2009 Diary Page
During the season you will be able to follow Chris's progress with Chris and John doing write-ups on events as they unfold.
Cadwell Park the Final
or W.T.F. happened at Cadwell
Well we arrived in good time and set up base camp with Tony and Hillary Hayward who was racing his magnificent Triumph 750 Twin Bandit, nice looking piece of kit and Tony should be racing all of next season both with the CRMC and the VMCC
SATURDAY
Practice sessions started early with reports coming in that the track was very damp and slippery especially round Barn through to the Hairpin, Chris followed a guy on a Post Classic Kawasaki out of the holding area who unfortunately got on the gas early and lost the back end right in front of Chris and within only 20 feet of entering the track, conclusion – it’s slippery…..
Post Classic
First race of the day was the post classics and the plan of action was to warm up the bike and tyres for the following race (1300 group2) The race itself was a great start to the weekend and was pretty incident free with Chris finishing 9th overall after having a good scrap with Phil Martin on his Kwaka. The feature of the race for the spectators was the fact that local hero Guy Martin was out on track riding a similar spec machine to our own Lea Gourlay, a fantastic show was put on by these two guys – swapping places several times a lap with Lea pulling past Guy at the line to take the flag. With a fag paper between them Rob Hall took the 3rd nearly 25 seconds later.
1300 Group 2
Second race for Chris was a quick turnaround and it was nice to have the bike warmed up so a good start and tyres were quickly up to temperature, Chris was pushing hard and managed to out brake and pass Cormac Conroy at the end of Park Straight to move up in to 3rd. Un-noticed by Chris the North started smoking very heavily and the radio chatter between the marshals brought out a black flag at the start / finish line. However three seconds ahead was Lea Gourlay who lost his front end through Mansfield with Chris mirroring exactly the same move. Both riders were sat scratching their heads as they hadn’t noticed any oil on the corner. Gary Thwaites took the flag closely followed by Cormac and Ricky McMillan took the 3rd.
So Chris returned to the paddock in the back of a van for the first time. Reason for the smoke was a broken bracket for the catch tank which is under the seat and ended up sat on the tyre, hence the cloud of smoke, Cormac reckoned he could see the groove being carved into the tyre as he was following Chris. Both Chris and the North looked a bit sad, battered and bruised, the fairing was still attached to the bike and I am sure that the crew all had their Blue Peter Badges as lots of GAFFA tape later and a set of levers and pegs – catch tank secured the bike was ready to race again.
Post Classics
Third race and Chris pulled out after the warm up lap as he was unable to select any gears. Did the early crash damage the gearbox – no - just the new gear lever binding on the new foot peg. (Note! Must dry fit and test all spares before next season) Lea and Guy Martin were at it again and boy are those blokes fast, watching them come over the mountain was breathtaking and again they were swapping places several times a lap. Last lap they hit the hairpin side by side with Guy Martin loosing the front giving the win to Lea. Guy and Lea chatted after and both were sporting enough to give each other plenty of space on track and Guy put his hands up to just trying too hard.
So far Saturday was producing lots of red flag incidents, partly due to a lot of championships being decided on the outcome of today’s races, so by mid afternoon the inevitable running well behind time resulted in the organisers reducing the races to 3 lap sprints, with such cold weather I thought that it could spell a bit of disaster for some riders.
1300 Nationals
This was the only National Race being run on the Saturday and it was unfortunately cut to 3 laps on a chilly track. Chris was lying second in the championship coming to this one, he wouldn’t be able to catch Lea but was 1 point in front of Gary Thwaites. Flag went down and so did the Red Mist for a number of the front runners……
During the race Lea had a DNF, Chris tried to out brake Cormac in to Park but sadly ran out of the black stuff and headed on to the grassy slopes dropping the bike just before the tyre wall. Cormac did some interesting acrobatics at the Gooseneck and somersaulted across the grass, mean while Gary was on fire and took a very impressive win pushing Chris back to a very respectable 3rd place in the championship.
Chris and the North returned to the paddock for yet more GAFFA tape and levers – thank goodness for Blue Peter
Tony Hayward seemed to have enjoyed the day finishing 12th in his very first outing on the Bandit with another 12th in class in the Formula 750’s with a very credible 9th in the 1300 group 2 class. In the 1300 National Tony’s efforts brought him home in 20th overall out of a grid of 31 riders which gave him 17th in class, great effort for his 1st race meeting and we are all looking forward to seeing him progress during 2010. Just a quick note: Tony is yet another rider to come from the TR3OC’s magnificent annual Beezumph weekends.
Saturday PM
We managed to get Chris off to do a social round while we all prepped up the gazebo for his 50th birthday bash which despite the weather turned out to be a great night with lots of riders, wives, mechanics and marshals turning up for a beer and bit of cake throughout the evening, it’s amazing what you learn when there’s a bit of alcohol around and one day I’ll let you know how Gary got his nickname of “Scrappy” Eventually everyone turned in for the night with dreams that the racing would be better tomorrow.
Sunday AM
Race of the Year
Cadwell was the last meeting of the season and the format for the weekend is all of the championships are decided by the end of play on Saturday leaving Sunday open for the Race of the Year trophy Races in all classes. This usually produces some very close racing and we were not let down, as we witnessed some heroic duels during the day.
1300 Post Classic ROY
First race for Chris was the post classics, still feeling sore from his double tumbles on Saturday he was keen to be competitive but fancied staying on the bike for the whole day, Chris had a great scrap with Frank James and Mark George eventually taking 11th overall and 9th in class. Meanwhile up at the front Guy Martin and Lea Gourlay were at it again putting on a fearsome show for all that were watching, Lea did Guy again much to the delight of the exited crowd finishing 28.379 seconds ahead of John Dieterman Jnr in third place.
Colin Breeze Trophy
The grid was quite a mix of machines for this one with an awful lot of post classic machines which meant Chris needed to be on it to get any where near the front. So off to a good start but by the time Chris reached the Gooseneck he was behind the TZ350 of Simon Densham who hit the gas a touch early and slid off right in front of Chris who took evasive action – Running through Chris’s mind were – Shit I’m on the grass (again) – that tyre wall is heading my way bloody fast (again)- so a quick touch of the brakes on damp grass saw a parting of man and machine, Chris bounced and rolled at high speed with a final thought of THIS IS GONNA HURT IN THE MORNING.
Luckily nothing broken just heavy bruising and yes it will hurt in the morning. The bike however was a different story, it looked like the nose had dug in so we have – bent forks, dented tank, knackered silencer, broken front master cylinder, broken seat, footrests missing, levers missing, fairing and screen only fit for the dustbin. On top of that helmet and gloves written off and a reasonable amount of damage to his leathers (Proper job then)
Back in the paddock it was all a bit gloomy but Chris was OK and it was decided that no amount of GAFFA tape and Blue Peter Badges would see the bike back out for the last race.
So with the weekend and season now over it was time to reflect on our achievements, firstly congratulations to everyone who finished well in their championships, Patrick Banfield beat Chris in the 1300 Group 2 finishing a very respectable 3rd with Lea Gourlay and Cormac Conroy heading up the Championship leaving Chris in 4th place.
Chris took another 4th in the Post Classics finishing behind Rob Hall, Paul Allender and Cormac Conroy. The post classics have been both fun and a challenge for Chris and finishing 4th shows his determination as we only booked this class for extra track time as we new that the north is somewhat outclassed a bit running against the later super fast Jap bikes from the early 80s.
1300 National – This race is one of the highlights of the CRMC meetings, it always draws a lot of spectators, full of incidents but features some very close and fast racing. It’s the one that Chris has focused on this season, last year he finished 13th so anything above that would be an improvement. Incredibly he finished 3rd with Lea Gourlay and Gary Thwaites taking the top 2 slots.
So Chris picks up another trophy at the dinner dance in December which will make up for some of the work that needs to be done on the bike.
Last year seen some major work done on the engine and rear end of the North so this winter see’s a little bit less work scheduled. We have a slight oil weep from the top end so that’s going to be stripped, the gear box will be pulled down as a matter of routine and the frame will be stripped down with new bearings and bushes being fitted all round. The new fairing will be dry fitted and then off to the paint shop along with a new seat and mudguard, so nothing that can’t be sorted out over a couple of late evenings.
Well we can’t wait for next season to start – eight meetings with the CRMC and we may look at a couple of VMCC outings and may even get over to Europe during 2010 if time off work and finances allow, there is also a whisper of doing one of the European Endurance meetings with Patrick at some stage – so watch this space for news to come.
Finally there remains one last thing and that is to express our sincerest and warmest thanks to the people that give up their weekends to come and support and help us out at every race weekend. So a great big thanks go to Jane Chapman, Graham Redrup, Martin Pink, Martin Pratt, who make up the regular pit crew.
Thanks to Richard Peckett and Dave Whitfield of P&M for allowing Chris to move into their workshop, without their help and knowledge the North would probably be a dog.
Another thanks to Sarah, Richard Acres, Anne Roberts, Mike Pink, Tony Atkinson, Chris and Henry Thorpe, all of the TR3OC club members and everyone else that turns up, you guys make the weekends and we look forward to your support for next season.
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SNETTERTON 11 – 12 – 13 September 09
We booked the track day on the Friday just to let Chris familiarise himself with Snetterton in the dry as our trip there in 08 seemed to be in the monsoon season. The North was looking good in the early morning sunlight and a new 150 Dunlop on the rear just waiting to be scrubbed in.
Chris got himself signed in and then off to the dreaded sound testing. Highest score of the season on the Snetterton sound meter – a staggering 109db (unbelievable) none of can work out this conundrum with the level of inconsistency in sound testing. The bike has been built to run under the obligatory 105db and yet the range so far this season has varied from 98db to 109db with nothing being changed on the bike.
Fortunately Richard Peckett from P&Ms had come prepared and started dishing out some fancy looking cones to fit inside the exhaust pipes of the now growing number of triples failing the noise test. Patrick Banfield fitted one to his 750 and came back with a smile on his face having passed at 104db, next up was Chris who returned gloomy with a failure at 106 so I suggested to our crew chief Graham Redrup to pull the cone out and wrap it in half a coke can – eureka – 102db but at a cost of missing a couple of track sessions.
On returning to the pit garage, yes you’ve guessed it all of the restricting rubbish was removed from the pipe and the North was sounding it’s self again, so Chris disappeared on to the circuit to start scrubbing the new rear tyre in and getting a feel as to how quick he could get down that never ending straight.
Everything was going well until the last session before lunch when Patrick had a big off through Russell’s, luckily Pat didn’t sustain any injuries but the bike had flipped and landed on it’s front end which left forks pointing in the opposite direction to the yolks. A couple of phone calls later and Pat’s bike and gear were loaded in his van and headed off in the direction of P&Ms workshop in west London to see if Dave Whitfield could wave his magic wand and get the ex-Haylock machine back to the race track in time for racing on Saturday.
It was a pleasure having TR3OC member Tony Hayward sharing our garage for the track day with his very unique 750 Triumph Bandit, Tony left early Friday evening and on returning home mentioned to his wife Hillary that unfortunately he has to go racing again. So Tony is joining us at Cadwell with his Bandit so I’ll take the opportunity and grab some photos and the bikes spec for next time….
Saturday morning and more sunshine, we can all get used to this as it not only helps produce more intense racing but everyone in the paddock is smiling.
Patrick had returned just after midnight and was now showing off some very nice looking gold anodised forks, new tyres and a huge smile, his off doesn’t look to have had much of an effect on him and he was raring to go. The early practice session allowed Pat to scrub his tyres and both Pat and Chris seemed very happy on how the bikes were handling.
First race up was the 750s so out went Pat and he had a great race dicing it with Phil davenport and Gary Thwaites to finish 7th while up at the front Stu Melling and Cormac Conroy were swapping places on every lap with Cormac just clinching the win by 0.278 of a second, Looks like some exciting racing coming up.
Race 4 1300 Multi’s and Twins saw Chris out with Patrick, The race was yet again fast paced with the pit wall over flowing with spectators and supporters cheering everyone on. As the race developed both Pat and Chris passed each other several times with Chris finishing just ahead of Pat for 6th overall and a 4th in class, meanwhile at the front Cormac was fighting with Gary Thwaites on his Watson Norton for another very close finish with Cormac taking the win by 0.167 seconds. Lined up on the same grid were the 500cc Post Classics which produced another epic battle with Spike Livingston on his Dresda Suzuki 492cc beating William Gougy by a very slim 0.109 seconds with Justin Shaw coming in third.
One of the highlights of CRMC meetings is the use of split grids and mixing similar paced classes and having them race at the same time, it means that we see more battles throughout the race and it has the advantage of filling the grids to give all riders the maximum amount of track time. CRMC race weekends regularly attract close on 400 competitors and around 100 entrants for parades, a lot to pack in for 2 days of fantastic motor cycle sport.
Race 9 Post Classic 1300 saw Chris lining up on the third row of the grid, unfortunately when the flag dropped both Chris and surprisingly Lee Gourlay both stalled at the line, Lee on his TZ managed to bump start his bike fairly quickly where as trying to bump a high compression 930 North is nigh on impossible without assistance, Chris was faced with a marshal gesturing for him to park the bike behind the barrier when all of a sudden a spectator jumps over the wall and gives Chris a push, Chris dumped the clutch and a very brave spectator landed on his face to cheers from the watching crowd, Chris did find the chap after the race and thanked him profusely. Meanwhile back to the race, Chris put his head down but was almost 50 seconds down but still managed to pull 3 points, Lee faired a little better finishing 8th overall and 4th in class which I think was one of the rides of the weekend. Phil Martin on his 1260 Kawasaki took his first class win with Rob Hall taking the overall win with a fastest lap time of 1.16.678
Race 12 Formula 750s looked like being the one of the races of the day however going through Russell’s Stu Melling lost the rear end and was unfortunately run over by Cormac, one of the worst accidents I’ve ever witnessed but left me with a huge appreciation for our trackside marshal’s and medical crews. Cormac ended up as walking wounded but Stu suffered life threatening injuries with damaged lungs, ribs and a broken sternum. I am pleased to report that Stu has made a slow but steady recovery so far and thoughts and good wishes for a speedy recovery have been echoing around the whole club. So Stu we all wish you well and look forward to seeing you out on a triple in the near future. Cormac ended up heading to hospital as he landed on his head, when Stu heard this he reckoned Cormac would be “alright then” Stu hasn’t lost his sense of humour then….
The race was postponed until late in the day and the re-run saw an epic tussle in the early laps between Gary Thwaites, Phil Davenport, Malcolm Hearn and Patrick Banfield all hard at it with the eventual finishing order the same as the list.
Race 15 1300 Twins and Multis The grid was slightly shortened due to both Stu and Cormac’s earlier accident, but the racing hadn’t suffered as a result of it – Lee Gourlay had a problem and pulled in on lap two which gave everyone a shot at the win. Phil Davenport looked like a man possessed (Bless Him) and took Gary Thwaites on one hell of a duel with the old man showing the young whippersnapper how to cross the line first with a gap of nearly 2 seconds. Chris had a great race with Steve Maney on his Seeley Norton with Chris crossing the line a full one second ahead to give Chris a second in class behind the old master himself Mr Phil Davenport.
Race 20 Post Classic 1300 Another great race, it just gets better and better, by now the track temperature was probably at it’s hottest and Lee Gourlay took the win and I think broke the club’s lap record with a 1.15.629. Chris took a 4th in class but was the first British bike home – not bad considering Chris is only running in the Post Classic’s for extra race and track time, we thought it would be useful and believe it or not he’s lying 4th in the championship, (Well done Chris) imagine where he’d be if he was on one of the P&M Kawasaki Missiles……..
Well that was it for Saturday except to mention that Saturday evenings in the paddock are turning in to really nice social events, clear sky’s, great food (thanks Jane) and good company mixed with a little Sloe Gin and fine wine, beats hotel life by a mile……
Sunday
Race 22 750s An early start for Patrick as he was out in the first race by the second lap both Pat and Gary Thwaites were pulling away from the pack and challenging for the lead through Russell’s Pat lost it with Gary missing him by a couple of inches, this brought out the dreaded red flag. The next thing we see is Patrick walking up the pit lane clutching a very battered Rob North Fuel Tank in his hands. It was great to see that he was physically OK but the bike had taken a big knock so ended up being loaded in to the van with Pat’s weekend over.
The race was re-run late in the afternoon and by that time Gary’s Norton had suffered a major engine problem so it was good to see Tim Woolley flying around the track to take the win, another trophy for the cabinet.
Race 25 1300 National. This looked to be the race of the day although Stu Melling and Cormac Conroy were missing from the grid; the line up was still a list of impressive riders. Lea Gourlay took an early lead with the battle behind him for second being fought by 4 or 5 riders. Chris was behind Phil Davenport and Gary Thwaites, Phil apparently had a problem with his glasses coming off inside his helmet which meant he slowed by a second or so which allowed Chris to pass him and then Chris managed to out brake Gary to take a magnificent fourth place behind Lea, Ricky McMillan and Steve Maney. A quick word about Lea Gourlay, the race was eight laps and he beat Ricky by 17.135 seconds almost two seconds a lap, he does this time and time again in around a half dozen classes on a half dozen different bikes, an amazing rider, very entertaining and great to watch but I think the club is looking at a handicap system for next season, possibly putting me on the back of Lea’s bike as a weight penalty.
Race 31 Post Classic 1300 24 bikes lined up on the grid for this one, Chris had a big moment heading into the esses when Steve Dobbie’s Harris F1 threw it’s chain at Chris but even that tactic of Steve’s didn’t work and Chris navigated the corner eventually finishing eight overall but a respectable sixth in class but again the first British Bike across the line.
Race 37 1300 Multi’s Turned out to be a race of the Triples with Gary retiring on lap 3 left Ricky taking the win, Chris had a good fight with Phil Davenport ending up with a third place and Tim Woolley taking a respectable Fourth. The first twin over the line was Nigel Hall Smith on his Fluff Triton eleven seconds ahead of Barry Gooding on his Vincent 1272cc.
Race 42 Post Classic 1300 Last race of the day for Chris but boy the TZ guy’s just seem to get quicker as the weekend progresses. A fast paced race throughout and again Chris was the first British Bike across the line. Chris finished ninth overall taking another sixth in class with the first three bikes being those rapid Yamaha TZ of Roy Flower, Rob Hall and Paul Allender.
So a great weekend was had by most, as I write this I can report that Cormac Conroy has started running again and is in training for the Amsterdam Marathon. Stu Melling is making a remarkable recovery and has just made it home and Patrick’s bike is back from P&Ms all ready to go for Cadwell.
The CRMC Championships are decided on the Saturday at Cadwell with the Sunday featuring the Race of the Year for most classes. Chris’s current standings are;
1300 Post Classics
1. Robert Hall - 378
2. Paul Allender – 299
3. Cormac Conroy – 230
4. Chris Chapman – 160
5. Mark George – 158
1300 Multi’s
1. Lea Gourlay - 270
2. Cormac Conroy – 221
3. Patrick Banfield – 169
4. Chris Chapman – 167
5. Tim Woolley – 99
1300 National
1. Lea Gourlay – 125
2. Chris Chapman – 61
3. Gary Thwaites – 60
4. Stu Melling – 52
5. Cormac Conroy – 51
So just a little bit to play for at Cadwell on the 10th October should be a great weekends racing…..
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Flat Caps, Whippets and Oily Rags.
VMCC Lydden Hill 1st / 2nd August 09
A number of guy’s at the CRMC had given us the impression that the VMCC was made up of Flat Caps, Whippets and Oily Rags well they couldn’t be further from the truth, Chris was committed to work on the Friday so Jane and I hitched the caravan up and headed down to the depths of Kent. What a surprise when we entered the paddock and were greeted with an array of sparkling classic machinery and not a dog and hardly an oily rag in sight.
Out of the corner of ones eye Jane spied a number of Lambretta Scooters in full race trim “There not Racing THEM are they” well obviously THEY were, so more later.
We set up camp between Paul Coote and Gary Coward slipping the caravan in between Paul’s van Gary’s gazebo, it wasn’t long before the kettle was on which usually announces the arrival of the TR3OC club secretary and our crew chief Graham Redrup. The weather during the late Friday afternoon was very pleasant and after Gary got his Ex Haylock 750 Rob North through scrutineering we settled down to an evening of fine wine and dining.
As the night drew in Chris finally left Leatherhead to make the 88 mile trip to the circuit, we had saved the lucky bugger some smoked salmon but after 3.5 hours it transpired that Chris had got himself well and truly lost in the very dark, narrow leafy lanes of Kent. (if anyone knows how to set up a Sat Nav to get one to the entrance of Lydden in the DARK, please contact Chris with your details) Once we established where he was we were able to talk him in to the circuit where he duly received a large Sloe Gin and burnt offerings.
Saturday morning and we were all up with the larks with the sun already warming the track, We were at Lydden last year we raced with the CRMC where it rained and then it bloody poured down and I have to admit it’s a very different circuit in the dry, great for spectators as from pretty much any vantage point one can see the whole track.
The North’s of Cooty, Gary and Chris were out on the first practice session which felt like a twenty minute session, all the guy’s found the track very grippy and came back to the paddock with beaming smiles. The first race for the guy’s was race 9 so we headed off to do some spectating, Race one was a double grid “Unlimited to 1934” and “350 – 500 1972” which included Paul Potter on his 71 BSA B50 along with Ian Cramp 1929 Velocette KTT and Rob Walker on his 72 Velocette Tickle. The racing was fantastic and certainly showed us that there are a few whippets in the VMCC. Race 2 was another split grid with BSA Bantams sharing the track with the 500s including a large showing of Manx Norton’s, again very fast close racing was witnessed by all and the day was becoming very satisfying, very satisfying indeed.
Eventually it was the turn of the side cars with plenty of Triumph big wheel outfits sharing the track with a several three wheelers. What a treat we had with Bill & Maggie Tuer in their 1932 Morgan dicing it with Sid Ormrod & Alan Blacklock in their 1967 Berkley (where does Maggie disappear to during the race???) These guys carved their way through the field of 3 wheelers and were trading places with each other on every corner, fantastic racing, brilliant entertainment and for those watching it was worth the entry fee just to witness how competitive these guy’s were. They did continue their on-track battle throughout the weekend and converted several of the watching crowd in to ardent followers of their antics.
Next up were the scooters, the BSSO are regular guests to the VMCC meets and boy what a surprise, never mind whippets talk greyhounds as the corner speeds that these guys were taking into Paddock Bend was astonishing, now I know there a few bikers that poo poo all things scooters but rember a lot of these youngsters will be racing classic bikes in the future so show some support and encouragement for what is spectacular racing, When Chris is hanging his knee out and leaning off the bike he still has a bike between his legs however most scooters are step threws so what they were hanging on to I’ll never know but they did look fantastic. The speed, aggression and closeness of the racing did result in a number of red flags and we all hope that injuries were minor in all cases and everyone gets back on their machines sooner rather than later.
So now it’s time for the big boys….. Looking through the program and Chris’s grid positions for the 4 races were already drawn, 20th, 16th,17th and finally 18th so some work and good starts were going to be needed to make any impression on the regular front runners.
First race and Chris got an outstanding start and coming out of the second corner on to Dover Slope was hanging around 6th, in to the lefthander of Devils Elbow, Chris found an outside line that proved profitable over the whole meeting and took another 2 places. Over the next nine laps Chris was mixing it with Ian Cramp (21) Stacy Killworth (5) and Ben Kingham (55) whilst Gary who started 18th was mixing it with Barry Gooding (324) Chris Heitman (266) and Paul Coote (148). Chris took Ben after two laps and then was hot on the tail of Stacy with both getting close enough to swap paint at times, the race was exhilarating and Chris followed Ian Cramp across the line to take a very creditable 2nd place and Gary beating Chris Heitman to take 6th. Chris posted the fastest lap of 47.41 which was just outside Rob Walkers 2007 lap record of 47.05, not bad for the first race.
Now if this was the CRMC Chris would be 2nd on the grid for race 2 however he was back in 16th. Lights went out and Chris put in another of his blistering starts, by this time though there were a few drops of rain dropping on to riders visors which possibly slowed the field slightly but not Mr Chris (Rain Miester) Chapman another dice with Ben and Ian in the first few laps saw Chris into second and then he took the lead and didn’t look back, the result was a first win for Chris and another fastest lap. So a big CONGRATULATIONS to Chris for his 1st win at only his 11th race meeting (shame the VMCC doesn’t offer trophies) but we were there to witness the event……
Saturday night in the paddock is usually a very
sociable time and tonight was no exception as the VMCC had arranged
a free BBQ and free BEER!!!! The Gazebo soon started to fill and we
had been joined by another of our Pit Crew
Martin Pink (TR3OC) and were soon joined by
Richard Standing & his son
Keith, Paul & Hanna Potter and
Ron THE Marshal,
now there’s a funny thing
about Ron THE Marshal as it seems
whatever track we are at Ron THE Marshal
is always there. 
Some may say he’s a Chris Chapman Racing fan,
Some may even say he’s a Sloe
Gin fan
but all I know is we know him
as Ron THE No1 Marshal…….
All in all a great night, Good Company, Good Music, Good conversation, Fine Wine and Richard Standing even produced a nice bottle of Scotch, luckily due to some stupid bylaw there’s no racing until 12.30 on Sunday so those who needed it could have a lay in on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning I shot off to pick up my wife Cathy and family and on returning to the track discovered that we had been joined by a growing number of TR3OC members along with our Head of Specialist Engineering Department Richard Akers with his partner Ann Robinson, Gary’s brother Greg was also there in support and during the day we were fortunate to be visited by a growing number of guests and supporters.
Today as a group we had a couple of extra races for Gary and Paul, Chris was eager to join them but unfortunately he’s no longer classed as a novice and doesn’t quite qualify for the over 50s.
Gary was out in the Novice Championship and had a great race finishing 2nd taking the fastest lap of 50.28 which is only .5 sec off the lap record set by Glyn Poole in 2001 at 49.70. A great result for Gary as this is only his 3rd race meeting.
Gary’s next race was with Paul Coote in the over 50s, Gary got a great start and made up several places however entering the North Bend (Hairpin) after pulling a move on another rider Gary appeared to get a tap on the rear wheel putting him in to the gravel and leaving him to watch Cooty take his first win, getting back to the paddock I don’t know whether it was Paul or his missus that were shedding the most tears but a fantastic achievement and we all hope that it was a great confidence booster, Well done old chap!!!!!!!!!!
Race 35 saw Chris out with the boy’s again, 17th on the grid with Gary on 19th and Paul 14th Chris was on the wrong side of the track but again put in a wheel raising start and had a huge moment in the first corner but thankfully managed to keep it upright and went straight in to several battles throughout the shortened race (6 laps) the last couple of laps saw Chris and Ian Cramp fighting for 3rd with Chris taking the flag 1.6 seconds ahead of Ian. Slightly further back Gary and Cooty were hard at it with Gary finishing 9th and Cooty in 12th for what looked a hard fought race. Chris posted the second fastest lap of the race at 47.45 but being buried so far back in the grid taking 3rd behind Rob Walker and Stacey Killworth is a damn good result.
Last race of the day race 45 and guess what Chris and Gary buried in the grid again, Paul Coote though was in 5th but an electrical failure put him out halfway round the first lap, It’s a shame as I think he could have done well on that one.
Another great start from Chris and yet another hairy bum clenching moment in to the first corner , and the second corner then on the next lap he had to hit the brakes hard and stand it up in the hairpin, by this time Rob and Stacy were running about 12 seconds in front of Chris and once Chris had got past Ian Cramp the chase was on, all three guys posted lap times of less than 4 tenths between them so Chris took a well earned 3rd with Stacy beating Rob Walker to the flag.
To sum up the weekend we had a great time in a very sociable paddock, met some old friends and made some new ones, enjoyed the quality and mix of racing and dreamed of what might have been if the grid positions had been a little more favourable for Chris and Gary.
Next up is the Beezumph on August the 14th / 15th at Cadwell, not a race weekend but probably one of the best club meets in the UK, Check out their site at www.tr3oc.co.uk
Our next race meeting will see Chris back with the CRMC at Snetterton 11th / 12th September which is a fast flowing track that suits the 930, Chris is booked in for the trackday on the Friday with around 9 races over the weekend. Check out the clubs website www.crmc.co.uk for more details and if you make it along head for the pit boxes at the far end of the pit lane and you’ll find us with the rest of the Triple Brigade.
Can’t wait……..
John Mitchell
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BRANDS HATCH - 11TH /12TH July 09
Brands promised to be another busy race weekend with Chris competing in no less than 9 races, 4 on Saturday and 5 on the Sunday. Unfortunately Chris was unable to make the Friday track day due to work commitments but we did wander down on Thursday evening to set up base camp, we were quite amazed to find the only people in the pit area were Tim & Molly Woolley who were in the garage next to us, Brands Hatch is quite eerie at dusk when there is hardly a soul around.
Friday saw Jane Chapman and myself head down to the circuit around midday and finish setting up base camp as we were expecting 30 – 40 visitors and supporters over the course of the meeting. Lot’s of cooking and washing up expected so Jane was armed with her yellow marigolds in anticipation.
As you know Chris’s Rob north carries a fair number of stickers, some are period ones from the early 70’s and others are from a select few sponsors, however Jane would probably be classed as the teams main sponsor and has mentioned on a couple of occasions that she didn’t have a sticker on the bike . That was rectified for this weekend and her logo was a big hit, not only with Jane but almost every female that wandered into the garage. To see our main sponsors logo CLICK HERE
During Friday afternoon and evening a number of our regular crew started turning up and after a great supper of BBQ’d Salmon and fine wine, Graham Redrup and Martin Pink both TR3OC members decided to bed down in the pit box and act as security, (more on this later) Chris has purchased a used caravan which is a KNAUS Sport and Fun, designed by the factory to carry a bike it’s also has 3 berths so no more tenting for yours truly, You can see the caravan in the photo gallery, it’s in pretty much Triumph colours and matches the gazebo, it also generated a lot of interest among the guys in the paddock and was a big hit with our supporters due to the roof being a viewing platform for up to 6 people. It hasn’t got a name yet but for Jane it’s a little bit of sanctuary.
Saturday Race Day
Saturday morning saw a continuation of an electrical problem on Keith Jarvis’s Rob North, Martin Pink our resident Electronics Engineer was soon on the case with Tim Woolley assisting and also ripping bits of his own bike to help sort out Keith’s problem, It looked like the problem had been sorted and Martin soon had the bike up and running, Keith shot down to the lower paddock to prep for his 1st race but the problem returned and Keith ended up watching rather than competing in the weekends racing, Hope the bikes fit and well for the next meeting…….
Race 2 (8a) Post Classic 1300cc
First race up for Chris was race 2 Post Classic 1300cc, (8a) The track was looking a little damp after some overnight showers so Chris decided to run the 130 Avon on the rear, a new tyre is never good and Chris suffered an amazing slide during the warm up lap which may have resulted in soiled undies. Chris soon got his head down though and had a fantastic race beating up some of the big Kwaka’s and really giving Cormac Conroy a run for his money, finally yes finally beating Comac to the line by 2 tenths of a second to be the first British Bike across the line. Frank James (Mad Frank the Welder) pipped Chris on the line to take 10th overall on his Harris Kawasaki leaving Chris with 11th overall but 4th in class. Unfortunately the race was red flagged on lap 5 due to Dean Simpkins (81) high siding his Harris Magnum through clearways, The nearest marshal said the bike went up in the air and landed on Dean’s shoulder (OUCH) Dean suffered a broken wrist and possible dislocated shoulder which put him out for the rest of the meeting, Our thoughts are with Dean and we wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in action for Snetterton.
Race 5 (6a) Formula 750
Chris has to sit this one out as his 930cc doesn’t qualify for this race and Gary Coward was missing this weekend due to work commitments but Patrick Banfield (52) and Tim Woolley (26) were up for an outing with Phil Davenport (82). Again another great race with quick lap times and Patrick all over Phil Davenport, the final outcome was Pat duffed up by our friendly chap with the bus pass Phil who finished 3rd behind Stu Melling (2) and Cormac (1) taking the win on the Ryan BSA.
Race 7 1300 Multis (7b)
Chris had a great grid position 4th and right from the start was mixing it with Phil, Cormac and Patrick all vying for 3rd place, Lea Gourlay (1) was away at the front with Gary Thwaites (87) trying to chase superman down. Meanwhile Chris was back in 6th and on two occasions managed to pass Patrick and Cormac first at Druids then on the penultimate lap re took both through clearways, Pat managed to duff up Cormac on the last lap and take a 4th in class with Chris taking 3rd (another trophy for Jane to polish). The whole race was fantastic with all of the guys swapping places lap after lap leaving the spectators looking forward to what is going to be a brilliant weekend of furious track action.
Sidecar Carnage
Before I crack on I must give a mention to the sidecar boys who were out in race 3, Ian and Grant Tapsall on their Triple Brew Racing Trident 940 finally finished a race, 5th in class I think but a great result as they have been developing this outfit for over three years with so many problems you wouldn’t believe it. This however was on the re-run of the race just after lunch.
The first start of the sidecar race on Saturday morning was total carnage, one outfit in the middle of the grid looked like he wanted to win the race from the first corner so when the flag dropped he lit up the rear wheel and bumped and bashed his way through the field, oops not the thing to do as the crowd lining the fence around Paddock hill Bend were treated to 7 outfits hitting the gravel trap and the odd one flying through the air, unfortunately sidecar passengers are exactly that, passengers and have no control over what the outfit does in accident situations. Before the dust had settled red flags were waving and medical crews had been despatched, Final result of this first corner incident was 2 wrecked outfits, 1 broken leg, 1 broken arm, you can see now why some in the paddock refer to the sidecar races as Scrapheap Challenge.
Fortunately Ian and Grant managed to avoid the mayhem but suffered a nasty incident on Sunday in Druids, They were on the wrong side of two other outfits and got punched off resulting in Grant suffering a broken arm. (Click Here for Russell Lea’s Photo’s) When I spoke to Ian he had had a phone call from Grant in the hospital who said that he would be in plaster for six weeks, Ian’ response was “well that’s alright as it’s eight weeks to Snetterton” we all wish Grant a speedy recovery and guys please keep up the good work, there are an awful lot of people rooting for you. So back to the solo’s,
Race 12 Post Classic 1300cc (8a)
It was nice to see Barry Rodwell (7) lining up on the grid as last year he had a major off at clearways on the P&M Kawasaki which knocked him clean out but he still managed to drive home (tuff nut) The pace was again fast and I secretly think that Cormac had had a bollocking from Brendan Ryan and was determined to stay in front of Chris, Rob Hall (23) was again very quickly out in front and starting to gap the field, Chris was in a big scrap with Philip Martin (72), Mad Frank (57), Paul Allender (37), John Dieterman (17) and Ricky McMillan (62). Chris eventually took 9th (5th Class) with Cormac 5th (3rd Class) the scrap was a good one with only 8 tenths of a second between Frank James in 7th through to John Dieterman in 10th.
Race 16 Formula 750
Another race for Patrick, another great battle for the first couple of laps which ended up with Pat out on his own and finishing 5th nearly 16 seconds ahead of Wayne Bond in 6th, It would have been nice to have Gary here to give Pat a little bit of a push on, However the guys in front have many years experience between them especially Phil Davenport who Chris assures me is collecting his pension. So well done Pat and a good result for only half way through your second season,
Race 18 1300cc Multis (7b)
Some interesting shenanigans out on track, Lea Gourlay spent a couple of laps slapping his petrol tank and going backwards the reason was fuel filler cap kept popping open, once secured though he started flying and boy can he overtake riders, lent on Pat on one overtake and flew past Chris eventually taking 2nd on the Lidgate Triumph, Tim Woolley also had a fuel cap issue and got sprayed in petrol, it was at this time that I think Tim misread a black flag so came in to the pits like a pit-bull terrier and shot off to race control to find that it was number 7 and not himself that received the flag. Pat took Chris and was in front until lap 3 when Chris out braked Pat into Druids and passed Pat on the outside, Chris then started to edge out a small gap and finished 4th (3rd class) behind Cormac with Pat coming in 5th (4th class)
Saturday Night
When Chris and I joined the CRMC we were told it was “The Friendly Club” and by now we know that to be absolutely true, after racing the heavens had started to open so we abandoned the Gazebo and set up tables and chairs in the pit garage, as by now we had had a very steady stream of supporters turn up throughout the day, the evening meal was a very fine Spag Bog and the usual fine wine & sloe gin was flowing with good conversation flowing. There was one point in the evening though when Mr & Mrs Jarvis were discussing the inns and out’s of black boxes and blue boxes that that I seemed to have become very confused or perhaps drifted off to somewhere much nicer, I still don’t get which is which and when Chris threw a RED BOX in to the equation I new I was finished.
In the pit garage camp we had even more security guards sleeping the night (at least they were out of the rain) Graham Redrup and Martin Pink were joined by Martin Pratt, Chris and Henry Thorpe and the array of bikes made the whole place look like a Triumph dealership.
Chris and I were up at just over 5am on Sunday and wandered in to the garage to get cups, coffee, kettle and chairs and headed back to the gazebo, not a murmur from the aforementioned security guards except a competitive array of snoring tones and Chris saying we should sack the security, Revenge was sweet though as around 07.30 we decided to wake the guys up and everyone got stuck in to a quantity of freshly cooked bacon sandwiches.
Sunday Races
Race 23 Post Classic (8a)
These Post classic guys are quick and the only two bikes out on the grid were Chris on his Rob North and Cormac on Brennan Ryan’s BSA, the rest of the field is made up of Kawasaki’s, Yamaha,s Suzuki’s and a rather late looking Moto Guzzi with most being 10 - 12 years younger than Chris and Cormac’s British machines. After this weekends racing Cormac is lying 3rd in the championship with Chris in 4th, no mean feat for these two guy’s especially when you look back to the mid seventies at how dominant the Jap bikes became. The race was again fast and furious yet for all everyone looked quicker the actual lap times were a tad down on Saturday. Cormac finished 9th (4th class) with Frank James beating Chris to the line by 2 hundredths of a second leaving Chris in 11th (5th class)
Race 29 1300 National (7c)
This is one of Chris’s favourite races, 10 laps of fury and what a race it was Chris got a flying start and was in 3rd by Druids then the action started Stu Melling took Chris and along with Lea Gourlay and Gary Thwaites were off on one at for a moment Lea came under pressure but as only Lea can do he crept away from the pursuing crowd, Chris in the meantime was at it in a 4 way battle with Phil Davenport, Cormac and Patrick with Steve Maney also making a good account of himself. By now the Caravan roof was looking like the main grandstand I think I counted at least 5 up there chearing the boys on. Places were swapped on almost every lap with Chris taking Cormac and Patrick twice, he seems to be getting Clearways sorted now, it seemed ages before the flag came out and the results were:
1st – Lea Gourlay – Lidgate Triumph 930
2nd – Gary Thwaites – Watson commando 920
3rd Stu Melling – Coccion BSA 750
4th – Chris Chapman – Rob north 930
5th – Cormac Conroy – Ryan BSA 930
6th – Patrick Banfield – Rob north 750
7th – Phil Davenport – RPS Triumph 750
8th – Steve Maney – Seeley Norton – 1007
9th – Nigal Hall-Smith Fluff Triton 970
10th Tim Woolley – Rob North Rocket 3 – 930
The time between 4th and 6th was again under one second, Great entertainment for the boys on the track and everyone spectating around the circuit. This series is sponsored by the Classic Racer Syndicate which is put together by Rob Lidgate and includes an impressive array of individual sponsors (watch out for the coming article on the new CRMC page)
Race 32 Post Classic (8a)
By this time of the day Chris’s confidence was growing and you know what happens then, Chris lined up on the start, flag drops, clutch goes BANG, Chris limps round and back to the pit garage, The guys were straight on to the bike and a new clutch was fitted and adjusted well before the end of the race, Chris was disappointed at loosing valuable points but that’s racing – Next.
Race 35 Charlie Sanby Trophy (23a)
This trophy race is traditionally run at Lydden as Charlie was known as the Lord of Lydden but unfortunately the circuit didn’t make it on to our calendar this year so the CRMC decided to race it at Brands, not bad as I seem to remember Charlie was King of Brands at one stage, for a profile Charlie CLICK HERE. The race attracted a wide array of machines from the 350 TZs to the big 1200 P&M Kawasaki’s with only 3 Brit machines lining up on the grid of 26 riders. Another 10 lapper in good weather, Lea off to his usual flyer but was being chased down by Richard Parker and John Dieterman Jnr. Ricky McMillan put on a good show to eventually finish 4th Chris was scrapping with Cormac on the Ryan BSA along with the TZ 350’s of Jon Agomber and Phil Davenport (yes Phil was showing off on a Yamaha) Chris just couldn’t hold on to them but boy he did try finally taking 10th beaten by less than a second between Jon and Phil and 9 seconds ahead of Mark George on his magnificent TZ 750.
The CRMC has an impressive number of Trophies like the Charlie Sanby Trophy and I am hoping to bring a detailed run down on these fabulous trophies along with the history behind them, so keep an eye on the CRMC page over the coming months.
Next up was getting the bike ready for a Parade, yep that’s right a parade but not with Chris piloting the North but the legendary Steve Parrish who is an avid supporter of the CRMC. There is a separate article covering this fantastic session, so check out the home page to read more.
Race 41 1300cc Multis (7a)
Another chance for Lea Gourlay to take a convincing win finishing 9 seconds ahead of Gary Thwaites however the main action was the battle for third which was being heavily contested between Chris, Cormac and Patrick, Both Chris and Pat have come on a lot this season and when you consider that this is only Chris’s 10th race meeting in his short career you will appreciate how well he’s doing, to be chasing and swapping places with Cormac is fantastic and with confidence building at every meeting it shouldn’t be too long before we celebrate the first win. (fingers and toes crossed) It may not happen this year but when it does I think the whole paddock will know and of course everyone will be invited to the party. So I digress and it’s back to the race Cormac had the better of Chris and finished 3rd (2nd class) with Chris 4 tenths behind for 4th (3rd class) closely followed by Patrick in 5th (4th class) in what was another thrilling race.
Summing up the results for the weekend in classes Chris achieved his best weekend to date
Race 2 - 4th
Race 7 – 3rd
Race 12 – 5th
Race 18 – 3rd
Race 23 – 5th
Race 29 – 4th
Race 32 – DNF
Race 35 – 10th
Race 41 – 3rd
Not a bad weekend’s work at all…….
It was surprising at how much mayhem and carnage occurred during the meeting, the sidecars resulted in something like 1 x broken leg, 2 x broken arms and lots of people with concussion, the solo’s also suffered with 1 x broken wrist and in another incident a broken ankle, so this is a good time to say a huge thanks to the medical teams who were on scene within seconds of each incident, Our marshal’s are always hero’s, their quick reactions, compassion and professionalism is outstanding and for a bunch of orange clad individuals everyone’s thanks goes out to you guys and girls. Anytime any of you are passing our base camp, feel free to pop in for tea or coffee during the racing day and alcohol is available during the evening hours, it’s our way of saying thanks for your dedication.
The racing this season seems to get better with every meeting and Brands was no exception, considering the delays due to lack of ambulances and doctors due to them making trips to the hospital on so many occasions you, the organisers fitted all of our races in seamlessly and effortlessly with time to spare, keep up the good work and a huge thank you from all of us involved with Chris Chapman Racing.
Being our local track we did have an unusually high number of supporters and visitors over the weekend and we hope all enjoyed the experience as much as we did, a big thanks goes out to our regular crew of Jane Chapman, Graham Redrup, Martin Pink and Martin Pratt who’s help and support is second to none, also we seem to gathering a team of supporters (might have to look at starting a supporters club) Mike Pink is getting to be quite a fan and his daughter Marge was over from Holland and they both joined us on Saturday with Mike returning on Sunday, Chris’s brother Richard brought his young daughter Rebecca who had a great time opening birthday presents and then though sitting up on the caravan roof was the bees knees.
Chris and Henry Thorpe made it on Saturday, they were at Brands earlier in the year for the shakedown but both agreed that the race weekends are much more fun, Henry is just getting into a bit of distance running and during Saturday evening shot off and ran the full GP circuit in what felt like 2 minutes, The Thorpe's have attended a lot of race meetings on the Isle of Man and commented on how much nicer the experience was at Brands, I think it’s the freedom to roam the paddock that impressed them.
Richard Acres and his partner Ann Roberts arrived on Sunday morning with a couple of friends Chris and Billy who again thought the weekend was fab, Richard we hope the knee heals soon and Ann a special thanks with your help in the catering department. Jake a friend of Martin Pink, it was a pleasure meeting you and a big thanks to both you and Mike for giving Stan Woods a puss start in pit lane.
Dave Cruickshank from the TR3OC finally made it
to a race meeting and got stuck in an finally we had the honour of
being joined by the Chairman of the TR3OC Pete Churchill and his
partner Elaine Miller, This was a first for Pete and I did notice
him on the pit wall a couple of times with his tongue hanging out,
to quote an email that Pete sent me on Monday “We
had a great day thank you and I spent most of the journey home
building a race bike in my head! Only to be bought back to reality
when my daughter wanted to borrow some money... Ho Hum.” (I think
Pete may have had a good day)
Finally a huge thanks to everyone that hung around on Sunday
evening to help us pack up it really does make a big difference to
our weekend.
So what’s next, Chris has entered a VMCC meeting down at Lydden for
the 1st / 2nd August, only 2 races a day but
all are welcome, The following weekend we are off to Cadwell Park
for the Beezumph which is the TR3OC flagship event and is held on
Fri 14th and Sat 15th August, check out the
clubs web site for more info.
The next CRMC weekend is 12th / 13th September
at Snetterton, The event will see the CRMC celebrate it’s 30th
anniversary and also host’s the Race of Aces, with a bit of luck we
may also be treated to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight as in
years past but no promises, So if you fancy coming along for some or
all of the meeting let me know so we can adjust the catering numbers
Till then a big cheers to you all, John Mitchell
________________________________________________
FEROCIOUS DONINGTON
What can one say
about Donington in the DRY….. Awesome, Fearful, Fantastic, what a
weekend of racing.
The Donington
Classic Revival attracted riders from all corners of the globe, the
Scandinavian guys competing in rounds of the UEM Championship were
in force and there was a very nice and quick Matchless McIntyre G50
from New Zealand ridden by Dave Cole for Ross Graham Racing.
So the event is
truly international, the grids were massive with an estimate 38+
riders lining up for the 37 races being held over the weekend. The
event was tied in with the Norton Centenary so there was a huge
contingent of Norton Owners showing off machines from 1909 through
to the latest factory race bikes, I am sure if you Google the Norton
Owners Club you will find lots of pics and info rather than me bore
you with a marques that I know little about.
Chris was again
joined this weekend by Gary Coward and Patrick Banfield with their
sister ex Haylock North’s and the double pit box soon filled up with
a great bunch of guys including Tim Woolly, Paul Coote, John Ivey,
Howard Humphries (not quite recovered from his wrist injury at
Pembrey) the garages next door were also filling up and were home to
Brendan Ryan on one side and Gary Thwaites on the other so we were
surrounded by lots and lots of lovely triples.
Friday saw Chris
heading out for his 1st practice session unfortunately
due to a club rule of having to use the rear doors of the pit
garages Chris dropped the north when someone opened a caravan door
on him with the front wheel running over a power cable, a quick grab
of the brake leaver saw the bike hit the deck and left Chris with a
repair bill and a sore shoulder, incidentally I saw Lea Gourley
almost have a similar prang on Sunday morning. I will be raising
this issue on the clubs forum later this week as I feel someone will
eventually get hurt hopefully it’s not a spectator or one of their
children.
Enough of that the
bike was repaired and Chris was given a rub (don’t ask) and managed
to get a good practice session in late in the day. By 8am on the
Saturday the paddock was bussing and after a mug of tea and bacon
sarnnies we were down to doing the final checks as racing was
starting early due to all of the practice sessions being completed
the day before. It was good to see Martin Pratt out on the track
parading his pretty Norton and I have a feeling Patrick Banfield is
now in the market for one.
Saturday 20th
June 2009
Race 2 Post Classic (8a)
Chris was 18th
on the grid and got off to a great start to eventually be the 2nd
British bike across the line in 12th place / 5th
in class. Lea Gourlay took the win on the fabulous Patton. It was
great that the meeting had no noise restrictions as Lea’s bike was
tested at 129db which means we may not see or hear the bike again
until next year. Mike Hose took second with Ricky McMillan closely
behind for 3rd. Roy Flower, Robert Hall and John
Dieterman on his fast Moto Guzzi 1134cc had a great battle for 4th
with Roy eventually crossing the line ahead of the other two. In 8th
place was Cormac Conroy on the Ryan BSA with the next British bike
after Chris being Hans Jorgen Kordovsky from Demark finishing in 18th.
As mention in previous posts we intended to use this as a warm up
for both Chris and the bike before hitting the track in the 1300
twins and multi’s (7b) but Chris is certainly on it and mixing it
with the big Japanese machines and you’ll see later in the write up
where he’s sitting in the championships. This race was fast and
furious and looked like setting the standard for the rest of the
meeting.
Race 6 Formula 750 (6a)
Chris sits this one
out as he’s got a 930 but we got Gary, Patrick, Tim and the rest of
the guys started and off they went to line up for the race. Patrick
was on fire and running 3rd for most of the race and only
just getting pipped coming out of the chicane by Sverre Saxegaard
(Norway) on his BSA Rocket 3 who crossed the line 1sec ahead of
Patrick not bad though from 17th on the grid. Slightly
further back Gary was in a 3 way fight with Brian Pederson (Denmark)
and Howard Humphries both very experienced racers and Gary was on it
for the whole session. Gary made up 10 places in the race from 19th
on the grid to take a very credible 9th / 5th
in class beating Howard to the line by half a second.
Incidentally out of
39 bikes on the grid for this race 19 were Triumph or BSA Triples
(more later)
Race 8
1300 Group 2 (7b)
A very quick turn
around for Gary and Pat, the boys fuelled them up and did a quick
check to make sure the wheels still rotated then a quick fire up
with the starter and a pat on the back and they were heading back to
the grid along with most of the garage, A slightly smaller grid of
only 31 riders for this race but again from the moment the flag
dropped the racing was awesome. John Ivey got off to a great start
but retired with what looks to be split barrels so hopefully fixed
for Brands Hatch, Gary had a huge mishap in to the Chicane, now Gary
used to race on 4 wheels along time ago and admitted he was trying
later breaking points on each lap but he tried a little too late and
lost the front, the result was a slightly battered but fixable bike,
a sore finger and ribs. I took him straight up to see the Doctor in
the medical centre who issued him with a Fit to Ride note then back
to the garage to sort out the bike. Meanwhile on track Chris and
Patrick had sabres drawn and were dicing with each other for several
laps with Pat taking the flag in 7th / 4th in
class closely followed by Chris with just half a second between
them.
One of the most
impressive rides of the race was by number 11 Hasse Gustafson on his
mighty Ducati 750 the bike looked and sounded fantastic, I’m not
sure of his starting position but he came through the field at a
very steady pace to finish 4th behind Lea Gourlay, Gary
Thwaites and Cormac Conroy.
Race 12 Post Classic (8a)
Chris was out again
to do battle with the fearsome Kwaka’s and TZ’s, again the race pace
was incredible with Lea Gourlay putting a fastest lap in of 1.17.794
on the Patton, now that’s flying –
Simon Bartlett
crashed out at Redgate on his TZ, Luckily he’s OK but the bike lost
it’s fairing and a few other bits so he decided to have an early
trip home to the workshop, with a bit of luck we’ll see Simon at
Brands and hopefully he’s back to mixing it near the front. Again
Chris was tussling with the European riders and eventually crossed
the line in 14th / 5th in class. Yet again the
North was the 2nd British machine over the line and yes
you’ve guessed it Cormac was the 1st one on that Ryan BSA
finishing 6th / 3rd in class.
Race 17 Formula 750 (6a)
5th race
of the day for what was turning out to be a very busy day for the
crew with Pat, Gary and Tim out for this one.
Again another fast
and furious race with all the guys absolutely flat out through the
Craner Curves, Pat had a good battle with Sverre Saxagaard and
finished 6th / 4th in class whilst Tim Woolly
passed Gary leaving Gary to work it out with Arnold Sjoqvist
(Norway) who just pipped Gary to the post by only 2 tenths of a
second leaving Gary in 12th / 7th in class.
Stu Melling took the win with Cormac 2nd and that rather
fast Ducati ridden by Hasse Gustafson taking the final podium spot.
Race 20 1300 Group 2 (7b)
Yes it’s still
Saturday and yet another race, well I suppose that’s what we are
hear for. The guy’s are now starting to find their way around the
track and the lap times are consistently getting better during each
race. On the 1st lap Chris got punched from behind going
in to Redgate, it was an odd one as Stephen Atkin had managed to get
his front wheel between Chris’s rear wheel and exhaust pipe and
braking the North’s seat, To explain who these things happen Chris
has talked me through the incident. Chris started mid way on the
grid but on the dirty side and if you know Redgate you really need
to be over to the left before getting into Redgate, Chris got a
blinding start but ended up in the middle of the track going through
the first corner and was confronted with a North dropping in front
of him giving him 1 a broadside view of the bike and 2 the only
option was to stand his machine up a bit taking avoiding action but
results in slowing down, in that split second Stephen Atkin no where
to go but into the back of Chris and eventually the gravel. I don’t
know how but Chris managed to keep it upright, sadly though Stephen
ended up having a big one in to the kitty litter resulting in a
broken collar bone and an expensive repair bill. Chris and Stephen
are still talking and we really wish him well and hope he has a
speedy recovery as the track will be a lonelier place without him.
As this was taking place Chris ultimately dropped 8 or 9 places but
by the bottom of the Craner Curves was back on the pace. Lap 4 saw
our next incident with Gary cruising down pit lane having suffered a
broken gear linkage, (more repair work for the crew) much to Chris’s
frustration Pat crossed the line less than a second in front of
Chris. Pat took 7th / 4th in class with Chris
taking 8th / 5th in class. Chris was heard
saying bugger under his crash helmet….
All that was left on
day one was a qualifying session for the magnificent Wheatcroft
Trophy which is an invitation race and also the main feature race of
the weekend. The race is supported by Malcolm Wheeler and his
brilliant Classic Racer Magazine and carries a prize fund of a
£1000. Last year saw Lea Gourlay take the flag but with 39 of the
fastest machines from around Europe on the grid only time would tell
if Lea could repeat the victory.
Qualifying was over
15mins and topping the times was that infamous Gourlay setting a
stunning fastest lap of 1.15.833, Chris qualified in 19th
in front of some pretty fast Europeans.
The race is due to
start straight after lunch on Sunday and is over 10 gruelling laps.
Saturday Night
After an exhausting
days racing we were fortunate enough to gather 18 Triples outside
our pit box for a photo shoot. There is a nice selection of bikes
from the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia 18 superb machines were lined
up and created quite a stir, I would like to say a personal thanks
to Tim Woolley and Graham Redrup for rallying the troops and helping
to set this up. As some of you know it’s the 40th
anniversary of the Triples it was a shame that not everyone heard
the announcements as we didn’t know until the following day that the
outer paddocks could not hear the tannoy announcements as I know
that there were at least a further 11 bikes around.
In fact I think that
we have enough triples at the Classic revival meeting to run a
championship race just for these fantastic machines, it will need a
bit of input from the TR3OC so if you fancy seeing a Beezumph
Challenge Trophy next year get on to the club committee members and
lets see if we can make it happen for 2010, Seriously if you fancy
this email me at info@k21.co.uk
and I will forward your comments on to various committee members.
Once we had the
bikes put away Chris and Graham went walkabout to drum up some
sidecars for the Beezumph and Jane and I got on with dinner, Graham
was however in for a surprise as I don’t think he knew that we knew
it was his birthday. Out came the pink balloons, pink birthday cake
and a whole heap of presents which knocked Graham for six on his
return to base camp. So many happy returns to you Graham our
official Crew Chief (he’s got the jacket to prove it) a great night
was had by all and it was nice to be joined by a couple of our hard
working marshal’s who I think are getting a taste for Chris and
Jane’s Sloe Gin.
One final note on
Saturday evening, the paddock has never seemed more friendlier and
relaxed especially in the Danish and Norwegian Camps, a big thanks
for their contribution to the evening’s hospitality.
Sunday 21st June 2009
The longest day
(Summer Solstice) mind you couldn’t have felt any longer than
Saturday but the sun was shining again a rare treat for a CRMC
meeting. Graham Redrup and myself were up at race control early to
sign on for track access as for the Wheatcroft Trophy Race all
riders sit on the grid with engines off and need
starting by a couple of old
pit birds.
Race 24 Post Classic (8a)
Right from the
moment the flag dropped one could see that the pace was up on
yesterday No191 Mike Hose finally gave Lea Gourlay a run for his
money and took the win with a stunning lap time of 1.17.352 with Lea
crossing the line 0.080 behind for 2nd, Roy Flower took 3rd
5.102 behind the leader. Chris finished 14th / 5th
in class and again was the 2nd Brit machine across the
line 14secs behind Cormac on the Ryan BSA.
Race 27 Formula 750 (6a)
Pat and Gary again
were out on this one and another fast paced race and a triple lovers
delight, 1st to the flag was Stu Melling on the Coccion
Rocket 3 followed by Cormac Conroy on the Ryan BSA and third was the
rapid No 11 Ducati ridden by Hasse Gustafson who was less than half
a second behind Cormac. Pat again couldn’t get anymore out of the
Haylock and finished 6th / 4th in class, Tim
Woolley arrived at the flag in 11th with Gary finishing
15th / 8th in class after having a very close
race with Gary Hirons. The guys were really trying and when any of
them returned back to the garage the looked hot and knackered.
Race 31 1300 National (7c)
For me this is one
of my favourite races, 25 roaring beasts lined up for the start with
Chris 4th on the grid, flag down and a storming start
with Chris almost getting both Lea and Cormac in to Redgate, by the
end of the 1st lap the three of them were starting to gap
the field with Lea on the Patton pulling out a lead as if he was in
a world of his own. Chris kept Cormac in his sights for a couple of
laps but no matter how far he twisted the throttle back Cormac was
inevitably quicker, hats of to Chris he was riding the tyres off the
North. Last lap and Chris was taken by that bloody (nice) Duke
again. Final results were Lea Gourlay 1st, Cormac Conroy
2nd, Hasse Gustafson 3rd, Chris Chapman 4th
and Patrick Banfield 5th unfortunately Gary had a DNF
with another part of the gear linkage letting go and came in after
this 1st lap looking quite despondent.
Gary should be pleased with
what he’s achieved so far as this is only his second meeting and I
think he’s lying 7th in the Formula 750 Championship and
if he was going to be around for the rest of the season could well
have looked for a 4th. So guy’s watch out next season
because Gary has got some real talent.
Race 30 Wheatcroft Trophy (16a)
As mentioned earlier
this is an invitation race and includes some of the fastest machine
and riders from across the UK and Europe. 10 laps of hard racing lay
ahead in near perfect conditions, Lea was out on his TZ and was
flying right from the word go, Mike Hose did a great job in keeping
Lea honest but finished a creditable 2nd 3.8secs behind
Lea who’s fastest lap was a brilliant 1.15.797 Robert Hall beat Roy
Flower into 3rd. The 1st eight bikes were
pretty much all Jap’s with Alan Oversby on his Craven Manx finishing
9th and 1st of the Brit bikes. Chris was again
giving the North everything and even with a new front tyre after
finding out what a front end slide feels like in the previous race
could manage only 20th. It’s races like this that show
historically the demise of the British Bike industry during the
early 70’s as those Japanese machines are awesome.
So that was it or so
we thought and we started packing up for the weekend.
Then along came John
Davidson (CRMC) with Brian Pederson (Denmark) in tow looking for a
couple of riders to compete in the Anglo Nordic Challenge as the
Danish Team were short of riders.
Well you don’t have
to ask racers twice to have another blast around the track so both
Pat and Chris were whisked of to pit box 33 and confirmed as
honorary Danes for the race, I don’t know why but if there’s a pink
armband around Chris gets to wear it.
Race 30 Anglo Nordic Match Race (17a)
The grid had 37
riders but a split start meant Chris was starting 30secs after the
leading bunch which included Patrick. What a race probably the best
of the weekend with the pit wall over flowing with enthusiastic
supporters being treated to some fantastic duels. 125 Morbidelli’s
were mixing it with 1162 Moto Guzzi’s and everything in between, I
think the Danish team would have won if they had all been a bit
faster and Chris managed to break his gear lever on lap 4 so did 2
laps stuck in 4th gear. The race was inevitably won by
the Brits but it was great fun to watch and an honour for Team
Chapman to be made honorary Danes, We may go over for a UEM meeting
and see if we can give some of the Danish guy’s a run for their
money on their home soil or is it our new country…..
To sum up the
weekend, well bloody knackering for all concerned, with out the help
of a few guys we couldn’t do any of this so a special thanks to
Chris Chapman, Patrick Banfield, Gary Coward, Tim Woolley and all of
the other riders in our garage for giving us a brilliant and
exciting weekends entertainment.
On behalf of these
guys I would like to extend a special thank you to our main sponsor
L.S.W.
(Long Suffering
Wife) Jane Chapman for being the hostest with the mostest, The TR3OC
members that made up the Pit Crew which included Graham Redrupp,
Martin Pratt, Martin Pink and Mike Pink along with the steady stream
of friends and supporters that visited us over the weekend. It was
nice to see Graham Jeffries there and I have a feeling he will be
another TR3OC member racing a North at future CRMC events.
Finally a huge thank
you to the Marshal’s, CRMC Organisers and Medical Team
again these guys shone
through and did their usually exceptional job of putting on a safe
and spectacular weekends racing.
Just a quick note to
say that this is the shortened report on the weekend with a lot of
detail missing, if you want more then you guy’s need to get down to
the race track and see it first hand for yourself….
We look forward to
doing it all again at Brands Hatch next month….
Cheers
John Mitchell
----------------------------------------------------
Darley Moor by John Mitchell
Arriving at the circuit was like stepping into
a time machine, Darley Moor was originally an RAF airfield and the
place doesn’t appear to have changed over the last 50 years or so
and yet some how it added to the charm of the place.
We had been warned that the facilities (what facilities) were
very basic but on the plus side everything worked unlike a
particular track in the deepest south east that we visited last
year. The circuit organisers were very helpful and when something
did go wrong like the toilet block failing, they were there and it
was sorted there and then, So well done chaps but perhaps some
showers wouldn’t go amiss for next time we come.
On to the racing and guess what, it rained and it rained and even though the forecast for Sunday was better it rained just as much, (another CRMC Race Weekend then!) the caravan wasn’t quite ready for this meeting so back to the tents which is always such a joy in the wet. Gary Coward (TR3OC) turned up on the Friday evening with his ex Haylock Rob North 750, for Gary it was his first race event so had asked Chris if he could join us, luckily he had brought with him his 6 metre gazebo and in no time we had a garage which was much needed considering the conditions. Gary was closely followed by Patrick Banfield who had just spent the day on the track at Mallory giving the sister Rob North to Gary’s a good shake down, on spotting the garage he also asked to join us, Obviously the reputation of Chris and Jane’s Sloe Gin is getting around.
The Friday evening turned out to be a great social event with good food (thanks Jane) good company and actually nice surroundings, the paddock was filling up rapidly and it was great to catch up with so many friendly faces from the club.
SATURDAY, RACING to P&M…..
Saturday morning and the weather was warm to begin with but you know it had to be wet, everyone was up bright and early and buzzing around eating breakfast and doing the final bits of scrutineering, Gary purchased a novice vest and got the prep talk from both Chris and Patrick, from the expression on his face I reckon that he was wishing he was back at home settling down in front of the TV to watch the Moto GP qualifying.
First practice session and both Chris and Gary looked comfortable and pushing each other along at a reasonable rate of knots when on the fourth lap Chris went missing somewhere out on the track, turns out he’d parked it as he thought that another drive belt had gone, after a long push back to the paddock Graham Redrup (TR3OC) ducked and dived around the bike and delivered the prognosis that the belt was fine but we could only select 5th gear (not a good gear for quick starts of the line). Phone calls were made to Richard and Dave at P&Ms who suggested that we bung it on the trailer and get it down to them ASAP although they were suffering a major power cut at the time the feeling was that if it can be done we would be back racing on the Sunday. The next half hour was crucial with lots of tears and hugs and kisses etc! etc! (that was just Chris and Gary) Gary was amazing offering Chris the use of his own bike for the rest of the meeting, we were very touched, but Gary mate! You are now in it now to win it.
Chris and I left the track at about 11am and trucked down the M1 to sunny yes! Sunny West London however we arrived at a very darkened workshop (no power). Dave and Richard were still working although the power was off and any one who knows Dave knows he’s a bit of a night owl which is where he must have developed his night vision although I firmly believe he’s good enough to fix any problem on a triple with his eyes closed.
For me personally it was my first trip to the Aladdin’s cave known as P&Ms or Chris’s second home and I take my hat off to a couple of very committed guys. Once the gearbox was opened up the results of a third gear breaking up could be seen. It looked nasty with bits of engineering scattered around the box, the broken gear had taken a small chunk out of the casing but luckily hadn’t punched a hole in it other wise it would have been game over. Richard and Dave worked delicately and were able to salvage a number of components and after a very long time the gear box was back in with a bunch of new bits.
During the afternoon we heard that Cormac Conroy had beaten Lea Gourley in an early race and you’d never guess but Cormac had blown the gearbox on the BSA Ryan, So lots of phone calls from Brenan and a box of bits were planted in the van for us to deliver on our return to Darley Moor.
Return we did leaving P&M’s at around 23.00 hours for a quick run up the M1 getting back to the track at about 1.30am. (a long day and worst of all zero points for the day)
Sunday morning and again everyone was up early,
I managed to book Chris a practice session (thanks Sarah) to see how
the re-built box felt and Chris was soon back in the paddock with
his usual beaming smile.
Race 17: Formula 750 carried over from Saturday: The day looked busy as we were now running three bikes out of the gazebo garage and all were using the same starter with eight races in front of us for the three guys, First out was Patrick and Gary for the Formula 750 race that had been cancelled on Saturday, Patrick was fired up and finished 3rd and watching Gary you’d have thought he had been racing for a long time and not just out in his fourth race of the weekend. Gary looked good, in control and keeping it in his trousers on what was turning out to be a very slippery track he finished a very respectable 7th in class. Gary looks a natural racer and again another guy that’s come through the TR3OC’s Beezumph route. Secretly Chris knows he’s got even more competition out there now.
Race 22: 1300cc National sponsored by the Classic Racing Syndicate: Chris and Patrick were out for this one. Chris was buried in the grid but got his usual good start, at the front the battle was on between Lea Gourley and Cormac Conroy with Cormac on the Ryan BSA (with fully fixed gearbox) which was leading in very wet conditions however at the end of the second lap Cormac looked back to see Lea closing him down and just got on the power a little early and ended up sliding on his bum out of paddock. (Brenan will not be amused) Chris and Simon Bartlett were having a great tussle over fourth position with Chris managing to hold Simon off to the flag and taking 4th, Meanwhile Patrick was fighting hard with Steve Maney and Patrick Welch eventually splitting them to take 7th. A great race for both Patrick and Chris with Chris moving up to fourth place in the 1300cc National Championship
Race 25: Post Classic 1300 Group 1 sponsored by Four Counties Insurance: Only Chris out in this one, Cormac got a great start on the Ryan BSA and fought a close one with Paul Allender eventually taking the win by 3 seconds over Paul, a little further back Chris was mixing it with Stephen Walls on his 1000cc Harris Suzuki and that chap Simon Bartlett, a good battle that ran throughout the race with Stephen taking 6th, Chris 7th (5th in class) and Simon 8th with only 7 seconds between the three of them.
Race 27: Formula 750, Gary and Patrick out again for this one, you know the weather was starting to develop in to a pattern buy this time, dryish between races and p####ing down as the bikes entered the holding area. Wow! Patrick was on fire… Chasing Stu Melling for 2nd, Pat set his fastest lap on lap 2 (1:14:168) and eventually finishing 3rd only 1.8 seconds behind Stuart. Gary in the meantime had got his head down and ended up mixing it with some of the Yamaha’s to finish 12th (7th in class) and by this time wondering why he hadn’t brought a boat to race.
Between races Jane Chapman was a star and had tea and coffee flowing for the riders and had also prepared a banquet lunch for the whole team, assisting and supporting the guys today were Martin Pratt (TR3OC) Tony Atkinson (Atkinson Joinery, Barnard Castle) Gary’s Brother Robert Coward and his son Elliott, and not forgetting Neil (Baldrick) who had had a very wet journey up on his Gussie. A great big thank you to all of the guys as without the help and support motor cycle racing would be difficult and boring, The couple of guys that had to leave on Saturday were the infamous Graham Redrup (TR3OC) and Martin Pink (TR3OC) who was competing in a Pre – 65 Trial on the Sunday. Thanks again guys and look forward to doing it all again, except the gearbox at Donington.
So back to the racing
Race 33: 1300 Twins and Multi’s sponsored by Boyer Bransden. We were busy getting all three of the guys out for this one as there were a couple of very last second adjustments being made to a couple of the bikes. Chris again was near the back of the grid and got a reasonable start passing Gary into the first chicane. Patrick ended up circulating in 4th very much on his own as Lea, Gary Thwaites and Cormac had gone off on one and were battling hard at the front, Hats off to Pat as he finished a very solid 4th (3rd in class), Chris was suffering with his visor steaming up so mixed with the spray was having difficulty seeing anything on track. Chris finished 6th (4th in class) grabbing some valuable points after Saturdays disappointments. Gary meanwhile was looking good in the worsening conditions and although back in the paddock looked disappointed with 13th he took a very solid and commendable 8th in class,
Race 35: Post Classic meant a quick turn around for Chris but Jane had hot tea and a fag waiting for him, the crew splashed a drop more fuel in the North and a quick visual check and it was thumbs up and Chris was at it again. Chris was determined to show Stephen Walls 1000cc Harris around the track this time and beat him to the line by 7 seconds for 6th place (5th in class), Cormac took the win over Paul Allender with Steve Maney 3rd, Ricky McMillan 4th and Robert Hall 5th it was a great race in wet and windy conditions with only 11 seconds covering the first 6 riders.
Race 37: Formula 750 again for Patrick and Gary, when I went to call Gary he looked very comfortable sat in a chair with a mug of lemon tea in his paws and an expression of “oh no not again” so it was out with the crow-bar and off he went with Patrick to the holding area where they both had good grid positions. Some riders are funny and prior to a race they just don’t want to get on the bike, but once they arrive on the start line they change and become fearless warriors, I think Gary fits into this category but I know he’s not alone. Again good starts by both riders in wet conditions, Patrick was right on the limit of grip running behind Cormac Conroy and Stuart Melling and took a very respectable 3rd Gary was also on fire but keeping it in his trousers and not being silly which brought him home in 5th and I think secretly he’s really looking forward to Donington. If Donington is dry then I think a few guys need to keep an eye over their shoulders as it’s not going to take Gary very long to be challenging for higher finishing spots. So from all of us a very big well done to Mr Coward as the weather for one’s first outing was bloody awful but his racing ability was impressive to watch.
Race 40: Post Classic Open sponsored by the CRMC, this is a new class for 2009 and is open to any post classic from a 250cc through to the big 1300s. The race was quite late in the day so produced a bit of a reduced grid, Chris got off to a flying start going into the chicane in first place, with lots of cheers from the now very slippery spectators mud banks. For two laps Chris was leading but Anthony Hart on his very quick Harris TZ was closing quickly and eventually over went past Chris to take the win, Chris did stay on his tail and took second losing out by just over 3 seconds. The result was great, another trophy but more importantly 20 points which puts Chris 2nd in the Championship Standings only 9 points behind Anthony Hart.
We’ve reached the end of the day so it’s time to pack up soaking wet gazebo’s and tents and head home, from what could have been a disappointing weekend it turned out to be great with a lot salvaged from missing out on valuable points on Saturday. Every one looked happy and satisfied with Chris, Patrick and Gary between them supplying some entertaining racing and pulling some fantastic results over the weekend.
Looking forward to Donington and we will hopefully be set up in a pit box with Chris’s Rob North and the two ex Haylock North’s belonging to Patrick Banfield and Gary Coward joining us. Martin Pratt is parading his pretty Norton on the Friday and Graham Redrup is celebrating his birthday (won’t disclose his age) We usually see quite a number of TR3OC members at the meeting so we could be showing off quite an array of machinery during the 3 day event. Just a quick note for the Beezumph, Graham said that there are still some places left so if you want to spend a fab weekend at Cadwell in August get on their web site and download the entry forms. www.tr3oc.co.uk
Final thoughts on the weekends events from an old blogger - The circuit at Darley Moor has very basic facilities however everything worked and when a problem arose the circuit owners sorted it out, The CRMC team did it again for all they ended up with a delay on Saturday and 3 races were carried over to Sunday morning every race was completed, that’s 41 Races, 4 Parades, 13 Practice sessions, what a weekend of quality racing with a terrific organising team, and last but not least a special thanks to all of the Marshall’s and Medical Staff, we know it’s not pleasant standing around in the rain for 2 days but hats off to you all as without you guys no one would be racing, incidentally if you would like to sponsor a Marshall check out the clubs web site www.crmc.co.uk 25 quid looks after a Marshall for 3 year which is not a lot of dosh considering what they have to put up with.
We look forward to seeing you all at Donington for the 3 day meeting starting on the 19th June so for now stay upright and pray for some sunshine….
John Mitchell 19th May 2009
Bemsee Centenary Meeting
April 18th / 19th Brands Hatch
We booked this meeting as an after thought, local track and a nice historic event but turned out to be an absolutely 1st class meeting. The North didn't need anything after Pembrey except the usual check over and a bit of welding on the fairing stay.
Chris only had one race on each day with a
practice / warm up on each of the mornings. It was nice to be at a
meeting with such a wide variety of bikes. Quite a number of
historic / classic clubs were in attendance including the TR3OC
headed up by Tony Howard with his very nice triple on show. Wandering
around the lower paddock was like stepping back in time with every
thing on show from early Rudge's through to classic Vincent's,
Morgan's, Norton's, etc! etc! You had to be there to e
xperience the
sights, smells and sounds from a bygone era.
The racing program was packed with all of the usual Bemsee (BMCRC) Races which included the Norfolkline Yamaha Past Masters, BMZRC MZ 250s, MRO Morello Powerbikes, MRO Triumph Triple Challenge, BMCRC Minitwins and the ED!asia Formula 400s add to this the Lansdown Classic Series, Classic 1300 Open, Post Classic, Classic 500s (one of the biggest grids) and finally the Morgans and Classic Sidecars on track at the same time.
Saturday morning we saw a big yellow ball in the sky instead of last years incessant rain clouds, the paddock was teaming with bikes, riders, helpers and spectators and the atmosphere was very warming. Saturday morning practice was an enjoyable jaunt around the track with nothing much to say apart from the bike felt great and grip levels were good.
Back in the our paddock area we were kept busy with a steady stream of visitors and fellow competitors dropping in to say hi or stay and have a cuppa. The crew looked happy and content and it was good to see Graham Redrup and Martin Pink joined by Martin Pratt who by the way is a wizard with lock wire. Jane unfortunately was not available this weekend although her catering skills had been popped into a number of cool bags and left me with the task of serving it up. (Everyone sent a big thanks to Jane)
Finally over the loudspeakers Chris's race is called and I shoot up to the top of the main grandstand with the video camera, great vantage point but I was surprised at how windy it was. Chris had drawn 10th on the grid, Got a flying start and coming out of Druids was in a great second place, I could hear Graham Lawlor's voice over the loudspeaker commentating the very same fact. The guy in front was Gary Thwaites, one of the fast boys at CRMC meetings who steadily increased the gap by 2 seconds a lap and pulled away from Chris. In 3rd place was Malcolm Hearn who was catching Chris at a steady rate. Final results were 1st Gary Thwaites, 2nd Chris Chapman, 3rd Malcolm Hearn, 4th Adrian Cooper, 5th Roy Robertson, 6th Keith Jarvis, 7th Mark West, 8th Nigel Smallbone.
Sunday morning after a quick bacon sandwich saw Chris out for the morning warm up, again on his return to the paddock his smile told us all that the bike was feeling good and we all settled down and soaked up the atmosphere. After lunch it was back on track for race 2 of the weekend. 2nd on the grid and although Chris got a great start a couple of other riders were better and going into Druids Chris was lying 4th. During the second lap Chris had pegged third behind Gary Thwaites and Malcolm Hearn. Coming down to Graham Hill Bend on lap 2 Chris put a move on Malcolm and started to pull away. What was noticeable is that Gary had not got that far in front with the gap never more than 4 - 5 seconds and Chris's body language suggested that he was chasing him down.
End of the race the positions had not changed for the first three but in 4th Keith Jarvis (Well Done Keith) 5th Adrian Cooper, 6th Roy Robertson.
The best thing of the weekend was comparing the timing sheets as on Sunday both Gary and Malcolm were faster but Chris made an amazing improvement and brought the gap between him and Gary down from 23.462 s on Saturdays race to 3.749 s on Sunday and increasing the gap on Malcolm from less than a second to 11.1 s on Sunday
Best Lap Time 56.028 best average speed 77.014 mph. On both days lapped over half the field.
Are we pleased we went to the BMCRC Centenary Event? You Bet!!!! Great Atmosphere, Great Organisation, Great Racing, Great Weather, Good Company and 2 x 2nd place trophies.......
In my humble opinion this weekend was a great confidence booster for Chris, and to stay in touch with Gary for the whole race means he knows that it won't be long before he could be up there at the front with him.
All the team are looking forward to Darley Moor which non of us have been to before but if Chris can get a few laps in to learn the track then we could have another exciting weekend.
John Mitchell, April 09
Pembrey 18th / 19th April
At last the first meeting of the season, Chris was advised not to run this one last year as it would have been his first racing lap among a load of rusty riders and also it snowed. This year however clear blue skies and break out the sun cream, what a change from the sogginess of 2008.
During the practice sessions Chris was rammed twice luckily managed to stay on but one of the fairing stays had been snapped so temporary repairs were made and then the racing began. This season we are booked into several championships, 7b 1300 Group 2s, (finished 4th 2008) 7c 1300 Nationals (finished 13th 2008) Post Classics Unlimited (quite a challenge) and finally a new class sponsored by the CRMC 14a Post Classic Open which covers everything from 250s upwards.
Race 1 which was race 4 on the program drew 3rd on the grid with 13 on the start, finished 7th with a best time of 1min 10.129. I don't know what happened on the warm up lap but the red mist had gone down and I went for it, getting the north completely sideways into the first corner prompting the Marshall to start raising the yellow flag and expecting to get the red flag out on the warm up!!! Slow down, get it together we're not racing yet were Chris's thoughts.
Pulled a wheelie off the start, and then discovered that the new fatter Dunlop rear tyre takes a bit longer to warm up than last years Avon. Howard Humphries had a nasty spill ramming the rear of Patrick Banfield so the race was red flagged on lap six which suspended racing till after lunch, (Howard our thoughts are with you, hope you can still lift a pint) Chris was the first rider to be picked up by the red flag and went sailing past Pat with his arm up, funny though as Pat thought it was Chris that rammed him and initially it looked like pistols at dawn until Pat realised that it was Howard that had ran into him.
The rest of the weekend panned out really nicely with the bike getting stronger every after every lap. The new rear Dunlop also wears quicker than the Avon so we spent some time scrubbing a new one in with a wire brush and fitted it before race 15 which was the CRMC Post Classic Open (14a)
Had a very squiggly moment on lap one in front of the same Marshal that had had a previous heart attack on my first warm up antics. The weekend went really good with plenty of dices going on between Patrick,Tim Woolly and myself with good results all round. The bike is such a different beast after the winter build so still need to start looking at how to improve riding skills and start getting the best from it.
Chris said it was great to see everyone again especially the girls in the office and would like to say thanks to the Marshals, Medical Staff, Organisers as well as the motley crew of Graham Redrup, Martin Pink both TR3OC members. Jane Chapman for looking after everyone and should be nominated for an outdoor catering award.
Full results will appear on the results page shortly after the meeting.
Next off to Brands for the Bemsee Centenary Meeting.
John Mitchell, April 09
Brands Test Day 7th April
First run out for the North since the end of last season, so much has been changed on the bike that Chris will put a piece together to explain the changes and new spec of the machine soon.
Back to the test session though and Chris started the day of quite leisurely as apart from a 5 min engine run last Sunday this would be the first time the engine has been fired up to do some miles. 1st session crawled around at 5000 rpm then back to the pit box to make sure nothing had fallen off, next session wasn't much quicker running 6000 rpm and back into the garage for a check over. Interestingly the North was the only Brit bike at the circuit and I think more than a few of the guys on track were laughing at this 30 year old sh###er being let out there with the speeds they were doing.
During each session the engine was bedding in nicely and Chris was starting to look like the proverbial Cheshire Cat. The on-going problem from last season of the engine vibration had gone and the North was starting to growl like a tiger on heat. Mind you if we thought Chris had a big smile it was nothing to the smile on Graham (Spanners) Redrup's face who was actually caught giggling a few times during the day.
The day overall was a success although a few small problems did arise, lost a bolt from the seat, then the drive belt snapped (no comment Dave) as usual it destroyed the cover and belief it or not the guys almost had the bike back out during the same session, a well oiled crew indeed.
As mentioned earlier the North was the only Brit there and by the end of the day did earn a lot of respect from quite a number of riders. As they day progress the garage became busier with guys coming in to admire the bike and comment that they didn't think a 30yr old shi###r could take them on the bends.
Chris's supporters and paddock crew were in attendance during the day so a big thanks goes out to Graham Redrupp, Martin Pratt & Tony Howard for your help during the day, Chris and Henry Thorpe for their support and we hope to see them at a number of race meeting this season and of course Jane Chapman for providing the groups hospitality
John Mitchell - April 2009
Above, Henry & Chris Thorpe with Chris Chapman at Brands