Race Reports
2015 R4 Stirling
Rd 4 Townhead Farm Stirling 14/6/15
Report by Allan Hughes
Round 4 of the Scottish Twinshock Championship took place on the flowing grass land track at Townhead Farm near to Stirling, The week running up to race day was very warm and sunny but overnight rain and drizzle throught the morning left the track a tad slippery and soft in places but this did not deter the hardy racers of the Scottish Twinshock Club,
First to test the condition of the track were the pre77 bikes, And for the second meeting in a row John Mitchell was in dominant form his three race wins gave him the overall and maximum championship points, Richie McFadden and Ritchard Sharpe battled it out for second overall with McFadden taking two seconds and a third to edge it at the end of the day, Sharpe with a second,third and a forth claimed the last spot on the podium.
The four stroke class threw up some close racing with club chairman big Ricky Caldwell not having it all his own way as Callum Wilson fighting his way to the front in all three races for a well deserved overall win, Caldwell took second overall with a third in race one and two second places, I think being beaten in race one by club secretary Joe Mclean must have fired the big man up for race two and three but Mclean was nipping at his heels and took third overall.
Once again the over fifty class was dominated by Davie Pullar with three gate to flag wins the slippery conditions early on did not seem to slow Pullar at all and maximum points was the reward, James Grevie chased Pullar in all three races but could not match his pace but was happy with three second places for second overall, Jock Cameron had his best day of the season so far with a determined ride in all three races for third overall and a good haul of points.
Club co founder Bill Bruce pulled the pin on his very fast Can Am in the 250 twinshock class for three race wins and maximum points for an overall win, Mike Vandermerwe chased Bruce hard in all three races and looked on the limit at times with his Maico bucking and weaving on the grassy surface but Bruce looked like he was just doing enough to stay in front, with three second places Vandermerwe took second overall, Former 250 champ Alex Joiner seemed off the pace at stirling with two thirds and a fifth for third overall and dropping to second in the championship.
The open Twinshock class has seen some great racing at the front with Craig Smith showing champ Paul Chiappa who the boss is this season, Well for stirling Chiappa was having none of it taking the first two race wins and working very hard to keep Smith at bay but by the end of the third race Chiappa seemed to run out of steam and Smith made his move for the win, Chiappa with two wins and a second took the overall on the day with Smith second on the podium with a win and two seconds Brian Allardyce finished the day third overall with consistant finishes.
Out came the 125 evo class Championship leader Roy Potts had his work cut out for this round as young Co Durham man Paul Baxter took the fight all the way to the last race, Potts won race one with Baxter second then Baxter fired right back winning race two with Potts second setting up a last race show down, Potts and Baxter were running side by side in race three swapping places every lap but then Baxter made a mistake and cross rutted and lost alot of ground, Potts held on for the win with Baxter crossing the line third, two wins and a second gave Potts the overall with Baxter second with a win a second and a third and with his second place in the last race Brian colligan took the last place on the podium.
The open evolution championship just keeps getting bigger round by round ex British Superbike rider John Crawford was out again after a wee taster of the action at the first round back in march at Leuchars, But the man to watch was Brian Alexander who romped to three straight wins unchallenged for first overall and the lead in the championship, Tom Grant looks to be back to fitness with three second places the former evo champ suffering a bad injury during the off season second on the podium was his just rewards for a hard days racing, Gordon Morrison tried hard to get on terms with the pace of Grant in the third race and after some brilliant passes from both men only 4 thousands of a second was the margin between them at the finish line with grant just edging it, Morrison had to settle for third overall on the day and now drops to second in the championship.
Jason Martin continued his domination of the open two stroke class for moderen monoshock bikes the yamaha mounted Martin was loving the early slippy conditions and powered his very quick yz 250 to the overall on the day. Lewis Farrow was out racing with the club for the first time this year on his 125 and chased Martin hard for second overall never more than a few bike lengths apart all day, Third overall was Jim Baxter the Scottish veteran showing the young guns a clean pair of heels but could just not match the pace of Martin and Farrow, Third overall was a great result for Baxter as he was more than likely racing before most of the others were born.
Last up was the Monoshock championship races Mark Wilson was the man to beat with two race wins and a second for the overall, A change in bike in the off season from yamaha to kawasaki has payed off for the fife man as the results keep coming, Neil Chatham finished off the day with a win a second and a third for second overall to move within one point of the championship leader Ross Fitzsimmons who claimed the last step on the podium, with only one point between them at the top of the table and different winners at each meeting this championship could go right down to the wire.
Pre77
1st J Mitchell
2nd R McFadden
3rd R Sharpe
4th J Britton
5th G Britton
6th A Adair
4 Stroke
1st C Wilson
2nd R Caldwell
3rd J McLean
4th E Britton
5th J McDonald
6th D McKell
Over 50s
1st D Pullar
2nd J Grevie
3rd J Cameron
4th K Birse
5th D Bruce
6th I Robertson
250 Twinshock
1st B Bruce
2nd M Vandermerwe
3rd A Joiner
4th J Hill
5th M Dobie
6th L Hart
500 Twinshock
1st P Chiappa
2nd C Smith
3rd B Allardyce
4th C Robertson
5th W Pentland
6th C Baird
125 Evo
1st R Potts
2nd P Baxter
3rd B Colligan
4th R McArthur
5th W Penrice
6th G Peterson
Open Evo
1st B Alexander
2nd T Grant
3rd G Morrison
4th D Ross jnr
5th A Reid
6th M Hannah
2 Stroke Open
1st J Martin
2nd L Farrow
3rd J Baxter
4th S Rennie
5th C Meechan
6th R Hamilton
Mono Members
1st M Wilson
2nd N Chatham
3rd R Fitzsimmons
4th A Shields
5th C McLuckie
6th S Doherty