Mike Cooper (Craven Yamaha) is the CRMC/Hercberg International Classic King of Brands after a sensational twelve lap War of the Roses with George Hogton-Rusling (Carthago Yamaha). With both men electing to ride TZ350s there was little to choose between Lancastrian Cooper and his young Yorkshire rival, but with Cooper masterfully fending off his every move GH-R attempted a desperate last lap pass at Druids, only to crash unhurt into the gravel.
Rnd.3 of the Scitsu Instruments/ACU 350 PC UK Championship saw Cooper (Craven TZ) and Hogton-Rusling (Carthago TZ) hard at it again and this time it was an easy win for Cooper by 10.8 seconds, with Dean Stimpson third. The battle continued into the Fondseca.com 350 GP event, with current CRMC Racer of the Year, Cooper, taking all four ahead of GH-R, Ant Hart (TZ) and Lee Hodge (Kingsmill TZ).
It was good to see Lee Hodge (Minnovation G50) back on the pace in the Norton OC 500 GP class, where despite failing to gain a victory he pressed ACU champion Mike Cooper (Craven Manx) all the way. A depleted Clubman class saw just a pair of wins for Pete Weston’s NRP Honda but the concurrent 500 Goldies entertained regally with Clive Ling (Phil Person), Joop Van de Pol (Bob Light) and John Warwick all scrapping their way to victories.
The Kevin Fawsitt 500 Air-cooleds saw a double for Terry Brocklehurst (Suzuki 325) after Keith Brown (Yamaha 450) and Jerry Crawford (DCM Honda 500) had battled to a Saturday win apiece. The hard fought SDS MOT Station 750 P/C Clubman class produced three victories for George Thomas (Yamaha LC) after Mike Pennell had taken the opener on his FZ600.
Kevin Hunt/Alan Cracknell (Patterson Imp) consolidated their lead in the Woods Cubed/MREquipe Pd.3 championship with victories in all four sidecar races. Jon Perkins/Ian Nickels (Moorespeed BMW) also seemed set for a four-timer in Pd.2 until a late retirement saw leg four go to Matt Kingsmill/Paul Sands (MRE BMW). Bill Hodgkins/Bert Vloemans clinched both Saturday’s Pd.1 races in their Windle Norton but then hit problems, leaving Steve/Byron Reilly (MRE BMW) and Ronald Blakeley/Belinda Colston (BMW) to share the honours.
Performance of the weekend in the Earnshaws/Ultratape Post Classic 125s was by Matthew Truelove (MT125) in the treacherously slippery leg 3, where he overcame the previously dominant Alan Major and his Open Class RS125. Truelove had also won leg 2 after Major was black-flagged and went on to complete a four-timer in the Piston-Port class, with younger brother Harry (MT Honda) grabbing a pair of 2nd places.
The opening Yamaha/Avon/Practical Sportsbikes/Speedbike Pics Production race saw a sudden shower catch out early leaders Andy Jones (FJ1100) and Malc Sampson (Suzuki 1100), leaving Rider of the Day John Warwick (FZ600) to masterfully take the win. Warwick went on to win all four races, as fellow FZ600 riders Derek Cripps, Simon Walsh, Glynn Nichols and Danny Imberg entertainingly slugged it out for the minor places. In the Senior class, Sampson came back to win the final leg after earlier victories for Roger Imberg (YPVS), Ian Courts (FJ1100) and Andreas Jelden (FJ1200).
In the VJMC Lightweights Joop Van de Pol (Atkins Greeves) overcame a greasy track to brilliantly win the third leg from the 350 Goldstars of John Warwick and Lancelot Unissart. In the weekend’s three dry races Unissart took desperately hard-earned wins, with Van de Pol uncatchable in the 250 Europeans and Jeff Smith (Keating Bridgestone) equally dominant in the 200 two-strokes. Adrian Warne (PACRE Honda) was a three times 200 four-stroke winner, while Lee Clare (Suzuki) and Colin Western (Maxton) each took an air-cooled 250 victory after Jerry Longland’s (X7) Saturday double.
The Minnovation Racing/J B Taylor Construction 350 event provided great racing between the Honda twins of Harley Rushton (Craven), Simon Walsh (Garfield), Gary Freeman and Alex Sinclair. Rushton emerged with two wins but the most exciting race was one he didn’t win, when Walsh pipped him by a wheel in leg 2. Will Loder capably steered his Greeves to three European victories, with George Thomas also tasting success on Tony Dunnell’s Manx. The Over 55s saw three wins for Roger Imberg after Tony Tuttle had narrowly taken the opener.
George Hogton-Rusling (Globecar Triumph) took a comfortable win over Hercberg teammate, Gary Thwaites, in the Classic Racer Syndicate 1300 Classic National and the two men went on to dominate the Boyer Bransden 1300s, with Thwaites’s final leg victory by 0.063 seconds coming after arguably the best dice of the entire meeting. John Lovett (Moorespeed BMW) was again the leading Twins class rider and the concurrent Four Counties Insurance Superbikes saw class wins for Malc Sampson (Suzuki) and the Kawasakis of Carl Adams, Andrew McDonough and Dean Edwards.
In Three Bears Formula 750 action it was another four wins for Hogton-Rusling and the Globecar Triumph over Gary Thwaites (Carthago Triumph). Special mention must go to Rob Wittey, whose Sunday podium finishes were achieved after an overnight dash and engine swap on the Smith Honda CR750.
Results:
CRMC 2014, Round 4, Brands Hatch, July 5 & 6
SATURDAY:
Boyer Bransden Electronics & Four Counties – 1300cc Twins, Multis, P/C Superbike 1 & 2
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 G. Thwaites 7m 22.304s, 2 G. Hogton-Rusling, 3 C. Chapman, 4 C. Adams, 5 M. Sampson.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 G. Hogton-Rusling 7m 21.675s, 2 C. Chapman, 3 C. Adams, 4 F. Burbidge, 5 D. Butler.
Earnshaw's Motorcycles & Ultratape – 125cc Post Classic Open & Piston Port
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 A. Major 8m 03.957s, 2 M. Truelove, 3 G. Crew, 4 R. Roebury, 5 J. Wilmot.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 M. Truelove 8m 06.029s, 2 A. Hart, 3 G. Crew, 4 D. Bowers, 5 R. Roebury.
Minnovation Racing Equipe Ltd & J B Taylor Construction – 350cc European, Over 55s & Twin Cylinder
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 G. Freeman 7m 51.737s, 2 S. Walsh, 3 H. Rushton, 4 A. Sinclair, 5 T. Karlsson.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 S. Walsh 7m 43.352s, 2 H. Rushton, 3 G. Freeman, 4 T. Karlsson, 5 A. Sinclair.
Norton Owners Club – 500cc GP, Clubman, & 500cc BSA Goldstars
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 M. Cooper 7m 21.051s, 2 L. Hodge, 3 A. Sinclair, 4 M. Russell, 5 J. Van de Pol.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 M. Cooper 7m 18.138s, 2 L. Hodge, 3 M. Russell, 4 H. Rushton, 5 I. Carter.
SDS Service Station & Fondseca.com – P/C Clubman 750cc & 350cc Post Classic
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 M. Cooper 7m 08.348s, 2 G. Hogton-Rusling, 3 D. Stimpson, 4 L. Hodge, 5 M. Russell.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 M. Cooper 7m 03.302s, 2 G. Hogton-Rusling, 3 D. Stimpson, 4 M. Russell, 5 M. Truelove.
Three Bears Syndicate & Kevin Fawsitt – Classic Formula 750cc & PC 500cc Air Cooled
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 G. Hogton-Rusling 7m 22.451s, 2 G. Thwaites, 3 D. Butler, 4 K. Brown, 5 B. Randall.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 G. Hogton-Rusling 7m 16.627s, 2 G. Thwaites, 3 D. Butler, 4 T. Woolley, 5 J. Crawford.
VJMC – 200cc 4 Stk, 2 Stk, 250cc, 350cc Goldstar & 250cc PC A/C
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 L. Unissart 8m 09.400s, 2 J. Van de Pol, 3 I. Green, 4 J. Longland, 5 J. Smith.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 L. Unissart 8m 02.726s, 2 J. Van de Pol, 3 J. Smith, 4 J. Longland, 5 J. Warwick.
Woods Cubed & MR Equipe – Sidecars Period 1/2/3/4
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 Hunt/Cracknell 7m 43.938s, 2 Reilly/Reilly, 3 Perilleux/Detournay, 4 Bellaby/Gristwood, 5 Reeves/Hills.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 Hunt/Cracknell 7m 41.971s, 2 Reilly/Reilly, 3 Perilleux/Detournay, 4 Bellaby/Gristwood, 5 Perkins/Nickels.
Yamaha UK, Avon Tyres, Practical Sportsbike & Speedbike Pics – Production 600cc 4 Stk, 250cc 2 Stk & 1300cc
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 J. Warwick 8m 31.868s, 2 D. Cripps, 3 G. Nichols, 4 D. Imberg, 5 M. Pennell.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 J. Warwick 7m 33.693s, 2 D. Imberg, 3 G. Nichols, 4 D. Cripps, 5 M. Robertson.
SUNDAY:
ACU & Scitsu Instruments – ACU UK Post Classic 350cc (12 laps):
1 M. Cooper 10m 34.133s, 2 G. Hogton-Rusling, 3 D. Stimpson, 4 M. Russell, 5 L. Hodge.
Boyer Bransden Electronics & Four Counties – 1300cc Twins, Multis, P/C Superbike 1 & 2 (8 laps):
1 G. Thwaites 7m 09.646s, 2 G. Hogton-Rusling, 3 C. Adams, 4 R. Wittey, 5 C. Chapman.
Classic Racer Syndicate & Four Counties – UK Classic 1300cc, P/C Superbike 1 & 2 (8 laps):
1 G. Hogton-Rusling 8m 49.579s, 2 G. Thwaites, 3 R. Wittey, 4 C. Chapman, 5 N. Hall-Smith.
CRMC King of Brands (12 laps):
1 M. Cooper 10m 28.917s, 2 G. Thwaites, 3 L. Hodge, 4 M. Russell, 5 A. Hart.
Earnshaw's Motorcycles & Ultratape – 125cc Post Classic Open & Piston Port
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 M. Truelove 9m 27.167s, 2 H. Truelove, 3 A. Major, 4 M. Handley, 5 A. Hart.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 A. Major 8m 01.267s, 2 M. Truelove, 3 J. Blackmore, 4 H. Truelove, 5 A. Hart.
Minnovation Racing Equipe Ltd & J B Taylor Construction – 350cc European, Over 55s & Twin Cylinder
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 H. Rushton 7m 37.667s, 2 S. Walsh, 3 A. Sinclair, 4 G. Freeman, 5 T. Karlsson.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 H. Rushton 7m 37.044s, 2 A. Sinclair, 3 S. Walsh, 4 G. Freeman, 5 W. Loder.
Norton Owners Club – 500cc GP, Clubman, & 500cc BSA Goldstars
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 M. Cooper 7m 16.985s, 2 L. Hodge, 3 H. Rushton, 4 M. Russell, 5 A. Sinclair.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 M. Cooper 7m 16.441s, 2 L. Hodge, 3 H. Rushton, 4 M. Russell, 5 A. Sinclair.
SDS Service Station & Fondseca.com – P/C Clubman 750cc & 350cc Post Classic
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 M. Cooper 7m 10.704s, 2 A. Hart, 3 L. Hodge, 4 K. Thompson, 5 M. Truelove.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 M. Cooper 7m 09.531s, 2 L. Hodge, 3 M. Russell, 4 A. Hart, 5 M. Truelove.
Three Bears Syndicate & Kevin Fawsitt – Classic Formula 750cc & PC 500cc Air Cooled
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 G. Hogton-Rusling 7m 15.422s, 2 G. Thwaites, 3 R. Wittey, 4 C. Chapman, 5 T. Brocklehurst.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 G. Hogton-Rusling 7m 14.281s, 2 R. Wittey, 3 C. Chapman, 4 D. Butler, 5 T. Woolley.
VJMC – 200cc 4 Stk, 2 Stk, 250cc, 350cc Goldstar & 250cc PC A/C
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 J. Van de Pol 8m 35.879s, 2 J. Warwick, 3 L. Unissart, 4 A. Armson, 5 W. Loder.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 L. Unissart 8m 01.579s, 2 J. Warwick, 3 J. Smith, 4 J. Van de Pol, 5 B. Mason.
Woods Cubed & MR Equipe – Sidecars Period 1/2/3/4
Race 1 (5 laps):
1 Hunt/Cracknell 4m 50.298s, 2 Perkins/Nickels, 3 Bellaby/Gristwood, 4 Johnson/Kingsmill, 5 Johnson/Roughan.
Race 2 (8 laps):
1 Hunt/Cracknell 7m 50.897s, 2 Johnson/Kingsmill, 3 Bellaby/Gristwood, 4 Reeves/Hills, 5 Johnson/Roughan.
Yamaha UK, Avon Tyres, Practical Sportsbike & Speedbike Pics – Production 600cc 4 Stk, 250cc 2 Stk & 1300cc
Race 1 (8 laps):
1 J. Warwick 8m 08.532s, 2 D. Cripps, 3 G. Nichols, 4 D. Imberg, 5 S. Walsh.
Race 2 (7 laps):
1 J. Warwick 6m 35.618s, 2 S. Walsh, 3 D. Imberg, 4 M. Sampson, 5 G. Nichols.
