What a way to for the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club to finish their 2011 season off – scorching hot weather, the largest crowd ever for a ‘Stars’ meeting and Richard Cooper (Hucknell) confirming that he is the ‘Star of Darley’.

Last year the heavy rain beat everybody, forcing the meeting to be abandoned, but this year the season finished with scorching temperatures and Cooperman beating everybody, he was never headed as he took his third

consecutive ‘Stars at Darley’ title. To prove that this was a hard fought win against some quality competition the highest placed regular Darley Moor front runner was Lee Vernon(Stoke on Trent), who finished 10th in the first Stars race! Both races saw Cooper 1st, breaking his own Race Record each time, followed by Buildbase BMW Superbike team-mate Barry Burrell (Bishop Auckland) 2nd; John McGuiness (Morecombe), Honda TT Legends, 3rd and Luke Stapleford (Sinope), Profile Racing, 4th.

For the weekend the usual race day format was altered slightly to allow for the extra ‘Stars’ races, rather than two races each of the Darley Moor Championship classes had one longer 15 lap race. Last weekend the Formula 600 competitors started proceedings and spectators had the added bonus of Stapleford having an extra race before his ‘Stars’ appearance, although his fellow competitors probably didn’t feel the same.

Lapping over 1sec faster each lap he led Richard Wardle (Stoke on Trent) home, with Ross Richards (Chesterfield), 3rd and Danny Smith (Rugeley), 4th. Special mention must go to Jim Hodson (Wigan) who had lent his machine to Smith after his was damaged in a crash during practice on Saturday, despite still being in contention for the Championship if Wardle had failed to score any points.

Chris Sammons (Chesterfield) was first across the line in combined Steel Framed 600/Lightweight race, his Steel Framed machine taking its third victory from just three starts this year, enough to put Sammons 2nd in the

Championship. Following Sammons home were Rob Hodson (Wigan), 2nd; Chris Spooner (Stoke on Trent), 3rd; Leon Jeacock (Nuneaton), 4th on Lightweight machines, with Gavin Salt (Leek) 5th on a Steel framed 600. With Ben Godfrey (Long Eaton) only 6th on his Lightweight machine, 2nd was enough for Hodson to be crowned the Lightweight Champion.

Unfortunately, Ricky Tarren (Tamworth) could not do anything about reducing the gap to second in the 125 GP class, failing to complete the 3rd lap of the race. Jamie Hodson (Wigan) secured the Championship with 2nd place, behind Arnie Shelton (Bourne), with Andrew Fisher (Kettering) 3rd.

Richard Wardle took his first win in the Peak Cup class, although despite Shane Pearson’s absence from the grid and Jim Hodson unable to complete 1 lap, he finished 3rd in the Championship. Possibly a name to watch for next season will be Alan Hughes (Rugeley) who finished an impressive 6th, still with a novice jacket on, showing that he is in the very early stages of his racing career.

With Championship leaders Anthony Eades/Iain Greensmith (Hyde) absent from the meeting Allen Schofield/Steve Thomas (Bromborough/Birkenhead) secured the Open Sidecar Championship at the final Round. Whilst, unusually, FII Champions, Roy Hanks/Julie Hanks-Elliott (Birmingham) finished 4th the third 600cc machine home, after not quite having enough laps to reel in Dave Atkinson/Phil Knapton (Eccleshall/Selby).

Several new names appeared in the Sound of Thunder results with Steve Hill (Runcorn) taking the overall win from 2011 Champion James Ford (Whaley Bridge), with Neil Addy (Buxton) 3rd; Chris Gardner (Whitwick), 4th and Ross Richards (Chesterfield) the first Mini Sound of Thunder machine home in 5th place.

In the early stages of the combined Formula Darley/Pre 98’s race Ross Richards, on a Formula Darley machine, was involved in a superb battle with Ken Davis’ (Thornton Clevelys) Pre98 bike until backmarkers allowed Davis to open a small gap at the halfway stage, unfortunately Richards was unable to complete Lap 12. A new name to the Pre98 class, but certainly not Darley Moor was Shane Pearson (Derby) who followed Davis home in 2nd place. With Formula Darley Champion Anthony Porter absent from the meeting Leon Jeacock (Nuneaton) was the first of these machines home followed by Rob Hodson (Wigan) and Chris Spooner (Stoke on Trent).

This season has given some excellent racing and the Darley Moor Motorcycle Road Race Club wishes to thank all competitors and spectators for their support throughout the season. The Committee have already announced that the entry costs for both competitors and spectators will remain the same for next year.

Whilst this season may be over for Darley Moor, if you log onto the website www.darleymoor.co.uk, on a regular basis you will be able to catch up on any news, be some of the first to see next year’s race calendar or how about purchasing a season’s pass or some clothing from the Darley Shop for a Christmas present?

Final Standings

Peak Cup

1st Jim Hodson, 114pts; 2nd Shane Pearson 66pts; 3rd Richard Wardle 61pts

Open Solos

1st Jim Hodson 126pts; 2nd Shane Pearson 66pts; 3rd Lee Vernon 26pts

Open Sidecars

1st Allan Schoefield/Steve Thomas 90pts; 2nd Anthony Eades/Iain Greensmith 80pts; 3rd Ray Thomas/Neil Aslaksen 48pts

Lightweight Championship

1st Rob Hodson 101pts; 2nd Ben Godfrey 86pts; 3rd Chris Spooner 77pts;

GP125

1st Jamie Hodson 90pts; 2nd Andrew Fisher 79pts; 3rd Ricky Tarren 64pts

Formula 600

1st Richard Wardle 107pts; 2nd Jim Hodson 72pts; 3rd Danny Smith 57pts

Formula Darley

1st Anthony Porter 95pts; 2nd Rob Hodson 86pts 3rd Chris Spooner 78pts;

Formula 125

1st David Carson 132pts; 2nd Jordan Rushby 66pts; 3rd Asher Durham 37pts

FII Sidecars

1st Roy Hanks/Julie Hanks Elliott 87pts; 2nd Dean Banks/Kelly Lewis 27pts; 3rd Christopher Schofield/Daniel Schofield 28pts

Steel Framed 600

1st Steve Price 108pts; 2nd Chris Sammons 54pts; 3rd Dave Thomasson 49pts

Pre Injection 600

1st Gavin Salt 91pts; 2nd Jon Skelson 81pts; 3rd Daniel Pritchard 38pts

Mini Sound of Thunder

1st Anthony Porter 120pts; 2nd Gary Dangerfield 96pts; 3rd Alex Woodhouse 29pts

Sound of Thunder

1st James Ford 102pts; 2nd Jamie Medhurst 72pts; 3rd Chris Gardner 51pts

Pre 98’s (up to 500cc)

1st Wez Pearce 96pts; 2nd David Carson 89pts; 3rd Robert Garmory 29pts

Pre 98’s (up to 1300cc)

1st Kev Cooper 84pts; 2nd Gavin Heath 63pts; 2nd Jon Skelson 43pts