British Superstock Championship - 2006 Race Reports

Brands Hatch - 24, 25 and 26 March 2006 - Round 1

This was the first race of the British Superbike season and the British weather again decided to throw everything at us. We arrived late on Thursday night and camped out in the car park outside the circuit. It was bitterly cold and rained most of the night. We got into the Paddock at 7.30am the following morning and set up camp while the riders signed on.

Friday is the Free Practise day, with two twenty minute sessions for the GP125s and one twenty five minute session for the Superstock Cup and Championship. This gives the riders the chance to make final adjustments before the two qualifying sessions on Saturday.

Luke Jones riding in the GP 125s got a very creditable eighth fastest after free practise, considering he was running in a new crankshaft on his Honda. Victor Cox was eleventh fastest in the Superstock Championship B group, and Phil Bevan was second fastest in the Superstock Cup B group.

Saturday was bitterly cold and damp. The first qualifying session saw Luke sixth in the 125s, Victor sixteenth and Phil ended tenth after crashing on lap six. Luckily Phil was unhurt and not too much damage was done to the bike. In the second qualifier Luke finished twelfth, Victor tenth and Phil fifth.

Combined qualifying put Luke twelfth on the grid for Sunday's race. Victor's and Phil's combined qualifying was not so straightforward because of the group A riders being integrated with group B. This gave some strange results with Victor thirty first on the Superstock Championship grid and Phil eighteenth on the Superstock Cup grid. This put them both behind many slower riders with obvious implications.

Saturday also saw the first practise session for the Virgin Mobile R6 cup with Matt Whitman nearly a second faster than everyone else. He then went on to finish the qualifier a very strong fourth, putting him on the first row of the grid for Sunday's race. This went a long way to make up for the disappointing placings that Victor and Phil had.

On Sunday morning the sun shone and the temperature was a lot higher. All the riders have a warm up session in the morning and were pleased to be going out in dry conditions.

Our first race of the afternoon was Victor's and what a daunting sight it is to be looking through the grid from the back. Victor had a difficult start with many slower riders getting in his way, however he made consistent progress and finished a very creditable seventeenth with lap times faster than many in front of him. It was a very good ride and we were all pleased with the result.

The Virgin Mobile Cup was next and Matt got off to a good start. He settled for second place for two laps and then went into the lead and was never threatened for the rest of the race. He rode a very mature race doing just enough to keep a decent gap between himself and second place. First race and first win of the season can't be bad.

Next out was Luke aboard his Honda in the GP125 race. We all had high hopes for this race but it wasn't to be, a problem with the bike saw Luke losing places almost from the start and he had to retire on only lap nine. Very disappointing for everyone, not least Luke in his first British race.

Our last race and the last race of the day was the Superstock Cup. It started to rain just before the start which didn't worry Phil at all as he can go very well in the rain. Phil had the same problem as Victor on the start, with many slower riders getting in the way and hindering his progress. However, despite a misting problem, Phil hauled his way up to eleventh place and was looking like taking tenth when on the last lap he got hit off the track by another rider. He managed to stay aboard the bike and got it back on the track to finish eighteenth.

We are now looking forward to Donington and hope that we can make some sense of the Superstock qualifying system that ruined our chances of any decent results. A disappointing result for Luke but what a great result for Matt.

Photos by Paul Korkus

British 125GP results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results - Virgin M Cup results

Donington Park - 7, 8 and 9 April 2006 - Round 2

Well second race of the season and the same awful weather. We decided to get to the circuit early on Thursday afternoon to get a good spot, only to discover that everyone else had the same idea and we were left parked on the gravel for the second year running. When we left Hereford it was bright sunshine, but by the time we got to Birmingham the sky was ominously overcast and at the circuit it was windy and spotting with rain, not perfect conditions for setting up camp.

Friday was cloudy but dry and not too cold.

Luke missed his first practise in the British 125 GP with engine problems (isn't that right Dave) and went out on the second practise only to find that the gearbox fitted had the wrong ratios for Donington leaving him 21st fastest with lots to do.

Victor didn't fare much better in free practise with a disappointing 36th fastest struggling with his suspension setup in the National Superstock Championship, he had his first qualifier on Friday and improved to 28th fastest.

Phil came home a very creditable 8th fastest in the free practise for the National Superstock Cup and looking good for Saturday's qualifying.

So on to Saturday and another cold but dry day after struggling with learning the circuit and the gearbox problems Luke qualified a disappointing 19th but was still running with the same gearbox ratios so it was decided to change these for Sunday's race.

Victor had his second qualifier and made radical changes to his suspension settings unfortunately only improving his time to 22nd fastest leaving him with a combined qualifying position of 27th and everything to do on Sunday starting back on row seven.

Phil had a few setup problems and finished up with a combined qualifying position of 17th a little disappointing considering his free practise.

Matt had his first free practise on Saturday and finished 4th fastest going on to qualify 3rd and first row on the grid for Sunday's race.

Sunday came and so did the rain, hail and near freezing track temperatures.

Luke had his new gearbox internals and a good chance if he could get a good start. So it was decided to go for it from the green light, unfortunately only to drop it on the first lap and spend the rest of the race as a spectator.

Matt got off to a great start and followed in second place for a few laps before going into the lead and commanding the race from the front for the second race in a row another very mature race with Matt winning very convincingly and bagging another 25 points.

Next it was Victor's race and although not raining the track was waterlogged and very slippery. Victor fought his way up to 20th position only to drop the bike on the last lap he remounted and finished 24th with many riders falling it was an achievement just to finish but still no points.

REPORT=Phil's race was the last of the day and with many stoppages due to accidents it was very late with rain from start to finish. He finished 16th and just out of the points.

With over 100 fallers on race day it was quite a good result just to finish a race intact. So we go to Thruxton next week hoping for better weather and results.

Photos by Paul Korkus - Photos by Roger Barker - Photos by Craig Sage (www.ckphotos.piczo.com)

British 125GP results - Virgin M Cup results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results

Thruxton - 14, 16 and 17 April 2006 - Round 3

Easter at Thruxton and what a good weekend we all had with sun most of the time and some decent results and points at last.

We arrived late Thursday afternoon and washed off all the grime that we had collected at Donington the previous weekend, we had to powerwash the awning clean and then set it all up unfortunately getting there late again we were relegated to the grass.

About eight o'clock Thursday night Kevin arrived with the Ipone Kawasaki Superbike of Sean Emmett which needed an engine change and having no electricity in their pit garage asked if they could change it in our awning. No problem. About five hours and several cans later and the bike was ready again, unfortunately all this work was in vain as Sean had to retire from both Superbike races with technical problems.

Luke had a disappointing Free Practise on Friday managing just 22nd fastest.

Victor and Phil had two Free Practise sessions on Friday and although both had quicker lap times in their second practise session they both slipped backwards Vic went from 20th fastest to 35th and Phil went from 12th to 24th fastest, so lots to do for Sundays two qualifiers.

Saturday was a day off and off and Vic went home to chill and prepare for Sunday's qualifiers. Both he and Phil needed to improve their lap times by nearly two seconds.

Sunday and it was Matt's first free practise session and qualifieri. He finished first in both and put himself on pole for Sunday's Virgin Mobile R6 cup race.

Luke had two qualifiers and finished 12th in both to give him 12th on the grid and on row three.

Vic qualified 25th and 29th giving him a disappointing 30th on the grid and on row 8. Lots of traffic to get through to get in the points.

Phil qualified well in his session with a creditable 9th but was only 19th in the second qualifier putting him 14th on the grid and back on row 4.

So still a lot of work for Victor and Phil to do in Sunday's race.

Race day and Matt starting 3rd on the grid behind Tom Grant and James Rose. Tom Grant took the lead with James Rose just behind for the first lap, then Matt overtook James to take second place where he pressured Tom and took the lead on lap 5. Tom retook the lead on lap 12 with Matt repassing him and into the lead on lap 13. It was anyone's race with Tom just sneaking past Matt on the last lap to leave Matt with a very well fought second place, fastest lap and 21 points clear.

Luke on the Honda GP125 made a good start from 12th place and was soon cutting his way through the field. He got up to 3rd place with some cracking overtaking manoeuvres but had to settle for 4th place and in the points after two disappointing races.

Victor started his race from the 8th row on the grid and had been very unhappy with his qualifying, he was told to just go out and enjoy the race which he did. He got off to a good start and after the first lap was up into 22nd he pushed hard all race and finished 17th and just out of the points but a great ride.

The last race of the day again was the National Superstock cup and Phil was keen to get a good result. He made a good start and got into 9th place on the first lap, by lap two he had move ahead to 7th and stayed in there until lap 13 when he moved up another place to take 6th, only to lose 2 places on the next lap and finish in 8th place. First points of the season and a great ride from Phil.

So all in all a very good weekend for us and now we go on to Oulton with a bit more confidence and looking to get some more points.

Photos by Paul Korkus - Photos by Roger Barker

British 125GP results - Virgin M Cup results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results

Oulton Park - 29 and 30 April, 1 May 2006 - Round 4

A bank holiday weekend - what would the weather have to offer? Well actually it was not too bad: Saturday bright sunshine, Sunday cold and wet, Monday wet and dry! That'll be summer then.

Saturday was free practise day and saw Luke #82 on the Honda 125cc with a few electrical problems. The 125s have two practise sessions and Luke was 17th in the first and 21st in the second with lots to do for Sunday's Qualifier. Victor #28 and our guest rider Aussie David Johnston #89 went out and finished the free practise session 10th and 11th, a really good effort as DJ had not ridden the bike before. Phil #13 was 8th fastest in the free practise. So all looked pretty good for qualifying on Sunday.

Sunday came all too soon and was cloudy but mainly dry. Luke #82 had his first qualifier and finished 12th so going in the right direction.

Victor #28 and DJ #89 had both their qualifying races on Sunday and everything was going to plan in the first qualifier until Victor fell off on his 10th lap for no apparent reason leaving him in 19th and DJ in 14th. In the second qualifier, Vic was unsettled from being unable to understand his earlier fall which obviously had a negative effect on his riding and he only managed to finish 27th. DJ came a very solid 8th, and this left them with combined positions of Vic 28th and DJ 7th for the race on Monday. So once again leaving Vic with it all to do on race day.

Phil #13 had his first qualifier on Sunday and finished 8th fastest with a good solid ride.

Mat Whitman #51 had his first free practise on Sunday and finished a disappointing 8th. But after a meeting with Rob Mac who runs the R6 Cup, Mat came back later in the day to qualify a storming 2nd, unfortunately falling off in the process and bruising himself quite badly. This put some doubt as to whether or not he would be able to ride on the Monday.

This however was not all the excitement we were to have on Sunday evening. After every qualifying session the bikes go into "parc ferme" where they are held for about 30 minutes to give all the teams a chance to challenge any possible irregularities. After Vic's race his bike was collected from "parc ferme" but it would not start, the diagnostic warning on the dashboard stated that the bike was too hot to be started. The bike was pushed back to the garage and everything was checked over. All the fuses were in place and the engine was by now cool, but the bike just kept indicating that it was too hot to be started.

Kevin and Robbie went through all the usual checks and came to the conclusion that the ECU had broken down after Vic's previous crash. The answer was obviously to replace the ECU but this is not quite so simple as you also need to replace the ignition switch so that the ECU recognises the key used. Sunday night was spent calling on all teams that were running 04 R1 bikes, but to no avail. Many phone calls later and still no joy. We looked at all the possibilities but were getting nowhere so eventually at 10.30 we gave up and did what had to be done, and then went to the bar for a pint.

Monday (race day) came and and a rider, John Ingram, was found in the paddock with a spare bike that had a overheating problem and could not be used. He offered it to us to do with what we wanted - what a top bloke!! Robbie duly stripped the ECU off the donor bike and fitted it to Vic's, a turn of the key and yes the same problem was displayed on the dashboard. Next step was to remove the dashboard from the donor and try that. Same response. Now try Vic's ECU on the donor bike. No problem. B####cks, what do we do now? Kevin called on Neill Sean Emmett's sparky, who was luckily at Oulton, and he went all through the bike's electrics but to no avail. With just an hour to go before Victor's race Neill decided to test all the fuses and yes one of the 10p fuses had broken down! This was duly replaced and it was game on for Vic.

Luke #82 was the first rider out but got to the start line with a bike that didn't want to play, so unfortunately he had to retire from the start line. We were all gutted that he could not compete after showing how good he could be at Thruxton.

Matt #51 however was not going to disappoint us, and with a fantastic start in the R6 cup lead from the first lap. He was never seriously challenged, and despite his heavy bruising finished 1st again putting him 26 points clear in the championship.

Next was Vic and DJ's race. Vic got a very good start and made his way steadily into 14th place and at last into the points. DJ had a great start and after the first lap was in 6th place where he was was soon challenging for 5th only to be taken out on lap 4.

Phil #13 as usual had the last race of the day and had a great start from 8th getting up to 5th on lap 7 before having to retire with engine problems.

So again a mixed bag of results but all in all a good weekend with Vic scoring his first points of the season. So now it's off to Ireland for Vic and Luke. Watch this space.

Update 11 May 06

After investigation of Phil's engine and why it stopped at Oulton, it has been found that one of the conrods gave up and basically destroyed the engine from the inside. It's lucky that Phil doesn't race at Mondello as we would only have the spare standard engine to put in his bike. The only good news is that we now have a spare gearbox!

British 125GP results - Virgin M Cup results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results

Mondello Park - 19, 20 and 21 May 2006 - Round 5

Well as you are probably all aware, the British Superbike Race at Mondello Park was cancelled due to severe weather. We were all disappointed but do believe that it was the right decision for the safety of all the riders.

The Superstock Cup and the R6 Cup don't participate at the Mondello track, so it was only Victor in the Superstock Championship and Luke Jones in the GP 125s who attended. They caught the early morning ferry from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire on Thursday and had a very rough crossing. Most of the team suffered seasickness, so it was not the ideal start to a race weekend.

Friday saw both Victor and Luke in free practise sessions and as they had not raced there before, saw them getting to know the track and slowly upping the pace.

Saturday was qualifying day and it was mostly dry. Luke qualified 9th overall and on the 3rd row of the grid for Sunday's Race, and Victor qualified in 26th position.

Late on Saturday night the heavens opened and it didn't stop raining. Sunday's warm up sessions were postponed for an hour while sweeping machines tried to move the standing water off the track. Eventually Victor went out and managed a brave 12th fastest, albeit getting absolutely soaked in the process. His report was that it was very dangerous and that there was only one rideable line around the whole circuit. The next warm up session was to be Luke's, but this was postponed while diggers tried to remove the water via trenches away from the track but this didn't work: there was standing water on the track up to 6 inches deep. Eventually we were told that the 125 race would have to be cancelled, and later that the Superstock race was also to be cancelled. Eventually it was announced that the whole day's racing would not take place.

As you can imagine we were all disappointed, but we do believe that it was the right decision.

The highlight of the weekend was our BBQ on Saturday evening (sorry about all the smoke) where we used our upturned paddock trolley as an impromptu BBQ stand, nearly melting the plastic wheels in the process. We had an enjoyable evening and a great laugh. The low point for all of us was missing the race-day cake owing to Victor's mother being unable to make it (to Mondello Park, that is).

Thanks to Stew, Nico and Alex for taking the time off work to attend and for eating all the food and drinking all the beer, and to Ariel the mermaid whom Victor saw in the Irish Sea!

Nat SS Cup results - Nat SS Champ results

Mallory Park - 2, 3 and 4 June 2006 - Round 6

Well at least the sun shone for the whole weekend, which makes a change, and does make the events much more enjoyable for all concerned.

It was the first chance to try out the new chicane at Mallory that was instigated after the carnage of last years race, when no fewer than 90 riders took to the gravel and nearly all the races were red flagged. The new chicane certainly worked with only a few spills. Unfortunately two of those were Luke Jones #82 who, aboard his Honda GP125 bike, fell heavilly on the first lap of his first race, damaging his shoulder quite badly. He had another race later in the day and decided to ride, albeit in a lot of pain.

In the first race Luke got off to a great start and went straight to 6th place on the first lap. But by lap 5 he had dropped back to 10th place, although still improving his lap times until on lap 11 he got the new lap record of 1:00.371. Alas, he was knocked off at the hairpin and unable to remount. So a bitterly dissapointing meeting for Luke.

Matt Whitman #51 had a poor weekend by his standards, finishing a lowly 6th place in the R6 Virgin Mobile Cup (he's got used to being 1st or 2nd). It turns out that he was suffering from clutch slip for most of the weekend without realising what the problem was until it was too late. So for his next R6 race at Snetterton he will have a new clutch and will hopefully be back at the front. Matt still leads the R6 Championship by 11 points from Tom Grant #70 who won the Mallory race.

None of the Superstock Races were held at Mallory Park, and with the cancellation of Mondello Park, Vic's Superstock Championship Double Header has been moved to run at the MOTO GP event at Donnington Park on July 1st and 2nd, with a race on each day.

However the team will all be out at the next Round at Snetterton on June 18th so see you there hope -- the sun's still shining!

British 125GP results - Virgin M Cup results

Snetterton - 16, 17 and 18 June 2006 - Round 7

Well after such a succesful weekend at Castle Combe, almost a local event, it was off to the British Superbike Round 5 at Snetterton, near Norwich, which for most of us is over a four hour drive. Unfortunately we had to go without the race truck as it sustained a front tyre blow out returning from Castle Coombe and needs a bit of repair.

Everyone arrived at the circuit on Thursday evening and using Phil's Race Truck as our base, we set up camp.

Phil's bike came to the circuit with a standard engine in it, as although Kevin had prepared one to go in, following the demise of his engine at Oulton, he had not had the time to fit it. It was decided to get Phil out on the bike as it was for warm up, and see how the standard engine would perform.

Friday and the day started as it was to continue, with bright sunshine and high temperatures. Luke Jones #82 in the British 125GP was out first for the first of his two free practise sessions, finishing 13th and 11th fastest respectively. So there was lots of work to be done on Luke's bike to get good results in Saturday's two qualifying sessions, with gearing and jetting both being changed.

Saturday's qualifying saw Luke finish with a combined position of 13th overall but with a grid position of 12th due to #79 receiving a pit speeding penalty - this was good news for Luke as it put him on the third row.

On Sunday the sun was still shining and Luke got off to a great start and was in 7th place after the first lap. The next nine laps saw him swapping between 6th and 7th places but finally finishing 6th and grabbing another 10 championship points.

Vic #28 had one free practise and his first qualifier on Friday so there was not much time to get the bike set up. However the last time that Vic had ridden at Snetterton was at the British Superbike Practise weekend where he had finished 7th fastest, and after winning at Casle Coombe last weekend he was confident of a good place.

In free practise, Vic finished 21st which was a bit dissapointing but only 1.4 seconds off pole. The speed traps showed that the bike was well down on power possibly due to the high temperatures.

First Qualifiying left Vic 25th fastest but still only 1.4 seconds off pole. A bit of tweaking saw the speed trap times improve slightly, but not enough really.

On Saturday Vic had his final qualifying session in the afternoon and he improved on his time and got into the 1:09's, but everybody else had improved as well. Vic was left with a combined qualifying place of 23rd and on the 6th row of the grid, but amazingly only 1.2 seconds off Pole.

Sunday and Vic's race was the first of the afternoon. Vic, as usual, got away to a good start and began to move up through the field. By lap 10 he was in a solid 16th place, however on the last lap Craig Fitzpatrick #75 made a mistake a few places ahead, allowing Vic to move ahead a place and get a 15th place and the last of the championship points.

Phil's free practice on Friday, with the standard engine, saw Phil finish 22nd fastest, some 2.5 seconds off the pace, which wasn't too bad considering. But Phil had to work the standard engine so hard that he was having problems with it overheating, and as the engine got hotter so it lost more power. So Kevin decided to swap the engines over on Friday night, ready for Phil's first qualifier early on Saturday morning.

Saturday came and the frst qualifier on the new engine was just as dissapointing, with phil struggling to compete and going backwards to 33rd fastest, some 2.7 seconds off pole. With qualifier 2 only a few hours later there was now no time for any radical improvements, so it was decided to dial Phil's settings into Vic's bike and see what happened.

It was a good move with Phil moving up to 21st fastest and just 1.9 seconds off pole. This left Phil with a combined grid position of 24th and on the 6th row of the grid for Sunday's race.

Raceday and it was decided to put Phil's suspension on Vic's bike to give Phil the best chance. This was probably the wrong move as Vic's bike is very differently set up to Phil's and riders do get an affinity to a bike. Phil made a good start but was struggling with the bike from lap 1. He managed a great finish of 19th but was completely uncomfortable with the whole weekend.

Matt Whitman #51 had his first free practise on Saturday and finished 7th fastest. This wouldn't normally be too disappointing except for the fact that only 2 weeks earlier he had been around the track at least 1 second faster on his own road bike. Matt asked for the bike to be checked and it was found to be only working to 98% capacity. This problem was apparently sorted and Matt went out for his qualifier.

Matt finished qualifying in 9th place but only 0.397 seconds off pole. With lots of points to go for and needing to retain the Championship lead the race was on.

Matt made a good start into 5th place and rode on the edge to finish in a sound 4th place. This means he still leads the championship with 8 points over Tom Grant #70.

Well, not the best weekend for Phil - let's hope that Kevin can get the engine problems sorted for his next race.

Vic and Matt go to Donington, both in support races for the Moto GP on 1st and 2nd of July, they both have races Saturday and Sunday. Vic's are as a Result of the double header at Mondello Park being cancelled.

British 125GP results - Virgin M Cup results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results

Donington - 30 June, 1 and 2 July 2006 - MotoGP

Donington MotoGp Report
National Superstock Round 6 (for Mondello)
Virgin Mobile MotoGP support race (Non-Championship)

Well another scorching weekend with some great results and a few spills.

Victor and DJ were here for the 6th Round of the National Superstock Championship which was resheduled because of the Mondello races being cancelled, and Matt was here riding two non-championship MotoGP support races for the Virgin Mobile R6 Cup. There was the prize of a brand new Yamaha R6 up for grabs for the overall winner decided on points gained from both of the races.

It was a great stage for the team, with most of the members present, and we were all confident of some good results in front of a 60,000 plus crowd.

The Race Lorry arrived at Donington Thursday lunchtime, but already the paddock assigned to the Superstock teams was getting full. In the end we had to set up on gravel and put all our living vehicles in the public campimg area.

Friday was qualifing day with the National Superstock having two qualifying sessions and the Virgin R6 having one. The first qualifier saw Vic in 12th place and DJ in 19th. But DJ was not happy at all with his performance and opted to change gearing for the second qualifier, which saw him improve on his time but not on position. Vic was unable to better his first qualifying time leaving Vic 20th and DJ 22nd on the grid. Both bikes were running very hot and consequently down on power.

Matt's Virgin R6 qualifier saw him 4th fastest and on the front row of the grid for Saturdays Race.

On Saturday the sun was still shining with temperatures heading towards 30 degrees. In the first National Superstock race, Vic and DJ both got off to good starts with DJ getting ahead of Vic and into 17th on the 1st lap and Vic 2 places behind. Unfortunately at the end of the first lap DJ lost the bike at Goddards and was unable to rejoin. Vic, however, was moving up the field and by lap 4 was in 12th place and he finished the race in 10th. However he was awarded 9th place as Adrian Coates got disqualified for technical irregularities, giving Vic 7 championship points.

Matt's first race was on Saturday and he got off to a good start, leading on the first lap only to be overtaken by Tom Grant on the second. The next ten laps saw the lead change five times with Matt just losing out and coming home in 2nd place.

Saturday evening was spent sorting out the damage to DJ's bike which had suffered a bent front fork yoke and broken brake footpeg, and the usual fairing damage, leaving Kevin, Nico and Alex loads to do. Remarkably the bike was back together and ready to ride on Sunday and DJ was determined to have a good race.

On Sunday the sun was still shining with temperatures again in the 30's. The National Superstock was our first race of the day. Vic and DJ both started well with DJ in 14th and Vic in 17th after the first lap. Vic continued to fight his way through the field and by lap 4 was in 12th place. Unfortunaltely DJ had to retire on lap 3 with gearbox problems, which were later found to have been a result of his crash in Saturday's race. On lap 6 Vic took another place from Luke Quigley and then on lap 9 he moved into 10th just behind Steve Brogan #17.

It was a fantastic ride for Vic, picking up 13 championship points over the 2 races. But a terribly dissapointing weekend for DJ who had no lucky breaks at all.

The last race of the day was the Virgin Mobile R6 Race. Matt again started from the front row and took the lead on lap 1 only to lose it next lap to James Rose #28. Matt followed James for 5 laps before again re-taking the lead on lap 7. A daring move saw James Rose #28 and Midge Smart #53 push their way past Matt on the penultimate lap but Matt was not to be outdone, overtaking them both on the last bend of the last lap to take the chequered flag!

An absolutely brilliant ride from Matt left him the winner overall on agrregate of the two races and the proud recipient of a brand new Yamaha R6, presented to him by Virgin Mobile R6 Cup principal Rob McElnea.

Non Champ results - Nat SS Champ results

Knockhill - 14, 15 and 16 July 2006 - Round 8

Unfortunately, due to damage sustained at the Donington MotoGP support race, we were unable to get any of the superstock bikes ready for Knockhill. This was very disappointing, especially as Vic had such a good round at Donington and it was to be a double header for Phil in the Superstock Cup. Hopefully the bikes will be up and running for the Oulton Round next weekend.

So it was left to Luke and Matt to fly the flag for STP.

Round 8 British 125GP

Luke #82 in the 125GP had two free practise sessions on Friday afternoon and unusually for Knockhill the sun was shining and the track was dry. Luke made the most of it and finished 3rd fastest in first free practise and 2nd in the second and looked good for Saturday's two qualifying sessions.

Luke's first qualifier on Saturday saw him improve on Friday's time but put him in 6th place, and he couldn't improve on this time in the second qualifier. This left Luke 7th fastest and on the second row of the grid for Sunday's race.

Sunday came and the sun was still shining. With a few adjustments to Luke's setup he was confident of getting a good result. He made a great start and was in 4th place after the first lap. By lap 5 he was up into 3rd and looking good. Luke held 3rd place until lap 12 when he was overtaken by young Robbie Stewart #17, leaving Luke to finish in 4th place and pick up 13 championship points. He is now in 12th in the Championship out of 34 riders.

Round 7 Virgin Mobile Cup

Matt #51 went to Knockhill leading the Virgin Mobile R6 Cup by just 8 points from Tom Grant #70, and after beating him at Donington was confident he could hold onto and extend the lead.

Saturday's free practise session saw Matt 6th fastest and just faster than Tom, with local rider David Paton #65 at the front.

The qualifying was to be worse for Matt, he only managed 14 laps becase of technical problems. He finished 9th fastest with Tom 4th and David taking pole position, leaving Matt to start from the 3rd row on the grid and lots to do.

Sunday was race day, and Matt was encouragingly 2nd in the morning's warm up, half a second faster than Tom Grant!

David Paton got a good start as did Tom with the two of them in 1st and 2nd places for the entire race. Matt got boxed in at the start and struggled to make up places even though his lap times were consistently as fast or faster than the two at the front, just proving how important qualifying is. By lap 3 Matt was up into 6th place, moving into 5th on lap 10 just behind Midge Smart #53, and he finished in that position.

It was a very solid ride by Matt, but unfortunately not enough to stop Tom Grant from taking the Championship lead by 1 point.

So off to Oulton Park next weekend and hopefully with our Superstock bikes back in working order.

Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results - Virgin M Cup results - British 125GP results

Oulton Park - 21, 22 and 23 July 2006 - Round 9

Sorry, there is no report for this meeting.

British 125GP results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results - Virgin M Cup results

Croft - 11, 12 and 13 August 2006 - Round 10

Victor Cox #28 Superstock Championship
Matt Whitman #51 Virgin Mobile R6 Cup
Luke Jones #82 GP125

Not the easiest of weekends for the team as Croft clashes with NG Roadracing's Darley Moor meeting. It was decided that Kevin, working out of his van, would go to Darley with Justin as he was leading both the Open and the Powerbike Championships at the moment. We press-ganged Steve King into looking after the team at Croft, taking the race truck up with them. Unfortunately Phil could not make the Croft Round due to work commitments.

Luke's weekend didn't start too well with him missing Friday's first free practise because of engine problems. The second free practise placed him 13th fastest and some 2 seconds off Sam Lowe's pace.

Friday afternoon was Luke's first Qualifying session, and although he improved his time slightly he was still over 2 second off Sam, putting him 12th fastest overall.

A few adjustments were made overnight ready for Saturday afternoon's second qualifying session. Luke really needed to be on the third row of the grid to stand a chance, and this meant finishing no lower than 12th in combined qualifying. He improved his time by over half a second in the second qualifyer putting him 8th but with a combined position of 9th and third row on the grid, it was not too disappointing.

Luke made a good start in Sunday's race and was in fifth place by the end of the first lap, a position that he held until Ashley Beech made a mistake on lap 14, handing Luke another fourth place and 13 championship points. This now puts Luke in ninth place in the Championship.

Matt went to Croft just six points behind Tom Grant and was determined to finish in front of him and hopefully regain the Championship.

In Saturday's free practise session, Matt was struggling with a bike that appeared to have less speed than Tom's on the straights, but it was Graeme Gowland who was quickest in the session leaving Matt nearly two seconds off his pace.

The afternoon qualifying saw Matt get closer to pole sitter Graeme Gowland, now only 0.769 seconds behind, but leaving him in fifth with Tom Grant second. Not the way he would have liked it.

Race day was cloudy and damp but Matt was determined to make a good start which he did, getting straight into second place, and with Tom back in fifth things were coming together. By lap five Tom had moved into third place behind Matt but Matt was able to keep him at bay, and this result would have left Matt just 3 points adrift in the championship. However luck was not on Matt's side as a mistake in the chicane on the penultimate lap left a gap for Tom and James webb to get through. This left Matt finishing a very disappointing fourth and now 13 points off the lead. So it's still all to play for as we go to Cadwell Park in a few weeks time.

After having to retire at the Oulton round with engine problems, Vic was very keen to get back in the points and hopefully another top ten finish. Vic had not raced at Croft on a 1000cc bike before, and the first practice session on Friday was very much a learning day, and the result was not too bad either with 19th fastest.

First qualifying was later on in the afternoon, and after a few suspension adjustments Vic knocked nearly a second off his previous time but left him in 20th overall.

The second qualifier on Saturday saw Vic again knock a second off his time but unfortunately his fastest lap was cut short when he had to take to the grass to avoid a slower rider and put the bike head first into the tyre wall. Luckily Vic was left annoyed but unhurt, however, the bike came back from parc ferme not looking too good. After Steve had removed what was left of the fairings, it was discovered that the damage was not too bad, with only a rearset and handlebar to replace and some adjustments to the forks that were twisted in the yokes. With the fairings replaced the bike was ready for another day.

Vic had qualified 18th in the second session leaving him with a combined placing of 19th.

Late on Saturday there was a quick 10 minute free practice and Vic went out on the spare bike just to get back into it. Again he finished 18th overall, so obviously the off had not dented his confdence too much.

For the race it was decided to put Vic out on his own bike. This was a bit of a gamble as we had no way of knowing if the frame had been bent in the previous day's accident, and as there was no practice on race day there simply wasn't any time to change bikes if it was.

Sunday was very tense as Vic's race was the last of the day and it was obviously playing on our minds whether the bike would be ok or not, and it did make us wonder what was going on in Vic's head (if anything!).

As the lights went out on the start we were all keeping our fingers crossed. As it happened Vic made a poor start, dropping back to 27th by the end of the first lap. He did however start picking a few places up and by lap 10 was in 22nd, but not looking comfortable at all on the bike. We were expecting him to pull in at any time but he stuck it out and finished 20th, a long way off the points but at least he had brought the bike home in one piece.

British 125GP results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results - Virgin M Cup results

Cadwell Park - 26, 27 and 28 August 2006 - Round 11

Victor Cox #28 National Superstock Championship Round 11
Matt Whitman #51 Virgin Mobile Cup Round 10
Luke Jones #82 British GP 125 Championship Round 11

Again, unfortunately, Phil Bevan #13 could not attend Cadwell as work commitments didn't allow. This was a great shame as the Superstock Cup had two races and it would have been a good chance for Phil to take some championship points.

We should have arrived at the circuit on Friday night, but usual last minute hiccups meant that we left Hereford at 4am Saturday morning and arrived at the circuit at 9am. Suprisingly we were allocated a good spot not too far away from the top holding area, and set up camp.

Luke, who had arrived on Friday night, was out on two free practise sessions on Saturday, with one qualifier later in the day. He finished 5th in both free practise sessions but dropped a couple of places to finish 7th quickest in the first qualifier. His second qualifier was on Sunday and he remained 7th overall and on the second row of the grid for Monday's race. Luke was confident that with a good start he could be right on the pace.

As it happened Luke made a great start and was in second place after the first lap just behind Brian Clarke #8. He passed Brian on lap 2 to take the lead and he lead convincingly to the end, at one point with over 5 seconds lead.

Unfortunately it was not to be the same story for Matt and Vic, who both crashing out of their races.

Vic qualified well in 17th position and on Monday's warm up session was 7th quickest and really up for it. We all felt good about the race and with some last minute advice from Steve King, Vic was fired up for a top ten finish.

Vic made a fantastic start and after the first corner was up in 11th place and right on the heels of Aaron Zanotti and James Rose. Coming around Charlies for the second time Vic was unsited and just clipped the edge of the track and went skating across the circuit. It was very disappointing to get such a good start and not get the result but we are sure that Vic is up for it now and will get a good result at Silverstone.

Matt had the same fate as Vic, crashing out of his race on lap 5. He had qualified well in 4th place which put him on the front row of the grid, and with the points situation as it was the only thing to do was to win it or bin it. Matt made a great start straight to the front, only to be overtaken by eventual race winner Graeme Gowland on lap two. Matt pushed as hard as he could to retake the lead but lost the front end on lap 4 and down he went. This was a crushingly dissapointing result for Matt: with only two races left and a maximum of 50 points up for grabs it looks unlikely that he can now win the Championship.

But you can be sure the last two races are going to be worth watching.

British 125GP results - Virgin M Cup results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results

Silverstone - 15, 16 and 17 September 2006 - Round 12

Amazingly here we are already at Silverstone, the penultimate race of the British Superbike Calender. This season has gone so fast and had so many highs and lows.

We arrived as usual late on Thursday night, and having missed the eight o'clock deadline we had to spend the night in the car park outside the circuit. It was great to see Phil Bevan's race transporter there, as he had to miss the two previous rounds due to work commitments. We eventually got into the paddocks at 7.30 on Friday morning and set up camp. It must be said that Stewy did a fantastic job setting out the garage which certainly looked the best it had all season.

Luke was the first rider out on Friday morning with his first free practise. We were all expecting good results after his win at Cadwell, and we were disappointed when he returned home 10th fastest, some 2.8 seconds off James Westmorland's pace. However, the afternoon's free practise saw Luke 3rd fastest, just over a second off the fastest time.

Friday afternoon was Luke's first Qualifying race and he finished a very creditable 5th fastest and just 3/4 second off Daniel Cooper on the KRP bike. Luke could not improve on his 5th place in the second Qualifier on Saturday and his combined qualifying left him 6th overall and second row on the grid. Pole was taken by James Westmoreland #3 on another KRP bike.

Sunday's warm up session saw Luke 2nd fastest and obviously well on the pace. He made a good start in the race and was 4th after the first lap. He slipped back to 6th on the 6th lap but kept his nerve and finished the race back in 4th, putting him 7th in the championship.

Vic was our next rider out on Friday and he finished his first free practise session 15th, just behind Aaron Zanotti and Adam Jenkinson. The first qualifier saw him slip back to 18th fastest but just 1.4 seconds behind fastest man Brendan Roberts. Vic was determined to show his Cadwell form and in the second qualifier on Saturday he didn't dissapoint with a 13th place overall putting him on the fourth row of the grid for Sunday's race.

The Race saw Vic make a disappointing start, getting boxed in at the first corner leaving him in 16th place after the first lap. He pushed hard and moved back into 13th and finished 12th with 4 more championship points.

Phil was our last rider out on Friday, and after over a month's layoff was always going to be struggling to get a good setup. His last race was at Pembrey a couple of weeks ago, at an NG Roadracing event, and then the bike was set up for slicks. In the first free practise session on Friday Phil was down 23rd fastest and over 3 seconds off Kenny Gilbertson.

Phil's first qualifier saw him improve his lap time to finish 24th fastest but still over 3 seconds off the pace. The problem seemed to be the front forks which had not had a service for some time and Phil could not get any feel from them.

We had the forks looked at by K-Tech, and they found a few problems which they sorted. Unfortunately this caused its own problems with Phil going out on his second qualifier on a suspension setup that he had never ridden on before. He finished a very disappointing 24th on the grid, back on row 6.

In Sunday's warm up Phil looked ok coming home 15th fastest which was a good improvement on Saturday. Standing on the grid at the start of Phil's race was very daunting with six rows of bikes in front of us. But phil made a good start and finished the race in 17th just missing some championship points.

Matt's race always starts a day after the rest, with free practise and qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.

Matt did well in the warm up and finished 4th fastest overall, two places in front of his rival for the title, Tom Grant, and just 1/2 second off fastest man Graeme Gowland. Saturday's qualifying saw Matt finish 5th fastest and unfortunately behind Tom Grant who was 2nd quickest.

In the race Matt got knocked off his bike on the first lap while in 4th place. He managed to remount but could only expect to complete the race and he finished in 10th place. This means that his chance to win the championship is over and now he must fight to retain second place.

So it's off to Brands Hatch in two weeks time for the final race in this years calender. Hopefully we'll see you all there.

British 125GP results - Virgin M Cup results - Nat SS Cup results - Nat SS Champ results

Brands Hatch - 29 and 30 September, 1 October 2006 - Round 13

Well it was off to Brands Hatch for the final round of a very interesting season. Dave Johnson #6 joined us again, but for this last race of the season we managed to get a ride for him in the main superbike race aboard the Ray Stringer prepared Kawasaki that Sean Emmett had started the season on. It was always going to be an interesting weekend for us!

The race lorry arrived as usual on Thursday afternoon and the garage was sorted out for the busy weekend ahead. Again it was a credit to the crew who made the most of the limited space.

Friday started bright and dry and Dave Johnson #6 was the first of our riders out. He was entered in the suberbike privateer cup which, as the name implies, is a series within the main superbike race for non-factory assisted riders. He had only ridden the Kawasaki once before but despite this he finished the first practise session the fastest of the privateer riders and 16th overall. His second free practse session in the afternoon was cloudy and wet but he still managed 21st overall and was still the fastest privateer rider home. Friday evening was spent making minor adjustments but everybody was pleased with the way it was going.

On Saturday DJ's final free practise session in the dry put him back up to 17th fastest overall ahead of 6 factory riders but 2nd to Chris Martin in the privateer cup.

In Saturday afternoon's qualifying race, DJ was back fastest of all the Privateer riders and 17th overall just under 2 seconds off Leon Haslam on pole. All the telemetry showed that DJ really was riding the bike well and with a good start we should be looking to get on the podium.

The warm up session on Sunday was damp but bright with DJ finishing 18th fastest overall just and behind Howie Mainwaring in the privateers.

The first race of the afternoon saw DJ get boxed in and after the first lap he was down into 22nd place. However, he pushed hard and by lap 5 was back up into 16th, finally finishing 15th overall and 3rd of the privateers home, when the race got stopped on lap 13.

The second race was wet, but DJ got off to a good start and pushed hard all race again finishing in 15th place overall and 2nd of the privateers home just behind the cup winner Chris Martin.

A fantastic achievment for DJ and the team.

The next free practise session was the Superstock Championship with Victor Cox #28. This started directly after the superbikes and meant a lot of organisation as our lorry was parked about 5 minutes away from the pits. But the crew did a great job and got Vic out right on cue, with Vic finishing a fantastic 11th fastest. However his first qualifier later in the day saw him a disappointing 20th overall and some 3 seconds off the pace.

Friday evening was spent trying to sort out the problems Vic was having with the bike, and by Saturday's 2nd qualifier we were all confident that Vic could get his times down significantly. Vic proved us all right with a storming ride finishing 15th overall and just over 1 second of Pole sitter Hudson Kennaugh. We were all sure that with a good start Vic was going to finish in the top ten.

On Sunday Vic was fired up for the race, he has always done well at Brands so it was even more devastating for him when a mix-up at the garage meant him not getting on the grid in time and having to start from the back of the grid some 39 places behind pole sitter Kennaugh.

Vic made a fantastic start and by the end of the first lap had moved up 10 places. He continued to ride the wheels off the bike and when the race got stopped on lap 10 was in a remarkable 16th place. We all believe that if the race had continued for the remaining 6 laps he would have been just outside the top ten. Although dissapointing, this was probably one of Vic's best rides of the season, second only to his fantastic Castle Coombe win.

The next rider to go out on Friday's free practise session was Luke Jones #82 on the Honda GP 125 bike. Luke had two free practise sessions on the Friday and finished both 4th fastest and less than 1 second off the fastest rider.

In Saturdays first qualifier Luke managed to knock nearly 2 seconds off his practise times but got pushed back to 7th fastest. The second qualifying saw Luke only complete 2 laps due to technical problems, dropping him back to 15th giving a combined qualifying position of 9th and on the third row of the grid behind pole sitter James Westmoreland #3.

Sunday and Luke needed to get a good start, which he did, and by lap two he was leadind the race by over 5 seconds. Sadly a misread pit board ended his race early, as he thought he was just half a second in the lead and pushed too hard, dropping the bike and unable to restart.

The last rider out on Friday's free practise was Phil Bevan #13 in the Superstock Cup. This was always going to be a difficult weekend for Phil as we had been unable to solve some handling problems with the bike, but after the free practise things were looking ok with Phil finishing 17th fastest. A few adjustments were made for the first of the qualifyers but unfortunately these made the bike even harder to ride and left Phil 21st fastest and some 6 seconds off Martin Buckles time.

On Friday night it was decided to make some extreme changes to Phil's set up -- and it would probably be either s***t or bust.

The final qualifier was on Saturday and the changes worked, with Phil some 6 seconds faster than Friday and 18th fastest overall behind Pole sitter Bob Collins #99. It was decided to leave Phil's bike on those settings for the race.

Just before Phil's race on Sunday there was a real threat of rain with grey clouds everywhere. After looking at some of the competition it was decided to gamble and go out on wets. It was the wrong call with the rain holding off, leading to Phil having to retire on lap 8 with overheating tyres.

Matt Whitman #51 in the Virgin Mobile Cup had his first free practise early on Saturday afternoon. Having already conceeded the title to Tom Grant #70, he was determined to hold onto his second place from James Webb #17 so it was going to be a no holds barred demonstration from Matt. He finished the free practise 2nd fastest and under half a second off Tom Grant's time.

The qualifying was just as hot with Matt finishing 3rd fastest but just 0.292 seconds off pole sitter and the rider he had to beat James Webb. This really was nail biting stuff, but in the past Matt had been able to make it happen when it counted.

Matt made a fantastic start in the race, taking the lead until a coming together on lap 5 saw him slip back to 3rd place. Riding very maturely and doing just enough he finally finished in 6th but importantly ahead of James Webb. He held onto his 2nd place and got fastest lap of the race. We'll be seeing a lot more of Matt that's for sure.

Virgin M Cup results - SB Champ & Cup results - Nat SS Champ results - Nat SS Cup results - British 125GP results