Some like it hot

As summer finally made an appearance, our tribe of two-stroke, post-classic racers came to the amphitheater of speed that is Brands Hatch. Hosted by NG Road Racing, the weekend was all set to be another two-stroke fest with GP Originals kicking off the timeline from the ’70s to early ’80s and the ACU National 125 and 250 Championship races taking us through the ’90s to 2000s.

With 21 TZs on our entry sheet, numbers had improved from the previous two rounds. However, we were sad to be missing our four 2024-committed riders who are out through injury. Several of which aim to be back fighting fit for the next outing.

Paddock life 

Lee Davies and his team from NG Road Racing made us most welcome and pulled out all the stops to get us camped out together in the outer paddock. We were keen to make sure that we can get our (sometimes finicky) machines to the tunnel quickly and minimise delays to the holding area for the host club.

Friday dress rehearsals

With a full day of testing available some of us took the opportunity to enjoy Brands Hatch in the sun. Simon Hunt and his team juggled the two Dennis Trollope 125s and 5KE plus the Matt Goddard supported 350. Simon’s youngest son Spencer tried out the 350 for size and was looking very comfortable on it.

Reg and Jean delivered another excellent scrutineering service for our riders, saving us the sweaty push up the hill. Former-250L GP Originals rider, Mike McDonnell also lent a hand, keen to build experience under his newly acquired tech ticket. 

Not in the script 

The last late arrivals were comfortably parked up and ready for practice on Saturday morning. Some overnight rain cleared and the track was dry with a fresher feel to the air. It was good to see Chris Moore back from the TT with the Outhwaite 5KE and his own TZ350. It was not to be a lucky day for the team as the 5KE took an uncharacteristic seizure in the warm-up session resulting in a trip to A&E. Thankfully despite seeing stars he is relatively OK. Thank you to a spectating Andy Glasgow who drove Chris back to the circuit from hospital whilst still recovering from his own broken leg!

Simon Hunt became the next Paddock Hill victim as the front brake bound on causing a roll through the deep gravel. This ended their weekend on the GP Originals machine; 10/10 for effort as they spent the evening flushing the engine through for a tentative attempt Sunday morning, but to no avail.

Next in line for the drama to unfold was a welcome returnee to GP Originals, Dorian Eardley. He too was launched out of Druids when his gear oil made a break for freedom resulting in a broken collarbone – we all send our best wishes for a speedy recovery from the op scheduled for mid-week.

Scene one, qualifying 

Making a welcome change from the traditional March meetings at Brands we were all champing at the bit to see how the lap times might improve with summer track conditions. To-date our fastest outright lap had been set by Gary Vines on his 250 in March 2022 at 0:51.575, this was in qualifying therefore not an official lap record, impressive stuff!

Phil Atkinson was ever-keen to show that his 350 could challenge Gary’s 250 lap and under the June skies produced 0:51.311 for the 350 Motocarb MotoPole and £50 cash. Two other returning 350 GPO riders thrashed out the next two front row slots. Dan Jackson 0.712 down for P2 with Mike Smith another 0.782 adrift for P3 of the Cooper Buckley supported 350cc field.

Our AD Modular supported Masters are getting closer to the young-guns. Roy Chapman continued his form to take fastest of the over-55s at 53.294 from Glen English just 0.527 behind, then Nick Williamson 3rd Master by a mere 0.155.

The Goodings vs Linton tussle revved up the Maxton supported green plates as Grant pipped Mark by 0.5 to the 250 Motocarb MotoPole and £50 cash. Yet another returning GP Originals rider Nick Massey took 3rd fastest 250 as Siân Brooks limped away after two laps with no gear selection.

Dramatic performances

NG delivers excellent track time with a morning warm-up session, dedicated timed qualifying and a 12 lap Saturday race. It was our turn in the timetable to be late in the day, but after a slightly cloudy morning the sun came beaming out for our race.

Phil Atkinson took off on the Rose MOT Centre TZ350, keen to put some space in to Jackson who was his closest rival in the absence of Brands-fan Phil Stead. Straight into fast consistent laps he held the lead to the flag and added another 25 points to his immaculate tally. Jackson switched back to the TZ from his earlier Lansdowne G50 outing with ease, taking 2nd 350 from local boy Josh Wainwright, fast and smooth on the second Chris Rose machine. The JW/Rose entry is a two pronged attack by a pair of MOT centres flanking the East and West of London! Mike Smith denied us the chance to witness the benefit of his packed racing calendar with a retirement after just one timed lap with clutch and ignition gremlins.

Roy Chapman rose to the added pressure from an audience of family and colleagues. He finished 4th on-the-road and 1st Master fending off the attentions of Nick Williamson and Andy Taylor. Nick collected 2nd Master from Dannisport-clad John Bolsover who admitted to lacking confidence at the short but challenging circuit.

Andy Taylor made a charge through the field, high on adrenaline from a back-to-back dash off the CB500 to make our race. Crew-chief Julie efficiently co-ordinated the handover which helped achieve 5th spot for Taylor just 0.687 from Chapman.

In the spotlight

Glen English fresh from a convincing Lansdowne win on the G50 failed to make his usual epic start and found himself fighting through from 11th after lap one. He soon discovered he lacked efficient brakes as he bumped past Bolsolver and had more than a brush with Linton at Druids, wisely he parked it there.

Mark Linton’s cunning plan was foiled by English as he had already made good his escape from 250 rival Grant Goodings. He had several riders between them and was gaining on fellow Master, 350-mounted Williamson. After the bump with Glen he lost ground and gave Bolsover and Goodings the opportunity to recommence battle. Bolsover gathered up his thoughts and got going to take 3rd Master as Goodings pipped Linton by 0.033 to get his hands on 1st 250. The pair produced best laps split by just 0.001, Linton’s 54.062 gave him the Staffordshire Honda Fastest 250cc lap of the weekend and £50 for his efforts. Both riders were on Continental tyres for Saturday, Grant switching back to Avons on Sunday.

Andy Green had pulled out all the stops to make the meeting by rescheduling his work commitments and flying back from Japan with no time to spare! Despite the jet-lag he rounded out the top 10 on his distinctive RAFMSA TZ350. Next on the road was Siân for 3rd of the 250 runners, grateful to partner Steve for finding and fixing the gearbox problem (whilst also trying to resolve a sick 125). She had Nick Massey for company for the first half of the race on his newly acquired 250L, the film armourer chose his weapon well and is looking like a serious contender. 

Stuart Rankin was delighted to be presented with Tony Green’s special achievement award earlier in the day for his perseverance at Pembrey with the Maxton on his first visit to GP Originals. He and Simon Vanderplank collected valuable points in both the 350 and Masters Championship.

Curtain call on Sunday

Sunday was looking red hot as temperatures soared. Nick Bedford was booked in for just the one day but his practice didn’t start well when gearbox bits exited the cases along with the oil. With several riders down and a clean-up job at Clearways we waited to resume.

The unusual heat hampered the track cleaning but eventually the NG team took to the decision to give all classes one 12 lap race instead of the two slightly shorter ones in the original schedule. This was an effective solution and made sure everyone got the chance to race properly in a decent length contest. It had been a long day but our new format meant we would be away a little earlier than previously anticipated.

Andy Taylor is topping the charts in the Open 500 NG Championship so couldn’t afford to rest up. Back-to-back races were further exacerbated by the chain falling off the 500 as he finished. He chucked the bike against the fence and sprinted back to get the TZ flagging down a Sublime Designs rider to cadge a backy, bike on the limiter to alert pedestrians of their approach… coming through!

At the lights Dan Jackson shot off to claim the holeshot but Atkinson made the pass before the end of the first lap, all riders safely navigating any remaining cement dust. Wainwright gave chase followed by Chapman and a buzzing Andy Taylor. Atkinson brought it home comfortably as first of the Cooper Buckley 350 contenders setting a new Brands Hatch GP Originals lap record in the process on lap five at 51.435. All this plus the Staffordshire Honda fastest 350 lap that comes with £50 cash. Jackson held 2nd spot from Wainwright who had a fired-up Taylor to deal with. The pair began swapping places mid-race in a cracking exchange, the final 350 podium went the way of Wainwright with Taylor just 0.049 in his tracks.

High drama

On lap three Mike Smith exited Druids, making great progress he accelerated down the hill then discovered he had no brakes. Plowing a furrow up the grassy bank he managed to jump off before the bike addressed the tyre wall. Sadly his Dad dropped his ice-cream but other than that he thankfully only suffered a bit of a dead leg. Great to see him in good humour and keen to get back out next time.

Chapman is a film industry Prop Master during the week and switches to GPO Master at the weekend. On his way to 5th-on-the-road and 1st Master his best lap was only 0.003 down on Jackson’s in 2nd spot. He eclipsed his own Masters lap record by over half a second with a 52.950, the Contis are certainly working well for him.

John Bolsover had made an excellent start chasing down Chapman in the early laps until Nick Williamson and Glen English barged through, exchanging places in a final lap ding dong. Nick collected 2nd Master, Glen 3rd by just 0.580 and John 4th by 0.622. Excellent racing.

Still in Master-mode our 250s continued their tête a tête as Drew Peacock rider Linton made Goodings submit for 10 laps. Goodings finally pushed on hard in lap 11 to slip through just 0.324 ahead of Linton.

Siân Brooks’ closest 250 rival Massey couldn’t fix a problem following Saturday’s race which allowed her to reserve 3rd 250. She dipped into the 55s chasing down a flight-weary Andy Green who was paying the price for his superb effort to make the hot and challenging meeting. Stuart Rankin completed his 2nd GP Originals meeting on his fine Maxton and is looking forward to trying out his new TGR silencers! Simon Vanderplank was disappointed to miss out on another start after a DNF in the ACU race on his GPO machine.

It was great to see Spike from Ragged Edge Racing come to spectate, don’t forget to visit his website for your bodywork.

Thank you again to the riders and teams that are supporting the only dedicated two-stroke, post-classic race to be found anywhere. We know racing at GPO is not the easy route to a trophy – but that’s not why our riders go racing.

Several had driven and even flown, many miles, reorganised their work schedules and worked through the night to get back on track – this effort is always noted and appreciated. Our riders of all abilities and budgets are going home with the satisfaction that they have made a genuine achievement.

Cash prizes and further rewards

Our excellent prize fund package for our three title championships has been generously provided by: Cooper Buckley • Maxton Suspension • AD Modular

Maxton Suspension 250cc results

• £50 Motocarb Motopole 250cc: Grant Goodings
• £50 Staffordshire Honda 250cc fastest lap (0:54.062): Mark Linton
• £200 1st 250cc: Grant Goodings
• £150 2nd 250cc: Mark Linton
• £100 3rd 250cc: Siân Brooks
• £75 4th 250cc: Nick Massey

Cooper Buckley 350cc results

• £50 Motocarb Motopole 350cc: Phil Atkinson
• £50 Staffordshire Honda 350cc fastest lap (0:51.435): Phil Atkinson
• £200 1st 350cc: Phil Atkinson
• £150 2nd 350cc: Dan Jackson
• £100 3rd 350cc: Josh Wainwright
• £75 4th 350cc: Andrew Taylor
• £50 5th 350cc: Roy Chapman

AD Modular Masters (over-55s) results

• £75 1st placed Master: Roy Chapman
• £50 2nd placed Master: Nick Williamson
• £30 3rd placed Master: John Bolsover
• NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Grant Goodings

Next points scorers share of remaining prizes:

• £50: Nick Williamson
• Ragged Edge £50 voucher: John Bolsover
• Ragged Edge £50 voucher: Andy Green

Awards throughout the field

• Continental tyre draw: Phil Atkinson
• Dennis Trollope Racing Spares chain draw: Simon Vanderplank
• Dannisport gloves draw: Roy Chapman
• White Diamond Detail Products 20 early entry rewards
• Raffle top prize Roose Motorsport £100 voucher: Simon Vanderplank

Standing ovation for the team

Thank you to the NG Road Racing team for sorting out the extremes of racing timetables to give everyone as much as possible. Always grateful to Reg, Jean and Mike for easing the rush of getting scrutineered. Thank you to Tony Green for supplying and manning the rollers (and dragging them up there!) thanks too to Glen and team for looking after them in their garage. Ian Longstaff, Mark Linton, Carys and Ross looked after the awning, tea urn, raffles, early entry rewards and their excellent prize giving organisation and delivery. Jemma Grayson remotely delivered our points with the aid of Richard Freeman who spotted and fixed the class errors on the Timing sheets. Thank you to Tisha for saving the day by bringing us much needed tea bags!  

Thank you again to riders and teams for sharing, helping each other out. Even our injured visitors Darrell and Andy for repeated race office errands and rescuing downed comrades from the clutches of A&E.

Photography kindly provided by:
PK Photomedia and Paul Durbajlo

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