Hottrax Motorsport Racing Club Motorcycle Endurance Championship
words and photos by Alfonso Lygo

National 3 hours

There were a number of causalities from Friday testing which saw at least half a dozen teams or riders bumped from the weekend's programme. Unfortunately for the National class this included TrackCRAFT Race Tuition (Mark Linscott/Mike Dickinson) when Mark found his shoulder not fully up to managing the ex Hydrex Firebalde. The quality of the field was still high and there were no real favourites for the race, despite 2009 champs and winners at the opening round, Sweatshop Racing, being absent, this round had attracted a number of national runners looking for extra track time before the BSB round at the end of May. Pete Clifford's Actiforce Racing (Joe Dickinson/Anthony Hayward) took pole from M and C (Paul Crowe/Liam Marchant) with regulars Graphic UK (Matt Layt/Dean Skipper) third - National man Layt subbing for Basil Bannayi who was feeling under the weather. Another pair of new blends at Cadwell was AP Kawasaki (Matt Bilton/Freddie Russo) & Wainwright Hoyle (Matt Hoyle/Josh Wainwright). Of the other teams committed to the whole series TM72 (Andy McKnight/Jonty Dixon), so close to a win at Snetterton, were sixth fastest in qualifying over a second sharper than Tango J Crash (Bongo Blundell/Ryan Myler).

When it mattered at the race start Actiforce, M & C, Wainwright Hoyle and AP Kawasaki were all over the front of the field as if it were a 10 lap sprint race. Taking it to the visitors was Graphic UK, Ducks Cross (Grant Wagstaff/Martin Landmann) and Tango and Crash before the safety car was deployed. That sorted the race positions at the 30 minute mark which were Actiforce sharing the same lap with AP but a lap ahead of Graphics, Ducks X, Wainright Hoyle, T & C, 1491 Endurance (Andy Pulling/Ian Cooper) and 2nd at Snetterton TM72. With the race gaining pace and rhythm the green flags were shown until just before the one hour mark when Tango's Ryan Myler fell heavily at Charlies depositing fuel and oil from the hapless Honda 600, it took a while whilst the track was cleaned and the bikes sat on the grid in parc ferme. At this stage AP and Actiforce were a lap in front of Graphics, Wainrights, Ducks X, TM72, Profibre featuring Michelin winner Ady Alsopp replacing Richard Durber, fatblokeracerwear.com and the Pit Stop Racing brothers - Peter and Mark Dilks.

The restart saw us quickly loose leaders AP Kawasaki after Matt Bilton crashed out, the transponder was collected but dumped them down the leader board to last position joining Tango with only one machine working. This promoted Actiforce into top spot a full two circuits ahead of Graphics from Wainright Hoyle, TM72; M & C where having a mare as a dud fuse caused problems and lost valuable time tipping them down the order despite some aggressive riding by Marchant and Crowe. A further lap adrift we had 1491, fatblokes, Pit Stop, Louth Bikes (Perry Cooper/Ralph Naden), Ducks X and Speed 'n Spares (Dave Etherington/Richard Walker). It’s worth noting that out of the whole field there were only a trio of litre teams and they were currently lying in second, fourth and fifth places.

During the final hour all was close with many teams on the same laps as their class rivals and all to play for on the road; Actiforce were on top by two laps with Graphics in second then TM72 and Wainright Hoyle racing on the road, a situation not helped by a less than tidy pit stop by the Throttlemonkeys allowing WH to leap frog into a handy third spot, albeit in a separate class. The end of the race beat the circuit curfew time after what had been a close and eventful duel resulting in a win for the 600 team Actiforce, two laps down were top 1000 crew Graphic UK a lap ahead of Wainright Hoyle, on the same lap as fourth spot TM72. Fatblokeracewear.com, 1491 and Ducks X all finished 3 laps down on the leaders in front of Pit Stop Racing, Speed n Spares and Louth Bikes. Early front runners M & C gained a place in the dying moments from Cross Ducks Racing ahead of A & G, Roundall Racing, and Spark Endurance. Bringing up the rear were teams that could have had better days; Profibre, Tango and Crash - they did and former race leaders AP Kawasaki whose second bike went AWOL before the end of the race.

Fastest Laps
1000         M and C Racing                        1m 34.078s
600            Actiforce                                    1m 31.595s
　
Junior Endurance - 3 hours

The two Junior qualifying sessions were held in chilly but improving conditions after a wretched morning on the Saturday. With no dramas it was newcomers and local based Ringsting Racing (Dave Sellers/Dean Martin) who earned pole by a substantial margin from BLDS Couriers (Bill Lilly/George Harvey), Av-It Racing (Andy Carpenter/Marcus Langford) with TM17 (Gary Buck/Ash Rothwell) and DNA Racing (Dan Jennings/Adam Parsons) not far away. After a dry lunch break the wet stuff made a hasty reappearance for the start of the race before conditions thankfully starting to dry out for the rest of the day. Ringsting led for the opening half dozen laps chased by Banzai Racing (Rupert Thompson/Ben Jenkins), Av-It, TM17, Old & Bold (Paul Burbage/Richard Lloyd) and Terry Thomas (Marc Broi/James Shervell). The drying track caused a rash of tyre changes, after only a handful of laps, with teams being shod with slicks through to full wets and all now convinced the track had produced a dry line and slicks were the order of the day. First time racers Pirate Racing V2 (Emma Hodges/Paul Whiteman) had early dramas as Whiteman was forced off at Charlies damaging the bike, the transponder was recovered and Emma started her first ever race a tad earlier than expected. The race was red flagged after 12 laps after a rider high sided at Barn causing a lengthy delay whilst machine and rider were safely recovered. At the restart the snake of riders took a while to get into their rhythm but at half distance leading 600 crew; DNA were 8 seconds ahead of Ducati powered No Limits Racing (Arron Bird/Derek Saunders) with BLDS in third spot. Banzai were fourth, neck and neck with TM17 who were three thousands of a second ahead of pole people Ringsting. No less than 16 teams shared the leading lap.

Around the two hour mark JR Racing #999 (Mark Roxbrough/John Burr) earned themselves a significant stop/go penalty at the end of pit lane for a technical infringement, whilst ASBO's Carl Hodgkins crashed as he entered the pit lane as he was so enthusiastic to come in. Banzai had rocketed themselves into a slender lead at this stage ahead of leading 600 BLDS with TM17, DNA and Old and Bold all still sharing the same lap and only separated by seconds. The pace car made an appearance with 37 minutes left as local team Louth Bikes (Stephen Bullas/Richard Hough) and GT Racing (Keith Tribe/Sam Smeeton) who went down at Chris Curve, the local Louth boys collected their transponder to send out the second bike whilst the green Kawasaki made it back to the pits.

In the closing thirty minutes TM17 led on the road from Banzai, Old and Bold, Av-It, top 600 team BLDS a bit ahead of police liveried JR Racing with Sherwood Suzuki (Carl Dodwell/Sean Everett), LA Stone (Tony Hathaway/Tim Howard), DNA and the flying ASBOs - all still on the same lap and many within sight of the next rider up! At the same time race control realised that JR Racing had been given the penalty erroneously and they would be credited with the missing 49 seconds at the end of the race.

So, at the drop of the flag in darkening conditions it was bike number 999 (JR Racing) that were credited with the win just over a second quicker than winner on the road TM17, Banzai were on the last step of the podium ahead of Old and Bold, Av-It, BLDS Couriers, Sherwood Suzuki, LA Stone Racing, DNA, ASBO (Darren Walker/Carl Hodgkins) and local crew Ringsting Racing.

As for the 600 class; throughout the race the leading 600 outfits had taken the fight to the bigger machines on the road, after the red flag period DNA led the race overall ahead of nearest class rivals, BLDS, Ringsting, LA Stone, MC Racing (David Booking/Jason McKinnon) and Snug Racing (Keith Dickie/Dave Roberts) all on the same lap with eventual class winners 9th in class. At two thirds distance BLDS were class leaders, and second on the road, 8 seconds ahead of DNA but a lap up on LA Stone, Ringsting, MC and Snug with JR down in 11th spot. In the closing stages of the race DNA were class leaders and only 5 seconds ahead of BLDS who were seven and eight seconds ahead of the blue Ducatis of LA Stone and the punished JR Racing and JR Racing were ‘on a charge’ up to 4th in class. This obviously changed when the results were corrected at the end when we saw JR Racing as the top 600 team as well as overall race winners over half a minute ahead of class runners up BLDS and finishing close by and on the same lap we had LA Stone, DNA and Ringsting Racing.

Fastest Lap
600cc Ringsting Racing 1m 41.371s
1000cc Banzai Racing 1m 40.015s
　
MotoGrande

600 Race One
Qualifying took place in appalling conditions on Saturday morning where setting a time of under 2 minutes was seen to be respectable. Fastest qualifier was Sam Ludgate from Mark Evans. Redmond Racing’s Wayne Crossman made a superb start from the front row which saw pole man Ludgate drop back in a major fashion emerging in P5 after the opening lap. Dreadlock wearing Crossman stayed out front as Ludgate worked his way up to the frontrunner's pipes. A faller at Park bought out the red flag which enable the marshals to clear petrol from the track. The race was restarted for a six lap affair which saw Crossman get the holeshot but only for a lap after which orange bib wearing Ludgate made the race his own. Towards the end of the race we lost Matt O'Hare and Stephen Li; finishing a solid third was Robbie Moore ahead of Richard Walker with Colin Norris a steady and well deserved fifth on his Triumph with Dave Etherington polishing off the top six in drying conditions.

600 Race Two
Possible race favourite for this Sam Ludgate, an ex UK trials champ who has competed in Australia, enjoyed a smart start to be passed by Redmond Racing 600 rider Wayne Crossman - in a race flagged off by DR himself. Into the second lap and Ludgate was at the helm being challenged by Michael Wallis who was soon gifted a 10 second penalty for a jumped start leaving Ludgate to manage the race from the front. Crossman appeared to lose power coming onto the start/finish straight and fell back as the race progressed. On lap 10 Ludgate led on the road and Wallis hung on to lessen the consequences of his penalty. When it mattered Ludgate won by 11 seconds from Robbie Moore with Wallis in a well retained third. Colin Norris on his Triumph were a solid fourth ahead of Richard Gothard, John Lawrence and Crossman in seventh. Bill Lilly protected his eighth place from Matt O'Hare with Giuseppe Callari and Graham Marshall being the last classified riders.

600 Race Three
On a damp track Sam Ludgate started the 9 lapper from pole and capitalized on this, at the same time Richard Gothard started from pit lane and had to make his way up through the field steadily to finish sixth out of ten finishes. As Ludgate romped away with a win, Crossman was runner up with Mark Evans in third spot. Fourth was sorted by Robbie Moore being harassed by John Lawrence, Gothard, Colin Norris, Wallis, Graham Levy and Callari.

1000 Race One
Raymond Stagg was unable to make the most of his pole and it was Andy Petts who headed Snetterton winner Peter Wilson and Sam Smeeton on his Honda twin into the first corner. From fourth on the opening lap Simon Fenwick took to the front before halfway point to lead on the road from Petts, Wilson and Smeeton. All looked steady until around three quarter distance when championship leader Wilson took the lead, this was to be short lived however as Wilson and Fenwick took a tumble at the chicane to let original leader Petts take the chequer after 12 laps. The chicanery allowed Luke Hall to take second, Graham Bennett was third ahead of Mick Crich, Gary Bransgrove, Vincent Bell and Kev Parker.
　
1000 Race Two
Raymond Stagg must have felt lonely starting on his own from the front row for the second race, however it was Andy Petts who stole the lead on lap one and never yielded in a race where positions barely swapped owners. In sunny and warm conditions it was Mick Crich who slowly moved backwards down the order and after the allotted dozen laps Petts won comfortably from Kawasaki mounted Simon Fenwick with Stagg in third. Beyond the podium Vincent Bell got ahead of Justin Stephenson riding well on the AMR R1 with Suzuki man Gary Bransgrove in 6th in front of the sweet sounding SP1 of Sam Smeeton, Crich was eighth having been third in the early days and he was quicker than 7, Graham Bennett and Lee Rawlings.

1000 Race 3
On a cool but wet track Andy Petts performed a superb start just ahead of Raymond Stagg and Sam Smeeton - would the Honda twin be an advantage on the damp track? We lost Stagg at Barn and Seaton’s bike was unable to make a dent in Petts' solid lead and actually found himself ousted by a charging Simon Fenwick and Mick Crich to settle for a decent fourth ahead of Bennett, Bransgrove, 25. Stephenson and Lee Rawlings bringing up the rear.
　
Michelin Power Cup Race 1

After wet morning practice and qualifying it was Jon Otter who started from pole with local ace Phil Crowe and Greg Allsop joining him on the front row. The bikes were eventually flagged off after a long time on the grid and it was Crowe who posted an early retirement on Lap 2 to leave Otter and Greg Allsop to scrap at the front of the field. Making his way up the field was top 600 pilot Ady Allsopp who was hunting down the bigger machines on his R6 on a drying track. In the final quarter of the 12 lapper the impish Allsopp had made it stick with a dominant win of more than 15 seconds over near namesake Greg and Otter in third, having some machine gremlins, in close attendance were William Monie, Arron Hoar and Snetterton triple winner Simon Gardner on a trio of R6s. Jim Laird headed the next half dozen ahead of student Steph Waddelow, endurance migrant Ian Courts plus Andy Rouse, Chris Hunt-Terry and cross plane R1 mounted Brazilian Rhalf Lo Tourco. Of the other finishes it is obvious some of the new to racing riders are beginning to feel comfortable and are building up speed and consistency in the Michelin Power Cup. Lots of promise with more to come from Dom De Leon, Ty Jones, John Boakye, Sohaib Habib, Nick Grobler and Ashraf Aboukass.

Michelin Power Cup Race 2

In totally different conditions to the previous day Market Rasen's Phil Crowe converted pole into first on the road before dropping out on lap two handing the lead to Jon Otter who had the pressure of the in pursuit gaggle of William Monie, Greg Allsop on his less than current R1 and Snetterton dominant Si Gardner making it an eight wheeler at the front. We lost yesterday's winner Ady Allsopp shortly before we had red flags. At the restart which was a new 8 lap race it reverted back to the Otter, Allsop, Monie and Gardner 8 wheeler with Adam Hoar joining in the fun. There was then a healthy gap on Group 2 which included Lo Turco, Ryan Peters and Andy Rouse. Most impressive show boating over the Mountain was diminutive Welshman Ty Jones on his one litre Suzuki. Towards the end of the 8 laps Allsop yielded to Gardner on the road which mattered little as they were in different classes. So at the close Jonny 5 mopped up maximum points in his championship campaign ahead of Simon Gardner also maxing out in his class, Greg Allsop was third on the road ahead of Monie, Hoar, a hard pushing Andy Rouse, Lo Turco, Jim Laird and Ryan Peters in front of Steph Waddelow making the top ten.

Michelin Power Cup Race 3

As the grid started filling up for the third and final Michelin Power Cup, leading men Jon Otter and Greg Allsop rightly decided the riders should change onto wets as the heavens had opened over the lunch break and the track was a tad more than damp, rider safety being the main consideration for all. When the race did start the track was damp but a dry line was visible, pole man Otter made the most of this although the lead swapped from Jon to Greg Allsop with top 600 runner Ady Allsopp in third fending off William Monie, Ryan Peters did an excellent job fending off a persistent Simon Gardner who wants to add to his impressive points tally in the championship. Around two thirds distance two riders fell at the chicane bringing out the red flags - as over half the race distance had been completed a result was declared.