LCRRC RACE REPORTS 2007

March 4th 2007 Mallory Park EMRA

Weather forecasts were not good, but nobody expected the meeting to be abandoned, which by 2pm, is exactly what happened!

Team Phoenix were casualty's in rapidly diminishing grids, which were keeping the marshals and medical centre far too busy. Matt Ryan crashed out of practice, and Sean Moore crashed in the re-started 125 race, knocking himself out cold, get well soon!

Congratulations to the new GP70 boys, Connor Tagg, who won on a 50cc Conti! Daniel Ingham for his 2nd place and Kieran Sturley for 3rd. Also, congrats to Jay Dunn on an emphatic win in the 600's, now lets' hope April 1st is much drier!

APRIL 1st 2007 Mallory Park

A cold and windy day to start off, which improved through the afternoon, but a low track temp, combined with the wind upsetting bikes in all classes was responsible for many crashes in the larger capacities, so much so that the meetings almost gound to a halt as medical staff tried to cope, thankfully, there seemed to be few real injuries.

One of the casualties from morning practice was Daniel Ingham, who won the last round with 3 straight race wins, his "off" at Gerrards ruling him out for the remainder of the day. Race one, which was without doubt race of the day, saw Connor Tagg and Tom Weedon swapping paint and the lead on a corner by corner basis, with Connor Tagg taking the win by an increadible 0.001 of a second! Josh Brown came in 3rd, first time out on the new 2007 Jawa RS70.

Race 2 saw the same pattern but this time not quite as close after some suspension adjustments on Tagg's Conti just gave him back an edge, which even then was a mere 2/10ths of a second! Once again, Brown came home 3rd, looking more and more comfortable on the new machine.

Formula 125 saw Wez Steinshauer blow his race engine in practice, despite this, he was lapping quicker than current Superteen 2007 series leader, Shaun Winfield, using a stock motor, but it wasn't enough to take the win.

A big GP125 grid saw plenty of ex-LCRRC riders, with Ben Barrett taking 2 x 3rd places, with the added bonus of fastest lap in both races. Jordan Thompson and Ross Walker were again ight up there, taking 4th & 5th, both of whom are in their first season.

LCRRC Three Sisters, Round 1 2007

Thankfully, a gorgeous day greeted the competitors for this opening round, in itself, unusual for early April in Wigan!

If you are not familar with the LCRRC, this is the hotbed of up and coming UK talent, with the vast majority of the up and coming young [125GP] riders cutting their teeth on the GP50cc & GP70cc machines, usually after a spell on mini moto. Also at this round, for the first time, was Lucky Devils with their MinimotoGP series, sharing track time.

Classes kicked off with mini moto, and the Junior class provided plenty of thrills, with some of these riders as young as six! Up front, literally swapping paint were Calton Hagreaves and Harry Hartley [the reigning MinimotoGP champion, who is racing in Italy later this year]. Hagreaves came out on top with 2 race wins over Harry, second and third was also close fought, with Sam Bahnda eventually coming out on top, over Jake Archer. Also on the grid were the rookies, this being their first race....at Thee Sisters, what a debut!

Next up were the 4.2hp lights/heavies, the lights being pretty well dominated by Matt Sowden [suffering from Cystic Fibrosis, an inspiration for sure] , with Harley Harrison, Lee Duerden and Jack Drinkwater battling out for the remaining podium places, in the end it was Duerden, then Drinkwater. The heavies saw the "old school" showing how it's done, the racing being just as close, Mark Barber, Mick Spencer taking 1st and 2nd, but new boy, Andy Hilton took 3rd at his first ever meeting. It was also nice to see Kenny Roberts on the grid....from Padiham that is!

The Production lights/heavies were next, and fireworks are usually the order of the day, in the lights, it was about the new guys, with Darryl Harrison totally dominating, even though he was pushed hard by 2nd place man, Harry Hartley, and 3rd place girl, Jade Spencer. The heavies saw reigning British Champion, Chris Martin make a clean sweep, chased all the way and passed occasionally by 2nd place man, Mark Woof, Grant Villette, visiting from the SEMRC Championship came home 3rd, on a borrowed Polini.

The superb Jawa GP50 Auto class, saw the first two races won by Bob Varey, who did very well in the winter series, his 3rd place in race 3 was enough to secure 1st overall. Joe Ravenscroft, seemed to simply get faster and faster all day, but Carlton Hagreaves was Varey's biggest threat, but a DNF relegated Hargreaves to 3rd, while a 3rd, 2nd and a win was enough for Ravenscroft to take 2nd overall.

The mixed GP70 Rookie and Senio grid, saw some great action from the youngest of the GP70 class riders, in the end Aaron Murray totally dominated, with Luke Thackerey 2nd, and Cory Smith 3rd, seniors being won by Andrew Asher from Ron Dutton.

The GP70 Junior class was simply breathtaking, with a constant 4 man freight-train swapping position almost coner by corner. With 2 race wins and a 3rd, Adam Robinson came out top dog, chased down hard by Kieran Sturley, who was also a race winner, 3rd overall went to a very on form Jamie Thackerey, who in turn was chased had by Connor Tagg, who is leading the GP70 class at EMRA currently.

Next up were the "supermoto" guys, well, supermoto pit bikes, and a suprisingly good grid started off the season, for a mid-week meeting. Mark Woof was again top dog in the Cat A class [125cc], fresh from his SEMRC victory a week or so before. Paul Parkin was up there in 2nd place, Paul having started to come really good in 2006. 3rd was Adrian Hamilton. The Cat B class, saw reigning champ, Kenny Owen take 3 straight wins, with his team mate, Mick Brierly 2nd, Dave Millington 3rd. It's great to see this fast, cheap and fun class on the up again, lot's of close action for a few hundred quid!

Finally, the Conti Cup UK, part of a worldwide race series, using full GP50cc machiney, all running to the same reg's. Past UK champions, include Scott Redding and Luke Mossey, and this looks like being the best year yet! The grid was impressive in size, and the racing had spectators screaming from the sidelines, so close was the action, from 1st down to the last rider. James White came home eventual winner, with a 3rd, 1st and 2nd! James was chased down for literally every inch of tarmac, with Tom Carne shocking everybody after switching from the V2 machine to the V3 only a matter of days before! Connor Tagg managed to get a race win, but so hot was the action that his reward was 3rd overall, 4th place man, Jamie Thackerey also won a race, race 1, but it wans't enough overall! This is goingt to be a cracker of a season!

LCRRC Rednal, Round 2 2007

The outlook weather wise was more the sort of April that we are used to in the UK, as it was, the meeting was briefly "clipped" by the forecast rain, and aside from "soggy" practice, the remainder of the day was dry.

First up was Junior Mini Moto, which saw the tiny Jake Archer stamp his authority on the day with 3 race wins, the battle for 2nd and 3rd was between Euan Miller and Sidney Hargreaves from London, with Hargreaves coming out top dog, The B class was a straight set of wins for Scott Breheney.

Junior Supermoto next, and this superb Shropshire circuit is ideal for this class of racing, with lot's of twists and turns. The A class belonged to James Robinson, despite only one win out of three, against second place man, Aaron Murray winning the first and last race, but a fourth in race two was not in the plan, forcing young Murray down the order. Joe Ravenscroft came home third overall, pushed on more than one occasion by Sam Edwards.The B's saw Noah Lee come home first overall, although he was gifted it by 2 x race winner Lee Yates, who DNF'd in race one.

The British Pit Bike Championship was nothing short of stunning on this circuit, the Cat A class saw reigning champion, Kenny Owen take another hat-trick of wins to keep him top of the leader board, but the action was further down the field, with Adrian Hamilton coming home 2nd overall to keep the championship fight alive, 3rd overall went to James Field, doing well at the SEMRC championship curently, but he was pushed hard all the way by the likes of 2006 Junior Champion, Simon Napier and Stephen Yates. The Cat B class saw "old hand" Mick Brierly come home 1st, followed by Dave Millington and Les Noble in 3rd.

The Jawa GP50 Auto class continued to be thrilling, and hard fought, 2 wins and a second were enough for Joe Ravenscroft to be top dog, but there was no way that Sam Edwards or Bob Varey were going to let him have it wasy, with Edwards claiming a race win in race 3, enough to get second overall, and Bob Varey haring to settle for 3rd overall, despite two second places. New boy, Badley Perie proved he was one to watch!

The GP50 Rookie class was another Lewis Black afair, with Andrew Fisher coming 2nd overall, helped by 3rd place man, Sidney Hargreaves having a DNS in race one.

The Conti Cup UK once again showed why it is the UK's premier junior road race series. Series leader, James White was again placed first, but had to work very hard with a constant 4-5 rider battle up front, with the lead changing constantly. Second place man, Kieran Sturley, who didn't manage a race win all day, was Mr Consistant, while Connor Tagg, winner of race 1, came unstuck after crashing in race three, leaving him 3rd overall with Jamie Thackerey, one of the other front runners having to settle for 4th. Everywhere down the field, riders were having to keep their wits about them, as the smallest mistake could see them loose 2-3 places, and the race craft, regardless of position, was impeccable for riders as young as 9 years of age!

The very quick GP70 classes demonstrated how much hard work was needed to muscle one of these machines round a circuit like Rednal. The Rookie's class was expected to be a real battle based on practice and morning warm up, until one of the Wigley twins high-sided out of race one, and out of the meeting, with Kurt out, it was up to brother Matt to do the honours, but he also cashed out, leaving meeting winner, Aaron Murray to cruise home. Luke Thackerey came home second overall with total consistency, followed by Cory Smith, winning race 3 was the only consolation for 4th placed rider, Matt Wigley, afte a faily miserable day. The GP70 class was fireworks at Thee Sisters, and the theme continued at Round 2, Series leader, Adam Robinson kept his cool to come home 1st overall, with only one win out of three, 2nd place man, Ben Godfrey was pushing Robinson hard, along with 3rd place rider, Connor Tagg, who is currently leading the EMRA GP70 class. Kieran Sturley was also up their, swapping paint with the leaders, but hard charging Jamie Thackerey still pushed Sturley down the order into 4th overall! Team mates Andrew Asher and Steve Riach cleaned up for 1st and 2nd in the seniors.

LCRRC Teeside Autodrome, Round 3, 7th May. 2007

The UK's premier junior road race championship, combined with the riders favourite circuit was sure to produce plenty of excitement and drama, and the day went as planned!

First up were mini moto classes, with juniors starting the day off, mini moto's and pit bikes were using the short in-field circuit, freshly re-surfaced, with lot's of twists and turns. Jake Archer once again was top of the pile in Junior A, with two wins out of three, the other winner being eventual third place rider, Kieran Smith, Euan Miller was consistant enough to take second, after a DNF from Sidney Hargreaves cost him the podium. The B's were a Mcauley Kendrew affair.

Senior Mini moto Production class winner, Lewis Wilkinson, didn't seem to troubled by the rest of the pack, with lot's of machine failures/crashes conspiring to make the othe two podium positions almost anybody's, almost, but Dave Jenkins stuck in some fine performances to take 2nd overall, with 3rd going to John, despite a DNF!

Junior Supermoto this time saw series leader , Aaron Murray take three straight wins, helped by James Robinson's [a winner at Rednal] crash in race one, which saw James retire from the meeting. There was no doubt about second, that was Joe Ravenscroft, but the battle for third, between Lewis Black and Sam Edwards was where the action was, with Edwards coming out on top. The B's saw Josh Brown, first time out in this class in 2007, take three straight wins, leaving Noah Lee to take second, and Lewis Wilkinson third.

Pit Bike Senior A saw yet another Kenny Owen rout, it was left to Adrian Hamilton and Simon Trowell to fight it out, eventually finishing in that order. The B's saw drama a plenty, with usual front runner, Mick Brierly having lot's of machine problems, the day belonged to Dave Millington, with Les Noble second, and Brierly doing enough to keep his championship afloat by limping to third.

The Jawa GP50 Auto class was simply superb, with these little "GP" machines, with their pilots all in proportion, for all the world looking like a 125GP race! The front was hard fought, with Sam Edwards coming out on top with 2 wins and a second, this time, Joe Ravenscroft had to settle for 2nd, despite winning race three, and ever improving new boy, Bradley Perie taking 3rd place. GP50 Rookie, run with the auto's, saw another Lewis Black victory, with Andrew Fisher 2nd and Sidney Hargreaves 3rd.

The Conti Cup UK, showed yet again why it's the UK's number 1 Junior championship, although James White, series leader, came out on top with 2 wins and a third, he had to fight for every inch of tarmac, particualry after some not so hot starts put him way down the field. Connor Tagg, 2nd overall and winner of race 3, did everything he could to keep White at bay, but it wasn't enough. Pass of the day went to White for a move on turn one the saw him go under both the 2nd and 3rd place riders in one move, not under braking but mid-turn to take the lead! Third went to Devon Tuner, 2006 Conti Challenge Champion, who has been getting used to the newer V3 machine after riding the V2 Conti last year, this is Devon's first podium spot in 2007, demonstrating the quality of the field. Another worthy mention was 4th place rider, Jamie Thackerey, previous race winner, and second in race two, but even with his undoubted pace, a fourth overall was all that was forthcoming.

The GP70 classes were bound to be impressive on a circuit that could almost be built for them, the Rookies saw Aaron Murray stamp his authority on the class once again, so much so that he was often mixing it with the front runner in the GP70 Junior class in this mixed race! Cory Smith and Luke Thackerey battled it out for 2nd and 3rd, finsihing in that order. The Junior class saw Ben Godfrey take class win, but he, again, had to fight for every inch, Connor Tagg was up there, but after going into the big final turn too hot, a crash was inevitable, followed by another in race two, putting Tagg well out of contention. Series leader Adam Robinson kept his head, and had to work hard for his eventual 2nd overall, fighting tooth and nail with 3rd place rider, Jamie Thackerey and 4th place man, Kieran Sturley, who's crash in race 2 saw him demoted to 4th, despite two second places. The Seniors saw Andrew Asher take another bace of wins, with Ronald Dutton 2nd.

Race Report - EMRA, GP70 - 28/05/07

Wet weather once again was the name of the game, and race one saw series leader, Connor Tagg on the Conti RX356 V3 in impressive form, not only winning but with 2 x GP125's and all the F125 machines behind him, including Superteen race winner, Shaun Winfield. Tom Weedon came another solid second, with again, most of the F125 field behind him, with ever impoving Elliot Lodge third.

Race two saw a closer finish between race winner Tagg, Weedon and Lodge, this time with all three finishing in front of the F125 class! Very impressive stuff, and the rain, once again showing how much it levels out the field. What is a shame in 2007, is the so far, patchy attendance, with 19 GP70 machines still yet to show up! Let's hope more get out there soon, and once again show the series for the brilliant school that it has become for budding GP125 riders.

LCRRC Rowrah, 27th May 2007 - Race Report

Two days of glorious sunshine preceeded what turned out to be a frustrating mix of sunshine and heavy showers on race day, at one of the UK's [if not THE top circuit] favourite circuits. The meeting however, was never under threat, unlike many further south of the Cumbria venue, who had cancellations on the same day.

Juniors were first up, and the mixed LCRRC and MinimotoGP mini moto grids offered an impressive field. The weather held off for race one, which saw Jake Archer take the win from the impressive Harry Hartley, with Edward Antill third, Acher also came away with fastest lap of the race, and the day as it turned it in the juniors, of 37.92 on the "short" circuit...then the rain came! Race two Saw Hartley, obviously confident in the damp conditions, press home a win by 16.38 seconds from Sam Banda, while Archer went from 2nd to 4th, with Dennis Wynn [a rookie!] coming home 2nd. Race three was, once again, Harry Hartley, who had done enough to take the meeting win, with Sam Banda second, however, Archer staged a comeback, and his third, was enough to take 2nd overall from Banda by a mere point!

4.2hp Senior A/B class pocket bikes were next, and it was a Willo whitewash in the A's, with three race wins, and fastest lap of 37.35, again set in a dry first race, however, he had to fight for it, after dropping to 5th in race one, and then pick his way through the field. Second in race one was Matt Sowden, with Andrew Rumsam third. Race two saw Drinkwater take a second, with Harley Harrilson third, with Sowden struggling, a lap down. Race three saw another second by Drinkwater [now 2nd overall], with Harrilson again third. The B's saw Mark Barber streak away in races one and two, finishing in front of most of the A's! Only in race three, did Barber have to settle for a second, obviously taking the overall 1st place. Again, the action was lower down the field, with Craig Booth [Elvis!], taking two second places and a win to take 2nd overall, leaving Dave Fotherby, Mick Spencer, Graham Carr and Jim Bullock to slug it out for third, however, a DNF a piece for Fotherby, Carr and Spencer, opened it up for a very consistent Jim Bullock to take the final podium spot.

The Production Light/Heavy, combined classes saw plenty of action, close racing certainly being the name of the game. The A's saw Willo bag a win [and fastest lap, again, dry conditions, of 34.13], with Jade Spencer second, Lee Wheelan third.....then came the rain! Race Two saw Tom Potter, 10th in race one! Bag the win, again, from Jade Spencer, this time Willo having to concede for third, however, he staged a comeback in race thee, again taking the win, this time from new boy, John Wadsworth, with Lee Wheelan third. 2nd Overall went to Spencer, with Potter 3rd overall, courtesy of the win in race two. The B's saw Mark Woof [fastest time of 35.03] take two fairly comfortable wins, and one second [to Chris Windsor] to end up on the top spot. Lower down, things were a little less consistent! A three way scrap ensued, between Chris Winsor, who's new bike was obviously paying off, new boy David Jenkins and old hand, Mak Barber. Windsor, however ended up with a fairly comfortable 2nd overall, with Barber pipping newie Jenkins for 3rd.

The amazing Jawa GP50 Auto class saw some amazing close action, and the same inconsistency as some of the othe classes! Three different race winners in three races, with Sam Edwards, Joe Ravenscroft and Bradley Perie all sharing equally, however, a DNF a piece for Edwards and Ravenscroft was to hand a comfortable victory to Perie. Jake Archer was another benefitiary of it all going "Pete Tong" for others, taking a well earend 2nd overall from Joe Ravenscroft, who's win and second, just put him ahead of Edwards [a win and third]. The GP50 Rookies, also on the same grid, suffered similar problems due to the heavy rainfall, and again, three different race winners, Andrew Fisher [1st overall], Declan Eastwood [2nd overall], and Lewis Black [3rd overall after a big crash in race one].

The Conti Cup UK, is the largest and longest established "mini GP" class in the UK, and the qualty of the racing has always been outstanding [with many previous champions, Like Scott Redding and Luke Mossey for instance going on to bigger things], and today was no exception, but today didn't really belong to the 6 or so fighting for the championship at the moment, the wet weather doing what wet weather tends to do, the guys confident in such conditions coming to the fore. And today belonged to Sunni Wilson, who's two race wins and a second, put him on the top spot for the first time. Series leader, James White had obviously decided that a points damage limitation was going to be the best he could do, and as it turned out, it payed off, with his main rivals, Tom Carne [2nd overall] and Connor Tagg [4th overall after 2 second places but a DNF in race two] not eating into his lead as badly as it could have been. 3rd overall, was 2006 Conti Challengs Champion, Devon Turner, who's really becoming a threat to the series leaders, now he has become used to the newer V3 Conti machine.

the GP70 Junior class is, without doubt, hard fought, and again, the series leader, Adam Robinson, decided on a damage limitation excercise in the difficult conditions. There was no doubt about the winner, current EMRA GP70 series leader, Connor Tagg came home with 3 straight wins, from the ever improving Will Mayes, who seems to be learning bike set up at a rapid rate! Robinson bagged a second in race three, to take 3rd overall from Jamie Thackerey. Josh Brown, riding the 2007 Jawa RS70 for Phoenix Racing, bagged his highest finish yet, of third in race two.

GP70 Rookie was a Aaron Murray hat-trick, the seemingly un-stoppable Murray, clearly just at home in wet conditions as dry. 2nd overall saw Matt Wigley stage an excellent comeback after a miserable time at the previous round, with a hat-trick of second places, with Luke Thackerey bagging 3rd overall from a rapidly improving Cory Smith, who's DNF in race one, kept him off the podium....but not for much longer I suspect! The GP70 seniors saw Andrew Asher get the first real challenge of the year, after his team mate, Steve Riach [2nd overall] had found more speed via a new ignition system, fitted the day before, however, top spot still belonged to Asher in the end.

Junior Supermoto was about the only class suited to the weather! The A's saw three straight wins for Joe Ravenscroft, with Aaron Murray this time having to settle for 2nd overall, with three second places, and 3rd overall was Sam Edwards. The B's saw series leader, Josh Brown, extend his lead with three straight race wins from Lee Yates [2nd overall] and Noah Lee, getting the better of David Conway for 3rd overall.

Supermoto [Pit Bike] Cat A & B classes were combined, and the A's were as hard fought as always. Kenny Owen, 2006 Champion, is not having things all his won way in 2007, mainly in the shape of Adrian Hamilton, Paul Parkin and Peter Bengston. Owen did, however, manage to pull off 1st overall, with two wins and a fourth, with Parkin finishing 2nd overall, in front of Hamilton, which will have done Owen's championship aspirations no harm at all! Bengston turned round an initailly frustrating day to take the final race win, nudging him up to 4th overall. The B's saw Les Noble walk away with it, DNF's and DNS's a plenty saw Dave Millington take second.

www.phoenix-minimoto-racing.co.uk

Race report, LCRRC, Ellough Park Raceway

22.07.07 

After the battering weather wise the previous two days with the SEMRC Championship [running at a combined event for the first time], we were thankfully, blesses with sunshine for Sunday. A brilliant day was expected, with some of the up and coming star riders making their debut in the national championships.
 
Junior A saw Jake Archer continue his winning record, with 3 straight wins, chased all the while by Elliot Arthurton and Liam Delves. Arthurton took full advantage of a lowly race finish for Delves in race one, who was getting used to a different make of machine, with Euan Miller, finishing second for the BMS team. Race two saw Delves get into his stride with a second in front of Arthurton, who in turn pulled the plug to turn the tables in race 3, giving him 2nd overall, and Delves 3rd. The B's saw Nick Harman make a clean sweep, with Bradley Hughes, doing very well currently in the Academy Cup, settling for 2nd.
 
A number of the SEMRC pocket bike boys stayed over to race in the one off Production Senior class, with Phil Canessa coming out on top with 3 straight wins over Tom Weedon, who was only once beaten by Scott Gullen [3rd overall] and Steve Good.
 
Junior Supermoto saw plenty of action, with the A catagory seeing Aaron Murray and Joe Ravenscroft scrapping it out once again, Murrayhad no answer for Ravenscroft on this occasion and had to settle for 2nd overall with one win and two seconds, 3rd overall was the diminutive and consistent Sam Edwards. The B's saw total dominance once again for Team Stomp rider Josh Brown, with Conti mounted Tom Carne having to settle for 2nd overall. Noah Lee, waiting for his new, more powerful machine had to be content with 3rd.
 
Pit Bike senior once agin saw visiting riders, and plenty of close action. Kenny Owen once again rode hard to win the Cat A's, being pushed by 2nd place man Stuart Watson. Owen had tyre problems all weekend and was fantastic to watch with the rear squirming every corner! Simon Miksa pulled off a 3rd overall, despite pressure from Jon Bourne, who's DNF in race one put paid to his podium chances. The B's saw the hard charging George Whitton take his first National win, helped no doubt by reliability problems by both 2nd place man, Mick Brierley and 3rd place man, Les Noble! The Modified's saw Ben Turner go out on a high with 3 straight wins, sadly for us, Ben moved to France a week later, a big, and teaful goodbye was had by all! 2nd place man was Mark Brotherton.
 
The stunning Jawa GP50 Auto class saw Sam Edwards bounce back with vengeance to take 3 striaght wins, and keep him on top of the championship. Joe Ravenscroft was once again, 2nd overall with the constantly improving Bradley Perie 3rd. Little Jake Archer was a worthy mention, as he seems to get closer to the front runners every time out.
 
The Conti Cup UK is seeing probably it's best year yet since starting back in 2003, and it's track record of producing fine riders is second to none, with previous champions/runners up, including Scott Redding, Jamie and Luke Mossey, Alex Gault and Jay Dunn to name a few. This years grid is so impressive, with 26 registered riders, battles are right down the field, with lap times often ony split by tenths and hundreths of a second. This round saw Wayne Ryan and Bradley Ray join the National series for the first time, and much was expected, particularly excitement as they both had to start from the back of the grid.
 
Race one saw the current series front runners, Connor Tagg, James White, Tom Carne, battling it out, amazingly joined by Bradley Ray, but the one to watch was Wayne Ryan, who tore through the field to finish an amazing second. Race two was a repeat, with Tagg and Carne slugging it out for the lead, while James White, series leader had Joe Irving nipping at his heels, the racing was stunning, but to a amazed crowd, Ryan again ripped through the field to take the win. Race 3 was a classic, with Ryan cutting through the field like a knife through butter, taking the front five riders in one lap, Tagg crashed out, leaving James white to take the secondand Carne third. Race winner was Wayne Ryan, with White 2nd, no doubt mainly relieved about not loosing too many points, with Tagg doing enough for 3rd.
 
GP70's were just as exciting, with Connor Tagg, currently leading the EMRA championship, stamping his authority all over this round with 2 wins, and a second to a hard charging Jamie Thackerey, who was not consistent enough to bag the 2nd place trophy, which went to a consistent Adam Robinson, current series leader. Worthy mention was Will Mayes, who looked fastest in the morning, but seemed to be dogged by set up problems in the afternoon. The Rookies was another Aaron Murray benefit, who was pushed by Luke Thackerey and Reece Baldwin, 2nd overall went to Thackerey, after Baldwin suffered a DNF, he had to settle for 4th, loosing out to a fast improving Cory Smith. The Seniors was Andrew Asher once again, who is running away with it, followed by Ron Dutton.

LCRRC, Whilton Mill, 05/08/07

There was much anticipation for this round, partly due the stunning previous round at Ellough Park, and partly because this was the first time the new circuit was to be used for 2 wheels, and it didn't disappoint, neither did the weather! Glorious sunshine once again, in one of the worst summers in living memory!
 
Junior Mini moto was up first, in the A group little Jake Archer continued his dominant run of form, with three victories, and 1st place assured, similarly, Liam Delves was runner up, despite everything going wrong in race three, his two second places in races one and two were enough to keep him safe. The fight was on for the final podium place, with Sidney Hargreaves and Kieran Smith slugging it out, by the end of the day, they were both tied, with the trophy going to Kieran Smoth based on his second place in race three. The B group saw an amazing scrap take place, with Scott Breheney winning race one, however, a crash in race two saw him out of the picture. 1st place went to Ryan Brain [currently doing well in the SEMRC Phoenix Academy] who managed to win races two and three from eventual runner up, Bradley Hughes, with Connor Wade 3rd overall with a series of good, consistent rides.
 
Junior Supermoto Cat B, saw Josh Brown continue his total dominance for Team Thump, with Conti mounted Tom Carne once again in the runner up spot. A notable absence was Noah Lee, who was out with a broken arm following a test of his new bike! New boy to this class, Kyle "Woolfie" Harris, a previous mini moto and GP50 Auto Champion, came home 3rd. Cat B, the younger riders, saw Aaron Murray and Joe Ravenscroft continue to slug it out, both taking race wins, but Murray was top dog today, with Ravenscoft having to settle for 2nd overall, while Sam Edwards was 3rd.
 
The Senior Pit Bikes saw some amazing battles up front, in the Cat A's, championship leader had his hands full with new guy, Kev Wright, and the pair swapped paint, lap after lap, corner after corner, in the end, Owen once again rose to the challenge, and bagged the 1st, with Wright 2nd. Jason Pollen, usually riding with the SEMRC, was chuffed to bit's with his well earned 3rd overall. The B's saw George Whitton pull off two win's from Mick Brierley, despite a crash which left him with a damaged shoulder! The 1st place trophy being some consolation, despite winning race one, Brierley had no choice but to settle for the runner up spot, with Les Noble 3rd. The Modified's saw the leader's tied on points, withCallan Wood taking the 1st place trophy home from Alex Barkshire, courtesy of winning race three.
 
The Jawa GP50 Auto class has been simply brilliant to watch in 2007, and this round was as full of drama as any. Up Front saw Sam Edwards on fire once again, he clearly liked the old circuit layout, but the new, faster, flowing layout certainly didn't seem to phase him, and it was three out of 3 and 1st overall. Lower down, Joe Ravenscroft seemed to have 2nd overall in the bag, but Bradley Perie had other idea's in race two, pushing Ravenscroft down to third. Sadly, a plug cap jumping off in race three, and the resulting DNF denied us a great race, and Perie the podium place, 2nd then was guaranteed for Ravenscroft, with little Jake Archer doing his championship no harm with a 3rd.
 
The Conti Cup UK in 2007 has been simply stunning, with a signed up field of 26 of the best up and coming young talent in the UK, the class has offered the kind of entertainment that you would normally have to pay good money for. In Saturday practice, Wayne Ryan looked fastest, however, a small end failure half way through the day meant frantic re-builds, and uncertainty for Sunday morning. Race one saw Ryan stall the bike on the line, and the pack was a good third of a lap in, before he could get re-started. Up front, and James White, championship leader, sythed through the field, with Tom Carne briefly hanging on before White started to pull away. Joe Irving was not intent on letting White get away, and after a titanic battle with Carne, nipped through to chase White, but it was too late. Also getting stuck in was the ever threatening Devon Turner, who can't be far from his first win of 2007, Connor Tagg, one of the championship contender's had his first and not to be last DNF of the day. Race two saw Ryan get it right, and he cut through the pack in amazingly short time from his row 4 start, to pass eventual second place, James White AND stick in the fastest time of the day, Irving was again on fire, demoting Carne once again to claim third, another worthy mention was Brad Ray, who was having some great scraps, managing to get from a back row start, up to a best finish of fifth, pretty impressive, given how hard every place in the series is fought for, so much so that the leaders never get into a back-marker situation. Race three saw Ryan pull it off again, with White seemingly so close as to be in with a chance of getting the place back, however, as championship leader, he decided to go with the second, as this gave him 1st overall and valuable points. Ryan came in 2nd overall, with Irving 3rd, despite being beaten in race three by Carne and Jamie Thackerey. The GP50 Rookies saw Andrew Fisher bag three straight wins on his new Conti V4, from V3 mounted Lewis Black, and new boy, Joe Ravenscroft came in 3rd.
 
The GP70's were once again, fantastic, series leader in the Junior class, Adam Robinson, put in his best performance of the year, which is saying something, to hold off a very on-form, Connor Tagg. However, a DNF, in what was a pretty miserable weekend for the Berkshire rider, currently leading the EMRA GP70 class, bounced him down to 3rd overall, with a very on form Jamie Thackerey coming home 2nd overall, partly by taking the third race win from Robinson. The Rookie's saw series leader, DNF in race one, and after that, it was game on. a four way battle ensued, between Luke Thackerey, Devon Turner, Reece Baldwin and race one winner, Cory Smith, who is suddenly coming on so fast. So much so, that despite Muarray's bounce back with race wins in races two and three, Smiths two second places moved him to his first ever top spot finish, Murray having to settle for 3rd overall, his lowest finish of the year, with new to the class, Devon Turner 2nd. The seniors saw Kev Wright "do one" on his very quick, modded Honda, with series leader, Andrew Asher having to settle for 2nd, although his 3rd place finish in race one to Terry Saunders, obviously saw a flurry of activity within the team to keep Asher ahead of eventual 3rd place man, Saunders, which Asher achieved in races two and three.

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John Parker Memorial Round,

Teeside Autodrome, 21st August

Once again, the lousy 2007 Summer threatened, however, aside from one very brief shower, the weather held at this fantastic venue, which has seen much improvement work, even since our last visit earlier this year.
 
Mini moto was up first, which meant the Junior's. The A class, saw Jake Archer bag yet another hat-trick of wins from Kieran Smith who was very consistent with three second places. Euan Miller brought his BMS in to another third overall, with Josh Owens having to settle for fourth. The B's saw Bradley Hughes do it again, with McAuley Kendrew second.
 
Junior Supermoto up next, and no mistakes this time from Cat A series leader, Aaron Murray, with a clean sweep of three wins from Joe Ravenscroft, who was a very consistent second. Third once again was Sam Edwards. Cat B saw Team Stomp's Josh Brown continue to stamp his authority all over the championship with three straight wins from Conti Pit Bike mounted Tom Carne. Kyle Harris, new to the class, once again managed third overall, and should prove to be a force to be reckoned with, once on his new Jawa GP70 class machine, which he will debut on later this season.
 
Senior Pit Bikes were all action, with the A catagory series leader, Kenny Owen missing, it was somebody elses turn to be on top of the podium, which turned out to be a hard charging Simon Napier, pushed all the way by Matt & Richard Sanders and Stuart Watson. It was Richard that came second to the Mancunian, after Matt suffered a DNF, pushing him down to fourth, and Watson went fropm winning race one, to fading as the day wore on, however, he did enough to secure third. The Cat B's saw Les Noble back on top, with three straight wins from Mick Brierley, ending a very good run of late for the Yorkshireman.
 
The fantastic Jawa GP50 Auto class saw championship leader, Sam Edwards demonstrate that it wasn't just on the tighter circuits he excelled, with three very impressive wins, and 1st overall. The fight was on behind Edwards, with Bradley Perie having his best results of the series yet, having come close so many times before, he got the better of Joe Ravenscroft two races out of three, moving him up to his best finish of the season, and relegating Ravenscroft to third. Behind them,Jake Archer and new boy Josh Owens were having fun, with Archer coming out on top, except in the last race, one to watch? Perhaps!
 
It would be fair to say that the Conti Cup UK is perhaps the event of the day, only by virtue of it's sheer numbers, the fact that the UK championship is part of a European series, and the sheer number of talented road racers produced by the series over the years. Stunning, close racing is what this series is all about, and it seems to get better each and every time! This round was no exception.
 
It looked in practice as if it was going to be Joe Irving, James White, Devon Turner and Wayne Ryan scrapping up front. Wayne Ryan winning race one was a bit of a suprise for many, with this being his first taste of a "big" circuit, despite him being so dominant at the smaller circuits in 2007. Second was Joe "Toad" Irving, who just looked superb, and pushed Ryan all the way. Snapping at his heels was theWhite/Turner freight train, it WAS going to be a good day! However, race two saw a sprinkling of water turn everything on it's head, with Irving taking a confident win from James White, Ryan coming third after coming through the field once he had confidence in his tyres in the wet, sadly, Turner was a casualty of the changable circuit, putting himout of contention for a podium spot. Race three was simply the best of the season, and that is saying something! Irving and Ryan swapped paint, turn by turn, with Ryan being pushed to his closest finish of the season, each rider stronger in different parts of the circuit, the crowd, literally, went wild. In the meantime, White threw it away with a lowside in race three, on turn two, Turner replacing him him, to compensate for race two's disaster. In the end, it was Ryan from Irving by a mere point, with series leader, James White, doing enough for 16 valuable points.
 
The GP70 class saw some superb action, and this was the round, more than any, where series leader, Adam Robinson showed just how much he is determined to win this championship, with three in a row wins, pushed by "team mate" Jamie Thackerey, who manged to claim three second places, in front of Connor Tagg. The GP70 Rookies was, once again, Aaron Murray, he put on a masterful display, after having machine problems at the last round, which bounced him down the order, in the meantime, Cory Smith, without doubt improving so very quickly, came home second, after his win at the last round, with Luke Thackerey being pushed down to Third. The Seniors saw Andrew Asher and team mate, and just recently a Dad to a little boy, Steve Riach restore normal service, with first and second.

 LCRRC, Rowrah, 16/09/07

 Despite good weather on Saturday, the forecast was for some of the worst weather for weeks on race day, which given this summer's performance, was aying something. Cold and damp was the scene set for Sunday morning, with much worse to come.
 
As always, Junior A/B was first, and the first race saw Kieran Smith beat Jake Archer, although Archer's second place, was, as it turns out, enough to take the 2007 championship. Third was Kieran Hagger, who normally rides at the SEMRC, in the Phoenix Academy, and it's nice to be seeing more of him at the LCRRC.Junior B was another Academy rider, Bradley Hughes, who's win secures the 2007 "B" title, with McAuley Kendrew coming home 2nd.
 
The Jawa GP50 Auto class is shaping up to be a classic, with only a handful of points seperating most positions, but it's certainly tightest at the top. The race saw Joe Ravenscroft on form, blitzing away from Sam Edwards, with Bradley Perie coming home third after having a nightmare of a weekend, Josh Owens also had a good result on his new bike, coming home 4th.
 
Junior Pit bike Cat A saw Aaron Murray once again clinch the win from Joe Ravenscroft, with Lewis Black third, Cat B saw Tome Carne finally get the better of Josh Brown on the team thump machine, Conti mounted Carne was on a roll this weekend, as we shall see!
 
Much was expected of Sunni Wilson after his win last time at Rowrah in the wet, however, it wasn't to be as he crashed out on lap two, joined by Joe Irving a lap later at the same corner, which was a lousy end, to a lousy weekend for the Holmfirth based youngster. Tome Carne was the boy, stretching his lead, lap by lap from Devon Turner, who in turn was showing championship leader, James White a clean pair of heels. The shock for the spectators was watching two of the GP50 Rookie riders swapping paint with White, corner by corner, beating the rest of the Conti Cup field in the process!, in the end it was Carne, Turner, White fought back to claim third on the track, while Andrew Fisher came 1st in the Rookie's, with Lewis Black 2nd, the pair also claiming 4th & 5th in the premier 50cc series!
 
Pit Bike Seniors saw Emma Field take her first ever win in the Cat A class, with championship leader, Kenny Owen having bad one by his standards down in 4th. Second place was Simon Trowell, with Mark Bicheno taking his first podium for a while, with third. Alex Barkshire, visiting from the SEMRC, blitzed the field once again, with Les Noble pushing championship rival, Mick Brierley down to third.
 
The GP70 Juniors and Rookies arrived on the grid, and the heavens opened as predicted. Saturday's practice was thrilling, with championship leader, Adam Robinson blitzing the class lap record, with a 49.5s, to add to his win the week before at Cadwell in the F125 class, first time at the Lincolnshire circuit. However, when the flag dropped, Connor Tagg took control pretty quickly and was in cracking form, Robinson kept his cool and backed off after a couple of lap, obviously settling for valuable points, 3rd place man, Jamie Thackeray mounted a challenge to Robinson, but it was too little, too late. The Rookie's saw the sensational Aaron Murray prove that wet or dry, he's the man [He is off to Superteen in 2008, one to watch for sure], with Luke Thackeray second, and Cory Smith third.

 LCRRC Race Report, Whilton Mill, 30/09/07

After terrible weather, resulting in a cancellation at Rowrah, Whilton Mill, for the penultimate round of a fantastic 2007 season, couldn't have been more contrasting, with sunshine the whole day, drama and great racing was the name of the game.
 
The Junior mini moto titles were actually wrapped up at Rowrah, despite only half points being awarded. However, the champions from each class obviously decided not to relent, in the A's, it was yet another Jake Archer clean sweep, with a very consistent, not to mention rapidly improving, Kieran Smith in 2nd. 3rd overall belonged to Ryan Folkes, the main benefitiary of Euan Miller having a pretty dire day, with 2 DNF's, his only consolation was a third place in race three. The B's saw Bradley Hughes, another 2007 champion, and recentyl switched to Conti for 2008, take another meeting win, with Ryan Brain 2nd.
 
Drama was certainly unfolding in the Jawa GP50 Auto class, going into this round, there were less than a handfull of points seperating Sam Edwards and Joe Ravenscroft, and race one saw the pair of them swapping paint at almost every turn, race two saw a disaster in the shpe of a cracked exhaust on Edwards bike on the warm up lap, resulting in a DNS. This left Ravenscroft to take a comfortable win from Bradley Perie, who was having a good race day after a stressed Saturday practice, Kieran Smith was third, his first podium in the class. Race three saw a repeat of race one, with Edwards and Ravenscroft pushing hard, Ravenscroft took the lead, but only briefly,it looked as if Edwards had done enough, then distaster struck two corners from home on the last lap, when a low side let Ravenscroft cruise to the win, again from Perie. In the end it was Ravenscroft 1st, Perie 2nd and his first class trophy, Kieran Smith in 3rd.
 
This was the best Junior Supermoto grid of the year, and it was good to see some new blood mixing it up front. The A catagory saw Aaron Murray pushed all the way by Lee Jackson, both sharing wins, however, Murray's 2 wins to Jackson single win was enough for 1st overall and the 2007 Championship to be wrapped up for the young Yorkshire rider, who is going to Superteen in 2008. 3rd overall was Jow Ravenscroft. The B catagory saw usual front runner, Josh Brown take a win, with Kyle Harris second and Tome Carne third, however, after this, it was two DNF's for Brown, Carne seemed to come alive and took two wins from Harris to take 1st overall, with Harris 2nd, Noah Lee in the meantime made a welcome return from injury to come home 3rd overall.
 
Senior Pit Bike fielded a large, and certainly quality field, with some of the best racing seen this year. Cat A saw a blisteringly fast Kev Wright leave the field way behind, mixing it up front in a titanic battle with the Cat B and Modified riders, in the shape of Alex Berkshire, Ryan Tyers and George Whitton. 2nd in Cat A was Kenny Owen, giving him the 2007 Championship, Lewis Burns, an SEMRC regular front runner came home 3rd. Cat B saw Alex Berkshire once again in a class of his own, but on track had his hands full with Whitton, Tyers and Wright, regardless of the class, they all wanted to take the chequered flag! Will Mayes came home 2nd overall in only his second Pit Bike meeting! One to watch for sure, with Mick Brierley coming home 3rd overall, despite complaining most of the day that he is getting too old! George Whitton decided to ride, despite an ankle injury, mainly because he wanted to take on Ryan Tyers! This was battle of the importers, however, Whitton hadn't banked on Marc Flinders, who took race 1 after a massive scrap. Whitton responded to tke the remaining two race wins, with Tyers struggling with machine set up, all he could do was settle for 3rd, with Flinders 2nd overall and Whitton taking the win.
 
The GP70 class was simply breathtaking, in the junior catagory, Adam Robinson knew he only had to finish one race to take the 2007 Championship, however, a titanic battle ensued between Robinson, Jamie Thackeray and Connor Tagg. Robinson won all three races just to let everybody know who's boss, in the meantime, Tagg and Thackeray were not only trying to decide who was coming second and third on the day, but also in the championship. As it was, Tagg responded to Thackeray's second in race one, by demoting him in the next two races to take 2nd overall, leaving Thackeray 3rd, and a mountain to climb at the final round. The Rookie's saw some new faces, trying to get ready for 2008, Aaron Murray once again was in a field of his own, and with Luke Thackeray second in race one, and Cory Smith third, it looked like business as usual, however, Devon Turner was having non of it, and after problems in race one, which invloved some grass tracking, he came back with two second places, and enough to come 2nd overall, with Luke Thackeray 2nd, despite being pushed by new boy Kyle Harris. The seniors saw Kev Wright in a class of his own, with Steve Riach coming home 2nd, and 2007 champion, Andrew Asher 3rd after a fairly big crash, which resulted in a twisted thumb.
 
The Conti Cup UK has simply been outstanding all year, and championship leader, James White knew he only had to finish within sight of Tom Carne to wrap it all up a round early. Race one saw a titanic battle with White, Carne, Bradley Ray, Joe Irving and Devon Turner. White seemed to be having rear suspension problems, then the drama came, White went down at turn 1, leaving Carne in second to Ray, it would seem as if the championship would go to the wire, then a lap later, Carne retired with ignition woe's! Race two saw Carne come out fighting, although Bradley Ray deomted him to second, with Irving third, however, White, nursing the same rear suspension problems came home 5th, not far enough back for Carne. Race three was pretty well a repeat, and that was it, the 2007 championship wrapped up for White, a round early, despite Carne's never say die attempt. In the end, Bradley Ray [one to watch in 2008 for sure] was 1st, the stylish and getting faster all the time, Joe Irving 2nd and Tome Carne 3rd, helped by a DNF from Devon Tuner in race three.