Mallory Park - Plum Pudding 26th December
Discussion
If you're fed up with sitting in front of the telly like the Royal Family by Boxing Day, pop along to Mallory Park for the Plum Pudding Handicap Races.
Practice 9.30am followed by racing from 10.40am til dusk....... Last year the bikes got frozen off, but this year it looks as though we have a mini-heatwave coming 14 degrees forecast!
Hot Pudding this year (no frozen plums)
Well last year was a bit of a damp squib for the bikes (or frozen Squid more aptly), as the ice and snow prevented any track action from taking place on two or three wheels. The New Era Motorcycle Club did their best to get things going, but with temperatures only just rising above zero it was always going to be difficult.
With New Era scaling back their activities dramatically throughout 2011, for this years event, Mallory Park have asked us (Thundersport GB) to organise the motorcycle races and take charge of overall event organisation. As we are based here at Mallory Park we already have a very close working relationship with the BARC and we are really looking forward to working with our 4-wheeled friends & colleagues on this joint venture.
The Plum Pudding Races are all about having a bit of fun in the depths of winter and although every rider will be doing their best to win, it’s one of those rare events where taking part really IS the most important thing.
The first races are run from set grids seeded mainly on known ability and always with one eye on the second running of each event, which will be a handicap start. We actually ran a couple of handicap races at the Sidecar Festival back in October which very nearly resulted in veteran Welshman Keith Walters upsetting the odds and beating no less than 3 former TT winners and 2 ex-World Champions. The podium presentations after those races were fantastic and harked back to an age when sportsmanship was absolutely everything and winning was only worthwhile if done with style and panache.
We don’t have a bursting grid of sidecars today, but I’m certain they’ll provide us with some excellent entertainment anyway. We have to thank Martin Vollebreght for making the trip from Holland to join us and I hope he leaves with a couple of trophies as souveniers of his Christmas in England. The local boys will certainly make sure he has to earn whatever he wins though and I fancy that Bill Roberts will take some beating if the bike runs well.
With his new Kawasaki under him, local ace Michael Niblett will fancy his chances around his home circuit against Phil Crowe, who is one of the very best National racers in the country. Don’t discount the 600s in the second leg though as we have some very capable riders in that category too. Sam Banda, Jordan Giddings and Mark Dicken are all well used to racing against each other and could provide an upset if conditions are tricky.
Keep an eye out for Will Hodgson on the beautiful Aprilia RRV450GP machine too. He will be contesting both classes and we already know that he can match a competitive 600 Supersport lap time, it just remains to be seen if he can wiggle his way past them through the twisty bits and get enough of gap to hold them off on the straights or not. Dark horse for the race win in the Lightweight class could be Arnie Shelton on the little RS125GP Honda, which can also lap very fast if he gets a bit of clear track.
We hope you all have an enjoyable day and come back to Mallory Park many times throughout the coming season. The circuit staff have worked incredibly hard over the past 4 years to improve the venue and it is now coming to fruition.
Dave
Practice 9.30am followed by racing from 10.40am til dusk....... Last year the bikes got frozen off, but this year it looks as though we have a mini-heatwave coming 14 degrees forecast!
Hot Pudding this year (no frozen plums)
Well last year was a bit of a damp squib for the bikes (or frozen Squid more aptly), as the ice and snow prevented any track action from taking place on two or three wheels. The New Era Motorcycle Club did their best to get things going, but with temperatures only just rising above zero it was always going to be difficult.
With New Era scaling back their activities dramatically throughout 2011, for this years event, Mallory Park have asked us (Thundersport GB) to organise the motorcycle races and take charge of overall event organisation. As we are based here at Mallory Park we already have a very close working relationship with the BARC and we are really looking forward to working with our 4-wheeled friends & colleagues on this joint venture.
The Plum Pudding Races are all about having a bit of fun in the depths of winter and although every rider will be doing their best to win, it’s one of those rare events where taking part really IS the most important thing.
The first races are run from set grids seeded mainly on known ability and always with one eye on the second running of each event, which will be a handicap start. We actually ran a couple of handicap races at the Sidecar Festival back in October which very nearly resulted in veteran Welshman Keith Walters upsetting the odds and beating no less than 3 former TT winners and 2 ex-World Champions. The podium presentations after those races were fantastic and harked back to an age when sportsmanship was absolutely everything and winning was only worthwhile if done with style and panache.
We don’t have a bursting grid of sidecars today, but I’m certain they’ll provide us with some excellent entertainment anyway. We have to thank Martin Vollebreght for making the trip from Holland to join us and I hope he leaves with a couple of trophies as souveniers of his Christmas in England. The local boys will certainly make sure he has to earn whatever he wins though and I fancy that Bill Roberts will take some beating if the bike runs well.
With his new Kawasaki under him, local ace Michael Niblett will fancy his chances around his home circuit against Phil Crowe, who is one of the very best National racers in the country. Don’t discount the 600s in the second leg though as we have some very capable riders in that category too. Sam Banda, Jordan Giddings and Mark Dicken are all well used to racing against each other and could provide an upset if conditions are tricky.
Keep an eye out for Will Hodgson on the beautiful Aprilia RRV450GP machine too. He will be contesting both classes and we already know that he can match a competitive 600 Supersport lap time, it just remains to be seen if he can wiggle his way past them through the twisty bits and get enough of gap to hold them off on the straights or not. Dark horse for the race win in the Lightweight class could be Arnie Shelton on the little RS125GP Honda, which can also lap very fast if he gets a bit of clear track.
We hope you all have an enjoyable day and come back to Mallory Park many times throughout the coming season. The circuit staff have worked incredibly hard over the past 4 years to improve the venue and it is now coming to fruition.
Dave
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