four wins which was pretty incredible from the back of the grid.
Of course Steve Wright didn’t make it easy, and fought hard the whole time.
DTC Reparto Corse rider Damon Yates is getting to grips with the different Production Class riding technique and improved the whole weekend to finish with a pair of third places on Sunday to show for his efforts. Gary Smyth once again had a great weekend and is becoming a force to be reckoned with. Hornet Vespa rider Harry Smith also had a great solid weekend scoring good points, although team-mate Ben Readings aboard the only Lambretta Hornet had a slightly uncharacteristic off-the-pace weekend. Shane Hunsdale recovered from a gravel trip on Saturday to end the weekend with a solid set of finishes.
Production Class is looking like a battle between Nikita Donoghue and Steve Wright, but although on paper it’s a Donoghue whitewash, Wright is a fighter and certainly won’t be giving up.
Over in Class 4E, DSC’s Graham Tatton was totally on it right from the first lap of practice and took a clean sweep of wins in a very dominant show. Tatton has that super-smooth and fast style that no one had an answer for this weekend. Although, Hornet Racing boss man Dave Bristow was back on his smallframe and looked pretty fast as his ‘demented spider’ style powered him to three second places and a third in his first outing of the year. DTC Reparto Corse’s Jimi McNally was at the sharp end, fighting as always on the extremely well-prepared DTC machine, with a trio of third places and a second to finish the weekend. The ever-cheerful Brook Northey is really on it this year, dragging a P Range Vespa around astonishingly fast and is really thinking about his riding this year in a controlled way to hassle the Lambrettas!
SRP rider Jer Crew was a welcome sight back on the grid and had some great
midfield battles along with Simon Palmer.
Group 4E had the very welcome sight of the 14-year-old George Fielder in his rookie season. It’s fantastic to see one of the youngest geared scooter rookies ever taking to the track and despite finding a nemesis in Paddock Bend which put him in the gravel three times (!) he finally finished his first proper race, much to the delight of spectators and race control. Scooter racing definitely beats PlayStations!
Group 10 autos had just two entrants but Ryan Clipstone was well to the front overall, despite giving away 100cc. Welcomed back to the track after some time away was Danny ‘Elvis’ Loader, finding his feet again but wishing he had more power.
The Super Scooters grid provided the biggest excitement of the weekend with some absolutely incredible racing between the two group 6A auto riders Nikita Donoghue and Ryan Clipstone, both on Chiselspeed specials. Nikita took the first three wins relatively untroubled, but damp conditions for the final race of the weekend saw both riders bringing their motocross skills to the fore as they slipped and slid their way with virtually nothing between them the whole race. It was heart-in-the-mouth stuff for both their families as they passed and re-passed each other, side by side through bends, almost touching, both almost coming to grief with foot-down conditions. It looked like Ryan had just done enough but on the last lap Nikita came back at him and in a super-close finish snatched the win to take one of the very best races in recent years. Certainly no team orders in play! The win secured a clean sweep for Nikita, making it eight wins over the weekend; incredible stuff.
In the Group 6 Geared class there were three winners over the weekend, throwing the class wide open. Graham Tatton took the first win but then hit engine and exhaust problems on his bike, paving the way for the ever-spectacular John the Greek to take two wins on the Hornet ‘Monster’ Group 6 Vespa. In the first Sunday race both Tatton and John the Greek suffered engine issues, leaving Jer Crew to take his first ever Group 6 win, much to his delight. Dave Bristow and Harry Smith were best of the rest with their smallframe specials, with Smith coming out of the weekend with two very competitive third places.
Overall Round 2 of the BSSO season was super entertaining with some great races; a new winner, clean sweeps, super-close racing between team-mates and a teenager racing. What a start to the first quarter of the championship!
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A new winner, clean sweeps, super-close racing between team-mates and a teenager racing. What a start to the first quarter of the championship!
Words and images: Paul Green