Had a quiet little test day on the Airfield at Abingdon (Dalton Bks) with the other members of Team Army 2 & 4 (Team 1 & 3 couldn't make it) today. Just a few runs up and down the runway making sure everything is mechanically sound. Bounced off the rev limiter in 6th gear so alls good. Just need to bleed the brakes again and tidy a few little bits up before thursday and the race weekend.
Stocking up on tyres, a big thanks to Bike Tyre Leeds who support the team and give Team Army Endurance a massive discount on our Michelins. I've got 3 new rears and 2 new fronts good to go. I also use Trumpet Tyres for my scrubs.
5 days to go till brands.... 5 is the number of 600cc class bikes racing this year in Team Army Endurance. 2 Triumph 675R's 2 Yamaha R6's 1 Suzuki Gsxr600 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Army-Endurance-Racing/258082037541168?fref=ts
The team is all good to go for this weekend. My two team mates have never raced and I've only raced one round at Donny last year. Getting excited now.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Army-Endurance-Racing/258082037541168 4 days to go till brands.... 4 is the number of 1000cc Suzuki Gsxr's racing for Team Army Endurance this year.
3 days to go until Brands... 3 is the number of ex army riders in Team Army Endurance Racing. (The old boys )
A reasonably good weekend for Team Army Endurance Racing at Brands Hatch. Myself and Team Army 4 won the 600cc Rookie class and came 4th in the 600cc clubman class. Happy with this as our primary aim is to win the rookie championship and have a top 3 clubman placing. Team army 1 came 2nd in the 1000cc clubman class. A full race report will follow and we're still looking for team sponsors - especially for Team 4
awesome. well done . couldnt be more pleased for ex military. 23.5 years military myself. keep it up chaps
The write up of our first race. If you go to the following link you get it in all its glory with pictures: http://teamarmyeracing.wordpress.com/ The 2015 season starts Brands Hatch 21 March Posted on March 24, 2015 by teamarmyeracing Reply Season start 2015 from left to right. Bobby pit crew, Lee T3, Paul T4, Moggy T2, Darryl T3, Aaron pit crew, Pep T1, Andy T4, Spence T2, Leon T4, Loz T1, Biz pit crew. At last the first race of 2015 in the Hottrax Endurance series arrived. With 4 teams competing across various levels and classes. Team Army have a huge presence at the meetings and we made it even bigger by setting up the Hospitality trailer, flags, awnings and marching band fanfare right outside the back of our double pit garage. Friday was a test day and a chance to iron out any last minute bike, rider or admin issues. It’s surprising after long winter months of preparation just how many “issues” appeared. Even admin things like, armbands, transponder brackets, correct info on Dog tags etc…So while some were still fitting rain lights, race numbers and sponsor logos, others had more worrying issues. Those were bike related! Lozier GSXR1000 fork seal went, strangely leaking upwards? Was not fixable at Brands so had to build a bridge, get over it! Then his clocks went blank, (fuse) wouldn’t even start first thing test morning! Spencer’s Triumph675 quick shifter stopped working missed half the test day stripping and trying to find the fault. In the end raced without it. Paul’s Gixxer600 wasn’t playing at all above10,000 Rpm. That turned out to be a secondary fuelling fault; the butterfly controller was jamming up. Took all day and first few hours of race Morning to fix that! Thank you to our new Pit crew who sorted all this out and got all the bikes to the start and end of the race. Well done lads. The test day started very tricky damp and very cold so tip toe round the track to begin with. The afternoon brightened and warmed dramatically so it allowed most of us to get nearer race pace and learn or refresh the track. Scrutineering was Friday late afternoon but only T1 and T3 got thru, T2 and T4 were still either fixing things or completing last minute race preps, lock wiring, numbers etc… So they had a very early start on race day. First few tellings off for Paul, he did not stop when black flagged, pushed his bike the wrong way up the pits when it broke down, so watch out for the biggie. After signing on and getting the race programme, shock horror to see our media savvy Team 2 have done it again. Michelin were using them to promote their tyres on a full cover spread on the back of the 300 programmes that all sold out. A few beers Friday evening, then an early night ready for Saturday’s race day and a new earlier race schedule. The endurance would be the first race of the day from now on. A grey, damp, freezing dawn greeted us. Our qualifying was first out at 9 am and it was still struggling to get above Zero degrees Kelvin! That’s -273 degrees C for those without science GCSEs. Bloody cold! It was a very greasy qualifying but improved steadily towards the end of the session. Some poor souls did not make it that far and there were a number of bikes up against the tyre walls at all the tricky points of the circuit. We all survived the qualifying except Paul’s bike had still not made it so he borrowed T4s leader, Andy days R6 and posted a faster time. This spurred Andy out again and they qualified 20th as complete first ever race rookies. With a 37 bike grid to beat 17 other teams was a real confidence boost for their race. T3 were 18th and T1 11th. By far the best were T2 who qualified a remarkable 6th. Beating many well known riders and teams. In such conditions, all our qualifying positions were excellent. It was a very strong field of 37 teams with 9 national1000s and 6 national 600s, that’s over 40 % of the grid national level! (Ok a guess so if you have got GCSE maths work it out yourself)Then straight after our qualifying the circuit closed so we could experience the eclipse. It was supposed to go dark but as it was such a dull, cloudy, grey sky we never noticed. Will have to wait another 20 years now, darn!!!! Race start and it was the usual Hokey Cokey with tyre choice slicks in, inters out, wets all about? Tyre choice was hard enough but getting temperature into them and maintaining it was even harder. This proved one of the keys to the race. Most races are full of incident but few have so much before they even start. As the grid formed the misty drizzle turned to proper rain. Then as the Riders crossed the track and crouched to sprint back Le Mans style the race was red flagged. 2 riders were declared unfit to race, something to do with offs in qualifying and not getting cleared by the med centre. So there was a pause while the tyres cooled even more, then it was announced there were to be 3 more warm up laps and reform the grid. During this 2 bikes crashed out probably due to the tyres cooling off so much, one being championship favourites, team RST2 with Hudson kennaugh (2013 Brit super stock champ) and Gary Johnson(TT winner). Gary has a suspected broken collar bone. Better get that sorted before the TT in June! Finally away the first race of the season is off and we all got good starts, especially T1 with Pep on board. He was about P4 into the first corner. We also incurred our first penalty, a jump start, as T4s bike holding man, Paul, started the bike before the rider sprinted across to it. We put it down to a nervous premature! And another 3rd and final trip to race control, who are all on first name terms with him now. The first session was lethal with a damp drying track and half the grid on slicks. For those that were on them the first few laps had to be taken very easy but the track began to come to them as it dried, The inters shod bikes were the best option, full wets were OTT and began ripping up within 10 mins. Lots of unscheduled stops in that first session as teams tried to find the right tyre. With our less than flattering budget we pretty much stuck with what we had and it paid off. Just as it began to rain heavy again and changes were considered absolutely necessary the safety car came out. So all our teams could stay on track on reduced pace regardless of tyres and reached our planned 30 min changeovers. The race settled down a bit in session 2 even though the mixed conditions continued, everyone had sussed their tyre choices by then. With such good starts 30 mins into the race T2 were 4th and T1 7th a bit out of place with all the pre start drama but we take what the almighty gives! Even T4 our greener than green rookies were in P14. A great first ride by Andy day. The hour mark after the first set of rider changes saw a marked change around, T1 were still well placed in 6th, Loz had made a correct tyre choice for once in his life, T2 had slipped a tad to 10th and T3 had the best second session improving up the field to 12th, a good ride by Lee. Our races in general went very well, changeovers were slick, except one of T4s where Paul read the wrong pit board and came in unannounced. We must make them a bit more identifiable next race. The weather was changeable until the final hour when it seemed to settle into dull but cold and dry. So the final hour was all about staying aboard, staying on the pace and keeping an eye on what teams were around us in our respective classes. True endurance racing management. Into the final 30 mins of the race and we were all still in it, T1 and T2 latched on to each other and did some formation drill even T4 joined us for a lap. The chequered flag beckoned and the race was over as we formed up in parc ferme. We realised just how well we had all done not only in the overall race but in our respective classes. These were the final finish positions, T1 second in Clubman 1000, T2 4th in National 600, T3 7th in Clubman 1000 and T4 our 600 rookie team 4th Clubman 600 and 1st 600 rookie team. So we had a jolly good evening and collected our various trophies in the Kentagon bar that evening. Darryl from T3 did a couple of sprint races in the afternoon and guess what? He won them. Well done young fella! So our trophy haul to date is, 6 (T1x2, T4x3, cos 3 riders and Darryl x1) roll on Cadwell just two weeks away over the Easter weekend Thanks to all our sponsors for their help in making this happen, BAMA, Army sports lottery, Hill for leathers, Hampshire Motorcycles, Direct Distribution, Team 1 Epaton next gen storage, 2Wheelskool. Team 2 Purple construction, Breaking point Motorcycles, knee down.co.uk. Team 3 4see consultants and Team 4 Andy Leon and Paul. If anyone is missed shout us or if you want to be involved defo shout us After race post. It was announced on Monday that the team that came first in Clubman 1000 had a national licence holder racing for them, breaking Clubman rules so they were removed from that class. This has promoted T1 to race winners Clubman1000 and T3 to P6. That’s Team 1s first Hottrax race win! What a result.
Another hectic weekends racing has drawn to a close. It was one of those weekends where shit just went wrong. My team mates bike broke a chain on test day and I binned it at Hall Bends in the last session just as i thought I was getting to grips with the track. No serious damage just some cracked fairings, broken gear lever and bent clip-on. Loz (T1) crashed in Qualifying which put them at the very back of the grid. Then in the race Pep crashed in his first stint followed by Loz's chain coming off in his first stint. Spence (T2) and Leon (T4) collided at the chicane and were followed into the grass by the guy behind them, ending up in a big pile of bikes. They all picked up and carried on. Moggy's (T2) generator spontaneously combusted on in the pits meaning that they had no tyre warmers. Loads more happened with penalties for overriding and Pep nearly getting taken out by the safety car but there will be more detail in the full report. This is how we finished, amazingly we all walked away with trophies in out respective classes: Team 1 - 3rd Clubman 1000 Team 2 - 2nd National 600 Team 3 - Did not enter Cadwell Team 4 - 1st Rookie 600 Some space on this board and the bikes for sponsors My bike after losing the front at Hall bends. Loz's GSXR1000 after qualifying crash. The pit set up. Team 1, 3rd place Clubman 1000 (Notice Yorkshire Tyke with WTR in 2nd) Team 2, 2nd place national 600. Team 4, 1st place Rookie 600
Latest update from the Team Army Endurance camp: https://teamarmyeracing.wordpress.com Cadwell Park Round 2 Posted on April 8, 2015 So round 2? Slightly different to round one where we were a little smug. All finishing without much incident and the right way up. Bleating that this is the way endurance is done. Round 2 was more a case of how to do it the SAS style, Make it as hard as possible but still get results! Metzelers ready to roll! all 29 of them. We were a team down as T3 were on hols and also a big change in Rubber as Metzeler are now our tyre of choice. So what do we think of them? Better longevity, quicker to warm up, easier to keep the heat in and most importantly better feeling of grip and confidence. It’s a big OOOOOH YEAH! So the crash bang wallops you are going to read about had nothing to do with the tyres, they can definitely be put down to the riders. Most rucked up thus afternoon/evening and our first poor call was to relocate from a hard standing pitch to a larger grassed area. Big mistake as the rain settled in on Thursday and lasted pretty much until Sunday. Our lovely grassed pit area became a bog. WW1 trench warfare conditions. I know what some will say, Army, trenches, sandbags, etc…. no it was not intentional, not a tough training regime for the rookies just a poor call and not checking Sir Michael of the Fishes weather predictions. Pretty wet most of the weekend So to test day. We were all eager to try out the new Metzelers which are very very good and most of T4 were eager to learn the track. (Rookie boys!) Paul had the best day, a few fuelling issues but he has been there before so cured it straight away. Leon (with a little help from Aaron) spent most of it building a chain out of £5 a time master links. A new long enough one was about £120 so to save a bit he got a short version then spent £200 on master links to make it long enough! And Andy had the first spill of the weekend going down in hall bends with a missed gear/ possible linkage failure. Not much mechanical damage but as a rookie, at Cadwell, not good. It’s a technical and difficult track in the dry and dry it was not? It’s the damage you can’t see that’s the problem, the confidence drain, the nightmares, the sweating, the bursting into tears for no apparent reason, the bulging eyed frightened look when a firework goes off, it’s why we support charities that concentrate on PTSD. Even Spence needed a bit of a shoulder to lean on when his gear/quick shift combination issues returned. Another sleepless night! Loz did the usual rain light dance, work, don’t work, and dance around. Go to Halfords and buy a new one. So it was not the most successful test day an omen for the racing? The Pit crew were busy again. Andys R6 the first of 5 to suck mud! Race day, dank and wet. That’s 2 out of 2 after Brands Hatch. We decided to move The pit crew had a busy weekend everything down to the lower pits and qualify and race from there, which has its problems. Self-inflicted as they may be. Loz found out that if you crash in qualifying, A). Regardless of Hottrax saying you can re mount, you can’t. B). Regardless of Hottrax saying you can get your transponder back to the pits, you can’t C). Your bike is returned in the “van of shame” to the upper paddock, while all your stands, tools, spares and pit crew are infield in the lower pits! So don’t crash in qualifying is the simple solution. Plus it is a lengthy affair getting medicals, repairing the bike and scrutineering again, so the Pit crew were busy. Spence is quite pleased with this pic, gone viral he would have you know! Spence and the unflappable Moggie qualified fuss free in a very respectful 15th. Their tyre choice could have been better but they were happy with this position. T4 did well on their first outing to qualify 29th but for T1 as Loz had not completed qualifying and was languishing in the café T1 were demoted to DNQ and sent to the back of the grid. Pep was not impressed. So the pit crew were kept busy. At last the rain stopped just before a fairly late race at 3pm and the famous Le Mans start. This is how the various teams races went, starting with a very eventful time for Team 1. Pep is awesome at the Le Mans and leapt half the grid in the first sprint down to Coppice. He had a blistering first 7 laps regaining 10th in the race from stone cold last. Then he fell off! Pep preparing for Le mans see his awesome start here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Army-Endurance-Racing/258082037541168 So T1 had an unscheduled stop and Loz went out to regain lost places, which he did, then his chain fell off! So T1 had an unscheduled stop and Pep went out to regain lost places, which he did and he handed over to Loz. Loz went out to regain lost places which he did, then his gear linkage fell off. So T1 had an unscheduled stop and Pep went out to regain lost places, which he did and then the safety car came out. So Loz went out to regain lost places, which he did. Just as T1 had climbed all the way back to P10 in the race and thinking nothing else could go wrong they had to make another unscheduled stop to ensure Loz had completed his share of the race. This demoted them 2 places to 12th in the race but importantly P3 in class. We made 8 pit stops and spent 4 or 5 laps recovering back to the pits or losing time in the pits due to unexpected stops. So can’t complain with P3. The pit crew were a tad busy during all this too. T2 were steady away and consolidated a good qualifying. Moggy went first and was uber consistent steadily climbing places to P11. They got their rhythm as Spence took over moving up to P10 and 4th in class. Then we had a Blue on Blue incident and Spence took out T4s Leon (and another guy) at the esses. The riders fought over the tangle of bikes to unjam themselves and get back to the pits a SAP! This demoted T2 to 13th and Moggy recuperated while the pit crew were busy with Spence’s bike. The rest of their race was steady and due to their consistency and pace they climbed back to a very respectful P8 in the race and most importantly P2 in class. T4 lined up and ready to go T4 started with Andy on board still trying to learn the track, he was also still suffering a bit of PMT from his off on test day and a mishap in time keeping cost them their first penalty. A stop go which was served on their next session for overriding their 30 min. So it was left to Paul to drag T4 back up the charts with a couple of blistering 1.53 laps towards the end of the race. Leon was also a bit battle scared from the Blue on Blue incident and wary of any NATO bikes around him. They finished the race as top 600cc clubman rookies and 27th in the race so had climbed 2 places overall. They left Cadwell with another haul of silver. Paul has found something interesting First ever National Trophy
T2 have achieved an Army first at National Endurance racing. A podium in the 600cc National Championship, littered with names like Gary Johnson, Richard Spencer Fleet and Wayne Morgan they finished 2nd 600cc Nationals. T1 were happy with their damage limitation exercise to get 3rd in class and acquire some important championship points. At least they did achieve the fastest Clubman 1000 lap. So what looked like a disaster at times turned out not too bad at all, 3 teams entered 3 podiums, great new tyres and did I mention the pit crew were quite busy at times. Ex iPad Moggys Genny popped smoke To top our bad luck we also lost Moggys generator, it popped smoke early, and Robyn’s iPad went for a stroll on the start finish straight. And of the 7 bikes at this weekends race, 5 of them crashed, only Moggy the invincible and Paul the (is he really a rookie) kept sunny side up. And I almost forgot but the pit crew have resigned. (Only kidding but they were busy). Loz on his walk of shame
The Hottrax Pembrey Preview before this weekends racing, Team Army mentioned a few times (no mention of Wedgie Tyke Racing ) Pembrey Preview - 2/3 May 2015 AC Racing (Greg Allsop/Richard Charlton) won round two of the ACU/Towergate National 1000 championship at Cadwell Park to open up a 12 point lead in the series over T. Watson Bikes (Rick Dickinson/Tom Stephens) going into round three at Pembrey. It was a good result for AC Racing, a brand new team for the 2015 series, who were fourth home in the opening round. T. Watson Bikes were also delighted to be among the front runners, running the same lap as the winners at the chequered flag, because of an on-going ignition problem on Dickinson’s big Kawasaki that was only solved shortly before the race. T. Watson Bikes could prove to be an even bigger threat to the opposition here at Pembrey, with Tom Stephens out on a brand new Kawasaki ZX10R. Another new team, Fast Past Pits, was second overall, maintaining their unbeaten run in the Towergate National 600 class. With the team absent because both Matt and Harry Truelove are racing elsewhere, the opposition, headed by Team Army 2 (Wayne Morgan/Richard Spencer-Fleet), will be keen to close their 17 point advantage. Sorrymate.com would love to make up ground. Third in the standings, 25 points down on the leaders, the team are struggling with injuries. Colin Norris suffered a broken collarbone at the last round at Cadwell Park and team mate, Warren Verwey, is slowly recovering from a high-speed crash at Craner Curves, Donington Park that put him into hospital. Norris is far from certain he will be fit enough for a three-hour race and even if he is, not sure he can find anyone to race with him? An added exciting ingredient for the meeting is the debut Endurance appearance of the Parish brothers, Jim and Chris on their 600s. First Clubman 1000 team over the line at Cadwell Park, was Tech 5 Racing (Nick Ford/Matt Stevens), taking their season’s tally to 45, four more than their closest rivals, Team Army 1 (Peter Brown/Laurence Williams). Liquidskinz Hydrographic (Stuart Fitton/Martin Tromans) won the Towergate Clubman 600 class in round two to maintain their unbeaten record. They are now 19 points ahead of Mild Hogs Racing (David Ball/Patrick Hurst). Team Big Lads (Joe Connolly/Bob Barton) were first Modern Classics home in Lincolnshire. That win keeps TBL top of the Modern Classic class, ten points in front of yet another new squad in the series, GRS Racing (Karl Smith/Glen Rixon). Go Racing Developments (Andy Carpenter/James McBride) are hoping for a change of luck this weekend. At Brands they started from pit lane waiting to see if it was going to rain. Then McBride collided with a slower rider at Druids, losing the team 19 laps. They battled on to finish ninth in the big class. At Cadwell they were forced to use just one bike, when McBride’s machine had front fork problems. A faulty petrol cap resulted in McBride being showered with fuel, costing them more time, finishing tenth overall. For a pre-season favourite for the ACU/Towergate National title they hope it will be third time lucky at Pembrey. Two more of the big teams who are aiming for that championship, will be out to bag a hat full of points in Wales. Seton Tuning (Mark Clark/Andy Goddard) are 27 points down on the leaders. Team Edge RST 2 return to action with team owner Nick Edgeley and Jonny Towers who are 22 points adrift of top spot. Top Clubmans 1000 Rookie team are G&M Racing (Robin Green/Mark McIndoe), on a maximum 50 points. Team Army 4 (Andrew Day/Leon Wilson) head the Clubman 600 Rookies. They are on 50 points, ten ahead of Grit Racing (Kate Mustill/Ian Jack) With 100 points available to be won in every round and a rider’s top nine scores out of ten to count, the sprint class champions could well be on 600 points or more by the end of the year. That is why the early leaders have no cause to start celebrating yet. Yorkshire man Lee Wilson leads the Moto Grand Powerbike 1000 points table after four clear cut wins at Cadwell, but he will be contesting the full series, leaving the path clear for Hottrax regulars to climb in the standings. Michael Brown missed the last round because of business, but he is back hoping to bite into Wilson’s 19 point lead. Thomas Hallifax is third in the points table on 77. A minor crash at Cadwell Park prevented Paul Barker from a clean sweep in the Moto Grande Pre National 1000 class, but he still leads James Ververs by 37. Craig Kennelly is up to third in the points’ table, 23 behind Barker. Andrew Cockburn leads the Pro Moto class with a maximum score of 200. Jack Bleakley now tops the Motogrande Powersport 600 class on 132 points, 32 more than John Lea, who was making his first appearance of the year in the championship. Paul Slade’s unbeaten run in the Motogrande Pre National 600 series came to an abrupt halt in the first race on Sunday. He crashed out, breaking his radius. By then, though, he had stretched his run of victories to six, taking his points’ tally to 150. Not enough to stop Matt Johnston, who had been trailing Slade by 38 points coming in to this meeting, take advantage of Slade’s fall by winning both races on the Sunday, to end the meeting on 152 points, two ahead of his rival. Dave Wymer is firmly at the top of the V&M Motogrande Powersport Rookie 1000 class. He now has 195 points, 73 more than his closest rival, James Young. Wymer, on an MSS Kawasaki, has been riding a lot in Spain with the likes of Steve Plater, Neil Hodgson and Andrew Pitt. Last year he sponsored Mason Law in the BSB 600 Stock Championship, becoming good friends with Andrew Pitt, who is Mason's mentor and manager, which is why he has 88 as his race number. Taking world champion Pitt’s advice, Wymer is always thinking about the end game and not going for a win at all costs. Mitch Ducran is the new leader in the V&M Motogrande Rookie 600 class on 127, but Kevin Cline trails him by only five points. Jack Harvey is third on 103. Desmo Due Class A Championship leader, Dallas Hornblow, sat out one of the three races at Cadwell meeting, but still left the Lincolnshire circuit with a 14 point lead over Matt Lawson. Scott Wilson leads Class B by 47 points, from Miles Watson-Cort. Paul Baleta is now saving his money for the TT in June and he looks certain to lose the lead in the Modern Classics Superbike class. He is on 90, with Jason Edwards on 85 and Ian Pattinson with 82 Joe Connolly tops the Modern Classic Superbike EVO class by a comfortable 73 points from his friend and Team Big Lads associate Bob Barton. Duncan Appleby is third, 79 points down. Ben Gibbs, who did not race at Brands, now leads the Formula One championship on 70 points, twenty five more than Carl Dodwell and 30 ahead of Martin Morris. Lincolnshire racer, Ross Walker, dominated the Formula Two class, at Cadwell, with four wins from four rides and that was enough to give the lead in the series. He has 100 points, 50 more than Jon McNally. Jon Bolsover’s unbeaten run in the Modern Classics Supersport EVO class came to an end at Cadwell, but he still holds a commanding lead of 115 ahead of the absent Adam Shepherd. With Warren Verwey injured, it means his 17-year-old son, Kade Verweh has no one to take him to Pembrey. He will be hoping to hang on to his 21 points lead in the Formula 400. If Jonny Towers, part of the Team Edge RST 2 team, can get two bikes in his van, he will be out to stretch his lead in the Super Twin class. Nick Wainwright rattled up four wins at Cadwell to take the lead in the Modern Classics Supersport Pre-I class. He leads Rob Garland by 65 points and David Stiff by 81. Corey Wilson had a good weekend at Cadwell Park, to take charge in the Lightweight class. He has 120 points, 20 more than the absent Rob Garland.
Great results at Pembrey yesterday.. Team army 1.. 1st in clubman 1000s Team army 2.. 3rd in national 600s Team army 3.. 5th in clubman 1000s Team army 4.. 1st rookie 600s, 4th clubman 600s. I also did two of sprint races today and finished 4th rookie 600 in both races.
