Monthly Review - September

 

Intro

Stepping into September is always a bit bitter sweet. With days shortening and the shops already starting to pack away the BBQ’s in favour of Halloween masks and mince pies, you know that autumn is on the way. On the flip side, that means every bright and sunny day feels like a little victory and we were lucky to enjoy a fair few of those in between getting absolutely humped on in thunderstorms.

The RAFMSA MCRR were busy again with all of the main clubs meeting this September across the UK.

CRMC

First off we are off to Wales for the penultimate round of the CRMC at Anglesey circuit. The weather is usually the star of any meeting at Trac Moi and this weekend did not disappoint. Blazing sunshine embraced most of the weekend with a freak sand mist rolling in on Saturday afternoon which cancelled most classes second race of the day. Ben Murfin (Yamaha FZ600) and Simon Allen (Honda CB350 K4) were representing as the serving members, Mike Burke (Ducati TTF 1) our reservist with Joe Woodward (Kawasaki ZXR400, Honda VFR750, Molnar Manx 500) and Živilė ‘Ziv’ Žukauskaitė (Honda VFR400) associate members supported by Symon Woodward and John Walton. 

Simon Allen was on home turf on his Honda CB350 K4 racing in the classic 4 stroke and the ACU, more on that later. In the classic 4 stroke Allen in a very mixed grid was pleased to achieve a 3rd,4th and another 3rd place over the weekend.

Si Allen - PJM Photography

Superstock 400 and junior production were out in the same grid again making for one of the more exciting races to watch. Joe Woodward was being worked hard up front up against Graham Higlett. A close second place in the first race was followed by Woodwards ZXR400 taking a beating as he crashed out trying to best his opponent. Joe quickly sprung up from his spill leading the commentators to wonder if he was made from rubber. Pushing hard paid off in the end though as he managed two first places over Sunday.

Leaaan - PJM Photography

The mist starts to drop - PJM Photography

Woodward leads the way - PJM Photography

Then walks it off - PJM Photography

Ziv has been steadily progressing through the season and hit Anglesey running, well riding a bike reasonably well actually, poor analogy. Making up 7 places in her first race she finished 8th in class in her first race. The second race showed similar promise till she lost the front heading down the corkscrew resulting in a DNF. Zivs final race of the day was a brave return from a brisk spill which saw her cross the line 13th in class. 

Ziv looking confident - PJM Photography

Finally Murfin, in the same grid on his junior production FZ600 brought up the rear. Remembering that this was only his fourth race meeting, his first at Anglesey and the small detail that he was on a loaned Yamaha FZ600 from teammate David Williams, this wasn’t a bad weekend at all. Murfin succeeded in hacking off just shy of 5 seconds from his lap time over the weekend on a challenging circuit.

Murfin - PJM Photography

Confidence growing - PJM Photography

looking good Murf! - PJM Photography

Superstock 750, Superbike 750 and Post classic 750 were all out together this weekend. Yet again Joe Woodward led the way on his super stock VFR750 cleanly finishing first in class in all three races. He kept himself amused racing the superbikes of Joe Barton and Ant Hart. Having led the last race for 3 laps, Hart was able to get in front down the straight. Woodward bided his time and went for a block pass on the last corner taking the overall win a full 35 seconds clear of his nearest rival in class with everyone on the pit wall hopping with excitement!

Lonely up front - PJM Photography

Not a whole lot further back was Mike Burke on his Ducat TTF 1. He was also having a superb weekend finishing 1st on Saturday followed by a duo of 2nd places on Sunday, staying on the tail of but not quite managing to get past John Paget.

Not a bad looking bike that Ducati - PJM Photography

Joe was out again on the Molnar Manx in the classic 500. Consistent lap times saw him podium three times with two 3rd places and a 2nd. The final race was looking promising for a 1st with Woodward getting a great start but a red flag ment Joe Barton got ahead on the restart and Woodward was unable to get that place back finishing 2nd.

Woodward leads the way again - PJM Photography

The two ACU races came with Joe Woodward and Simon Allen both in the classic. Both riders managed a 2nd in class. Woodward was battling to hold 2nd overall on the Molnar Manx 500 for 5 laps but Mike Cooper managed to get through. For once fortune was on Woodwards side as a mechanical issue saw Coopers pace drop off gifting Woodward 2nd place back.

The Post classic ACU saw a poor start lead Joe back aboard the VFR750 to chase down Kurtis Butler to regain 1st in class, which he achieved with a pass up the hill into rocket. Unfortunately the following lap Joe low sided into the first corner leading to a DNF and a well worn down little finger.  

Allen in a battle - PJM Photography

NLR

Oulton park is a favourite track for many so even though it was a one day event, most were excited to be heading there for the penultimate round of the No Limits club 2023 season.

RAFMSA claim their patch at Oulton Park.

Out in the Metzeler Newcomer 600 & Pre-Injection 600 were Brad Burn and Steven Rathbone each in the respective classes. The day had started off damp for practice but things dried out for the rest of the day so lap times rapidly came down through the day. Burn had some close racing with Angus Bracken finishing just 0.4 of a second behind him in his first race but confidently putting near 2 seconds between himself and Bracken in the second race for 10th place in class.

Chasing down Burn was Chester Norton on his freshly painted pre injection Yamaha R6. With a podium position on the cards, Norton easily out braked another rider heading into Shell Oil’s corner but was swiped off into the gravel by the same rider knocking him out of the race (video linked below so you can make your own conclusions). A team effort saw Norton’s bike taped back together (yet again) and out in time for the second race where he managed a bitter sweet 3rd place in class just behind fellow rider Burn.

Also out on the pre injection 600 class was Steven Rathbone on a Honda CBR600 F4. Despite being away from racing for most of the year, save for the odd public engagement event, Rathbone came out well with a 6th place in the first race and an early retirement in the second. Lapping just 6 seconds off of Burns hopefully means we will have some more close RAF racing in races to come.

More close racing was found in the Premier 1000s with Dave Langley collecting a pair of 4th places. Langley pushed is RSV4 hard in the second race with the top 4 riders in class all crossing the line within 1.5 seconds of each other!

Kenny was having issues in the first race of the Tamworth GYTR Pro Shop 600 Cup but he managed to put this behind him for his second race finishing 11th in class.

Also out on big litre machines were Paul Cunvin and James Leslie in the Tamworth GYTR Pro Shop Cup 1000. Cunvin’s Honda CBR1000 had no issues firing him along for an 8th and 6th place just 5 seconds off a podium position. A little further back Leslie Yamaha R1 managed to just about hold off the small group he was in, leading them over the line for 18th place.

The GB Racing UK Armed Forces Inter Service Championship race was well attended again so it was great news when the RAFMSA riders Langley and Spencer crossed the line in 2nd and 3rd place. Macleod and Leslie were only 0.1 second apart for 6th and 7th, Alan Sharp and Burn were also close up in a small group finding 10th and 11th. Norton only just made it out after his race 1 crash for 16th place and Rathbone on his CBR600 brought in some bonus points with a 20th place having stayed in front of a few Army litre bikes, no doubt thanks in some small part to the training day at Blyton park a few weeks prior. This means the RAF go into the last meeting of 2023 92 points in the lead with 2 riders top of the table. It should be an exciting end to the season at Donnington park.

Sidecars

Rob returns to Knockhill without Mark this time

The Sidecar boys were lucky enough to be spending the last race meet of the ACU FSRA British Sidecar Championship at Knockhill, one of the best airfield circuits in the UK. 

Stand in passenger Glen Dawson was in the chair in Marks absence. Rob and Glen were reunited from 2019 when they competed at Cadwell Park revival, coming from the back of the grid to take a class win.

The finale is always one we look forward to with the Jock Taylor memorial trophy race as well as the 2 championship rounds, which made for a cracking weekends racing, not just for the F2 sidecars. 

Saturday was filled with frustration with the team forced into a DNF which was bad enough but that meant they had to start from the back of the grid in the final race on Sunday. They battled hard and managed to get into the top 15 overall which was a good effort. To sweeten the weekend off, they managed a top ten finish in the race of the year, capping off a challenging year showing off the progress the outfit has made. 

Closing

Look forward to next month

Anything else to look forward to.

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.