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

Mick Godfrey and Mike Naylor Battle It Out	Robin Hooker MotoGrande 1000 Champion

National, Senior and Masters Endurance Race - 3 and 6 Hours

Teams took advantage of improved weather conditions on race morning and it was unrivaled six hour race winners Sweatshop Racing (Hugh Brasher/Rod Lynn/Mick Godfrey/R1) who were a second or so quicker than unrivalled three hour race winners TrackCRAFT (Mark Linscott/Mike Dickenson), yellow perils Extreme Bykesportz (Ian Walker/Dave Wardle) were third fastest. Whilst the rest of the country was having mixed weather Pembrey was bathed in sunshine for the three and six hour battles which started at midday.

At the start the grid positions held their own before the third minute when Helen Gaskins of Gasi Racing (Helen & Grant Gaskins/Sam Godfrey), A & G Racing (Gary Jones/Mark Affleck) and AMR Endurance (Bob Robson/Simon Taylor/Al Waring) all fell over at Post 4 avoiding a descending Helen and the unfortunate riders were not helped by the boggy conditions once off the tarmac. Transponders recovered and Samantha Godfrey, Affleck and Waring were back out albeit a few laps adrift of the leaders who were now TrackCRAFT. At the half hour point the #1 machine was ahead of Sweatshop, Extreme and leading 600 outfit Ducks Cross Racing (Mike Eglington/Martin Landmann/Grant Wagstaff/R6) was tucked into a safe but promising fourth spot. Dramas for 600 Masters team Profibre as one of the Richards (Durber/Gothard) low sided at Debini but the rider was soon on their way returning to the pitlane to liberate his team mate. Around the one hour mark the R1 of Sweatshop was being hounded by R6 of DucksX with TrackCRAFT a lap down in 3rd, all the earlier fallers were back in the groove and working their way back up the field. At half distance for the Masters; Jay Smith (First Form Endurance/Paul Robey) took to the grass loosing a couple of laps getting the bike restarted & back to the pitlane whilst Sweatshop were still in P1 with TrackCRAFT up their exhausts - despite being in separate classes it was a matter of honour to be first on the road. Extreme were now in third ahead of Freaks of Nature Too (Mark Whiston/Dave Stewardson and DucksX, Extreme have been honing their riding technique taking guidance from TrackCRAFT's Linscott and Dickenson however fun and games with one of their R1 engines and gearboxes made life difficult for the team during testing and early qualifying!

With two hours gone less than 30 seconds separated Sweatshop and TrackCRAFT, a lap up on Extreme who were a lap up on Freaks - nobody had cracked the 60 second barrier yet, Sweatshop only shy by 6/1000 of a second. The following hour was dominated, for all the wrong reasons, by Kapital Moto (Phillip Clarke/Jason Boswell/Luke Palmer) who had upgraded to a larger and more powerful Italian twin from the 1000ss they started out on back at the beginning of the season. The unfortunate Phill Clarke tipped off on a fast right hander in sixth gear - as a precaution he was dispatched to hospital for further investigation on a nasty looking right knee which showed clear evidence of friction burns, thankfully the rider released later that evening. The nature of the track necessitates the pace car to bunch the riders up enabling the ambulance to cross the track. At the same time Paul Robey dropped the big Kawasaki emulating his team mate who had earlier stepped off his red bike. The white flag situation continued until just prior to the 3 hour mark signifying 'game over' for the Masters and half way point for the National and Seniors, the track being 'neutralised' whilst the Masters runners siphoned off into Parc Ferme at the end of their race.

TrackCRAFT continued their uninterrupted winning ways to finish 2 laps in front of Freaks who were shadowed by Extreme finishing only seconds behind – a very close finish after 180 minutes of fast lappery, with TM72 completing the litre class. 600s went the way of Pit Stop Racing (Peter & Mark Dilks) ahead of Profibre (Richards - Durber & Gothard).
Whilst the engines of the Masters machines clicked away in Parc Ferme as they cooled down, it was business as usual for the remaining teams which showed Sweatshop 3 laps in front of ultra quick 600 crew - Ducks X. Leading Senior 1000 team Well Oiled Racing (Hazel Drury/Michael Naylor/Steve Griffiths) were circulating in 3rd ahead of Costello Redmond (Craig Allemby/Jon Leach/Andy Dix) with Sorrymate.com (Fergus Delano/Richard Slater/Mark Cooper) and Gasi Racing bringing up the rear.

This order of play remained almost in tact and it was noticeable that riders had dropped the race pace in the closing stages conscious that they had some sort of distance in front of the chasing rival and the fact that to nail championship points you have to take the flag. A battle royal was being enjoyed by Gasi and Sorrymate who on the fourth hour were separated by less than five seconds, Gasi worked really hard on their strategy and Fergus Delgarno had a slow off as the race entered its closing stages bring to an end any on track dices for position. So that was Gasi going from bottom up to fourth spot in the final third of the race, adding valuable points to their title tally.

Junior Endurance Race - 3 Hours

After morning practice, held in drab conditions, it was Brickdust Racing (Daniel Lane/Gary Arden) who stole pole from another 60 - Project 39 (Andy Rouse/Colin Norris). Top litre crew was Billericay Coachworks (Kevin Maxted/Tim Gorringe) who have been missing from the series since Round 1 but were now happy to be back.
When it mattered it was Brad Patras who hauled his GT Racing ZX10R (Brad Patras/Keith Tribe) up from 12th on the grid to the front after little more than a lap making up for a disappointing Cadwell Park race back in July. Brickdust had lost any pole advantage and were dumped down to midfield before waking up and making their way through to fourth by the 30 minute mark. Shortly after that BLDS Couriers (Bill Lilley/Jonty Dixon) held a whole lap over P39 and Banzai (Rupert Thompson/Ben Jenkins), no less than 14 machines shared the same lap behind the leaders.

At the one hour mark the top 11 shared the same lap with BLDS leading from the front. Billericay had moved into second and P39 not far off in third. At half distance Suzuki man Mark Floyd parted company with his mount coming onto the start/finish straight causing Nigel Slater to bring out the course car whilst the rider was whipped off to the medical centre with his leg in a splint, later to be seen hobbling around the paddock, team mate Gary Bransgrove continued single handed. BLDS carried a lap lead at this stage with the next five outfits charging for second spot. Joan McIntosh was another faller bringing home the transponder for Sam Smithson to carry the TDR Racing mantle. At two thirds the BLDS, Billericay and P39 status quo continued and with 30 minutes to go Lloyd Magruder stepped off bringing out various rescue vehicles but now the top three were on the same lap and pushing. The last few laps were crucial and we saw BLDS loose their lead to Billericay after some slick work in the pits by the men from Essex - the final gap being a slight 18 seconds after three hours! Final podium place went to reward the slick Project 39 team, the first 600 home. With a large field and racing that close there was no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon, 600 title leaders NR Racing finished in an uncharacteristic 10th place but are still in a strong position going into the final two rounds, ditto for the 1000s - as we go to Snetterton and then Silverstone, it is all to play for.

MotoGrande Races x 4

Robin Hooker, who has not contested all the 2009 races, stamped his authority on the four MotoGrande races using his immaculate and effective Team RHR Ducati 1098 after early leader Mark Affleck rode his socks off and many riders crashed in the wet but drying conditions and title rival Greg Allsop tried all he knew to stay ahead of the race preparation ace. Both men had gone into the final championship races in fifth and sixth place and it was a delighted Hooker who took the title, acknowledging that he is not a wet weather specialist. Both classes have produced some exceptional racing this season and part of the appeal is that almost any bike can compete near the front, the field including Honda Hornets, steel framed 600s and Suzuki K1s – you don’t need a latest specification superbike to finish in the Top Ten.

Coming into the final Pembrey races - the 600s were all about three riders; another Allsop - Adrian, a young man with a bright future Andrew Rouse and wily journeyman Sean Moss who recently went so well on his Aberdare debut. At the end of the four races it was an emotional Adrian who won the title in his first year of racing ahead of a pushing Rouse, good rides also from an evergreen Richie Cunningham, Mark Affleck and local man Gary Jones.