2019 gets underway at Brands Hatch with Thundersport GB

The final weekend in March sprung GP Originals back to life; the clocks rolled on to Summer time and so did the weather. The packed out Brands Hatch event was superbly hosted by Thundersport GB and as expected, everything ran like clockwork.

A quality field

Following a long winter of jostling for position on Facebook, the contenders showed their mettle by turning up in their droves. 36 entries secured with a few weeks in hand – the opening grid was going to be a spectacle.

A spot of testing on Friday for some but many choosing to rock up on Saturday and dive straight in. Bathed in glorious sunshine and 15 minutes of timed qualifying later we had a grid. Top was Phil Atkinson at 52.7, Mike Smith just 0.273 behind and Glen English trailing by only 0.311.

Despite carrying a nasty shoulder injury, 250 rider Gary Vines produced a 53.7 lap. Fernando Mendes’ 2018 Championship winning TZ250 has a new pilot in Rich Grinling. Rich took 2nd 250 spot, just over a second from Vines. The lightning fast EMC Rotax of Jamie O’Brien rounded out the top three green plates.

A dozen rows of post classic Grand Prix machines

Race one filled the air with smoke as a hoard of screaming two-strokes streamed down Paddock Hill for the first of 12 laps. Glen English grabbed the lead with 250 mounted Vines in 2nd. Atkinson, Smith and Grinling completing the top five. 250 rider Roy Flower was the first of our Masters competitors and settled into the top 10 from the off.

Three laps in Atkinson took control at the front with Smith, English, Vines and Moore battling it out for position. Lap nine produced a retirement from Smith whilst circulating well within half a second of Atkinson’s best lap time of 52.131.

Atkinson took the chequered flag, English 2nd, Gary Vines 3rd on-the-road and 1st of the 250s. Chris Moore 3rd 350 and 4th overall. Grinling was 2nd 250 and 5th overall. Roy Flower 3rd 250, 8th overall and the winner of the Masters class.

The second race of the day saw the same protagonists out in front. Having now experienced English’s early race pace, Atkinson took no chances and led flag-to-flag, English second. Luckless Smith was out on lap four. Graham Higlett put in a sterling performance, despite slipping back to 9th mid-race, he pulled it back to 4th overall and 3rd of the 350s at the flag and fastest through the speed trap. Vines, eager to take the 64 horsepower 250 to the quickest 350 runners, again took 3rd on-the-road and first 250. Grinling 2nd and O’Brien pipped Pond to 3rd at the line. Flower once again secured the Masters’ lead.

Lap one shenanigans out of Druids between Lansdowne regulars Tony Perkin and George Thomas plus several others, ensured Perkin grass tracked all the way up the hill, rejoining but now out of touch.

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Mark Edge enjoying his comeback at GP Originals

Day two

Sunday morning saw temperatures drop but by the 14 lap first race there was a glimmer of Spring. Atkinson again led from lights out but with the superbly period machine of English in contention. With help from Steve Carthy Motorcycles, Glen is dedicated to keeping the bike as basic as possible complete with wire wheels, original ignition and single disc. Smith sadly retired again denying the potential in his results. Gary Vines, consistent as ever, took 3rd overall and another win for the 250s. JL Exhausts rider Chris Moore took the 3rd 350 podium.

Rich Grinling is relishing the 1981 250 after many years riding an NXA Honda and reverse cylinder Yamaha. Another 2nd place 250 and 6th on-the-road for him. The O’Brien EMC Rotax had been reaching top speeds of 126.6mph on Saturday and took 3rd 250 once again. Top Master went the way of Mark Edge complete with orange jacket. Previously a top 350 rider back in the day Mark is making a comeback following a life-changing car crash injury. He has lost every memory of his prior racing career but raw ability clearly hasn’t been erased. Mark received the Tony Green Racing special achievement award for his efforts.

The final race of the weekend saw English once again get the holeshot. Smith up the sharp end made it to lap 12 before completing a clean sweep of DNFs. Atkinson took his fourth and final victory from English and Vines. Chris Moore again collected 3rd 350. O’Brien and Dave Grigson respectively 2nd and 3rd of the 250 field.

Performances throughout the field

Strong performances throughout Sunday from Graham Higlett, Liam McCarter, Robert Bowden and James Wilmot with consistent top 10 positions. Gareth Arnold was riding a TZ250H under a special ACU dispensation on the cusp of his 16th birthday. The teenager thoroughly enjoyed the experience and was rewarded with four finishes and an NGK Spark Plugs voucher. Ewan Hamilton was delighted to finish without a single DNF! Cameron Harris was disappointed not to be getting stuck in on the Xclusiv Events 250 following a problem in qualifying, he’ll be one to watch next time out.

Thirty riders benefited from the Fuchs Silkolene early entry reward and collected their goody bags worth over £50 each. The excellent Geartech technical record folders were also collected by rider members.

This event proved such a success due to the very many people chipping in to help out. The GP Originals team would like to thank all those that took on a role to make it happen. A superb team effort.

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Tight at Druids in the opening laps at GP Originals Brands Hatch

Podium backdrop kindly supplied by Raptor Grafix.

SEE THE FULL PRIZE FUND

Our excellent prize fund package for our main championships has been genorously provided by: Xclusiv Group • Maxton Suspension • TTS Exports • AD Modular • Steve Foster Cranes

Each podium finisher received a bottle of Titanic Brewery beer and a Silkolene cap.