Twinshock March 2018

         TWINSHOCK NEWSLETTER MARCH 2018    

Another year and what a super great event to kick start our 2018 racing season.We were lucky to get good weather on the day but the previous rain and snow made the track tricky with a few damp patches here and there,not everyones cup of tea but for most it was superb. Great racing in all classes and the spectators were treated to some brilliant

racing. Our resident photographers ,Barry Gordon, Pete Greenwood and Jack Byers must have hundreds and thousands of great photos ,if you go to farce book you can see them as these guys are top men when it comes to keeping you all happy with the pictures, I think you can contact them through the book if you want to purchase any good quality prints of yourself. Our race reporter was not at Sunday,s event so you can just make up any story you want to tell yer mates. I might do a wee report at the end of this newsletter ,then again mibbee naw.

Just a few points to clear up regarding the youths as some of them think they can tell me the rules. You must be 14 or 15 years old at the start of the current year to race in this group. If you race in any adult race you when you turn 16 you will then be classed as an adult and cannot go back into the youth class.If you race in an adult race when you are 14 or 15 you will be told to stay away till you are 16.There was a wild turd entry in the novice class on Sunday but he had registered a transponder with Graham in the youth class,he was 17 and a very good rider and has been told he will not be allowed in these races again, adult class or don’t come back were my words actually. There was a transponder issue with the youths at Drumclog and only 1 riders transponder was intermittently recording so there will be no points for any youth races at round 1.Graham has been working hard trying to resolve this matter and if he does the youth points will be awarded and if not well sorry lads but it is your transponder that did not work. It is well stated on the race format sheet that every rider gets at signing on that it is the riders responsibility to make sure their transponder works so my ears are closed on the matter. Now when I think about it this was not my job, 3 wise men were elected at the A.G.M. to make sure the youth and novice classes runs smoothly.So Jim Greive, John Hopton, and Graham Anderson,if you do not want to do the job let me know A,S,A,P, AND WE WILL SCRAP THESE CLASSES AS I HAVE ENOUGH TO DO.

I would like to mention at this time about stolen bikes, this seems to be rife at the moment and it may be time soon when a group should be set up to help trace said stolen bikes as the pigs seem unable to do anything about it and our pride and joy going missing can only make a man go mad with anger. Colin Mcunlucky had his new crf Honda stolen recently in the Haddington area and it is still in the area apparently,this bike is red hot and if anyone knows or hears anything please get in touch with him or his maw on facebook,bikes stolen from Milnathort as well recently .If we are all vigilant these bikes will turn up somewhere,sometime, so keep ears and eyes open and help these lads get what is theirs back.

Big Rick has informed me that Dance tickets will be on sale at round 2 at Achnashelloch Farm Lochgilphead at a cost of £15 each,this is the bargain of the millennium when you think of the entertainment you get on the night,this year we will be having a good old fashioned disco, a very super buffet and the now famous twinshock raffle and the trophy presentation .This year the dance is at the Strathaven Hotel. Hamilton Road. Strathaven. ML10 6SZ. Get your tickets soon as there is a limit on the numbers and as they in ayr,when thir gaun thir gaun,nae ony left.

The following teams are in this years Team Challenge and the current points standings are here also.There have been a few transfers in the teams this year and with the help of Mr.Hopton we managed to get 4 teams to the line, the Onestop team and Argyll are past winners and Dial-A-Tow are always in the hunt with the new Colins Kings out to dethrone all and sundry it should make for a good bit of banter again this year.Ithink the current champs,the Red Rockets seem to have shat it big time and after the Drumclog event they would have been at the top of the pile but hey ho there you go the rockets are a no show.The Teams and current points standings are as follows. ONESTOP RACING -- Mike.Vandermerwe 17…James Mclean 16.. Alex Joiner 5.. Willie Penrice 999… Jamie Clark 64 Callum Kilgour 289 . This team scored 183 points to go into a good lead after round 1.                                                                                      

Colins Kings—Colin King 41.. Craig Meehan 811.. Rick Caldwell 44.. Craig Smith 25.. Lewis Munro 178..               Dylan Mulligan 186.. This team are in second spot having scored 113 points at round 1 .                                                                            

Dial-A-Tow --- John Hopton 29.. Shaun Robertson 525…Connor Paton 63… Barry Smith 600… Paul Chiappa 1… Devan Cunningham 213… Lying in 3rd spot with 108 points after round 1.                                                                                Team Argyll --- Grant Mcclure 86.. Kyle Mcclure 84… Allan Sheilds 129… Jordan Doherty 22… Andrew White 136… Alistair Aitken 4 . A score of 76 and fourth place at round 1 but this could easily be improved upon in future events. Each team had at least one no scoring rider so it should get a bit more competitive as the year goes on and they all have a full squad.

I have had some entries sent in with no payment ,also had membership and licences again no payment,just letting you know to not waste your time and a stamp as they go straight in the bin and unpaid entries will be treated as day entries and charged accordingly .

A couple of small things to mention in the meantime,we got an email from a rider that is not happy with the 4 race format as if he got a puncture or something he would not have enough time to fix it. You have about an hour between your races and if that is not time enough to fix a puncture then maybe you need to have a decent mechanic with you or take up another hobby or maybe you could run this club more efficiently than it is being run just now.The club has been crying out for years or at least I have for someone else to take the leadership of this club over so now is your chance .I drove out of Drumclog at 10 minutes to 4 on Sunday if we had a 5 or 6 race format as the complainer wants it would have been at least 1 hour or 2 hours later.I wil listen to constructive ideas for the club but adding 1 or 2 hours onto our day just so Peter can fix a puncture is not one of them.Now I am not saying we will not go to the 5 or 6 block format in future but bike numbers will dictate this not wee flat tyres.

As a sort of silver wedding we will be running a fun scramble on Saturday the 25th August to celebrate 25 great years around this great Scottish country racing off road motorbikes. The format will be the same or similar to our first event which was at Powmill in 1993. There will be NO MONOSHOCK BIKES ALLOWED EXCEPT 1975 YAMAHA YZ which were allowed back then.TAKE NOTE AND DON,T MOAN .THERE WILL BE NO MONOSHOCK BIKES ON THE SATURDAY .Entries will be limited and will cost £20 .Priority will be given to current members that raced at our first event and past class champions in the club.No youths or novice classes.We are trying to organise some entertainment for the Saturday night and as we all know this is not free so everyone whether racing or not will pay £5 to get into the track on the Saturday ,if you think this may bankrupt you just stay away as we are not a charity. We have invited 3 guests of honour who have supported and been with us since the start to come along . We are still working on a race format for the day,maybe peter could bring his wheel and we could have a competition to see who can take the longest to fix a puncture without stopping for a break, all fun things will be considered. Big Rick is determined to have at least one block of races with a Le Mans start ,this should be good as some of our riders could not run a bath never mind run to their bike. Pre 65 and Pre 75 bikes will be most welcome also any rare Twinshock bikes would be a pleasure to see for the thousands of spectators that will be there.Entry forms will be available soon and remember no monoshock bikes on Saturday the 25th August. Entry numbers will be limited .

A wee race report from round 1 by joe under duress from rik-n-gaz.

Cracking weather got us off to a good start at Drumclog and the first up were the mixed bag of pre 77,4 stroke and youths oh aye the evo 125s were in there somewhere as well.In the pre 77 class ,Mr Robertson came out on top with 2 wins and a 2nd from Peter Maxwell with 2 2nds and a win with Callum Wilson taking the 3rd podium spot .The 4 strokes were dominated by ex top Scottish rider Sam Sibbald with 3 wins with Keith Stanford Richard Caldwell and big Ewan Britton fighting for the lower postions and it ended in that order after a close run battle. Jonathon Young ran out a good overall winner in the 125 evo class with a gaggle of fast rders all snapping at his heas but he managed to ward off the following pack with Willie Penrice in 2nd and Ewen Campbell in 3rd. The you class was blighted with transponder issues and has been declared void although a mention must go to Kye Mcclure and Harrison Grossett who both rode really well on the day.

Next up was the Twinshock and over 50s combined.The over 50s was dominated by ex road racer John Crawford who has taken to this racing like the proverbial duck and boy did he fly,he was chased by a gaggle of geese but they could not halt his flight to the winning post,the best of the rest were John Lamont,Archie Baird and Keith Birse in that order . The Twinshock class saw new kid on the block Brian Alexander take 3 convincing wins but hard on his heals were the static sag brothers Paul and Smitch but the could not make an impression,but Smitch did say he could have won if he was on his black bike .The 250 Twinshock class also saw a rising star in the shape of Callum Klgour on the yz,,a rare sight these days I must say taking the 3 wins from the H.V.A. sponsored Husqvarna of Graham Miller and THE RM mounted Lewis Hart filling the podium.It is good to see such a diverse range of bikes taking top honours.

The Evolution and Two Stroke ran together in block 3 and very exciting stuff at the front and right through the field,The evo star was Paul Johnstone and boy was he flying but the chasing pack were also on fire,Barry the fish Gillan rode out of his fishing suit for second overall with Tam Grant and Roy Potts finished in joint 3rd such was the closeness in this class. The 2 stroke class was won by Gregor Campbell from Peter the puncture O,neil with David Simmonds and Bryan Colligan tying for second with Angus Tosh only a point further back.

The Monoshock open class was dominated by the flying John Adamson and what a show of skill and determination on his 2 stroke screamer,he took the 3 wins to claim the overall with Colin Mcluckie just pipping Greg Maxwell for second with the following group all jostling for position at the end .A mention must go to day members the Campbell brothers Douglas and Lewis,Stephen Walker and David Plank who all rode well in the mono,s and Finlay White in the 4 stroke class.

We now move onto round two at the superb track at Lochgilphead. Sean Doherty ( you cannot keep a good man down ) is at this time working on a big digger re doing the track for our event in a few weeks time,we thank Sean as he is an inspiration to us all and we should thank our lucky stars for being healthy and fit to race. So get those entries in now and save a tenner.Round 2 on the 29th of April ,oh shit the wifes birthday,tough I am going twinshocking.

Seeyallatachnashelloch jose signing off

Thursday, March 28, 2024
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