Motorcycle Race Preview - Motorcycle Racing at Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club 2024

Darley Moor Race Preview

GOODINGS TOPS THE WINNER’S TALLY AT DARLEY

A very special race meeting last weekend, 13^th/14^th April for the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club as they celebrated the 60^th Anniversary of the very first race meeting held at the then named Darley Moore, on Good Friday, 16^th April 1965, with an admission price of 10s 00d.

Throughout those years many great names and true ambassadors of motor cycle sport have raced with the Club: Bill Smith, Bob Heath, Harvey Porter, George O’Dell, The Hardy Brothers and in more recent times, from the World Superbike Championship and MotoGP, Alex & Sam Lowes and Cal Crutchlow to name but a few.

The Club holds a unique position amongst the many motor cycle road race clubs throughout the Country in that it operates its own venue, the Darley Moor Sports Centre, near Ashbourne, DE6 2ET (or What3Words: bounty.behalf.charm).

The Club are still the proud holders of the most winners of Club Team awards at the Isle of Man TT races until they were ended in recent years, helping the Club gain its nickname of “The Starmakers” a very fitting title indeed.

The person who had the vision and determination for Darley Moore, in 1964, was elected Club Chairman, in 1965, and incredibly is still at the helm to this day, having seen the Club grow to what it is now. For his efforts and tenacity over the many years, the Club were delighted to give, Don Ryder, his very own special Lap of Honour prior to the racing getting underway.

The Club Championship has received a minor change for this year in that each race will receive championship points, effectively making this a 12 Round Championship.

Onto the racing and who could have predicted the opening meeting of the season, in April, would enjoy sunshine over both days, this really is a special year!!

Race 1 saw the combined Open and Pre-Injection Open machines take to the grid and setting the scene for a great day’s racing. Adam Walters (Derby) was quickest off the line, finishing Lap 1 with a 1sec advantage over Matthew Bell (Sheffield) with Mark Goodings (Doncaster) in his slipstream, all on Open machines. On Lap3 Goodings squeezed pass Bell and by the end of Lap4 there was still less than 1sec between the pair, with Walters 1.4sec ahead. With Goodings lapping approximately 0.5sec quicker per lap Walters time at the front was limited, but catching and passing are two different things. By Lap7 just 0.2sec separated the pair, Walters still holding the advantage with a significant gap to Bell in 3^rd spot. It wasn’t until Lap9 that Goodings found his way pass and held on for victory in the 10lap race by just 0.55sec. Winner of the Pre-Injection class was Daniel Stubbs (Stoke on Trent) who finished the opening lap 6^th overall before getting amongst the Open class machines and finally finishing 4^th Overall. Their second race saw a similar pattern at the head of the field with Walters the fastest off the line, but with Goodings 2^nd, Bell 3^rd and Richard Eglin (Derby), who didn’t make the grid for the opening race, 4^th. after the opening lap. Eglin had found a way through on Bell by Lap2, whilst Goodings hit the front on Lap4 and the leading quartet circulating in that order until the end, with Goodings stretching out his advantage to 2sec at the chequered flag. Stubbs again finished highest Pre-Injection machine in 6^th place, coming out on top of a race long battle between the Pre-Injection machines of Ian McKenzie (Long Eaton) and Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield), 2^nd and 3^rd in class, respectively.

Race4, the opening Ben Godfrey Trophy race, saw the Goodings/Walters/Bell trio dominate once again with Walters proving to be the master off the line, before Bell hit the front on Lap2, whilst Goodings moved into 2^nd place on Lap3. Bell ‘enjoyed’ a 1.5sec advantage on Lap4 at the head of the field, but this was the largest gap he had, for the next 4laps it would be no more 0.3sec, then Goodings made his move on Lap9 for the lead and Walters then dropped Bell down to 3^rd on the final lap. In 4^th place was Joe Holdsworth (Huddersfield), on his second season at Darley Moor, the highest placed 600cc machine. The second Ben Godfrey Trophy race saw this quartet finish in the same order, again with Walters quickest off the line and holding the lead until Lap7, when Goodings again made his way through, from 3^rd on the opening lap, 2^nd on Lap4 and 1^st on Lap8. Walters recording another 2^nd, whilst Holdsworth finished just 1.3sec behind Bell, in 4^th place.

The new Open 600 class gave Goodings yet another win in the opening race, taking a flag-to-flag victory, with Holdsworth 2^nd, just 2.5sec behind at the flag, after finishing the opening lap in 4^th place and having to find a way pass Adam Green (Stone) and David Carson (Northwich). The second encounter would see Goodings beaten for the first time, by Holdsworth who enjoyed a start – finish victory. Holdsworth enjoyed an 1.2sec advantage over Goodings after the opening lap and this increasing to almost 2sec after Lap2, but then Goodings had the bit between his teeth, although despite the fastest lap of the race on Lap8 he could not find a way pass, eventually finishing just 0.15sec behind at the chequered flag, with Carson taking 3^rd place on both occasions.

Prior to his Open 600 3^rd place Carson had already opened his weekend’s victory tally, firstly in the opening Darley Cup race, Race 2, on the day. Lying 3^rd after the opening lap, 4sec behind leader Nick Clare (Winsford), then moving into 2^nd place on Lap2, before finding a way pass Clare on Lap5. A similar scenario occurred in the first combined Pre-Electronic 600/700 Twin class; 3^rd after the opening lap behind Sean Seddon (Northop) leading, on a similar Twins machine and Adam Sheriff (Barnsley) 2nd, the first Pre-Electronic 600 machine, then 2^nd on Lap2 and hitting the front on Lap3 and stretching out an 11sec lead at the flag, over Seddon, with Sheriff a similar distance back in 3^rd and Clare, 4^th. Carson’s third victory of the day came in the second Darley Cup race after taking a start-finish win, ahead of Clare again. The second combined Pre-Electronic 600/700 Twin race saw Sean Seddon quickest off the line again with Carson 2^nd in his slipstream until finding a way through on Lap3 and opening a 6.6sec advantage at the chequered flag, for his fourth victory of the day, with Seddon, Sheriff and Clare 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th respectively, again. Sheriff taking his second class victory with his Pre-Electronic 600 machine. The combined Forgotten Era/650Twins races gave Sheriff the opportunity to be the first overall across the finishing line after a start-finish victory in the first race, with Martin Davis (Manchester) enjoying a race long battle with 650 Twins class winner, Daniel Pearson (Brough), split by less than 0.5sec at the flag. The second race saw Pearson quickest off the blocks and lead the opening lap before Sheriff found his way through on Lap2, but then the pair kept the crowd entertained at the head of the field with an excellent battle, finally separated by just 0.05sec at the flag; Sheriff taking his fourth win of the day and Pearson his second 650 Twins victory.

Peter Fell (Burton on Trent) was to be another multiple winner on this special day, with him opening his tally in the first Wilson Trophy, Race 3 with a start-finish victory. Fell enjoyed a 6.6sec advantage at the end of the 10lap race after leaving Stoke on Trent competitors Jordan Poole and Matt Zschiesche to fight it out over 2^nd and 3^rd places. After being in Zschiesche’ slipstream throughout, never more than 0.5sec splitting the pair, with the help of a backmarker, Poole found a way pass on the final lap to take 2^nd place by just 0.13sec. The second race got underway in similar fashion with Fell at the front, but after failing to finish Lap3 he handed the lead to Poole, with Zschiesche just 0.5sec behind and finding a way pass on Lap4, but the pair enjoyed another close battle until Poole failed to finish Lap8, allowing Zschiesche to cruise home for the victory.

The Fell/Zschiesche/Poole trio were also lining alongside each other in the combined Lightweight/CB500 races, albeit Fell in the Lightweight and Zschiesche/Poole in the CB500 class. Fell took his second start-finish victory of the day, followed throughout by Freddy Oakley (Chesterfield) on another Lightweight machine. After a race long battle again, in which they were never more than 0.3sec apart, once Zschiesche had taken 2^nd place on Lap2, eventually split by just 0.25sec at the flag. For the second combined Lightweight/CB500 race the trio now consisted of Fell/Oakley and Zschiesche after Poole’s failing to finish the second Wilson Trophy encounter resulted in him not lining up for the final race of the day. This race gave another 1-2 for Fell, his 3^rd victory of the day, and Oakley finishing 5sec behind, with Zschiesche taking the CB500 victory.

Fans of three-wheeled motorsport were treated to a master class by Dan Knight/Ben Hughes (Congleton/Northwold) in the opening race taking a start-finish victory, on their 600cc outfit, by 26sec, leaving Martin Best/Taylor Oldroyd (Grantham/Wakefield) to pip Steve Thomas/Danny Lewis (Wirral/Wirral) to the Open Class victory by just 0.5sec. The second race saw the outfit of Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth make the grid on their 600cc machine and gave Knight/Hughes a tougher race. Baker/Killingsworth lead the opening four laps before Knight/Hughes found a way through and stretched out another commanding lead to take their second victory, with Best/Oldroyd taking the Open class victory with 3^rd overall.

A fantastic day’s racing, with some surprisingly excellent weather helped make this special meeting, but with this being the 60th season there is sure to be more ‘special events’ throughout the season to look forward to. However, there is a bit of a gap before the next Club Championship meeting, on 16^th June 2024, but please check www.darleymoor.co.uk for other race meetings throughout the year.

The action on track will begin at 10am, with the first race scheduled for 11.30am. Advance tickets at are available now, just visit www.darleymoorstore.com: Saturday Adults £7, Seniors £5 and Sunday Adults £13, Seniors £10 (Sunday On The Day prices of £16 and £12, respectively).

Championship Standings (after Rounds 1 & 2)

Forgotten Era & Classic up to 500cc

1^st Steve Price, 30pts; 2^nd Chris Barton, 24pts; 3^rd Iain Davis, 20pts

Forgotten Era & Classic up to 1300cc

1^st Adam Sheriff, 30pts; 2^nd Martin Davis, 24pts; 3^rd Martyn Cooper, 20pts

Wilson Trophy

1^st Matt Zschiesche, 25pts; 2^nd James Tucker, 17pts, 3^rd Lee Threlfall, 16pts

Darley Cup

1^st David Carson, 30pts; 2^nd Nick Clare, 24pts; 3^rd Aron Redmond, 20pts

Ben Godfrey Trophy

1^st Mark Goodings, 30pts; 2^nd Adam Walters, 24pts; 3^rd Matthew Bell, 20pts

Open 600cc 2024