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The 5th and 6th rounds of the championship were held at the Derby Phoenix two day Anglesey meeting. Last year the same meeting had gale force winds and heavy rain that you wouldn't forget in a hurry. It couldn't be as bad this year could it. Well now you mention it I'm not so sure. The general opinion was that it might not have been quite as windy this year, but that didn't stop several vehicles nearly being on two wheels or even less on the way to the circuit. We got 19 entries for the meeting and the remaining 9 places were taken by a combined single/125 race on the back of our grid. We were a little reluctant to have the singles on the grid again as they have caused problems in the past. This time there didn't seem to be too many problems and it did allow us to make up for the poor entry at Croft. This time we were race 9 on the programme, not too bad considering there were 13 in the first half of the programme. When racing did get under way it was clear that things weren't going too well, as almost from race one there were stoppages after stoppages. After practice it had looked for a short while as if the rain might hold off. Eventually our race got underway straight after the dinner break but by then the rain had arrived. The actual race results at this meeting were a bit of a nightmare and to be frank, once you get past the first 4 places, in the worst case, their accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. Darren Wood was credited 5th overall in the first race on his X7, a lap up, but was missed off the results totally in two other races. Jayne Spooner was credited an extra lap in one race as was Glenn Graham. Although the actual finishing order for everyone can't be ascertained 100%, for all races we are certain of all the class finishing positions. When it did get underway it was the 1300 class bikes that filled the first 3 places with Rob Eley taking the win. He was followed by Andy Jackson who just got the better of Nigel Lawrence in the closing stages of the race. Pete Mabberley took fourth place in the 1300 class. 750 class machines took the next six places the order being Mel Coote, Keith Chambers, Tony Smith, Simon Briggs, Malcolm Price, and Barry Swailes. Mark Wootton and Stephen Cundall were the other two 750 finishers. Cass was the first in the 500 class home with Jayne Spooner taking the second class placing ahead of Glenn Graham. The results showed both of these ahead of Cass as they were credited with an extra lap. Glenn was in an uncharacteristic position as his RD400 wasn't running well at all. It hadn't been too good in practice and he wasn't sure if it was running rich or weak. With the tendency it has to self destruct he decided to raise the needles one notch. As you can guess this didn't work. Another who was credited with an extra lap was Darren Wood on his X7 but as he was the only 250 entered it wasn't too difficult to work out he had taken first in the 250 class. Howard Friend won the 500 production class but was given a run for his money by Rob Patterson on his RD400. Rob Thorpe took third in class as his GT5OO suffered from blocked carb jets. The race stoppages continued with out a break and as it got towards 6pm it looked as if we would just get our second race in. We were called to the holding area but yet another red flag made it impossible to run the event prior to the 6pm curfew. This was bad news as it meant that there would be an extra 5 races to be run on the Monday if they were to complete the programme. It was even worse for Glenn Graham as he had decided that he was going to run his family home as soon as the second race was over as they had had enough of the weather. Not only had he wasted two and a half hours waiting for a race that wasn't run, but it would now be the second race on the Monday rather than the ninth. Oh by the way, the trip home and back was over 230 miles each way. (Dedication or what). On the Monday it was still wet when the race got underway but conditions were better than on Sunday and this time Nigel got the better of Andy, who pushed him hard all the way. Rob had to pull in with a oil leak and as a result Pete Mabberley took third in class. Mel Coote took third overall taking the 750 class win for the second time. Again there were a group of five 750s behind him on the track. This time the order was Malcolm Price, Tony Smith, Simon Briggs, Barry Swailes and Mark Wootton. Steve Cundall was the other 750 finisher. Keith Chambers failed to finish after losing the rear end exiting the hairpin at mid race distance. This was his first road race accident and as damage in all respects was almost none existent he nearly set off again before realising you're not allowed to do that. Glenn Graham also got no further than Douglas but his problem was on the first lap. He had by his own admission being paying more attention to how his RD was running than to the state of the track on the sighting lap. This left Cass and Jayne Spooner to take fist and second but Jayne had to pull out when water got in the electrics of her GSX400. In the 500 production class, Rob Patterson took a class win ahead of Howard Friend and Rob Thorpe whose GT500 was still having problems. Darren Wood took the 10 points for a win in the 250 class. As the morning went on the weather improved, well it couldn't do much else and by the time we had what should have been the first Monday race it was fine. In the 1300 class the order once again went Nigel first, Andy second, with Rob Eley in third and Pete Mabberley in fourth. For the third time Mel Coote was the first 750 home but the rest of the 750 field appeared to be a little more generous as they were sharing out the rest of the places. This time, the order behind Mel went Tony Smith, Barry Swailes, Malcolm Price, Keith Chambers, Simon Briggs, Mark Wootton and Steve Cundell. In the 500 class, Glenn Graham took 10 points followed by Cass and Jayne. Meanwhile Rob Thorpe had sorted the carbs on his GT500 and took the 500 production class win. Howard took second and Rob Patterson third. Darren Wood did finish despite being missed of the results and took the 10 points in the 250 class. The last race got underway at 3.40 which wasn't bad going considering how many extra races they had to run on the Monday. The 1300 class results were a repeat of the previous event but it was all change in the 750 class with Simon Briggs taking the class win. Behind him was Malcolm Price, Mel Coote, and Barry Swailes in close succession. Behind them were the 500 class RDs of Glenn and Cass in that order. Cass was in turn ahead of the three 750s of Keith Chambers, Steve Cundell and Mark Wootton. Rob Thorpe was next, to take a second 500 production class win ahead of Pete Mabberley and Howard Friend. Jayne was next to finish ahead of Rob Patterson. Darren Wood, who must do a good impression of the invisible man, was again missed off the results but he did finish to take 10 points in the 250 class. Steve Bailey. |