Monthly review - june
Intro
CRMC
Cadwell park was the next round for the CRMC. A sunny and warm weekend met Andrew Green, Ben Murfin, David Williams, Gavin Heggs, Mike Burke, Mick Rudd and Symon Woodward along with associate members Joe Woodward, Živilė ‘Ziv’ Žukauskaitė and finally John Walton and Roy Dale on the tools.
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| Woodward eying another pass on Green - PJM Photography |
Green, Heggs, Rudd and Sy Woodward made up a good sized RAFMSA presence in the 250 air cooled class aboard their RD250. The first race saw Green and Woodward up front with Heggs and Rudd side by side a short way back on the grid. Green and Woodward were never more than a second apart throughout the race. Meanwhile Rudd cleanly pulled on Heggs who’s RD engine seized on the Gooseneck on the 5th lap sending him exploring the grass all the way down to Mansfield, thankfully rubber side down. The second race followed a similar pattern as before minus Heggs who was already halfway home to pick up another bike. Rudd, who had not been out on his RD this year, managed to hold onto the middle pack whilst Woodward and Green battled up front finishing just 0.165 seconds apart. The last two races of Sunday saw Green opt to Lead Rudd round to pull his lap times up. Rudd however failed to finish due to an unfortunate off chasing his intended mentor whilst Woodward sailed off for another win. A well depleted grid for the final race left Woodward alone for what would be an easy win if his crank didn’t go and break in half gifting championship rival Jerry Longland some much needed points. The joys of racing old bikes eh?!
Rudd in the woods - PJM Photography 
The pair swap again - PJM Photography 
Heggs climbs the mountain - PJM Photography 
As does Rudd - PJM Photography 
Heggs eyes up the mountain - PJM Photography 
Rudd leads Graham Acott - PJM Photography 
A lonely Woodward in the final race - PJM Photography
350GP
Out on the Yamaha TZ350, Green had managed to qualify third quickest despite only getting 3 laps of practice due to a red flag incident. The other riders around him were on newer faster machines so unsurprisingly left him catching up from the start, but that he did. Slowly through the race Green would claw back tenths of a second where he could, finishing third in class twice on Sunday followed by a second and third on the Sunday. Not bad for an old timer (bike or rider, up to you). |
| Green off the start - PJM Photography |
Willams and Joe Woodward took their Honda VFR750 RC24 super stockers out for a spin with Woodward bringing home four 1st places in class and even getting within a second of overall race leader Joe Barton on his superbike! Meanwhile Williams, who despite a less than ideal running bike pulled home a pair of 5th places before being forced to retire on the first race on Sunday due to carburation issues. A team effort stripped his carbs and dried the engine out ready for the last race but sadly the bike was only running on 3 cylinders for the last race forcing Willams, who was somehow not last, to retire again. Also out on Sunday was Heggs who had driven home, dumped his broken RD and picked up his VFR750. Lack of time on the track and generally not being that quick anyway saw him struggle to get laptimes below 2 minutes so found himself dead last after the chap behind him rudely retired. The second race of the day didn’t go much better as after a couple of laps, things suddenly got even slower and quite loud when his exhaust snapped at the flange and departed the bike. To console himself, Heggs booked a track day the following week on his NC30 which managed half a lap before breaking down. Not a great week for Heggs or his bikes.
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| Joe Woodward looking committed - PJM Photography |
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| Joe Woodward well tucked - PJM Photography |
Michael Burke was back out on his Louigi Moto Ducati 750TTF1 in the post classic 750 and the ACU post classic. Teething issues had held Burke back on recent meetings so; an aim simply to finish all races without incident seemed reasonable and was gratifyingly achieved. Pace gradually improved through the races with a pair of 4th places on Saturday followed by two 2nd places on Sunday with lap times getting down into the 1:40’s. This was despite a 5 sec penalty for a jump start in the last race. Onboard footage of the start shows nothing more than Burke heading off after the lights went out and promptly showing some excess enthusiasm with a monster wheely down most of the length of the straight. A clear conscience and still holding onto 2nd place so nothing to be upset about there!
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| Mike Burke - PJM Photography |
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| Ben Murfin eying up the mountain - PJM Photography |
This was the first racing weekend for Murfin on one of the team’s Yamaha XJ600’s. Setting out sensibly as a relatively new rider let alone racer, Murfin was more than happy to slash 20 seconds off of his lap time by the end of the weekend. As his confidence grew he set one of the superstock 400 bikes as a target to beat. His new 'nemesis' (the only rider he was near all weekend) had him for power on the straights but Murfin was able to close and pass him on the corners. “Passing him and keeping him behind in 3 of 4 races just cemented the joy of racing, I’ve definitely got the bug”. Out on the same Grid, Ziv on her Honda VFR400 NC30 has really started to find her pace managing to break into the 1 minute 50’s. Getting a tenth in class whilst battling it out in the middle group on SS400 and junior production 600’s was no mean feat at all.
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| Ziv shows it's not all about capacity - PJM Photography |
GP Originals
Mick Rudd and Andy Green descended upon a blazing hot Oulton park with their Yamaha TZ350s. This was the first outing of Micks TZ since he purchased it from team mate Paul Kirkby on a pretty unfamiliar track which would prove to be an interesting challenge for him.
To say qualifying was busy was an understatement with 52 bikes of mixed classes out on the grid at the same time.
Green started on the 4th row with Rudd having more work to do starting from near the back. The first race was red flagged on the first lap so the session didn’t get restarted till after lunchtime. Green put on some great pace after a naff start, matching his PB lap time, and came home 5th in the ultra competitive 350 class. Meanwhile Rudd gained confidence and pace finding his fastest lap time on the last lap which is always a good sign.
On the second race, Rudd, again starting from near the back, found greater pace, finding 3 seconds to hack off of his previous best lap time this weekend. Green again started poorly but managed to pass his peer group earlier than the first race which allowed him to chase down the group in front. With faster riders ahead, Green was dragged along slashing 2 seconds off of his PB lap time. However the race stopped after 4 laps due to another red flag. Without the length of a full race to catch up to slower riders Green had to settle for 6th in class this time. This resulted in him winning a NGK prize voucher for a set of Spark Plugs from our very own sponsor no less.
F2 Sidecars
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| Ready to go - John Lockett |
Sidecars were also out on the same weekend. Qualifying went underway with a view to get Mark back bike fit after a 3 month absence due to work commitments. That paired with not visiting Oulton park since a far soggier 2019 visit, the team wanted to rid any cobwebs and set a respectable time. Achieving 9th from a field of 21 outfits saw the team reasonably happy.
Starting from the middle of the pack, the outfit got a good clean getaway from the melee behind. Chasing down Team Powerhouse and looking to make a move was going to prove a workout in the heat to stay with the faster front runners. Fatigue was always going to be a factor in the heat and busy nature of the circuit and whilst settling in behind the Italian cladded outfit, number 14 Lockey and Binns machine made a surprise pass at Shell Oils corner half way through the race. Getting their heads down they eventually gaining a place back after a fuel issue saw the Powerhouse outfit slow up, taking a respectable 5th in class with it all to do again a few hours later.
4 hours later they were back at it. This time a top 6 reverse grid saw Team RAF on pole position. The lights went out and the electric starts from the 2 outfits behind meant the lads were 2 places down into the first corner, the race one podium finishers were next to dispatch of the RAF crew as they started 6th 5th and 4th in the reverse grid. By the end of lap 1 the team were back in their familiar 6th position, settling down for a lonely chase of the fast front pack, hoping to profit from any issue in front. By the penultimate lap our old friends Team Powerhouse were closing in fast thankfully finishing 0.2 seconds behind. Another 5th in class and a decent points haul this weekend sees the team 7th in the championship, 5 points behind 6th with 4 rounds left.
NLR
No Limits were at Croft this month enjoying this heavily underrated airfield circuit.
Brad Burn returned to racing after some time thinking about how hard the ground was at Mallory park earlier in the year. He took his Yamaha R6 through its paces in the Metzeler newcomers & pre injection 600, racking up a 12th place in the first race but failed to finish the subsequent two races. At only 4 seconds off the race winner's pace, he wasn’t doing bad at all considering.
Dave Langley Thrashed his Aprilia round in the Pirelli super series 1000. Despite nearly lopping a second off his lap time by the second race, his peak position was in the first race, just missing the podium with a 4th place followed by a 5th and 6th.
Andrew Castle was out on his SV650 in the super twins and standard twins grid. Two 14th places came with a near 2 seconds knocked off his weekend best lap time followed by a depleted grid gifting him a 10th.
Kenny Macleod was out on the Tamworth GYTR pro series cup on a Kawasaki ZX6R 13, 12 and 10th in class with near a second knocked off his weekend best were welcome results especially in a class where only a second a lap separated him from the race leader!
NGRRC
Whilst the rest of the country bathed in sunshine, Pembray took the rare opportunity to be wet.
Unperturbed Joe Woodward qualified and finished in first place on his Suzuki SV650. The Tigcraft TZ250 was not really playing ball in the ACU 125-250GP making Joe work a lot harder for an 11th place.
Closing
That's another month done with July already showing us some amazing results for the RAFMSA MCRR. We look forward to next month for a review of that. If you are planning to head to RIAT this year, do keep an eye out for the RAFMSA gazebos where a small gaggle of motorcycle road racers will be attending with their bikes on display. Far more exciting than those planes!
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