“NG Road Racing”
2014 Season Review
Russ Gardner
(NG Road Racing Press Officer – Commentator – Bike Sport News Contributor)
Tel : 01242 697907 Ι Mobile : 07799 047 996 Ι Mail : [email protected] Ι Web : www.ngroadracing.org
Bevan re-writes the record books.....again in 2014 !
You cannot argue with the statistics......Phil Bevan is by far and away the
most successful rider there has ever been at NG Road Racing meetings.
He has now won fifteen class championships since 1999 when as a novice
he started out on a 996 Ducati. In 2000 he took the first of his two Sound
of Thunder championships, but is was when he moved into the Powerbike
and Open series in 2006 on a GSXR 1000 Suzuki that his superbike
domination started. Seven open titles and six Powerbike on R1 and ZX10
in the last seven years, making it fifteen championships in total, put him
well above Barrie Middleton on ten and Neil Higgs, Darrell Higgins, Roy
Keen and John Goodall on 8..........and he shows no signs of slowing
down !!!!.
Open and Powerbike.
Phil Bevan - 13
Habitual championship winner Phil Bevan kept up his stunning
championship winning steak by taking both the Phoenix Open and
Simon Consulting Powerbike series for the sixth year in succession. Phil
gave the opposition a chance this year as he took on the task of
developing a new ZX10. The former Jody Lees machine needed to be
altered for Bevan's style after six years on an ex Tommy Hill R1. Right
from the off though Phil was on the pace. He grabbed a podium behind
Peter Baker at round one, but despite being super consistent it was not
until round 14 at Anglesey that a win came his way....swiftly followed by
four more, including an unbeaten run at his favoured Pembrey circuit
where he reeled off lap after lap in the 58 second bracket.
Over the 20 round series many BSB runners came into add spice to the Open including, Peter Hickman, Josh
Wainwright, Josh Day, Joe Burns, Luke Jones and Mike Booth.....but Bevan just kept on racking up the points.
Phil's closest season long rivals were all youngsters on 600's as Corey Lewis, Max Symonds and Dale Thomas took
the places below him in the point’s table. But no one could stop Phil from taking the clubs premier class backed by
Phoenix Motorcycles in Trowbridge for the seventh time in eight years!.
It was a similar story in the Simon Consulting Powerbike as Welshman Bevan took wins at seven of the fourteen
rounds. He never failed to finish outside the top five to remove more silverware from of the clutches of his
opposition headed up by Darren Rumley, Mark Compton and Colin Thompson.
So once more we will be posing the question next year ".......can anyone beat Bevan ?".
250GP ACU National Series.
Chris Martin - 26
NG once again had the honour of running the UK’s premier two-stroke
GP series and former BSB 600 front runner and defending 250 GP ACU
National Chris Martin was be back to try and regain the title. As in his
2013 championship-wining year he sat out the Brands Hatch season
opener, that saw wins for Dave Hampton and Darrell Higgins. As we
arrived at Oulton for round three though and with no points so far on
the board Martin on the Dave Dean RS250 Honda set about the
opposition, taking no prisoners. Unbelievably he won every race he
took part in for the rest of the year, racking up twelve-podium topping
rides. Notably Phil Atkinson and Ant Hodson made him work for the
wins but no matter what anyone tried Martin always got to the flag
first to regain the National series over Hodson and Hampton. Phil Atkinson missed the last three rounds as he
concentrated on his Triumph Triple challenge and European Classic GP rides, and slipped to fourth in the final
table.
The 250’s has two support classes in the shape of the NG cup that had Simon Hunt take nine wins on his TZ, and
the series win, and the new pre 1992 cup that coaxed former National winner Andrew Sawford back on track with
his older TZ. Sawford racked up seven wins from the fourteen rounds to lift the inaugural championship
600's.
Max Symonds - 21 / Corey Lewis - 53
As ever the 600cc grid is a tough place to be, not
only do you need to be fast, but also you need to
keep mistakes to a minimum and keep the points
rolling. Dave Manley had been tipped by many pre
season, and started the season on a high, however
splitting his time between NG's Simon Consulting
backed series and the BSB 600 Evo took it's toll and
results started to suffer. That left Max Symonds,
Corey Lewis and Dale Thomas in a series that had
eight different winners from Sam Coventry to Luke
Jones. By mid-season it was looking to be a two
horse race between the two 19 year-olds, Max and
Corey. Just as it was getting tasty....Corey had a
double dnf at Castle Combe.....both times at the
Bybrook Chicane.....both times whilst up front !!!.
The damage was done, and despite taking two wins in the second half of the year Corey had to give second best
to two-time F125 champ Max. Max rode impeccably and maturely as he finished the year with two wins and a
100% race point scoring record to lift the championship
Formula 400.....450's and 500's.
Sam Wilford - 35
Daniel Tilley took the A and R Racing F400 class after a year of mixed
mechanical fortunes. He started the season on an NC30 and ended it on a
ZXR400, but in between that there were about five other bikes used in various
states of repair. He even took a trip to the Isle of Man to collect three ZXR
motors to keep his title hopes alive as he battled with Anthony Van Looy. Van
Looy bagged eight podiums in the first ten places, but a double DNF at
Pembrey (.....both times from the lead !) opened the door for Tilley. He took
no second invitation and bagged three wins of his own on his way to the title.
Simon Gates was another three-race winner, but as ever, cash prevented his
from doing a full season.
Sam Wilford is probably one of the hottest teenage talents around, and the
Kent youngster took both GP45 and 500cc Open series. The Fraser's of
Gloucester 500 saw him reel off five wins on the bounce early season and
then stay at the top of the table over Mark Clayton and Mark Strudwick.
Wilford, has taken his first steps into the major league in the PATA Honda
European Junior Cup, and at Magny Cours was up in a podium position before
being punted off in the final laps. The club has awarded Sam the prestigious
Hambro Life Flying start award this year for being the rider believed to have
the most promise to succeed in the sport......he's already showing buckets of
it !!
The 125's.....Formula and GP.
Mark Clayton - 144
16 year old Mark Clayton stamped his authority on the
125GP series this year. He showed the sort of form we
would expect at the cold pre-season test at Pembrey as he
lapped time after time on his Refined Recruitment RS125
Honda at pace. Over the season Mark racked up eight wins
on the little Honda. His season stated with two runners up
spots behind eventual BSB Moto Star champ Jordan
Weaving and ahead of Asher Durham and Anthony Alonso.
So it was podiums all the way apart from Cadwell Park
where he was a no show….due to the van breaking down
on the way from Carmarthenshire home to Lincolnshire,
and Pembrey where a holed radiator stopped him whilst
leading the final.
In the Formula 125 class that was once more backed by
Steve Lynham it was another title for the impressive 14 year old Liam Delves. Delves backed up his 2013 title with
yet another season to take the crown on his Crucials Sauce RS125 Aprilia. Six wins came over the year to best the
challenge from Cameron Horsman and Karl Horton. Delves had things under control, but a big start line pile up at
Anglesey could have spelled disaster as his little Aprilia was literally bent-in-two. Liam grabbed himself a spot at
the end of year Red Bull Rookies tryout in Span and is looking to step up to the National scene in 2015.
Streetstocks…..400…700…1300
Richard Hughes - 24 / Simon O'Donnell - 79
Welshman Richard Hughes took his family run Honda
Fireblade to 1300 Streetstock victory. In a team that is
basically funded by his Mam, Dad and Uncle Nigel took on
Simon O’Donnell on his all new BMW. The S1000 of
O’Donnell was fast but, but the electronic launch system
always saw Simon fighting through from difficult starts.
Generally round after round it was Hughes and O’Donnell
up from, but Ciaran Bligh was coming on strong come
seasons end. O’Donnell had a slender points advantage
as we went to Castle Combe, but a big crash saw him
break his collarbone. Undeterred he got himself fit and
was back at the next round…and won. Hughes though
held his slim advantage to the final round and a
controlled ride for points saw the young Welshman take
the title.
Meanwhile in the 700cc category of the Metzeler and Dennis Trollope Racing spares Streetstock Eddie Whitehurst
was bagging points round on round. Although he ended up a fairly comfortable victor over Thomas Williams and
Tom Vear the race wins were shared around between eight different riders over the fourteen rounds.
Daniel Tilley though didn’t want to share any wins as he took 9 wins in the 400 Street class on his machines. He
started the year on an NC 30 and finished it on a ZXR 400, and it was either win or DNF. He finished the year 147
points clear of Antony White and Andy Green though
Sound of Thunder.
James Harrison - 47
Darren Rumley was back full time in the club fold after a
year at BSB on his KTM RC8. The experience he gained in
2013 showed in the early season as the Stroud based
rider who was going for his third Sound of Thunder title.
The Thunder class had a new sponsor for 2014 in the
shape of K Tech/100% Suspension, and Rumley wanted
that trophy. He started the year with three wins but after
taking his KTM to the North West 200 the challenge
stuttered as the RC8 had inherited a few mechanical
issues. Then Rumley's season stalled at Anglesey, as
immediately after setting pole he fell at Church. The
resulting injuries to leg, ankle, arm and shoulder put him
again on the back foot. All this time young Welshman
James Harrison was gaining speed and experience on his
675 and outscored everyone over the final five rounds to overhaul David Irons, Dave Mackay and Darren Rumley,
and went into the final meeting at Thruxton with a 4 point lead. The youngster held his nerve as he kept Rumley in
his sights to win it by just 2 points when all the maths were done making it the closest title battle of 2014.
Twins......Mini and Super.
Simon Low - 57
The Mini Twins class has grown in popularity in recent
years and this year after request from many rider a new
Super Twins class was added to the calendar.
The inaugural Super Twins had a double win for Wayne
Axon as he prepared for the road series that were his
main focus, but it was David Carson on his Two Dave's
Racing ER6 victorious over former Mini Twin front
runner Stephen Sweetman over the season. Dave's
consistency with three wins ten podiums earned him the
MPH backed series
Former BSB 125 GP rider Simon Low had been out for
racing for the last couple on seasons due to lack of
funds, but a tie up with the Black and Blue Racing Team
on one of their SV650 Mini Twins had him back on the
grid this year. As he turned up at Brands Hatch for
round one, it was the first time he had ridden anything bigger than a 125 and just 8 points came from the two
days. However come the next three rounds his progression went....3rd....2nd....win !. Four more wins came his hay
over the year to take the title over Paul Wardell and Tom Blackwell with impressive teenage prospect Aaron
Silvester in fourth. The end of the year had Simon back on a 125 at the final BSB round taking 8th in the 125 GP
race.
Sidecars.
Mike Cookson/Alun Thomas - 22
NG Road Racing and the sidecar series sponsors Chris and
Steve Caffyn kept faith with the three-wheelers this year
despite many clubs dropping the class. It was always going
to be a tough year as there were two well-funded National
series for them to chase. When the entries came in though
the NG Club welcomed them onto the race programme. Jim
Hamilton and Mick Fairhurst made the long trips from Fife in
Scotland to grab three wins over the year at Cadwell Park
and Pembrey. It could so easily have been doubles at both
meetings but the JEB’s Performance LCR was not running
well all weekend at Pembrey and they had to pull out of
Sunday’s final. However they bagged the points needed to
regain the title they first took in 2012.
Welshmen Mike Cookson and Alun Thomas notched up four
wins to take the Formula two title over defending champions Tom and Thomas Quaye, with Lee Crawford and
Stuart Ramsay in third. Cookson’s stand out meeting was Donington Park where he bagged a pair and set a new
class lap record as three crews fought out the race wins.
Pre-Injection.
Mike Hobbs - 45 / Adam Jeffery - 81
Mike and Chris Hobbs, Father and Son, both race in the
increasingly popular pre-injection series. Mike rides an R1 and
Chris an R6. They both won their respective classes under the
Team DCI Refrigeration banner.
Mike Hobbs has been in the last couple of seasons a bit of
habitual crasher, but over the winter something changed, as
he came out and podiumed the first seven rounds, including
four wins over his nearest title rival and former two-time
champ Adam Jeffery. These two looked likely to take the fight
right to the wire but a nasty crash and resulting broken arm at
Pembrey ruled out Adam who had to settle for second in the
series, as Hobbs snr continued to rack up the points.
Meanwhile Hobbs jnr was in a tight fight for top spot in the
700cc class with Phil Webber. Both riders took five wins each, but in the end Chris Hobbs took the title after a
nervy ride into second place behind Webber at the final round, taking in by just 11 points.
This is the first time in the clubs 45 year history that a Father and Son have taken solo classes in the same year !.
Newcomers.
Stuart Hallam - 40
Once more NG Road Racing was blessed with a wealth of new
racing talent. There were three classes for the rookies to fight
for backed by Cutronas Financial Services. Stuart Hallam really
came into his own after the mid-season Donington meeting
and eventually took the Open class on his R6 over Eddie
Whitehurst and Kevin Clayton. Daniel Tilley grabbed the 500
series, but Ben Harrison bagged most wins. Harrison had led
the series until he was airlifted from Cadwell Park after a big
high-side. Tilley grabbed the initiative, and the title, but
Harrison came back at the end on the year to take another
race win. They will both be ones to watch in 2015.
The Mini Twins series saw 16 year old Aaron Silvester move
from the UK short track series to road racing on the Stralia
Race Tech SV650. Aaron who despite being just 16 has been racing since the age of 4 and took all bar one of the
Newcomers races to dominate his opposition headed up by Alan Pearce and Darryl Hodder.
Russ Gardner
Official NG Road Racing Race Reports – www.ngroadracing.org
Words
:
Images :
Russ Gardner
EDP - www.edpphoto.com
Mail : [email protected]
Mail : press@edpphoto
Mobile : 07799 047 996
Mobile : 07774 170 235
“NG Road Racing”
2014 Season Review
Russ Gardner
(NG Road Racing Press Officer – Commentator – Bike Sport News Contributor)
Tel : 01242 697907 Ι Mobile : 07799 047 996 Ι Mail : [email protected] Ι Web : www.ngroadracing.org
All the 2014 NG Road Racing Champions.
Steve Lynham Formula 125
NG Road Racing 125GP
A and R Racing Formula 400
Fraser’s of Gloucester 500cc
Simon Consulting 600cc
Simon Consulting Powerbike
Phoenix Motorcycles Open
100% Suspension / KTECH Sound of Thunder
MPH Bikes Super Twins
MPH Bikes Mini Twins
NG Road Racing 400cc Streetstocks
Metzeler/DTR 700cc Streetstocks
Metzeler/DTR 1300cc Streetstocks
NG Road Racing 700cc Pre Injection
NG Road Racing 1300cc Pre Injection
Cutronas 500cc Newcomer
Cutronas Mini Twins Newcomer
Open Newcomer
CSC Racing F2 Sidecar
CSC Racing Open Sidecar
Liam Delves – RS125 Aprilia
Mark Clayton – RS 125 Honda
Daniel Tilley – ZXR400 Kawasaki
Sam Wilford – Aprilia RRV 450
Max Symonds – ZX6R Kawasaki
Phil Bevan – ZX10R Kawasaki
Phil Bevan – ZX10R Kawasaki
James Harrison – Triumph 675 Daytona
David Carson – Kawasaki ER6 650
Simon Low – SV650 Suzuki
Daniel Tilley – ZXR400 Kawasaki
Eddie Whitehurst – ZX636 Kawasaki
Richard Hughes – Honda CBR 1000RR
Chris Hobbs – R6 Yamaha
Mike Hobbs – R1 Yamaha
Daniel Tilley – ZXR 400 Kawasaki
Aaron Silvester – SV650 Suzuki
Stuart Hallam – R6 Yamaha
Mike Cookson / Alan Thomas – 600 Ireson Honda
Jim Hamilton / Mick Fairhurst – 1000 LCR Suzuki
250GP ACU National Championship.
The 250GP ACU National Series is run in association with ACU / Dunlop / 100% Suspension / Watchwood
250GP ACU National
250 NG Cup
Pre ’92 NG Cup
Chris Martin – RS250 Honda
Simon Hunt – TZ250 Yamaha
Andrew Sawford – TZ250 Yamaha
Special Awards.
Hambro Life Flying Start - Most Promising
Anderson Award - Most Points (631)
Jason Kasch Award - Achievement
Gary Teague Award - Newcomer on a 600
Jay Russell Awards - Rising Stars
Jamie Adam - Spirit of Racing
EDP Photo News Award - Achievement
Sam Wilford
Phil Bevan
Team DCI Refrigeration
Stuart Hallam
Sam Wilford / Mark Clayton / Liam Delves
Revealed on Presentations Night (22nd November)
Revealed on Presentations Night (22nd November)
Official NG Road Racing Race Reports – www.ngroadracing.org
Words
:
Images :
Russ Gardner
EDP - www.edpphoto.com
Mail : [email protected]
Mail : press@edpphoto
Mobile : 07799 047 996
Mobile : 07774 170 235