Small grid - big action

With a small but quality field the first round of the KRC Endurance Championship got off to a fast and furious start in the Mallory sunshine after two weeks of rain. After 8 laps of practicing in the morning it was Glynn Racing (Aaron Hughes/Lee Hodge/Yamaha R1) who was fastest with a lap of 56.44 seconds ahead of the very experienced endurance team of GB Moto (Mark Smith Halvorsen/Mick Godfrey/Corporate FX Ltd Yamaha R1), Mick Godfrey drafted in from the Harvey Mushman Racing team.

Relative newcomers to the UK racing scene were the father and son combo of M & C Racing (Mick and Craig Dickinson/Yamaha R6), Mick has raced for a while in South Africa at various levels and in various disciplines whilst his seventeen year old son is at the early stages of his racing career and is looking forward to learning the circuits and becoming more competitive. The South Yorkshire domiciled team, like so many at this level, was a real family effort with Mick’s dad, wife and son acting as support and pit crew.

(left) Craig Dickinson - M & C Racing

A late entry was fourth fastest in practice – LMS Elite (Shaun Woffinden/Gawaine Clarke) –- Langworth Motorsport with Elite Signs, a team based just north of Lincoln and better known for their car rallying exploits. Woffinden having his first ever motorcycle race and first ride on slicks – he steadily came to grips with the Dunlop rubber and felt more comfortable at higher speeds. The management of the team was carried out by endurance guru – Max Sholl – of Uprite Racing who are normally to be found at the sharp end of the grid with their R1; however a recent bout of costly engine rebuilds has given Max time to support other newcomer teams.

LMS Elite

At the two pm start it was just like a 10 lap short circuit race, all fast and furious with Glynn Racing holding onto the lead for the 40 minutes of the two hour race from the smaller Yamaha of M & C Racing who were both on the same lap as the very experienced GB Moto.

Just before the hour mark and after the first round of pit stops Mick Godfrey stopped on the back straight and had to push the R1 back into the pits across the grass at the Esses and down the pit road. Following further investigation, the crew discovered an ingested alternator resulting in a sensible retirement to save the rest of the motor from pointless damage. Half way through the race it was the Dickinsons on their R6 who led Glynn Racing from the Honda Hornet 600 of LMS Elite. Some teams had novice riders aboard who rode sensibly and within themselves and gained valuable knowledge for the next rounds of the championship – one such team were Barracuda Racing (Gerard Knox/Simon Scott/Harry Kay) whose Suzuki 1000 was ridden steadily and gaining pace throughout. On the other hand Stuart Mitchiner riding the Charley Spanner Triumph 955 (Peter Pellatt/Stuart Mitchiner/Andrew Dawson) spent the rest of the day on his Ducati 520 racing in the Ducati Due Championship.

Harry Kay - Barracuda Racing

Ducks X Racing (Martin Landman/Russell Horton/Yamaha R6) had a relatively uneventful race, last in practice on their well prepared 2006 R6 they raced into fourth place and consolidated this position till the end. The team were without their normal third pilot – Mick Thompson who is relatively new to solo racing and is this year committed to racing in the sidecar events at the Centenary TT, over in the Island. 2007 could possibly be Mick’s last year at the TT; however his team mates have heard this claim before!

Martin Landman started for Ducks X Racing

In the closing stages of the race Glynn Racing regained the lead from M & C partly due to pit stop strategy, only to lose out at the drop of the cloth to the father and son duo that had established and maintained a one lap plus cushion towards the conclusion of the race. In third spot Ducks X Racing finished one lap in front of the ably handled LMS Elite Hornet. In fifth, after a steady race, the Charley Spanner Triumph finished ahead of the Barracuda Racing Suzuki 1000 – GB Moto were classified in seventh place.

2nd place Aaron Hughes congratulates Mick & Craig Dickinson

The racing was close, fast and entertaining - we look forward to round 2 at Pembrey on the 17th of June. The ethos of this racing is that you don’t need BSB type budgets to compete, have valuable and exciting track time and come away with a good result !

Report and photographs by Alfonso Lygo