Mallory park '04 Race Results Page
Brands Hatch '04


Welcome to my new Race Results section. This is the first draft and will hopefully be improved over the next few days. I'll try and keep this section updated after each meeting of 2006.... but I'm not making any promises. Hopefully I'll give a meeting report as well with information about Lea Gourlay, Brock and other friends on the track.


Contents:

1) 2005 Championship Results
2) 2006 Season race reports
Mallory Park
Lydden Hill
Oulton Park
Brands Hatch
Cadwell Park
Croft - Race of the Year





2005 CRMC Championship Results

250cc twins class 200cc two-strokes
Position Name Points
1st Adrian Baker 489
2nd Danny Pullen 289
3rd Roy Hook 248
4th David Smith 150
5th Steve Clarke 136
6th Darin Mills 116
7th Paul Johnson 73
8th Tim Eden 62
9th Lea Gourlay * 50
10th Jim Weeks 26
Position Name Points
1st Terry Brocklehurst 515
2nd Dave Freeman 404
3rd Fred Burbridge 352
4th Andrew McDonough 182
5th Tommy Palmer 108
6th Matthew Knight 81
7th Stephen Bedford 81
8th Robert Lusk 69
9th Richard Guy 60
10th Roger Porter 58


* Lea entered two races at Cadwell Park on Spen's 200cc Suzuki T200 and beat ALL of the 250 and 350 twins on it, as well as smashing the 250cc twins lap record by about 5 seconds! He lapped Cadwell in 1:47.23s! (My best was 1:53.81s.....)
Lea's lap time on the T200 was even quicker than all of the TZ 250/350s in the TZ race!



2006 Season

Mallory Park - April 9th

The start of the season and a total disaster for us all. It was freezing cold and very wet. In practise my bike ran poorly, misfiring badly on both cylinders. I then spent about an hour pushing it up and down pit lane trying different things to get it going. After missing my first race, I gave up when the torrential rain turned to hail and packed up and went home....

Lea Gourlay had a metal splinter in his eye and this caused him great irritation. He tried to pull it out the night before and finally let the medical centre have a go on race morning... They made it worse and after completing (and winning) a couple of races, Lea too packed up and went home.
Brock didn't have much luck either with his bike packing up in practise too. He missed the first race getting it repaired and then managed a second place in the afternoon race.

If ever you needed a reason to give up racing - Mallory Park was it!! What an awful start to the season



Lydden Hill - April 29/30th

A much better meeting. It was still cold, but was mostly dry and my bike ran well in practise. In the first race I had a great start and won the 250cc class (not much opposition unfortunately)... BUT the bike went 'off' about 2 laps from the end I nearly had to pull in.
A quick strip down showed a broken ring and scored barrel. The ring had jumped the pin and the end broken off. This was my own fault as the barrels needed a rebore and the clearances were too big, but I was going to get it done after Mallory park, and after not racing there at all I thought I'd 'just do one more meeting' on the barrels as they were. A false economy!

I had no spare piston, other than one that had a damaged pin as well ! Lea Gourlay saved the day - he cut up my damaged piston, pulled out the pin and put it in my spare piston, standing a little more proud than the original one (which he banged in flush with the bottom of the ring groove). This temporary 'bodge' worked superbly and I had two more wins and a second place over the weekend. Rob Gregory beat me in race 4 as he pushed me hard and to be honest I rode like an old Grannie and lost the plot. Rob was really on form and certainly deserved to win.

In the 200cc class Brock rode well on the T200 and had two wins on the Saturday. Rob Gregory's T200 just wouldn't run properly though. It would fire up, but then stopped after a short time. This caused a whole day of work replacing carbs, ignition systems, plugs, coils.. everything. The bikes owner and mechanic, Lewis, discovered the problem that evening.... he had rebuild the petrol tap incorrectly, so that 'off' was 'on' and vice versa! That would explain it!

On Sunday, Brock broke down in race three, and Rob took the win as his bike is actually quite quick when you turn the petrol on! Race four was a belter with Rob and Brock battling for the win. Brock held on though and won by a bike length. Great racing!



Oulton Park - May 29th

I can still hardly bear to write up what happened in my first ever race at Oulton (sob, sob...)
I had never raced there before and was luckily given pole position on the grid. There were only 250cc bikes or smaller on the grid so I had a good chance of a win. The flag dropped, my start was awesome and off I went in to the first bend in the lead.. and there I stayed too! I pulled away a good distance from most of the field, with only a Ducati single close behind. I knew though that he couldn't get past as my bike was faster and so the win was to be mine... However, one and a half laps from the end, my bike went 'bang' and went on to one cylinder. I had to pull out. I could have cried. On close inspection afterwards I found that the problem was... a spark plug had unscrewed and fallen out. I went from Hero to Zero in one quick moment.
The Marshall's comment didn't help either - "Well" he said, "What a shame, you'd have won that one easily...." Thanks mate!




More on this meeting later.

Brands Hatch - July 8/9th

Spen writes:
"Brands Hatch..... arrived in the paddock on Friday evening, got our favourite spot at the back of the Hailwood Grandstand, at the bottom of Paddock Hill, nice and quiet there, you can hear Adrian's ears flapping on a breezy day, coupled the fridge up to the electricity to keep my medication in good order, John Smiths and wine is much nicer when it's cool.

Unloaded the bikes, got scrutineered and settled down for the evenings entertainment, (taking the mickey out of Adrian for his performance at Oulton). Got to bed around 1 am and up in the morning to blazing sunshine.

Brock took the 200 Suzuki out with the 500 Gold Stars and won his class, 5th overall, however the next race was a different matter, whilst tagged on to the back of the leading three 500's, Brock stuck his hand up as he exited Graham Hill Bend, the bike had decided to cry 'enough'.

Upon it's return to the paddock it was hurriedly stripped and found to worse than feared, a spare (read: slow) engine was fitted in readiness for Sundays two races, Brock managed to get some valuable points by riding home in 3rd place in both races.

Did anybody mention Adrian's crash?? His petrol tank was twisted like a banana* and the fairing was wrecked, so he borrowed my spare and FAR superior T200 bits to get him back out in the next race. The bike looked much better with some quality equipment fitted for once.......

Next step, Cadwell Park........"

*Not the only thing bent on that bike.........

Thanks for that Spen! Yes I did have a bit of a crash:


Ouch!!

Details to follow.....

Meanwhile have a look at this superb shot of Lea and Steve Tomes:



Lea and Steve Tomes in action

Photo by Bob Peddie




Cadwell Park - August 5/6th

Yet another disappointing weekend for me. It started bad and ended worse! After spending all week working on the bike I was raring to go. I was 21 points behind in the championship due to so many DNFs and had to get in four good races.

Out I went for morning practice and the bike packed up on the second lap, one cylinder went down, which turned out to be the ignition system and I don’t have a spare! Rob Gregory’s team manager Lewis offered me his spare, but untested, Femsa and so a mad rush ensued to get it fitted and working. I got it fired up just as my race was due to go out - it ran like a pig, misfired and wouldn’t rev, but it got me round the track and I managed a finish. Lewis’s T20 destroyed a gearbox in the same race and Lewis kindly offered to remove his working ignition and let me use it as his T20 was going nowhere. What a nice man - thanks Lewis, you are a star! This was much better, and although the bike still didn’t run well, it was much better and I managed a 2nd place in race two.

Lea suggested that I advance the timing a little which I did for the first race on Sunday; this improved things, but again it wasn’t brilliant. I managed another second place though, behind Rob Gregory on the very quick, Gourlay tuned, Suzuki T200. Lea told me to whip a head off and after a look inside he told me to advance the ignition still more and to drop down a main jet size. I did this and went out for the 350cc national race too test it out. It was much better!! Not quite at it’s best, but competitive. Rob took me early on in the race and I followed him round, not pushing it too hard as I couldn’t afford to fall or blow up as I really needed the points in race 4 to keep my Championship hopes alive.

Race 4 was a real cracker. Rob took me early on and I followed him round, seeing where he was stronger than me (many places) and then catching him up on the straights. I knew that I could beat him as although his T200 is quick, my bigger engine gave me the edge. I was badly held up by back-markers on the chicane for two consecutive laps but in the penultimate lap, determined to get past, I took Rob at the gooseneck (missing the apex and going in the grass!), and then, after Mansfield, I misjudged my entry to the chicane (me, Rob and a backmarker went in neck and neck) and had to cut the second apex again using the grass. This was definitely an illegal overtake/manoeuvre and I put my hand up as an apology, although I didn’t shut off and let Rob past, as perhaps I should have done. I held on to the lead past the last lap flag and went as fast as I could for the final lap, determined to hold on to my lead. All was going well until I turned into the hairpin - the last but one bend before the finish line.
Rob had decided that he was going to take me on the inside here, hoping I’d go wide. However, I braked really hard, and took the inside line absolutely perfectly.... and then got rammed by Rob as he was going far too fast and couldn’t stop. He knocked me straight off, carried on and took the win. The marshals told me that he was going so fast that he hit me whilst going straight on with his rear wheel in the air trying to stop. "Bloody idiot", said one of the marshalls who picked me up, "You should report him for that".
Quite!

The net result was I had a broken fairing and screen, scratches and damage to the bike, bruises on my arm and leg and no chance of a championship win this year. Rob did come over to apologise profusely at the end of the race, although this was perhaps not the time he should have chosen to tell me of all of the faults in MY riding style.
Rob is a better and faster rider than me, I have no problem with that, and I can be erratic at times, but at least I have never rammed anyone. If that is top quality riding, I’d rather stay the erratic amateur that I am.
We all make mistakes though,(as I did at the chicane and the gooseneck) and in racing you have to take the rough with the smooth. Luckily I wasn't injured, other than a few bruises, and I'll now have an added incentive to do well at the next meeting.... Watch this space!

Lea had a great weekend (bar one broken gearbox) but Terry didn’t... I’ll leave it to Spen to tell all.

Spen writes:

"Arrived at a hot and sunny Cadwell Park on the Friday afternoon, unloaded, set up the caravan and awning and then went to the clubhouse, we should have known it was going to be an odd weekend as Brock offered to buy a round.

First race for Brock on Saturday on my 200 Suzuki, the one Lea rode to a win last year in the 250/350 twins (and beat the lap record too)........ Brock went out and on the last lap decided he needed a bit of a rest, so at Park Bend he got off the bike and had a lie down.
Numerous people asked if Brock was injured in the crash, 'Not yet' was the reply.
After a severe haranguing from Lea about the crash, Brock finally admitted he had used a touch too much rear brake..........

The bike was hastily prepared for the 2nd Saturday race and Brock managed a 2nd place......
In both races on Sunday, Brock brought the damaged bike home in 2nd place.


Lea was something else: On the 350 Manx Norton he struggled due to a handling problem and had to settle for 2nd place, on the 500 Manx he was unbeatable. Same went for the Trident races..... Awesome to watch.

Having sorted the handling problem on the 350 Manx for Sunday, Lea was in the lead until the last bend when the gearbox stuck in second gear and he was pipped to the flag by the hard riding Steve Tomes on the Molnar Manx.

I've been promised a picture of Lea coming up the Mountain section, throttle to the stop with both wheels on the grass, such was his eagerness to get passed somebody who'd baulked him.

We think we've found the reason why Brock was down on power......... too upset to concentrate after buying a round on Friday........."




Croft - October 7/8th

I’d already lost the 250cc twins title by the time I reached Croft (due to numerous DNF’s) so my main concerns were to have fun, beat Tim Oliver in the 250cc part of the 350cc National and to hopefully do well in the prestigious Race of the Year event.

In practise my bike went like a rocket - it has never gone so well. Running through 12,000rpm in every gear and accelerating like a TZ. A quick look at the plugs afterwards gave the reason for this - it was well on the weak side, roughly at the place where a two-stroke runs phenomenally fast then seizes up. I jetted up and went out in the first race...

The bike was still going superbly and I got a great start and flew off to about 7th place overall, but in the lead of the other 250cc bikes. However, after a few laps (I’m not sure how many) the throttle jammed wide open on the right hand side. I tried to ride through it, wobbled the cables, tried everything, but had to pull out of the race. The slide was absolutely jammed and wouldn’t move at all. A small piece of grit had jammed it costing me another race. My bad luck season continued... Unfortunately the timekeepers didn’t have me on the racesheet so I wasn’t sure what my lap-times were.

The second race that day was late on and it was getting dark! I had a good start and got into the lead of the 250cc bikes. Bill Wark was riding a very fast T20 in my race and he caught me and we had a bit of a battle before he got away. To be honest, I wasn’t riding that well as the track was dark and then it started spitting with rain. I held off and took second as I had absolutely nothing to gain in that race, but everything to lose with the two important events on the next day. Incidentally, Lea Gourlay had tuned the bike that Bill was riding and it was dyno’d at 59.4bhp at 11,000rpm. It also had superb brakes and Maxton suspension - a very quick bike indeed…especially so as Lea reckoned that the jetting was wrong on the Dyno and another couple of BHP were probably available! Should be fun trying to beat that I thought...

The 350 National race was early Sunday afternoon and I was fired up. I love Croft - my favourite circuit - and I knew that I could do very well here. So off we went, I had an awesome start (my bike is one of the best off the grid, not sure why, but it is) and I was soon battling with some very fast 350 bikes. My bike was again going frighteningly fast and I managed to have a good battle with the bigger bikes. However, disaster struck again... I was holding it flat out at 12000rpm, shut off to brake at the end of the Clarke esses and the bike locked solid. Damn! The mixture was still too weak, despite jetting up, which is why it went so well ..and also why it seized. I had though broken the 250cc twins lap record! The program had all 2002 records in it, which were wrong. In 2004 Karl Hayes had lapped in 1:43.8 and both myself and Steve Clarke were lapping comfortable in the 1:45s. However, I had just done a lap in 1:43.171s. I was so pleased to break Karl’s record, but it had cost me a seized engine.
I had one hour to go before the Race of the Year and so pulled of the heads and discovered a well seized piston. I had the barrel off quickly, rubbed off all the molten aluminium and put in a brand new piston and jetted up. I assembled the engine dry, started it and revved it straight to 12,000rpm - harsh but it takes the high spots off!! I warmed it up, let it cool a little and the Race of the Year was called. Not a good time to run an engine in, but what the heck!
Again I got off the line quickly and was leading the other 250s. I had to nurse it a little though as I was scared of the new piston seizing. I tried to keep it below 11,500rpm and was short shifting in places. To keep up the speed, I was throwing it into the corners harder than normal and had the back all over the place getting the power on early. I outbraked myself on lap two into Barncroft though and Bill Wark on his T20 and a 350cc bike came past. I rejoined the circuit and chased after them. I took the 350 on the right hander after the strart finish straight and dived into the chicane after that just in front of Bill Wark. I knew Bill’s bike was fast so I absolutely hammered mine to get away from him. I was worried that it might seize, but I had nothing to lose. My corner speed was extremely fast and I had the power on really early. I pulled away and kept up the pace - I was NOT going to be overtaken.
It took ages for the last lap to come around, and from lap 5 onwards (8 lap race) I was preying for the race to end before my piston melted. It held together though and I finally won the 250cc Race of the Year for the first time... and by over 17 seconds!

My lap times were only average though as I had tried to nurse it round; also the jetting up had taken the edge off (but stopped it from seizing!). My fastest lap was 2.7 seconds SLOWER than it had been in the 350cc race one hour earlier, but that was enough to win as Bill Wark, despite riding a very fast bike, never managed to lap faster than 1:47.1s all weekend. I was thrilled to end the season on a high, and was so pleased with my fastest lap-time too... until I looked at Mike Hose’s lap-time on his 250cc Ariel in the so-called 250 European Class.. He had lapped in 1:42.2 seconds! I’m obviously still not in his league! A quick look at the bike after the race confirmed my improved corner speed - the rear tyre was absolutely shagged. The rubber had split all the way round trying to peel off the canvas and great lumps of tread were ripped up and smeared everywhere. It looked like one of Lea Gourlay’s old tyres!
A great end to the season then, but it would have been nice if Bill Wark could have bought himself to smile on the official photographs after the race. (I’ll post the pictures later.)




I'll get Spen to write an account of his weekend here as soon as I can. Lea had an excellent weekend (as always) although he did highside the 350 Manx; it threw him off and aggravated a bad ankle injury. He won many races though... hopefully I'll have his results here soon.

More to follow...(Snetterton meeting)

Watch this space


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Version 2.1 August 2006. © Adrian Baker