A story of Grass Roots Racing part 4

The bike had been repaired following Mick’s last frustrating outing in the BEMSEE championship at Cadwell Park and a new clutch had been installed, which hopefully would ensure 100% reliability over what was going to be a full and crucial two days of action.

With Rounds 7 to 10, originally scheduled to take place at Anglesey, cancelled due to Welsh Government COVID restrictions, and with the final two rounds at Pembrey, also in Wales, to be held at the end of September, still in some doubt, the pressure was on to register some points and push for a top three position in the Class 8C championship at the former airfield circuit situated just south of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. 

Keen to re-acquaint himself with the track layout Mick was up early on Saturday morning taking his usual mountain bike ride around the 1.5 mile ribbon of tarmac, whilst mechanic Barry made some final adjustments.

Mick had a tricky morning qualifying session, which he ended in 9^th place, the track layout which features three long straights, two of which were into a strong wind, favouring his rivals on their bigger machines, who were able to exploit their extra speed and power.

Adjustments were made to try and make best use of the comparatively small 350 Yamaha’s power unit, but Round 3 was the first race of the day, so there was no opportunity to test out the changes. 

Dry and sunny conditions ensued as the grid formed with the “Northern Monkey”, as he is affectionately known in the CRMC paddock, taking up his position on the third row of the grid.  A good start ensued, the bike went well and Mick did well to retain his position, despite still struggling on the straights, completing the race in 9^th place overall and 6^th in Class.



After some further “fettling” on the bike from Barry, Mick was looking forward to Round 4, the first race after lunch, which again would take place in dry conditions. 

In another very competitive race in the midfield bunch Mick held on for a very combative 8^th in Class.

Reflecting on the days two outings on which Mick had proved to be up with the pace and with some positive progress made with the bike, 18 championship points was, on balance, a reasonable return, and Mick was able to settle down to a good night’s sleep in the back of his Transit van, with some optimism for the following days races.



Sunday morning arrived, and once again conditions were dry and sunny for Round 5, the third race of Mick’s weekend schedule.  Once again, after further adjustments had been made, Mick, with the bike giving him increased confidence, was able to push hard. 

But after a race long battle with David Lenton (No. 60) , who before the weekends event had held a slim 2 point lead over the “Northern Monkey” in the battle for Class 8C championship 3^rd place honours, Mick had to concede to a further 8^th in Class, losing out to his arch rival by less than 0.2 of a second.

Lining up on the grid for Round 6, Mick was only too pleased to see the Derbyshire Dales, only a short distance away from the circuit, were shrouded in rain.  A wet track would definitely help his cause. His smaller, less powerful and nimbler bike was definitely more suited to the rain that was clearly going to come into the equation during the course of the 8 lap race.

Sure enough, the heaven’s opened and Mick was able to take full advantage, passing a number of larger capacity bikes, including David Lenton, in a daring out-braking move on the approach to The Hairpin.

Pushing hard, Mick survived a scary near high side, which I’m sure will be recalled over many years to his grandchildren, as he accelerated away from the same bend on the penultimate lap of the race, eager to pick up more places while the conditions were in his favour. 

Crossing the finishing line 4^th in Class, the best result of the weekend, having picked up six places from his grid position and 39 valuable championship points over a busy weekend, Mick had a big smile on his face, his only regret was that the poor weather had not come earlier in the day.

In what has been a very frustrating and short season, due to both COVID and reliability problems this was undoubtedly Mick’s best performance of the season.  Last meeting it was a dejected Mick who left the Cadwell Park paddock, but this weekend he left beaming from ear to ear.

“Grass Roots” racing summed up over the course of just two meetings.

Mick’s next outing, although not confirmed, is likely to be at Donington Park over the weekend of September 5^th and 6^th, when he’ll be hoping to repeat his CRMC Darley Moor form and move up the championship table in the latest BEMSEE meeting. 



If he’s there, Pistonclick, in the form of :DEEGEE: Motorsport Photography will be there too

You can see more of David’s work here