Roo Cotton, the 25-year-old from Poole took his 2009 spec R1 Yamaha to his first ever Superbike double win at Pembrey. Cotton is no stranger to wins over the years after having racked up many on his TZ125 and TZ250 Yamaha’s in the past but this weekend he got to grips with the R1 and Pembrey. It was a weekend of mixed emotions though for Roo and The DTR Dennis Trollope Racing Team as they lost team member Neil Kent recently in the Manx Grand Prix.
Cotton rode the weekend with “Kenty #16 RIP” emblazoned down the side of his yellow and black R1 as a mark of respect, and was visibly delighted to take both the STP Motorsport Powerbike and Phoenix Open finals on Sunday beating local hero Phil Bevan on both occasions. Cotton, renowned for his fast starts held Bevan at bay despite the Welshman doing his very best to get ahead. Bevan had taken both wins on Saturday with Cotton following him home so it was nice that they ended the weekend with honours even.
Cotton and Bevan may have taken the wins but Chris Pope and Michael Blank too pressed hard for the top step of the podium, with Pope having his best weekend with 3 podiums. Blank, who was using his all new ZX10 Kawasaki for the first had numerous set up issues all weekend, failing to put a point on the board on Saturday but with a days feedback with a had earned third place in Sundays Open….. no mean feat considering he still has the standard engine in place. Surprise package in that Sunday race was Ricky elder who set the pace early on, on his 675 Triumph in the wet conditions that greeted the riders before hanging on to a very creditable 5th place.
The weather played quite a part in the weekend proceedings and Saturday saw it switching from glorious sunshine to short sharp shower on three occasions during the afternoon, and although no races went ahead in the rain, the showers saw the track conditions unpredictable. Luckily the sun and wind would dry the track within a race. Sunday (which according to the weathermen was supposed to be nice !!!) saw us with a wet or damp at the best track all day, as heavy showers continually passed over the Welsh circuit, which frustrated the riders no end and several races were decided by wrong tyre choices.
Elder on his Bedouin 675 was almost revelling in the wet conditions on Sunday and took a convincing 10 second win in the Air Racing 600 Open from Saturdays race winner Jason Oakes. Oakes’ win made sure that he wrapped up the 2011 class championship on his Seton R6 Yamaha. Garry Lucitt came from the back of the grid in Saturday’s race to grab a fine third, and Tom Russell took Sundays final podium place which was just rewards after he got pushed onto the grass at turn one on Saturday.
Chris Harrison continued his utter domination of the Pirelli UK GP45 Twins class on his Motobits SVX Aprilia with two more wins to add to the nine he has picked up at the previous ten rounds. Whilst honours were shared between Matthew Andrew on his Weds/Utility Scan RMZ Suzuki and James Stacey on the Bluebell Lakes Honda in the Pirelli UK GP45 Singles series.
Dan Jackson made it nine wins in a row as he took both Gofasterbits.co.uk 450 finals ahead of Sian Brooks on Saturday and a spirited Chris Harrison on Sunday.
Despite Gavin Perkins making a number of forced errors on his Chapman Tyrell RS125 due to pressure exerted by Jake Bayford he eventually settled it down in the last couple of laps to take Saturdays race win in the 125 GP class. Sunday saw the arrival at the track of Michael Shuker, and despite making an awful start he caught and passed the rest of the 125’s to finally get on terms with race leader Bayford. The pair raced out the last few laps with both riders having the advantage at different parts of the Pembrey circuit. Shuker eventually taking the win despite a last corner lunge from young Bayford.
In a depleted Steve Lynham Formula 125 grid James Nagy and Joseph Thomas shared the big points. Thomas was having his first outing on a big circuit at the age of 13 on his 70cc Metrakit, after having raced Mini Motos and GP50’s for the last seven years.
Benedict Ireland was another rider to rack up a pair of wins as he took his Black and Blue Racing ZXR 400 to the flag on both days in the UK Bike Track Days 400 Streetstocks. Saturdays race was comfortable as he lapped every one of his rivals, but Sunday saw him just nurse his ailing (3 Cylinder !!) ZXR home ahead of Steve Hutchins. It was a similar story in the Metzeler/DTR 700 Streetstocks as rain master, Dean Richards dominated both days on his KT Motorsport / ASR Go Fast R6 wining both finals by an astonishing 42 seconds. The big 1300cc Metzeler/DTR Streetstock had Gary Johnson looking to back up his Anglesey win with another at Pembrey and looked in good shape as he lead the way on his GSXR 1000 Suzuki right up until the final corner when Tom Louth and his Mark Cramer R1 swept through to take the flag first as Johnson eased up too early !.
Sundays win went to Mark Skinner on his Cardiff Motorcycles Suzuki as he splashed his way to the flag first. Early season pace setter Philip Evans was once more struggling on his CBR 1000. Evans admitted that he has struggled with confidence on the bike after a big mid-season crash de-tuned him. He is still in with a shout of the Streetstock title but needs to get his mind back in gear before the next, and final round at Thruxton in October….. in just four weeks time.
The MPH Bikes Pre Injection class had more that its fair share of incident. Saturday saw Phil Hacker miss the warm up lap on his FJ1100 and as the grid farmed he was let out to join them….. however rather than start from the back of the grid, he took up his normal grid slot….. a definite no no if you do not do the warm up lap. The Clerk of the Course handed a 10-second penalty to him…. But he still managed to come home second behind Adam Jeffery on his Chopper Club/AFB R1. Sunday came and it was Jeffery who had misfortune as a chain adjuster broke in the qualifier, forcing him to start from the back of the grid, but as the final rolled to the grid the heavens opened and soaked the track…. Jeffery was grinning as he is happy racing in the wet and he stormed past the 30 riders ahead of him to grab second spot behind day one runner up Hacker.
Matthew Page and Ben Marsden continued their season long domination on Saturday in the Performance Red Mini Twins as the pair fought it out for supremacy. Page on his Royal Navy Racing SV took the win by a couple of seconds but looked to have lots in hand in the drying conditions. Sunday however saw the track very wet as the little twins came to the grid, and a cursory glance was enough to see that every one was on full wets…. everyone except Page who had gambled on intermediates…. a gamble which did not quite pay off as he slithered round to finish in a very creditable second place, once again ahead of sesaon long rival Marsden. The win went to Ben Cole who was having an end of year outing on Marsden’s spare Premier Ink SV650. The rest had better watch out if he takes up the ride full time in 2012 as he was 21 seconds ahead at the flag. James Francis had his best ride of the year to fight through in the wet condition to fourth place.
There is barely enough space here to tell the story of the Performance Red Sound of Thunder, but here goes, firstly Saturday….Darren Rumley crashed his KTM in the morning but came through in the final to take third…. Ricky Elder set the early pace in the final but slipped back to fifth… series leader Sam Middlemas seemed to struggle with set up at the Welsh circuit and was only able to get fourth. Meanwhile Paul Willis and Matt Billington fought it out for the win with Willis getting the nod on his Willis Developments KTM RC8…….. Then on Sunday Willis led the qualifier but his KTM coasted to a halt with a couple of laps to go, so started the final from the back row. The experienced Willis tried to do all the work in the first couple of turns to get up on terms the leaders and was nerfed onto the grass at Spitfires, only to rejoin the track 12 seconds down on the last man on track. He then set about a chase down in the 10 lapper making up time corner by corner to be in fourth place going into the final corner right in the wheel tracks of third place man and former Thunder champion Chris Richardson. Ben Cole had a cracking ride to runner up spot on only his second NG outing on the 675. Race winner though was Ricky elder on his Bedouin 675 as he excelled in the very wet conditions, no only taking the win by nearly 10 seconds but setting the fastest lap in the process.
Tim Bradley on his RVF Honda and Matthew Rose on a VFR Honda shared the wins in the A and R Racing Formula 400 finals, but taking convincing victories. It was good to see Simon Gates returning to the tracks after an 18 month lay off with an ex Tony Meredith ZXR and was runner up in Sundays dry race. Track conditions were near perfect but despite Gates great return he was left scratching his head after looking at the timing screens as he was amazed to see that he lapped 2 seconds slower than he did when he last raced in the F400 class on an FZR…. over five years ago !
Paul Corfield and Ritchie Bleakley continued their red-hot end of year form to win both CSC Racing Open Sidecar on their 1000cc Ballard Racing BIS Suzuki finals from the returning Keith Walters and Alun Thomas on Saturday and Rupert Archer and Jason Grimes on Sunday. Walters and Thomas were back on track after five years with the newly built Ireson Suzuki but after a fine runner up spot on Saturday, Sunday ended in disaster as they spun out of second spot at the entry to Honda Curve and reversed at high speed into the tyre wall….luckily both riders (and new bike) were relatively unhurt.
Andy King and Kenny Cole grabbed the CSC Formula 2 Sidecar win on Saturday on the MAC Tools/Chris Thompson 600 Ireson after Miles Bennett and Shelley Smithies retired from a commanding lead on lap five of ten. We saw normal service resume on Sunday though with Bennett and Smithies back in winning form to extend their championship lead as they look to list the F2 title for the third time.
This weekend saw the final rounds for the newcomers and saw Wayne Axon win the NG Mini Twins class on his TART/WC Racing SV to take the title. Tony Bridgefoot won the April UK 500 Newcomers also to take the title, and despite Gary Lucitt winning the April UK Open Newcomers race on the Flying Dragons GSXR third place was enough for Tom Louth to grab the championship win on his Mark Cramer R1.
It’s now all down to Thruxton for the championship and 2011 season finale on 15the October
