NG Road Racing... 2016 Season Review.
This is how the 2016 NG Road Racing season panned out…….
Words
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Images
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Web Info :
Russ Gardner - NG Road Racing Media Officer
EDP Photo News - www.edpphoto.co.uk
www.ngroadracing.org
www.ngroadracing.org
From Brands to Thruxton with seven stops along the way…..2016.
As has been the way for the last few seasons NG
Road Racing kicked the year off at Brands Hatch.
This has been open to a lot of debate amongst
riders due to the Brands Indy circuit lacking in grip
with cold temperatures, but despite just 5 degrees
showing on the mercury Sam Thompson still set a
48-second lap on his 675. Jon Wright was
unbeaten all weekend on his CBR600 and Nev
Jones’ early season passenger even proposed to
his girlfriend on the sidecars warm up lap!!!…. She
Josh Day, Billy Mellor and Ben Godfrey head the pack into Redgate.
said yes. Brands was followed by Cadwell Park
where Dave Jackson set the damp track alight on
his BMW. Cadwell played host to the Lansdowne series too, with Michael Russell bagging two wins from three starts.
Donington was next on the 2016 tour and local man Ben Godfrey was showing why he would be a threat in BSB
Superstock setting a new NG lap record at 101.5mph. From Donington came Oulton and some very mixed weather
ranging from bright sunshine to race stopping thunderstorms, many struggled to find grip, but Paul Williams emerged as
the weekends rain-master on his SV650.
Castle Combe, in July this year has become a festival of racing with a host of on and off track attractions. Dan Cooper
was again crowned the King of Combe as the crowd saw demo laps of old GP exotica…. JPS Nortons… ex Hailwood
Honda’s…and some real hooning around from Jenny Tinmouth. Anglesey followed Combe, where a number of the
championship front runners including 250GP defending champ Philip Atkinson suffered bad luck…. Although some could
say it opened up some championships!. Pembrey was next. The little Welsh circuit is the longest continually used venue
on the NG calendar and despite being a little tired in some areas never fails to give great racing and a fantastic
atmosphere. It was here that Josh Day showed why he was destined to be the man of 2016 with wins on his ZX10 and
R6 including a new lap record on the R6. Pembrey was also hosting the UK round of the Moto E European electric bike
series with defending champ Daley Mathison hot favourite. But after he snapped his six grand carbon front forks ! He sat
on the sidelines and watched his team mate USA’s Jeremiah Johnson sweep the board on the MuRata Nottingham
University bike.
Thruxton returned to the more traditional end on year slot to host the finale. It always throws up a few surprises and this
year we were treated to long time NG clubman and former 125 British champ Luke Jones having a pre 2017 test of the
Appleyard Macadam R6 he will use in the BSB Supersport series.
All in all the 2016 season had it’s ups and downs but the man who came out on top coming out of the year with the
biggest haul of trophies was 28 year old Josh Day, as he lifted both the 600cc and Open crowns in stunning style.
Lots of days to remember for Josh in 2016…..
Champions can be defined in many ways, but when it comes to racing it is
easy, it’s the rider with the most points. For 2016 Josh Day the 28 year old
former British Superstock winner took ten wins from twenty starts in the
Clubs premier Phoenix Open class and eight wins in the 600cc open series.
He took both class titles and took three new lap records along the way
too. The feat was all the more impressive as he was riding a relatively
elderly ex-Dale Thomas R6 Yamaha. Any deficit that the old R6 may have
had in performance was made up for by Josh’s grit, determination and
race craft. Astonishingly he used the 120bhp R6 in the Open too, taking on
a veritable plethora of near 200bhp Superbikes….and won!.
It is the second time that Josh has taken the 600 crown after previously
winning in 2009. The Open though was something special as you have to
Showing the style of a champion. 2016 top
go all the way back to 2002 for the last non-superbike winner, and that
man Josh Day.
was Neil Higgs on a very trick and quick full on TZ250 Yamaha prepped by
Dennis Trollope.
Josh headed Max Symonds Alistair Haynes and Sam Thompson to the 600. Round on round through there were wins for
Chris Mort, Joe Sheldon Shaw, Dan Cooper and Luke Jones, but Josh was only off the podium three times, twice of those
through mechanical issues.
It was the Open though that stunned most on-lookers. A class that had been dominated for the last seven years by Phil
Bevan (…… Josh’s father-in-law to be !!!). But Phil was taking a year out of NG action to race the National Endurance
series, so there was going to be a new name on the trophy. Pre season picks included Roo Cotton, Chris Pope, Max
Symonds, James Kiff and Michael Blank, but after kicking off the season at Brands with three wins from three starts
everyone knew that Josh who was returning to club ranks after becoming a little disillusioned with the BSB paddock
meant business. Josh also has a ride at Thundersport on the Crank Racing ZX10 but for NG he rode mainly the old R6
with odd outings on the Crank ZX10, his own personal sponsors ZX10 track day bike and Gary Johnson’s CBR when his
own R6 destroyed a gearbox at Cadwell Park.
When all was said and done Josh, who we must recall beat Danny Buchan to the National Superstock title in 2011 rode
the little R6 to it’s limit (….over it on a couple of outings) to take two of NG’s most hard to win classes.
He already has a package together for 2017 that should see him back on the BSB grid…..we wish him well.
The Nationals…...
Philip Atkinson retained the 250 GP ACU National title that the won for the first time in 2015. Pre season it looked like he
would have a tough job on his hands taking on past champions Daniel Jackson, Ant Hodson and Chris Martin. But Chris
didn’t run the full year, Ant injured himself at Cadwell Park and Dan Jackson could not quite match South African
Atkinson’s pace week in week out. Phil, on the Declans TZ250 eventually took ten wins from the fifteen rounds, with only
the Anglesey round being one to forget with an astonishing three no scores !!!. Phil though who splits his 250 National
duties with the 899 Panigale at BSB was a deserved and popular winner. The NG Cup went to Henry Cox.
For 2016 the BSB’s smallest class went all fourstroke so NG picked up the 125 GP ACU National series and Arnie Shelton
dominated proceedings with only Stephanie Waddelow, and Ryan Saxelby on his couple of outings putting up a true
challenge to him. But a National title is a national title and Shelton won the inaugural running of the 125 series.
There was so much more…...
As ever NG ran a raft of classes to suit what ever your chosen bike was. Everyone has a shot at a championship racing
against their own kind, this does mean that sometimes that a grid may contain two or three separate races within races,
but this is often necessary to make the class structure viable….but gives great action on track……
The Formula 125 class has seen many riders start out on the racing path and this year despite several riders showing
flashes of form including Brian Daly, Mike Wilson and Blake Chapman it was consistent front running with eight wins that
saw 16 year old Josh Singh take the title. In the F400 class Tim Bradley simply continued the winning ways that he
showed in 2015 by taking the class by storm for a second time on the FZR400 Yamaha. Tim may have scored almost
double the points of his nearest rival Simon Wilkins, but he was forced to race for those wins as John Price, Ben Harrison
and Martin Thrower pushed him hard when they were on form. After taking the 500 newcomer’s crown in 2015 Greg
Maden moved into the GP45 class for 2016. A switch of machinery from KTM to Aprilia part way through the year did not
go as smoothly as he would have liked but with five wins, and only once finishing off the podium, he did enough to take
the title from Tony Bridgefoot… although Tony falling at Pembrey and breaking his arm took the pressure off for the final
round. Maden was also fighting for the 500 Open title too and after early season leader Dave Hampton faltered with mid
season mechanical woes Maden was leading the way. However Hampton’s 450 Tigcraft was in fine fettle for the last six
rounds and four wins came his way, catching and taking the series from Maden as the season drew to a climax.
Roo Cotton has had a thirteen-year wait to take a second title. He won the 125 series back in 2003 beating Daniel
Cooper. He has seeming been one step behind in the machinery stakes for the last few years. This year though he had
his hands on one of the new R1 Yamaha’s sourced though long term sponsor Dennis Trollope who imported the bike via
German to have it in Roo’s hands for the start of the year. A win came at round one. He faced a number of on track
challenges from Ben Godfrey, Billy Mellor, Chris Pope, David Jackson and Dale Thomas but his biggest challenge was
getting the cash together to repair the R1 after a massive crash at the Roberts Esses at Donington. Many riders and
personal sponsors rallied round and even race rival Gavin Martin set up a fund-me page to get the finances together to
get the stricken R1 back on track. It was all worth it in the end as Roo took the title over Ben Godfrey and Chris Pope.
Cottons 13 year wait for a second title pales into insignificance when you now read that Tom Blackwell who took this
years Super-Twins crown won his last road race championship twenty nine years ago (….1987 for those mathematically
challenged). That was on a GSXR750 Suzuki, while this year he was on an SV650. He headed young charger William
Holland and Paul Williams to the title. The Mini Twins could so easily have gone to Tom too but a couple of crashes in
qualifiers and a drop off in form (…due to concentrating on his engineering business) saw him slip to third in the points
table behind Paul Williams. This left Alan Russell (Mr A and R) to become a first time championship winner since starting
racing back in 1988, on his SV650. So Alan now has a winners trophy to stand along side his large collection of runnerup silverware.
After a steady start to the year defending Sound of Thunder champ Peter Carr eventually got into his stride and by the
time we hit mid season surely the clubs most versatile rider after also previously winning Streetstock, 600 and GP45
championships hit the top of the points table. Pistol Pete ended the season with four wins on the trot on his 675 to take
the class over True Heroes Teamster Dave Mackay and the evergreen Dave Irons
In the smaller of the clubs two Streetstock classes Tom Williams was always going to be on the back foot after no
scoring at the first three rounds. After that though he was almost unstoppable taking eight wins before the flag dropped
on the year. That early season though was his downfall and Eddie Whitehurst who racked up four wins bagged the class
on his 636 Kawasaki. The bigger Streetstock class was really a straight fight between ex-champ Richard Hughes who
returned to the class after a year out and Paul Jeffery who after a torrid 2015 with his R1 finally had the bike fettled to
his liking. Six wins though and only twice off the podium saw Jeffery have the upper hand come seasons end to take his
second Streetstock title after taking the 2010 700cc class.
Jon Wright was an unknown quantity for the NG regulars as he turned up at Brands for round one on his immaculate
pre-injection CBR 600, people soon got to know the likeable new-boy though as he was awarded the performance on the
meeting at that first round. He was rarely headed over the 14 rounds and only Liam Turberfield, James Griffiths, Lee
Meek and Ben Harrison managed to head him home…but only one time each !!!. 2010 and 2011 1300 pre injection
champ Adam Jeffery returned to the class that he sponsors for this year, stating that he was just going out for “a wobble
round”. Once the visor was down though the racers need-to-win came out and he won seven of the fourteen 1300cc
class wins heading Paul Harlington and Tim Hawkins for hit hat-trick title….. He has now retired…again !!.
The Newbies…..
Paving the way for the future are the Newcomers series and all three classes were dominated by the eventual
champions. Michael Rees took the 500 open, winning it with two rounds in hand over Tom Harrison. The Mini Twins went
to Jake Dettloff (continuing the Dettloff/Hackeborn/Jackson racing dynasty) taking the trophy over Jon Rutherford.
Simon Bastable impressed many onlookers over the year with his stunning open newcomers win on his R6 Yamaha over
Tim Hawkins and Kayla Barrington, earning him the Gary Teague Trophy to add to the championship one.
The Sidecars…..
Sidecars have always been important to NG and as such the three-wheelers always put on some great racing, giving
spectators something different over a race weekend. During 2016 many BSB Hyundai Heavy Industries runners rocked
up to use the NG rounds as extra testing and track time. Past British title winners Roger Lovelock/Rick Lawrence, as well
as Ben Holland/Lee Watson pitted themselves against NG’s best. Top F2 crews Gary Bryan/James Winn and Alan
Founds/Dean Kilkenny too had several NG outings. It was 2015 NG F2 champs Nev Jones now with Tom Bryant in the
chair of the teams new LCR Yamaha that took the title after bagging five wins over the second half of the year. Paul
Riley and Shaun Parker returned to the sidecar paddock to finish top F2 outfit.
The Welcome guests…..
Adding spice to the regular club classes NG was glad to add variety with the addition of two guest classes. The Ducati
Sporting Club Desmo Due series returned after a successful year the NG in 2015 and they were joined by the new
Formula Prostock series.
Full details of each series can found at :
www.ducatisportingclub.com/desmodue
www.formulaprostockracing.co.uk.
In a nutshell the Ducati A class was taken by Andy Blomfield after early season front runner Martin Cox exited the series
at Donington in a cloud of expensive smoke….never to be seen again!. Martin Wilson the 2015 B class winner was
second in the series. In that B class for the 600cc bikes Peter Pritchard was totally dominant taking an amazing nineteen
wins finishing 120 points clear of James Robinson to collect the class silverware.
The Formula Prostock series was for older 1980’s sports bikes (FP1) Twin shockers (FP2) and Suzuki Bandits (FP3). The
three class winners were Andrew Howe for the FP1 on his GSXR750… Chris Saltinstall FP2 on a 950 Moto Guzzi and Keith
Chamber FP3 on his 600 Bandit….. Keith is also the series co-ordinator….. Formula Prostock are returning to NG for
2017.
The special award winners. Singling out achievements both on and off track.
As ever there are several awards that we call our “special awards”. And as
ever they always crate a good deal of discussion as to, initially the shortlist
and then the eventual lucky winner.
The 51 Club Awards is what we deem to be for services to the club. This
can take any form and for 2016 we chose A and R Racing. Alan and Jay
are ever present in the NG paddock with Alan also competing on his SV
(…winning the Mini Twins class this year). They are always on hand with
all those bits-and-bobs that the bike needs, as well as advice to riders….
Easy pick there then. The Jason Kasch award is to outstanding
achievement and Kayla Barrington was an easy pick as the former Super
Moto rider ditched her off road gear to take to the tarmac on a 675
Triumph. Results soon came her way and finished top 3 in the Newcomers
Tim Bradley, the inaugural winner of the
series.
Gerry Gardner Champion of Champions
The Anderson award is all about point, and the splendid trophy that dates
Trophy. Pictured with Russ Gardner and
back to 1947 went to Josh Day for racing up 678 points during the season.
Sally Lewis.
Another self-sorting award is the Gary Teague Newcomers trophy for the
best 600cc rider…. Step forward Simon Bastable…. Not just top 600, but top newcomer, full stop.
The friends and colleges of the late Jamie Adam choose the recipient of the Jamie Adam Spirit of Racing trophy. They
wracked their brains before settling on the Dayo Race team, the reason were plain to see. Former National 600 champ
Josh was doing track was doing track walks at each circuit for an eager bunch of newcomers (…along with a few old
hands wanting to learn some more track-craft !). Day snr, Martin could be seen in the garage working on bikes to keep
all-and-sundry on the grid often working through the night, epitomising the club racing paddock spirit.
Club official photographers EDP always put up a canvas print award, which is more artwork than just photo and Damon
Smith got that, marking his successful return to the tracks after a horrific road accident.
The final special award was new for 2016 and was the Gerry Gardner Memorial trophy. Gerry was one of the founders of
NG way back in 1970, but passed away this year, and the family instigated the Champion of Champions trophy, with the
first recipient being a very grateful Tim Bradley.
Champions all…… The definitive list of whom won what in 2016.
The National Championships
125 GP ACU National
250 GP ACU National
NG Cup
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Arnie Shelton
Philip Atkinson
Henry Cox
NG Classes
Steve Lynham Motorcycles Formula 125
A and R Racing Spares Formula 400
Bluebell Lakes GP45
EDP Photo News 500cc
Simon Consulting 600cc
Switchgear Systems Powerbike
Phoenix Open
Castle Combe Track Days Mini-Twins
Castle Combe Track Days Super-Twins
100% Suspension Sound of Thunder
Metzeler and DTR Spares 700cc Streetstock
Metzeler and DTR Spares 1300cc Streetstock
Adam Jeffery Flooring 700cc Pre-Injection
Adam Jeffery Flooring 1300cc Pre-Injection
Cutronas Financial Services Open Newcomers
Cutronas Financial Services 500cc Newcomers
MPH Bikes Mini Twins Newcomers
Ducati Sporting Club Desmo Due - A - 620cc
Ducati Sporting Club Desmo Due - B - 600cc
Formula Prostock FP1 - Superbike / Supersport
Formula Prostock FP2 - Air-cooled Twin-Shock
Formula Prostock FP3 - Suzuki Bandit Challenge
CSC Racing Sidecar
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Josh Singh
Tim Bradley
Greg Maden
Dave Hampton
Josh Day
Roo Cotton
Josh Day
Alan Russell
Tom Blackwell
Peter Carr
Eddie Whitehurst
Paul Jeffery
Jon Wright
Adam Jeffery
Simon Bastable
Michael Rees
Jake Dettloff
Andy Blomfield
Peter Pritchard
Andrew Howe
Chris Saltinstall
Keith Chambers
Nev Jones / Tom Bryant
Special Awards
Gerry Gardner Memorial
51 Club Award
Jason P Kasch Trophy
Anderson Award
Gary Teague Award
Jamie Adam Trophy
EDP Photo News Award
Champion of Champions
Services to The Club
Achievement Award
Points Total
Newcomer on a 600cc
The Spirit of Racing
Special Award
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Tim Bradley
A and R Racing
Kayla Barrington
Josh Day
Simon Bastable
Dayo Racing Team
Damon Smith
The Championship Silverware
Refined Recruitment 125GP
Dennis Trollope Racing 250GP
Gerry Gardner Trophy
Dennis Oldam Trophy
Rich Evans Trophy
The Pirelli UK GP45 Trophy
Harold Coppock Trophy
Russell Gardner Trophy
Colin Gable / Best of Bikes Trophy
Onions and Browning Trophy
The Gavin Lee Trophy
Mini Twin Perpetual
Dara Brady Racing Trophy
Edna Gardner Trophy
Streetstock Perpetual
Streetstock Perpetual
Pre Injection Perpetual
Pre Injection Perpetual
Pat Onions Trophy
Pat Onions Trophy
Pat Onions Trophy
Roger Cox Trophy
Denise Lambourne Trophy
125GP ACU National
250GP ACU National
Formula 125
Formula 400
Formula 400
GP45
500cc
600cc
Powerbike
Open
Open
Mini Twins
Super Twins
Sound of Thunder
700cc Streetstock
1300cc Streetstock
700cc Pre Injection
1300cc Pre Injection
Open Newcomer
500cc Newcomer
Mini Twin Newcomer
Open Sidecar
F2 Sidecar Cup
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Arnie Shelton
Philip Atkinson
Josh Singh
Tim Bradley
Tim Bradley
Greg Maden
Dave Hampton
Josh Day
Roo Cotton
Josh Day
Josh Day
Alan Russell
Tom Blackwell
Peter Carr
Eddie Whitehurst
Paul Jeffery
Jon Wright
Adam Jeffery
Simon Bastable
Michael Rees
Jake Dettloff
Nev Jones / Tom Bryant
Paul Riley / Shaun Parker
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Jon Wright
Chris Pope
Dave Hampton
Paul Williams
Max Symonds
Jon Wright
Peter Carr
Ben Harrison
Performance of the meeting winners
Round 1
Brands Hatch
Round 2
Cadwell Park
Round 3
Donington Park
Round 4
Oulton Park
Round 5
Castle Combe
Round 6
Anglesey
Round 8
Pembrey
Round 9
Thruxton
Words
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Images :
Russ Gardner
EDP - www.edpphoto.co.uk
South African, Philip Atkinson
successfully defended his 250GP ACU
National title, again onboard the
Declans Racing TZ 250 Yamaha
Josh Day did the Open and 600cc
class double on his Dayo Racing R6.
He secured the 600 class in style with
a class lap record at Pembrey of
58.6seconds
Sidecar racing has a great history
with NG and this season Nev Jones
and Tom Bryant stepped up after
winning the 2015 F2 title to take the
open this year.
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