Monthly review - July

 

Intro

The year trundles on and here we are writing another packed review after another busy month of motorcycle road racing. After all of the talk of sunshine and sticky leathers over the last couple of months, July gave us wall to wall cloud but at least those leathers got a rinse. 

Despite the weather, we have seen some welcome old faces make their return to racing, joining the familiar names we have been following up until now. Let’s get to it.

RAF at Brands Hatch track day

CRMC

Being a greedy bunch (read: now very poor) the RAF Classic team had two events this month at two iconic British circuits, those being Snetterton and Donnington park.

Snetterton 300

RAF Classic team in the gazebo before the rain came.

Gavin Heggs (Honda VFR750) Ben Murfin (Yamaha XJ600), David Williams (Honda VFR750) Joe Woodward (Kawasaki ZXR400, Honda VFR750, DD Racing  KTM690), Symon Woodward (Yamaha RD250) and Živilė ‘Ziv’ Žukauskaitė (Honda VFR400) made for a substantial team. All of whom squeezed themselves into one of the recently restored RAFMSA gazebos just in time for the heavens to open on Friday night.

Thankfully, by the time practice was done, most of the track was dry and the team got to the business of racing. The Classic Racing Motorcycle Club (CRMC) haven’t used the full 300 circuit at Snetterton for a very long time so this was something new for most of the riders. 

Morning activity picks up

An off pace Williams made for a tempting target for Heggs in the superstock 750 grid. Unfortunately that target proved to still be a tough one to hit. Despite this Heggs made finishing near the bottom of the grid into good news. Having had a rubbish time at Cadwell, Heggs made short work of knocking seconds off of his lap times and getting back into his scratching ways aboard his Honda VFR750 RC24. In fact by the end of the first day he was having ground clearance issues round Agostini’s which was at least good news for his lean angle if not so much for his fairing. Williams, though frustrated at his own pace, was still comfortably ahead with Joe Woodward besting them both. More on him later.

Heggs picks the pace up - PJM Photography

David Williams - PJM Photography  

Joe Woodward on it - PJM Photography

Similarly Ziv in the superstock 400 was finding some good pace on her home circuit. Achieving a PB and beating some long term rivals aboard her Honda VFR400 NC30, she was rightfully very pleased. In the same grid, Williams and Murfin fought their battles battles in the junior production on Yamaha FZ600 and XJ600 respectively. Every race Murfin came back with a smile on his face and a tale to tell aboard the Blue Whale. Williams, with only the Saturday to race only got the one race but managed to come 6th to his credit.

David Willams last outing on the FZ600 - PJM Photography 

Ben Murfin builds confidence - PJM Photography

Joe Woodward leads the pack - PJM Photography

Ziv stretching her VFR400's legs - PJM Photography

Joe Woodward managed to find disappointment in going very well by making this his first racing weekend with no first places. That was despite podiuming in almost all of his races. Snetterton being heavy on its straights meant that staying in front of Graham Higletts much faster ZXR400 an impossible task. 2 more second places came on the Honda VFR750 RC24, third overall beating most of the superbikes on his super stock machine. Fortunate to get a ride on a DD Racing  KTM690, Joe went into the super mono race with the same enthusiasm he shows on any bike but sadly the machine didn’t want to perform for him leaving Joe struggling to keep up.

Having a less fun time was Symon Woodward. With Jerry Longland to beat in the post classic 250 air cooled, he had the added challenge of former class champion John Warwich making a return to racing on his own Yamaha RD250. Leading the race, Woodward was shown a wheel by Warwick going into (everyone's least favorite corner) Murray’s. For reasons only known to Woodward and probably the first law of motion, his front wheel washed out sending Woodward tumbling through the grass next to his now very battered bike. A full day's team effort to get it working again had the bike ready for Sunday's last race but sadly it was not to be.

Symon Woodward and RD250 rolling about in fileds - PJM Photography

Out in the post classic 750 grid, Mike Burke clearly had his Ducati TTF1 dialed in properly with a pair of wins and  a second place over the weekend.

Mike Burke swapping places with a TZ750 

Sunday started with some of the races missed from a late end to Saturday's racing. Unfortunately there was little further racing that day after a serious incident. For further information and to pass your respects, we invite you to head to the CRMC Facebook page.

Donington Park

The classic festival at Donnington park is always a huge event on the calendar. Riders and fans travel from around the world to spectate and see some really exotic machines and famous riders take to the circuit. They also got to see the RAF classic team in all of its glory. Taking pride of place on the entrance to the event showing off 13 race bikes and their respective riders. This might take some introducing but luckily you know most of them already…

Simon Allen (Honda CB350 K4) Mike Burke (Ducati TTF1), Andrew Green (Harris Decorite 256, Honda CB350 K4, Yamaha TZ350C), Gavin Heggs (Honda VFR400 NC30, Honda VFR750 RC24), Mick Rudd (Yamaha TZ350G), Joe Woodward (Kawasaki ZXR400, Honda VFR750 RC24, Molar Manx 500), Symon Woodward (Yamaha RD250) and Živilė ‘Ziv’ Žukauskaitė (Honda VFR400 NC30).

Promise of terrible weather was thankfully erring on the side of windy but dry for Saturday mornings practice. Green had decided to get his fancy Harris Decorite 256 an outing (much to the dismay of Heggs who was hoping to pinch it) with the TZ350 as a backup in case it didn't work out for him. The K4 was out because Donnington was an open pip meeting and that meant it could wear it's rather noisy megaphones. Si Allen, also on a K4, had not been out this season yet and was, much Like Mick Rudd on his TZ350, looking to get his head back in the game. Everyone else just wanted to either simply avoid being last or win everything, we will let you guess who.

RAF Classic team all set up for the classic festival

We will start where we normally finish, with the aircooled 250 race. Symon Woodward was the only RAFMSA racer out this time and this was his make or break to keep his best frenemy Jerry Longland away from another championship win. The pair returned to their position swapping antics immediately, promising a fun weekends racing. The first race went to Longland as his superior midrange allowed him to drive out of an Esses block pass that not only avoided both riders going for a trip in the gravel trap but somehow let him drive away and over the line just 0.081 seconds in front of Woodward.

The second race saw Woodward clear Longland for what should have been an easy win but as this couldn’t be allowed to happen, Woodward became aware that all was not well with his RD’s motor. Sy fiddled with fuel taps and throttle cables as he wondered how long it would take for Longland to pass him before a sudden loud bang told him his race was over. The reason Longland was taking his time to catch and pass him was he had his own issue. Being the sportsman that he is, his Suzuki X7 also “shat itself” letting his completely oblivious team mate Graham Acott take his first 250 win. 

Being an organized bunch, Longland had a spare engine sorted for Sundays racing. Meanwhile Woodward, with more of a focus on son Joe, did not. As such the final two races of the day were gifted to Longland along with any hopes of a championship win for Woodward. There is always next year.

Sy Woodward and Jerry hard at it - PJM Photography

Mike Burke was back for more great results on his Ducati TTF1. A first and a second place on the Saturday were a nice pair of results so Burke decided to do the same again on Sunday.

Mike Burke - PJM Photography

Burke in the flow - PJM Photography

Si Allen made a welcome return to racing and entered his Honda CB350 K4 in the classic 350 grid. Feeling a bit rusty he was pleased to be lapping in the 1:30’s after practice. Allen peaked his weekend with a pair of 8th places showing improvement through the weekend.

Andy Green and Si Allen both entered k4’s whilst Joe Woodward was out on the Molnar Manx 500 in the long 12 lap ACU classic 350 & 500. Allen plugged away managing 6th in class. On the other end of the grid, Joe led the entire race despite a big moment exiting the esses whilst being closely followed by a very fast Mike Cooper. 

Green found himself toing and froing with David Martin. As Green managed to pass on the corners, Martin on his CB500 would simply blast past on the straights. Green attempted to end the cycle by going round the outside of Martin at Mcleans but a combined late turn in and a little distraction as he watched an Antonov AN124 takeoff from East mids saw Green slide off into the gravel whereupon the race was soon red flagged. 1sth Place was the prize for Joe, a shortened footpeg and a belly pan full of gravel was for Green.

Rudd, Green and Dale wait for the next race

Si Allen heading down hill - PJM Photography

Green makes a move - PJM Photography

Joe Woodward takes the lead - PJM Photography

Andy Green took his Harris Decorite 256 out in the PC250 with Mick Rudd out on the same grid in the PC350 on his Yamaha TZ350g. Green, despite having owned the bike for near 5 years was new to racing it. First impression were how comfortable and easy to ride it was compared to the TZ. Clearly it didn’t take him long to get used to it as he comfortably collected four 2nd places through the weekend. It wasn’t easily acquired however as, The fall from his K4 on Sunday preceded his next race on the Decorite. Having been scraped up and deposited  at scrutineering, Green had to run to the med center to get signed off, then run most of the way back to the paddock before realising he had forgotten his transponder which was still on the bruised k4, sending him running back for that. A sweaty and quite wound up Green jumped on the Decorite with the assistance of Roy Dale, making it to the holding area just in time to join the siting lap from the pit lane.

Meanwhile Rudd had a consistent weekend having not been out since Cadwell park. Still new to the TZ350, Rudd was pleased with improving lap times and a quartet of 4th places in class.

A crowded start - PJM Photography

Mick Rudd makes a move - PJM Photography

Green - PJM Photography

Rudd - PJM Photography

Out in the superstock 400 Ziv continued to shine on her Honda VFR400 NC30 with the support of John Walton. In all races she was well stuck into the middle pack, battling for each race and finishing with a couple of 9th places as her best from the weekend. A surprise visit by Maria Costello MBE was a real highlight for her weekend and a good sign that things were goning the right way. Heggs meanwhile had dug out his own VFR400 for its first real outing since it wobbled round Croft for a few laps last year. Some nice new tyres and removal of the more burnt bits of the wiring loom seemed to do the job for him as he chopped lumps out of his track time in the first race. Despite taking the effort to push for more pace in the corners, this didn’t translate to much faster lap times and he never managed to catch up with the mid pack.

Up front Joe Woodward was battling hard for each race with a strong front pack comprising Graham Higlett and Alan Major. Taking the bottom step in the first three races, the last race saw Higlett and Major slow with a penalty being the only thing relegating Joe from the top step seeing him finish second.

A lonely Heggs - PJM Photography

Ziv leads the way - PJM Photography

Joe Woodward up front - PJM Photography

Ziv stillamongst it - PJM Photography

Heggs and joe Woodward were both out in the superstock 750 aboard their respective Honda VFR750 RC24s. In the first couple of races of Saturday Joe had struggled with a 4th gear that refused to stay engaged. Meanwhile Heggs, daydreamed of riding a Cagiva c590 but somehow struggling to go fast on even the NC30, let alone the heavier RC24. With championship points on the line, Heggs decided to loan Joe his VFR750 for the Sunday. 

A poorly timed wheel swap led to Joe missing his third race, negating any benefit the better bike gave him but he did finish only .8 seconds off of first place in his last club race. 

Joe Woodward - PJM Photography

Heggs heading down the hill- PJM Photography

Woodward aboard Heggs' VFR - PJM Photography

More importantly however, Joe managed to take home 2nd place in the ACU race aboard Heggs’ VFR750 against a very strong field. Also out in the ACU were Burke and Ziv but neither finished the race for technical reasons. 

A great effort for Joe and a little proud moment for Heggs who now knows that at least his bike can do it.

Joe also went and won the classic ACU on the Molnar Manx so he was not messing about.

Heggs' VFR750 showing what she can do.

NLR

Not to be beaten by the RAF classic team, the No Limits Racing (NLR) club racers also hit the circuit twice this month. Anglesey and Brands hatch made for a fair bit of driving but both destinations were worth the effort.

Anglesey

Frustratingly for Lawton, Anglesey fell on the same day as RIAT, so whilst he showed of his shiny Yamaha R6, the rest of the team were carving it up on the admittedly soggy Philip island of Wales. 

 Out in the Metzeler Newcomer 600 & Pre-Injection 600 were Kai Byford-Howard (Kawasaki ZX6R), Kim Lawton (Kawasaki ZX6R), Chester Norton (Yamaha R6 pi) and  Brad Burn(Yamaha R6 13s). In the first race Burn managed to finish in front of Norton who were 7th and 3rd respectively in class. Byford-Howard meanwhile finished her only race of the weekend coming in 24th in class whilst Lawton came in just in front with a 23rd. From there on out Norton was not messing about, not only getting a 1st and another 3rd place in class but finishing towards the front overall. Burn put in more consistent laps with an 8th and finally a well deserved 6th in class. Kim Lawton got her best result of the weekend with a 20th place in the second race. 

Chester Norton having a top Weekend

The Pirelli Super Series 1000 is David Langley’s playground aboard his Aprilia RSV4’ on which a first place was as good a start as you might hope for. A 5th was a bit of a setback in the changing conditions but he rounded his weekend off nicely with a 2nd place in class in his final race.

James Leslie was out in the Tamworth GYTR Pro Shop Cup 1000 on his Yamaha R1 4c8. A 13th place came first followed by 14th but a DNF after the 6th lap put an end to his weekends racing.

Kenneth Macleod out on his ZX6R in the Tamworth GYTR Pro Shop Cup600 started off superbly, showing his skill in the wet with a first place. A faster drier second race still saw Macleod take home 5th place wrapping up his day.

With the endurance race cancelled due to weather, that just left the Interservice racer.

The interservices provided great results for the RAF as they held the top 4 slots with Langley Macleon, Cunvin and Burn. Norton and Sharp were not far behind with 7th and 9th overall. Sharp having qualified in 7th with a 1:20 lap, only finished 9th after a poor gear choice in turn 2 on lap 1 which allowed 2 to pass. Knocking 4 seconds off his best lap wasn’t enough to get passed in this hard fought for race but was a superb achievement in itself. Kim lawton found 11th place battling in the middle pack whilst BYFORD-HOWARD succesefully avoiding coming last and brought some more points in for the RAF.

Brands hatch

Brands hatch is normally a relatively fun reason to throw money at the Dartfort toll bridge. On this occasion however, it was an even better reason, as No Limits had snagged a full GP circuit weekend offering an extra 1.2 miles of tree lined fun every lap.

Of course to stay with this month's theme, rain had to come and spoil the fun a little but that couldn't fully dampen the novelty of the full circuit.

The ACU national endurance race Saw Sharp once again riding the UK Defence Networks Racing racing prepared Triumph 765 on a varied mixed grid including the European classic endurance. Having aimed for 1:40 laps, the team peaked in the 1:39’s which was a superb achievement whilst they pumped out a total of 89 laps. With the 3 hours finally over, the team finished 23rd overall and 4th in class.

Chester Norton was the sole RAFMSA rider in the Metzeler Newcomer 600 at Brands and did not disappoint with his results three 2nd places and getting his lap times below the 1:40’s. These were not to be sniffed at, especially after recovering the bike post his interservices race antics in just one and a half hours with the help of Gary Lawton and Daniel Southerland and still coming second in a very wet race.

David Langley took his RSV4R out in the Pirelli Super Series 1000. Two 4th places in the dry were followed by a superb 2nd place in a wet depleted grid.

Andy Castle was out in the No Limits Standard Twins on his Suzuki SV650. Despite poor weather, Castle managed to finish all of the races, finally getting his best position of 11th in a well depleted grid.

Kenneth Macleod out in the Tamworth GYTR Pro Shop Cup 600 & Pirelli Super Series 600 on his ZX6R managed a 6th in class with a best lap time in the 1:35’s for his first race but was sadly forced to retire from the final race of the day.

This was a tough round of the intersevices with some top RAFMSA riders not finishing.

As you might have guessed, Norton crashed out of the endurance race, collecting a nice supply of gravel and making quite a mess of the bike's fairings. Macleaon also retired leaving Cunvin the top RAFMSA rider with 4th overall, Leslie 6th on his R1 and Sharp not far behind on his GSXR1000 in 7th. Kim Lawton and Castle both brought in some much needed points further down the grid with Kai BYFORD-HOWARD retiring on the first lap. 

We should be seeing a big effort in the next round as the British Army continue to lay on the pressure.

Chester Norton, having a testing weekend

Southern 100

RAFMSA riders, Rad Hughes, Michael Russel and Andrew Castle joined Mark Middleton and Rob Atkins F2 sidecar lunatics for the 2023 Southern 100 on the Isle of Man. All riders got some practice sessions in with the sidecar outfit coming in with both rider and passenger buzzing with excitement.

As we are sure you all know, events didn’t continue as planned after a tragic accident. For more information, here is the Southern 100 facebook post:

RAFMSA Special events

This was a busy month for the RAFMSA motorcycle road racing team as they attended a number of non racing events.

RIAT

RIAT 2023 was very much defined by its weather. Heavy rain of Friday gave way to a windy Saturday leaving Sunday the best of the three event days.

A huge effort was made by the whole RAFMSA with not just road racing motorcycles but motocross, rally cars, road racing cars, two simulators and even a Scalextric track where you race an AI controlled police car (nobody beat it).

Gavin Heggs had his Yamaha TZ chassied RD250 on display along with Triumphs only TE-1 Gary Lawton’s Yamaha R6, and the No Limits Teams Honda CB500. The Triumph TE-1 was a huge draw, demonstrating potential future electric technology in a familiar Speed triple derived package. Heggs aimed to demonstrate some ancient arts by stripping and rebuilding his RD250 motor in a field. Surprisingly he managed that without any bits left over and had the bike running by the end of Sunday as he attempted to rival the red arrows spewing blue smoke everywhere. Ben Murfin, Steve Rathbone and Rob Vickerman were also in attendance to answer questions from the huge public interest we received. It was great seeing everyone who took the time to come say hello and it took quite a while to get our voices back after.

Triumphs only TE-1.

A nice setup with the CB500 and R6

Starting work on thew air cooled RD250 motor

Heggs' Yamaha RD250 back together

Ian Ridley's RD250 and Heggs' VFR400

The Day after RIAT, Heggs took his VFR400 NC30 to RAF Waddington's sports and wellbeing day supported by the Waddington motorcycle club and Dave Bond. Ian Ridleys RD250 was also on show which is another name next to Bond that we would like to see more of at classic meets again.

Brands hatch training camp

On the Monday after the NLR Brands hatch and CRMC Donnington park meet, the RAFMSA MCRR met at Brands hatch for a track day on the Indy circuit with the rest of the MOD motorsports teams and serving guests.

A wide range of abilities were present on a just as wide variety of machines. Thankfully, with a predominantly racing derived group, action on the track was far more organized and enjoyable than your average track day.

Considering the preceding weekend and absolute downpour we had the night before the track day, things started off with a drying circuit and even featured some sunshine occasionally. The track soon dried and everyone had a great time slinging their bikes round the track with none of the pressures of racing. 

Riders split their time honing their skills on the short circuit and talking to potential recruits to the MCRR. After lunch the clouds did their thing and the riding slowed to a few brave souls who carried on despite the slick conditions. Despite this, everyone had their fill after a full weekend of racing anyway.  It was great to meet so many old friends and meet some new faces that we hope to see more of in the future. 

Closing

Already at the time of publishing we are heading into another weekend with the RAFMSA displaying at the Moto GP and a host of racing planned over August.

We will be back at the start of September to tell you all about it.

The Royal Air Force MotorSport Association supports tens of disciplines both two and four wheeled. More information on the RAFMSA can be found on Facebook, the Sports federation home page, Twitter and can be found with a quick search on MODNet. 

For more from the RAF Classic racing team race in the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club (CRMC) offer live timing and have race results going back years, you can find more the team on Facebook Twitter Blogger and YouTube.

There is a strong contingent of the RAFMSA MCRR in the MSV, they can be found on Instagram with some fantastic video shared by competitor James on his YouTube channel. The Tri-service challenge is also held at MSV meetings with an Instagram page of its own.

All serving RAF team members race under the banner of the Royal Air Force Motorsports Association (RAFMSA) alongside our veteran former members and associate members. If you are serving and wish to get involved with motorsports you can find all the contact details you will need on the RAFMSA website or get in contact directly with us.

 This blog post was written by Royal Air Force Motorsports Association Motorcycle Road Racing members whose names are featured above then compiled and edited by Gavin Heggs.