2005 Season
comes to an end
Aaron's
final meeting of the year came at a typically Autumnal Cadwell Park.
Having not ridden the Full Circuit at Cadwell before, we went there purely
to learn the circuit & draw a line under what has been a terrific Rookie
season for Aaron & Activ8/Stealth Racing in the
New Era Superclub 125GP Series. Top of the list was to NOT crash the bike,
as Paul Collins now has the 1996 Honda up for sale (any last minute repair
bills would hit the Christmas "wish list" very hard indeed!!), so Aaron
just took each race as it came, and had a really enjoyable, no pressure
weekends racing. With Aaron unable to better his 5th place in the final
Championship standings, we had contemplated giving the meeting a miss, but
as money had been getting tighter as the year went on, we weren't sure
when or if we would see the New Era Paddock again, so we also used this as
an opportunity to say goodbye to the friends we have made this year.
All weekend both myself and Aaron struggled with the
set-up of the bike, and his results showed that with a 9th and 10th on
Saturday, and a 9th and 11th on Sunday, but it has to be said, some of the
changes we were making were a little extreme with the usual lack of track
time causing us problems, but despite results not going
Aaron's way we still left Cadwell happy with our first "proper"
season's racing under our belts.
We have to say a big Thank You to all of the people
who have helped us this year. Paul Collins for the loan of the bike,
Activ8 for the great Hideout leathers, KBC Europe for their 3rd year
supplying Aaron's quality crash helmets, Putoline and Motrax for their
discounted products, Dave & Wendy Laundon and Norfolk Commercials
for their generous financial contributions, and finally to all those
people who have not only supported Aaron this year, but offered words of
praise and encouragement, you've all been a great help.
2005 has been brutally expensive for us as a family,
and by the end of the season we find ourselves financially drained. Our
plans to take Aaron to BSB in the 125GP Academy Cup, or even a year at the
MRO Nationals for 2006 are both non-starters. Two Stroke racing is just
too expensive for us to be able to move Aaron on to the next level, and
with more & more newer and faster bikes competing at Club level, even
doing another year in Superclub would prove too much of a financial burden
for us, so it looked like we were going to have to bring Aaron's promising
career to a premature end, that was until we were contacted by a good
friend and fellow local racer Jonty Dixon just a couple of weeks ago.
Jonty
was Superclub CB500 Cup Champion in 2004, and hearing of our position, and
being one of Aaron's admirers, he asked if Aaron would like to give the
CB500 Cup a go for 2006. Our initial thought was that he'd be too small to
hustle a 500cc road bike around our Nations finest tracks, but Aaron was
dead keen to give it a shot. What Jonty was proposing was to set up a 3
rider Junior CB500 Team, with him in a role as a "mentor", we just needed
bikes! That's where his good friend John Waller came in. John recently
purchased 3 of this years top CB500's, bought himself a race truck, so all
was needed now was 3 "young guns" to complete the set-up. Aaron was top of
Jonty's list, and a track day at Rockingham National Circuit was
organised. We've just come back from the Track Day, and
after watching Aaron throw the CB500 around with considerable ease, and
look like he was having a great time doing it (I don't believe I've ever
seen the lad have so much fun!) we've decided that the 2006 CB500 Cup is
definitely for us!
The deal is such that we will still have to pay for
Aaron's racing, but it will all be budgeted into a package (similar to the
R6 Cup) so we will know by the start of the season exactly how much money
is needed to complete the year. The day at Rockingham went so well that
the 2006 season can't come fast enough for Aaron.
My
job over the Winter is to spread the word about Aaron and his new venture,
and to
try to raise as much financial support as I possibly can so that 2007
doesn't see us once again contemplating having to bring Aaron's dreams of
being a top Road Racer to an end purely for financial reasons. Support has
already come in from top photographer Konrad Beeson (www.photokon.com -
supplier of the pics from Rockingham) who will Sponsor Aaron's Hideout
leather suit for the 2006 season (expect plenty of "bling" in the suit
styling for 2006!!). This ride gives me the opportunity
to hand Aaron over to people who know how to take Aaron on to the next
level of his career as he will be surrounded by people who will know how
to get the best out of both him & his machine. Although we could
have never envisaged this change of direction towards four strokes this
early in Aaron's career, he's now looking forward to his newest challenge
with a hunger I've never seen from him before - James
Toseland won the CB500 Cup at the same age, and it didn't do him any harm
- onwards and upwards I think!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New
Era Club Championships, Snetterton, September 17th/18th
It has to be said that
this year has been the most challenging so far for both myself & Aaron.
For my part, as I'm probably one of the most mechanically inept members of
the 125GP paddock (lorry drivers with no racing experience don't tend to
make the best mechanics!!) I've had to try to pick things up as we've gone
along, and although still not impressive to watch, I think I've come on
leaps & bounds!! Aaron on the other hand has been outstanding. With nobody
to advise him, he has constantly given me excellent feedback regarding
both the bike's performance & handling problems, trouble is I've never
been able to instantly convert his feedback into making the bike go
faster!! We have however enjoyed our experiences together, and are now
really starting to gel & work together as a "Team".
Saturday
This meeting was a good
example of how far we have come. Quite a few of the 125 riders had
attended the practice day on Friday (we were once again excluded due to
Aaron's age), and had already figured out that weather conditions for this
meeting were to play a huge part in bike performance. First practice was
wet, and Aaron set about getting used to the tricky conditions, finishing
2nd fastest overall, just 3 tenths off the fastest time. Qualifying was
dry, with spits of rain in the air, but this is when we noticed that a
massive increase in air pressure, and an equally large drop in humidity
compared to our "good" carburetion settings, meant the bike had lost quite
a lot of power. Aaron likened it to "riding with the brakes on". He
qualified 6th, but a second covered 2nd to 11th places, so we new Aaron
would have his work cut out if we couldn't squeeze some more speed out of
the Activ8/Stealth Honda. I worked frantically on my carburetion
calculations, and went for a bit of a gamble.
Race 1 saw Aaron
bog down a little at the start, leaving him way down the field. He
fought back up to 6th place, and was able to pass riders in a battle for
7th to 4th place, but was always passed back down the painfully long
Revett Straight. He finished a close race in 6th place, but was becoming
increasingly frustrated at his lack of power, so I made a couple more
changes for Race 2.
Race 2
and Aaron started better, jumping straight up into
second place. He was able to lap at the same pace as race leader Billy
Wood, and seemed to be pushing for the lead. With just 2 laps remaining,
he was "mugged" down the Revett Straight by Shane Simpson, John Lea & Zak
Key, pushing him back down to 5th. Aaron's body language said it all,
frustration & disappointment at not being able to stay in front due to an
obvious lack of speed meant he settled for 5th. Saturday night was spent
going over & over what could be the cause, and I worked on the bike late
into the night to make sure things would go better on Sunday.
Sunday
Qualifying went much
better, Aaron was as fired up as I've ever seen him, and on a dry circuit
he Qualified 2nd, just 7 tenths off pole.
Race 1 saw Aaron
get a flyer, and set off after race leader Michael Wright (local lad &
BSB/MRO regular). He was able to hold him to about a second lead, but as
the race went on, Aaron slipped back into the clutches of Billy Wood and
Shane Simpson. Billy dropped out with 2 laps to go, leaving Aaron in a
safe 3rd, but he clearly wasn't happy at the end of the race with the
bike's performance again. Towards the end of the race, the bike was
bogging out of the 1st gear corners, and didn't appear to be revving out
down the straights. I had put this down to a change in conditions from
Qualifying, and assumed the bike was just running rich. I leaned it off
for Race 2, and Aaron was determined to give it everything to try to
salvage something from the weekend.
As Aaron came round on
his out lap, he pulled in the pits, complaining that the bike was cutting
out, and not revving, so that was that, game over. I really felt for
Aaron, he had deserved much more than I could deliver, but Aaron, as
philosophical as ever, refused to lay the blame anywhere, and put it all
down to plain bad luck, and felt sure we'd both learnt from this
experience, and would know better next time. (It never ceases to amaze me
how much more mature 14 year olds can be than adults!!) It turned
out that a reed petal had broken on the out lap, just another example of
how a part costing pence can still ruin your weekend!! The really sad
thing is that, with our inability to do any testing between race meetings
due to Aaron's age, we have had to learn by our mistakes at Race Meetings
where EVERY lap counts.
We have decided to
attend the final Superclub round at Cadwell Park on October 8th/9th. Aaron
has thought long & hard about it, and feels he needs to finish the season
on a high, so we'll be there, whatever the weather, and I've known Cadwell
to get all 4 seasons in one day!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Era
Superclub, Brands Hatch (Indy), September 11th
We nearly didn't make it to this
meeting, Aaron has taken the death of his close friend & sparring partner
from his minimoto days, Chris Jones, very badly. Chris was always an
inspiration to Aaron, always the rider he knew he had to beat, and the
benchmark Aaron used to improve himself not only as a rider, but as a
person. Chris tragically lost his life at the Cadwell Park BSB meeting on
August 29th in a start line accident. Although Chris was only 2 months
older than Aaron, he always seemed to be more confident, more mature, and
above all faster than anyone he came up against. Chris was a great talent,
sadly wasted, and our heartfelt condolences go out to all of his family,
especially his sister Lucy, and his mum & dad Pam & Clive.
Knowing that we were to attend
Chris's funeral the day after this meeting meant that our hearts weren't
really in this one, but Aaron being the kind of lad we know him to be
wanted to give it a go, as he felt sure that's what Chris would've wanted,
so we made him a black armband, and had it embroidered with Chris's
trademark number 9. Aaron didn't look at all focused for the free practice
session, but managed to post a time just under 2 seconds off the pole
time, not bad considering there was a quality field, and quite a few
"track specialists" present this time. We had a little chat before
Qualifying, and made a couple of suspension changes which seemed to settle
Aaron down a bit, as he posted a time just a second off his best, good
enough for 6th place on the grid in awful conditions, as there seemed to
be rain in the air all the time, and in the damp conditions Aaron was
suffering with a misted visor.
Just as Aaron left pit lane with
a dry set-up for Race 1, the drizzle started to fall heavier, but the race
was declared dry, so he had to make the best of it. As before in these
conditions, Aaron just couldn't seem to make anything work for him,
struggling to find any grip at all, and once again suffered misting
problems with his visor. He finished the race in 12th place, not what we'd
hoped for, but he & his machine were in one piece, and he was praying for
a dry Race 2!
Race 2 began dry, and with
a change of helmet we managed to cure his vision woes. Aaron started well,
and held his 6th place off the line & round Paddock. It was once
again Druids where Aaron was a victim of a bit of 1st lap "bunching", and
found himself almost in the gravel & back in 9th place. This seemed to
give Aaron the spark he needed to fire himself up, and for the rest of the
race, with rain once again in the air & him on slicks, he set about
scrapping his way through the field to finish 6th, just half a second off
the 5th place rider. Aaron was lapping over a second a lap faster than all
of the riders around him at the finish, and set his fastest lap on the
final lap, with was only 3 tenths off the fastest lap of the day!
For too many reasons this was not
a meeting which any of us enjoyed very much, but was one which Aaron felt
he had to do. We've done nothing else for the past 2 weeks but think
about Chris, and the family he leaves behind. It makes you appreciate even
more what you have, and makes you want to hold on to it even more tightly,
but Aaron is a very strong-minded, determined person, and it is his wish
to carry on with his racing career. Saying that, Chris Jones (or "Mini CJ"
as all of his mates in the minimoto paddock knew him) will always hold a
very special place in all of our hearts & will be sadly missed.
We intend to do an extra meeting
this weekend, as Aaron will contest the final round of the New Era Club
Championships at Snetterton, lets hope it gives him the lift he needs at
the moment. After Brands we don't think Aaron is within reach of 3rd place
in the Superclub Championships anymore, and as the final round is to be
held at Cadwell Park in October, that may be one we have to give a miss.
Thanks once again to all of Aaron's supporters & sponsors for making
Aaron's Rookie GP125 year such an impressive one. We're certain his
experiences in 2005, both good & bad, will spur him on to greater things
in 2006.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Era
Superclub, Snetterton, 28th/29th August
This meeting
fell unfortunately in the middle of our family Summer holiday, where we
had arranged to stay with friends
in the Calvados Region of Northern France
for 2 weeks. As always, me (Dad) & Aaron showed true "biker grit" in
coming home for the 2 day meeting, and returning to France to finish off
our hols!! Sunday Qualifying went well, with Aaron in 2nd place, just
under a second behind Series
leader Lee Costello, and Aaron backed that up with a 2nd place in Race
1,although he did survive a really scary moment when Sam Burman high-sided
her Honda right in front of him, forcing him to take avoiding action
to narrowly miss the stricken rider - unfortunately Sam suffered a broken
ankle in the crash, which also wrecked her bike, and will take no further
part in this year's proceedings - get well soon Sam). Race 2 didn't go so
well, as the Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda suffered a flooding carburettor
at the end of the warm-up lap, meaning Aaron wasn't able to start the
race. The problem was fixed straight away, and the bike was prepared for
Monday's two races, but Aaron was once again left to sleep on the fact
that his chances of finishing higher than 4th in the Championship were
dwindling with another unlucky DNF.
Aaron didn't seem to be able to match his times from Sunday in Monday
Qualifying, but still qualified 3rd fastest. He started Race 1 well, and
lead for 3 laps, Lee Costello passed him on lap 4, as did Alex Heaton, but
the red flags came out soon after when a Supersport 400 hit Jamie Mossey
on his
Metrakit
80 on the Senna Straight. For some reason it was decided to stop the field
on the start line, but as the bikes slowed to a halt, with Aaron, Lee &
Alex on the front of the pack, Shane Simpson ploughed through them unaware
that the race had been stopped, and hit Lee Costello, badly bruising his
leg. This was turning into a really strange meeting, where it seemed
anything could, and probably would go wrong!! At the restart Aaron got a
poor start, and had to fight his way up from 5th place to eventually
finish 3rd, behind Alex & Ashley Cornall. Race 2 saw Aaron make a better
start, but as Alex & lee made a break for it, Aaron & Ashley were left to
scrap it out for 3rd place. With 2 laps remaining Aaron's Honda started to
overheat, and Aaron had to back right off to try to finish the race, which
he did in a comfortable 4th place.
With just 2 rounds
remaining, Aaron is now 30 points behind 3rd placed
man Phil Wakefield, so improving on his 4th place is going to be tough,
but not impossible, and Aaron hasn't yet heard that fat lady singing!!
Next meeting is on Sunday 11th September at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Era
Superclub, Donington Park, August 13th
Aaron attended a
track day with Speedfreaks on the Thursday before this meeting, as he had
never seen the Donington circuit before, and although the day was a little
pricey compared to other practice days, we thought it would be money well
spent. He was out with the fastest group, which also included KRP's 125GP
Spanish Academy rider Bradley Smith, who also competes at BSB in the
Academy Cup. After 2 sessions Aaron was only a second off Bradley's pace
and going extremely well for his 1st visit to the track, lapping
consistently in the low 1:20's The 3rd session was to change the whole
weekend however, as Aaron exited Redgate on lap 4, the bike snapped at him
viscously, high-siding him over the bars & into the gravel, the bike then
took off down the hill and gathered speed, stopping only when it reached a
concrete wall (this was Aaron's first proper crash aboard the
Activ8/Stealth Racing GP125, but it really couldn't have been much
worse!). The session was red-flagged, and Aaron & machine were brought
back to the pits. It has to be said, although Aaron suffered bruising to
his back, ankle & left hand, he managed to get away from the crash quite
lightly considering the speeds involved - the same couldn't be said for
the bike, which looked beyond repair, with a bent front wheel, bent forks
& yokes, broken radiator, bars & levers, a split radiator & a bent rear
seat sub-frame (not to mention a trashed set off bodywork!)
Aaron really
wanted to compete on Saturday still, so with the help of Rob Shuker (UK
Racing) and his mechanic Dave, we set about stripping the broken bits off
the bike to see what was left! Rob then offered to take me back to his
workshop in Great Malvern (near Worcester) and very generously lend us the
parts we needed off a spare bike he had kicking around to get Aaron out on
Saturday, while Mark Keen from KRP took the broken bits away to see what
was repairable. It's moments like this that restore your faith in the
human race, even when you think things have hit rock bottom, everybody
just pulls together & the job gets done. I spent all day Friday rebuilding
the bike, and after passing Scrutineering on Friday night, and with Aaron
feeling very sore but determined to race, it appeared we had pulled off a
minor miracle.
Saturday (Race Day)
Aaron appeared
very nervous going into his 10 minute Qualifying Session, but assured me
that he'd be OK
after a couple of steady laps to find his feet again, but with a grid of
38 bikes, this was going to be really tough for the plucky youngster.
After just 3 laps, spots of rain appeared in the air, and with Aaron out
on slicks, I was praying that he came back in one piece. On the final lap
of Qualifying several riders crashed in the slippery conditions, but Aaron
made it back to the pits, and had Qualified 16th for the two races - not
ideal, but said the new front end made the bike feel like "somebody else's
machine", so we made a couple of changes & hoped for the best. For Race 1,
the bike stopped twice on the grid & had to be re-started, but as the
lights went out Aaron shot up into 6th place going into Redgate, but
seemed to drop back during the race, and with spots of rain appearing
again on the last lap (and Aaron's confidence levels not at their highest)
he was pushed back from 8th to 10th on the final corner. The bike had not
been running at all well, so we made some changes to the carburetion
before
race
2. Race 2 was held in extremely wet conditions, so it was full wets all
round. Aaron was given the option of sitting this one out, as we were not
confident the front end was working too well, and were unsure the
carburetion changes we had made would cure the running problems. Aaron
made a good start again, but fell back really quickly. The bike was
clearly not running or handling well at all, and my attempts to call Aaron
into the pits were thwarted by the fact he couldn't see me on pit wall
through his steamed-up visor! Aaron finished the race down in 18th
position, so all in all the day had been a bit of a disaster. Aaron's lap
times from Thursday were faster than the Fastest Lap from Race 1, so we're
hoping this was our "bad one" for the year.
We now face a
race against time to get the bike ready for Snetterton on Bank Holiday
weekend, and with us not able to test before the meeting, we won't know
how the bike is until he goes out for Qualifying on Sunday morning! We'd
like to say a massive thank you to the Marshalls & Medical Staff at
Donington for attending to Aaron so professionally, and to Rob, Dave &
everybody else who helped us get a bike together for Saturday. It was also
good to see Paul "Stealth" Collins, who made the trip to see Aaron race
for the first time, it's just a shame he didn't see the Aaron we've seen
for the past few meetings, but I'm sure he can bounce back. One thing's
for sure, Aaron knows his way around Snetterton really well, so no matter
what, he'll be giving it everything to try to get his season back on
track.
(Thanks to Konrad at
www.photokon.com for the pics)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Era Superclub,
Oulton Park, July 16th
Since Aaron’s only other visit
to Oulton Park (10 laps, on a bike which blatantly didn’t want to go round
corners!!) we have had some work done on the suspension on the
Actibv8/Stealth Racing Honda. Carl Harrison of Carl Harrison Motorcycles,
Harleston very kindly offered to rebuild the front forks F.O.C. As one of
Aaron’s growing number of admirers, as well as supplying us with brake
pads & drive chains, not to mention his priceless words of wisdom, Carl’s
help has proved invaluable as both myself & Aaron have attempted to get to
grips with GP125 racing. The rear shock was checked over by K-Tech when we
attended last week’s BSB round at Snetterton as spectators, so all that
was left was to try to find a setting which suited both Aaron’s smooth
style, and the undulating Cheshire circuit – not easy when his first
session was his one & only qualifier again!
The 125’s were once again thrown in
with the 250’s, this time though there was a full grid of 40 (26 of which
were 250’s) PLUS reserves. The plan was to get used to the new suspension
settings for the first 3
laps,
then for the rest of the 10-minute session to get his head down & try for
a real quick lap. Like all best laid plans ours fell apart when, on
Aaron’s first flying lap, the session was red-flagged as he came round
Lodge (the final corner!) and Aaron was directed into pit lane – GAME
OVER! With a fastest lap in the 1:58’s, Aaron was supposed to be in P6,
and on the 2nd row, but in yet another change to the New Era
format, it had been decided NOT to split the 125’s & 250’s, leaving Aaron
in P25, and Lee Costello & BSB regular Michael Hill (Taboo Motorsport) on
the 3rd row! This is surely NOT the way to go with mixed
classes, especially with so many “Junior” riders thrown into the middle of
the 250 grid – Aaron certainly wasn’t looking forward to the start anyway!
RACE
1
Although totally bemused by his starting position, Aaron made an
uncharacteristically good start, but was swamped by 250’s going into Old
Hall for the first time, and was bumped back to
5th place in the 125 class. Aaron and Philip Wakefield scrapped
it out for 3 laps, and when he eventually passed Phil going down into
Cascades, he pulled away and set off after 3rd placed man Bryn Owen.
Although Aaron was catching Bryn, with only 6 lap races he ran out of
laps, and had to settle for 4th. He did manage a 1:55.65
however, beating his Qualifier by 3 seconds, and was only lapping a second
slower than 2nd placed man Michael Hill. Race winner Lee
Costello, winner of the UKGPRA meeting here a few weeks ago, benefited
from his superior starting position and was able to win by a comfortable
11 seconds.
RACE 2
We made a slight change to compensate for the warmer conditions for Race
2, and Aaron once again got a flyer off the line. This time he gave as
good as he got at Old Hall, and with Lee again getting away at the front,
the quartet of Michael Hill, Stephen Wrathall, Phil Wakefield and Aaron
all crossed the line at the end of lap 1 together. Aaron dispensed with
Phil on lap 2, but got caught up in a scrap with
Stephen for the next 2 laps, letting Michael pull out a bit of a lead. By
the time Aaron passed Stephen at Island Bend on lap 5, Michael’s lead was
too big, and although another couple of laps would’ve seen Aaron right
with him, he took the chequers in a very impressive 3rd place
with another PB lap of 1:54.81, and shaving 11
seconds off his overall Race 1 time,
in fact his total race time of 11:41.29 would've won the UKGPRA 6 lap race
3 weeks ago (where Aaron finished 15th) by 3 seconds!!
With the demise of Bryn Owen in that race, a 4th & a 3rd
was enough to secure 3rd overall on the day, and has boosted
Aaron’s Championship standing no end, lifting him back up to 4th
overall, just 42 points behind Ashley Cornall in 2nd place.
With a test day booked at Donington Park before the next Superclub round
there, and the following two rounds to be held at “home” (Snetterton),
there’s a real air of confidence in the Activ8/Stealth Racing camp right
now, and we’re really looking forward to the run-in to the final round of
the Championship, to be held at the scene of Aaron’s first Rookie race win
on a GP125 – Brands Hatch. The speed with which Aaron is developing as a
rider, and learning new circuits is astounding, especially when you
consider he’s competing on one of the oldest machines in the Championship
on a shoestring budget, running on 2nd hand tyres!!
Our
last two meetings at Oulton were made possible thanks to help from our
good friends Dave, Wendy & Catherine Laundon. It was ex-BSB photographer
Dave, who now runs the impressive new Media Centre at Oulton Park, who
introduced Aaron to a very young Craig Jones (Northpoint/N-Gage Honda
Supersport) in 2000, when he was in the Aprillia Superteens
(see pic on left). Craig and his dad Steve were as we are now –
trying to make ends meet, and trying to get a leg-up into the Big Time,
all Aaron wanted to do was race, and it was Steve who directed us to
Aaron’s very first minimoto – the rest is now history! Dave & Wendy always
helped out with Craig when they could, and played a big part in his Road
Racing career early on. We’d like to sincerely thank Dave and Wendy for
helping out with Aaron at the Oulton meetings, thanks also to Stealth for
his continued support, and anyone else who may have offered kind words of
praise and support for Aaron.
Aaron’s performances from the MRO round at
Snetterton will be aired in Sky Sports 2 shortly on a program called
Bikesport UK – below is the planned TV schedule.
EPISODE EIGHTEEN
Final Round of Welsh Motocross from Rhayader
MRO Powerbike Tour - Rounds Seven & Eight - Snetterton
GP125, Minitwins & Sidecar classes
Tuesday 2nd August - 8.00a.m., 12 noon, 5.00p.m. & 11.00p.m. Sky Sports 2
Next round is
Donington Park, New Era Superclub, Saturday August 13th, where
Aaron hopes to continue his good form.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MRO Nationals,
Snetterton, July 2nd/3rd
Aaron had been
chomping at the bit for this one - a track he's ridden on, 5 minutes from
home, and a chance to do his thing on circuit with some of the best riders
in the UK. The weekend kicked off early for us with Aaron attending the
European Superbike School Pace Day on Thursday. We opted for this one
rather than the MRO Friday Practice, and had arranged to meet old Pocket
bike rival Alex Gault on his Moto GP Spec Malagutti for some quality track
time. Alex and Aaron were inseparable all day, and both led the timesheets
for the Intermediate group in every session. Even the rain didn't dampen
their enthusiasm, with the two 14 year olds the only riders willing to
brave the unseasonal conditions. Shortly after Alex caught a white line
and tipped off at Sears we decided to call it a day, and headed for home.
Saturday Qualifying
Any hopes of a really impressive
result took a nosedive when no less than seven BSB 125 GP riders turned
out, in preparation for the BSB round to be held here next week. The
KRP/Sunnybeach Villas Team were an impressive addition to the paddock,
with their pairing of Charlie Hall and Daniel "Ferret" Cooper looking
extremely quick. We settled for our settings from Aaron's last outing at
Snetterton, and Aaron was soon in the groove in morning Warm Up, finishing
7th fastest with a time of 1:19.189.
1st Qualifying went OK, but as
Aaron was about to start his flying lap after a "bit of a breather" the
chequers came out, leaving him with an improved time of 1:19.079 and 13th
place on the grid of 26 riders.
2nd Qualifying went much more
to plan, and after a minor gearing change to help him exit Russells
quicker, he lapped faster than he'd ever been round Snetterton before,
doing a 1:18.610, good enough for 11th place & a 3rd row start.
Considering he was on possibly the oldest machine in the field, running a
standard non-powerjet carb on Avgas, on a standard gearbox, and with
standard ignition, running on donated 2nd hand tyres, we were all more
than a bit chuffed with Aaron's performance so far, but what would race
day have in store for us..........?
Sunday - Race Day
Warm up went without a hitch, with Aaron just
"chilling" for the first few laps, then he hooked onto the back of KRP's
Daniel Cooper for the last lap, and went 8th fastest with his best time so
far of 1:18.488.
Race 1
Aaron was as nervous as I have ever seen him
before the race, but he got off the line OK, and on lap 1
came over the line in 11th place. Jay Dunn passed him on lap 3, but when
Aaron took him back on lap 4 the ex-Conti Cup rivals almost came together
at the Esses, but Aaron finally made the pass stick and pulled away from
Jay and started reeling in the riders in front. After a hard race Aaron
finished 12th, just 2 seconds off the battle for 9th place between local
BSB rider Alex Barkshire and Alan Winton. Aaron did however put in yet
another PB lap on lap 10, finally breaking into the 17's with a 1:17.848.
He was certain that he could improve further in Race 2, all he needed to
do was have a good 1st lap !!
Race 2
Just as the Powerbikes went
out (the race before 125 GP) it began to drizzle, leading to carnage on
the opening lap of that race at Coram, and leaving me and Aaron scratching
our heads as to what tyres to use for his race.
The track wasn't wet, so wets were out of the question, and his cut slicks
weren't on rims, so it looked like it would have to be slicks. Luckily the
drizzle stopped before Aaron went out, so slicks looked a pretty safe bet
for the race. Aaron's start was a weird one, with some of the front
runners not getting away so well, Aaron had to swerve sharp left to avoid
a collision, and then got swamped into Riches. He came across the line in
16th place, and we thought this would be a repeat of his first race - how
wrong were we? When Aaron came round on lap 2 he was up into 13th, he then
set about catching and passing a 4-way scrap ahead of him, leaving him in
7th position on lap 8. Lee Costello was ahead of Aaron in 6th place, but
with Aaron lapping half a second a lap faster, the two riders entered the
final lap almost together. When the riders appeared at Coram Lee
appeared to be on his own, that was until Aaron
popped out from behind him and the pair of them ran down into Russells
side-by-side. Lee wasn't about to give up his position without a fight,
and after such a hard race, Aaron settled for an excellent 7th place.
Aaron once again managed another PB of 1:17.408, a lap time he had only
dreamed about before this weekend.
This was by far our most
enjoyable meeting to date, it's just a shame that we don't have a bike to
run at the BSB meeting this weekend. Aaron exceeded my expectations of him
tenfold this weekend, and who knows what he's capable of on a really
competitive machine - only a massive injection of cash will help us to
find out !! The Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda was perfect this weekend
though, never missing a beat. Big thanks to Tim & Jack Drummond for the
tyres (sorry about race 2 Jack !), and everyone else who helped and
supported us over the weekend. It's New Era Superclub again next on July
16th at Oulton Park, where we intend to sort out Aaron's suspension
problems he experienced there last time.
(Special thanks to Konrad
Beeson at www.photokon.com for the pics)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Grids for UKGPRA at
Oulton Park
This was my very first visit to the undulating &
extremely technical Cheshire circuit, for what was the inaugural UKGPRA
race meeting, and with prize money up for grabs, and a full grid of 40
bikes for both 125 & 250 GP races, this was always going to be a baptism
of fire for me. Morning practice only lasted 3 laps before the chequers
came out, so when I drew 15th place on the grid for race 1, I knew that
most of the circuit was still foreign to me, and that I would need to get
a good start. The start went OK, but I found myself on the damp part of
Old Hall and got completely swamped, dropping me back to 23rd place. With
the race only being 6 laps long, by the time the track started to make
sense to me, I had clawed my way back up to 15th place, and with a gearing
change for race 2, felt that I could improve quite a bit, but there were
still parts of the circuit (mostly the "blind" corners ) that I just
couldn't pick a good line for.
My start for race 2 was better, but this time, as I
took a faster outside line for Old Hall for the 1st turn, I got pushed out
wide almost onto the grass, but managed to hold on. I was 17th on lap 1,
and managed to pass the 2 riders directly in front of me going into the
fast & scary Island Bend, but as I started to really push the front end of
the bike, it seemed to be getting all out of shape, and the harder I
tried, the worse it got, then with 2 laps to go, the R-Clip holding the
fuel tank on fell out, leaving me with no "forced air" to the air box, and
a tank loose between my legs !! I managed to hold on to the fuel tank, and
15th place (just !), and came away from Oulton Park, notoriously the
hardest circuit in the UK to learn, knowing that we have a lot of work to
do to really get on the pace, so I guess this is where the "proper"
racing, and the hard work really starts.
I'm really looking forward to my Test Day with the
European Superbike School at Snetterton this Thursday, which I hope will
prepare me for my BIG meeting this weekend, the MRO Nationals at
Snetterton, which is a track that I really enjoy, but I know that I'm
going to have to be on the money to do well at that level. I would like to
thank all of my Sponsors for helping me out so far this year, especially
"Stealth", without him none of this would be possible, Chris & Tom from
Activ8, all at G-Signs, Carl Harrison Motorcycles, Norfolk Commercials,
Motrax, Putoline, KBC, Hideout Leather, and a very special mention for
Dave & Wendy Laundon, who made my trip to Oulton Park possible
financially, and have very kindly donated a paddock awning for us to use
this year. I intend to focus & be on my very best form for the MRO, and
hopefully I'll repay all those who have helped & supported me with a good
result
Regards,
Aaron "Azman" Easter #62
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron on show
at Hideout Open Day
This
Saturday saw Aaron and the Active8/Stealth
Racing Honda on show at the Hideout Summer Open Day. This was an
opportunity for all of Hideout's customers to catch a close-up glimpse of
Road Racers such as Aaron who choose to use Hideout for their leather race
suits. It also incorporated a tour round Hideout's workshops on
site, with Kate Jennings providing information about their suits their
extremely high levels of safety, she also demonstrated how the Brazilian
hide they use, and impact-absorbing armour are far superior to cheaper
suits on the market. After the demo both myself and Aaron were adamant
that he, by wearing Hideout suits, is providing himself with the best
protection that money can buy, they really are very impressive. We'd
like to thank Hideout for inviting us along, and providing us with the
opportunity to show-case the Activ8/Stealth Racing Team, and to advertise
Sponsors who have helped us out so far this year. Aaron certainly enjoyed
explaining to people how he started his career in Road Racing, and what
his plans were for the future.
Next
Race Meeting is this Saturday, 25th June, where Aaron will take on 40
125GP riders in the UKGPRA race at Oulton Park, yet another new circuit to
learn, which should put him on the right track for the next Superclub
round, which will also be held at Oulton.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Era
Superclub - Brands Hatch, May 29th/30th
Aaron continued his impressive start to his debut.jpg)
Senior Road Racing season this
weekend, when he attended the New Era
Superclub meeting at Brands Hatch. Although having never seen the fast &
flowing Kent circuit before, he wasted no time in setting an awesome pace,
qualifying well above expectations in 3rd place, only 0.7 seconds behind
the vastly more experienced Lee Costello (current championship leader),
and only 0.3 seconds slower than the very fast Ross Willshire. He was
lapping consistently under 53 seconds from the start, so things were
looking good for the two scheduled Sunday races. In Race 1 he got a
brilliant start, into 2nd place on the 1st lap, and looked pretty
comfortable, until a couple of tough moves relegated him to 6th place on
the 3rd lap. This seemed to be the trigger for an inspired 3 laps, when he
seemed to be able to pass those in front with ease around the OUTSIDE at
Paddock !! Lee Costello had gone away at the front, but Aaron had fought
his way back into 3rd, and was catching Ross Willshire in 2nd. He ran out
of laps in the end though, crossing the line in a superb 3rd place, just
over 2 seconds behind Ross.
.jpg)
Aaron
seemed to be pushing the front of the bike really hard, so I changed the
front suspension slightly for Race 2, and from the moment the lights went
out, he shot away at the front, leaving the whole field trailing in his
wake. This was the moment I had been dreaming of, a perfect start, and
Aaron looking like he was getting back into his winning ways again. He
stretched his lead out to almost 5 seconds, but as he was being hampered
by slower 250 riders, 2nd place Matt Hoyle seemed to be reeling Aaron in.
This was the longest 10 lap race I think I had ever witnessed ! On the
final lap, Aaron had been caught by Matt, and going into Clearways for the
final time, Aaron & Matt were side-by-side, and inside them were TWO
250's also scrapping for race position. At the flag, Aaron got the verdict
by 0.02 seconds ! With Lee Costello having not such a good race, a 1st &
3rd places gave Aaron the Meeting win on aggregate.
Full results can be found at
www.neweramcc.org
and photos from all of the New Era meetings can be viewed/purchased at
www.pljphoto.com
(just scroll down to rider no. 62)
All things considered, this was without a doubt
Aaron's finest performance of the year so far, and his good form continued
into the Monday meeting, when in a damp morning practice he lapped over a
second faster than the next best 125, and was 3rd fastest overall in the
combined 125/250 field ! Race 1 was held in terribly wet conditions, and a
move by the organizers to set off both the 125 & 250 grids at the same
time seemed to lead to havoc at Paddock on lap 1. Joel Wiliams seemed to
run into the back of another rider, and fell in front of Aaron. Quick
thinking meant Aaron kept the Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda upright, but he
rejoined the race in last place. By lap 6 he had scrapped his way superbly
up into 7th place, and was closing 6th place Shane Simpson down fast. He
was to suffer his first mechanical DNF of the year on the next lap
however, when the balance shaft drive gear broke, stopping the bike and
causing enough engine damage to put him out of Race 2 as well. Aaron was a
little upset, but also philosophical, with his first GP125 win still fresh
in his mind he is now looking forward to his next meeting, an extra to our
2005 race schedule. He will be competing in the inaugural UKGPRA 125/250
Race Meeting to be held at Oulton Park on June 25th, and with a £2000
prize fund up for grabs, he's looking to learn this circuit as quickly as
he learnt Brands, and really make an impression.
The following week is our biggie, the MRO Nationals
at our local track, Snetterton. Thanks once again to all those who
continually support Aaron's quest for excellence in the 125 GP class,
onwards & upwards as they say !!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Era
Clubmans Challenge - Snetterton, May 14th/15th
Aaron
had really been looking forward to returning to his "home" circuit (this
was the first time he had competed at a circuit he had already raced at)
but the sight of Norfolk's most prominent 125 GP rider in recent years
(Andrew Sennett) pitched up in the paddock meant that Aaron's 1st win of
the season would be almost impossible (Andrew is competing in the BSB 125
GP Series this year on the '03 RS125 he rode to 3rd place overall at the
MRO last year, and was at Snetterton to sort his machine ready for the
next round of the BSB at Croft), saying that though, this would be a good
test for Aaron, and would give him something to aim for. Also present were
Darryl Lewis, Dave Barfoot, and Billy Wood, who are all experienced 125GP
riders, and all contesting the Clubmans Challenge Series this year.
Saturday
Saturday
was quite chilly & extremely windy (again!!) but all classes were treated
to a 15 min un-timed practice session, a 15 min timed qualifying session,
and two 12 lap races (we had that much track time I had to go out for more
fuel at the end of the day !). The un-timed session
went
well, although a good mix of 125's, 250's, 400's, 650's and Hornets meant
that a "good" lap was hard to find ! The qualifying session was a
struggle, with Aaron searching for clear track, only finding it right at
the end of the session, putting in a time just over a second slower than
Andrew Sennett, giving him P2 on the grid for Saturday's two races.
Race
1
Aaron
was caught out at the start when the red light went out very quickly, and
with the rest of the grid anticipating this, Aaron was stone last going up
into Riches for the 1st time. When they came back into view at Coram Curve
he was up into 3rd, But Andrew Sennett had got a flyer and was streaking
away. On lap 2 Aaron forced his way into second, and was pulling away from
Darryl Lewis and the rest of the 125 field. Andrew pulled out an advantage
on Aaron at the flag of 18 seconds (which was to be expected to be honest,
considering he began his race career in 1996 when Aaron was 5 years old
!!) but Aaron's Fastest Lap of 1:19.66 secs was only 1.3 secs slower than
Andrew's, and a full 2 seconds faster than he had ever lapped Snetterton,
also putting him 16 seconds ahead of 3rd placed man Darryl Lewis. Once
back into the pits, Aaron complained that the bike was really under-geared
for the ultra-long Revett Straight, so a gearing change was made before
Race 2.
Race
2
The
taller gearing seemed to slow Aaron's start slightly, but at Coram on Lap
1 it was Andrew leading a hard-charging Aaron, from Billy Wood. Neither
Aaron or Andrew seemed to be able to match their times from Race 1, with
the gearing change made to the Activ8/Stealth Honda seemingly making
things worse for Aaron. The race became a bit of a drawn-out affair, with
Andrew taking the win, from Aaron, and Billy Wood over half a minute
behind in 3rd.
An
inspection of the bike later Saturday night showed that Aaron's bike had
been suffering severe detonation, and was on the verge of seizing the
cylinder in Race 2. We worked till after midnight (thanks to Gary Morris
Jnr for helping out, I wish Aaron had such a passion for the mechanical
side of things !!), cleaning engine parts that weren't too badly damaged,
but having to replace the No. 1 cylinder with a spare one which had never
been on the bike, complete with new piston, head insert, etc. We also went
extreme with a carburetion change, and a slight gearing change, as we
believe a combination of these two factors had caused the detonation
problems, it was now a case of keeping everything crossed for Sunday.
Sunday
The bike
seemed much better in un-timed practice, and the weather
also
looked to be improving, with a significant drop in the wind and the
appearance of the SUN !!! Qualifying was again a struggle due to traffic,
but a good lap saw Aaron match his fastest lap from Race 1 on Saturday,
which gave him Pole position until the dying seconds when Andrew Sennett
went 2 tenths faster, but 2nd was excellent considering the state of the
engine on Saturday night !!
Race
1
Aaron's
first good start saw him in the leading bunch going into Riches, and he
received his 5 minutes of fame as he led Andrew Sennett round Coram on Lap
1, and was still in the lead as they disappeared round Riches on Lap 2.
Andrew passed Aaron down the Revett Straight, but this time Aaron seemed
to be matching Andrew for speed. Andrew put in a very fast 1:17.26 on Lap
4 (which would turn out to be the fastest 125GP Lap of the weekend) and
that seemed to break Aaron for a time, but he was still lapping
consistently as fast as Andrew, and proved it as he managed his fastest
lap of the weekend on Lap 8, a 1:18.72, as he seemed to be holding Andrew
to an advantage of about 4 seconds. When backmarkers came into play in the
last couple of Laps, Andrew pulled the gap out to cross the line 8 seconds
ahead of Aaron, with 3rd placed man Darryl Lewis a further 25 seconds
back.
Race
2
This
went pretty much the same as Race 1, but Andrew managed a better start and
broke Aaron earlier on. With neither Aaron or Andrew able to match their
pace from Race 1, they were left to scrap it out in the closing laps with
the leading 250 GP's, with Andrew finishing 2nd in the combined 125/250's,
and Aaron an impressive 4th overall, crossing the line less than a second
behind 3rd placed man Mark Marshall on the 250 Yamaha. The 125's finished
with Andrew in 1st, Aaron 2nd, and Darryl Lewis 3rd, again 25 secs behind
Aaron.
It has
to be said that this was Aaron's best meeting on the Activ8/Stealth Racing
Honda to date, and were it not for the appearance of BSB regular Andrew
Sennett, Aaron would've completely dominated the 125GP class. There are
come cracking photos from the meeting available to view on Konrad Beeson's
site at www.photokon.com, go to
"Find my Photos" and look at the pics from Race 6 on Saturday, and Races 2
& 6 from Sunday (look for all-white #62).
I must
say that the whole meeting was really enjoyable, such a friendly, chilled
out atmosphere, and when the sun came out on Sunday, it was just one of
those meetings you're really glad you didn't miss. Big thanks to the
Morris family, with whom we had the pleasure of sharing "Garage11" with.
Dad Gary Snr. rides an SV650, and his wife is one of the wonderful
marshalls, with Gary Jnr. helping out on the mechanical side of things -
you'll always be welcome in our garage/awning guys !!Thanks also to
"Stealth" for always being on the other end of the phone when things
aren't going so well, and the spanners are about to fly! Finally a massive
thanks family, friends, teachers, etc, who came to give Aaron their
support, we hope you enjoyed your day, and will come to support him again.
Results
from the weekend can be viewed at
www.neweramcc.org
Next
meeting is this coming Bank Holiday weekend at another circuit new to
Aaron, Brands Hatch, for the next 2 rounds of the New Era Superclub
Championships, where Aaron should be sporting his the all-new KBC VR2
Racing Helmet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Era Superclub
Rd 3 - Mallory Park, 2nd May
It was
always our aim, when choosing the New Era Superclub Series this year, to
use it in the knowledge that there were always going to be plenty of fast
& experienced riders out there, meaning good results would be hard to come
by, but hopefully the faster riders would bring Aaron along and speed up
the learning process. It has to be said that after Mallory, this Series is
already almost up to the standard of the MRO Nationals, and as such, is
really making Aaron work for his results !! As usual, any pre-race
practicing or testing wasn't allowed due to Aaron's age, meaning his first
look at the tight Mallory circuit was for his one & only qualifying
session, which would give him his starting position for his scheduled two
8 lap races. While Aaron was up at Croft with the MRO, just over half of
the 125GP field were at Mallory for a New Era Club round, meaning he would
really be up against it, having to learn the circuit while trying to put
in a good qualifying time, and after the 10 minute session, he found
himself down on the 4th row of the grid in 13th place. His progress during
qualifying had been hampered however by some carburetion & gearing
problems, lack of track knowledge, and the fact that the 125GP class had
been mixed with 20+ Honda Hornet 600's !! So 13th wasn't too bad after
all, and Aaron was sure that he could improve his times in Race 1.
Race
1
Fist
race was held in glorious conditions, our 1st one of the year !! After
Aaron's customary lazy start, he set about picking off the more
experienced riders ahead, dropping his lap times and learning the track as
he went. His efforts were only good enough for a 12th place at the
chequers, but he had dropped 2 seconds off his qualifying time, leaving
him with a fastest lap of 1:01.25, not bad at all for Aaron's first visit
to Mallory, 2.5 seconds off eventual race winner Joel Williams' fastest
lap (who had also won both races 2 weeks previously) Aaron was really
starting to gat a feel for the track, and a small suspension adjustment
left him in confident mood for race 2, certain he could do much better
next time out.
During
the lunch break, all our plans came down round our ears, as the rain
bounced down and we nearly lost the awning in a terrible thunder storm !!
Still not 100% confident with the track, race 2 would now be a real
challenge in the very wet conditions, but as Aaron said - "its the same
for everyone" - so on with the monsoon tyres !!
Race
2
Aaron
made a much better start this time, but a very cautious approach into
Gerrards on lap 1 saw him bumped to the back of the field. Having to avoid
a couple of fallers at Edwina's on the same lap really put any chance of a
good result out of reach, but in a shortened 6 lap race, he upped his pace
and as the track conditions worsened, Aaron began to pick riders of once
more, and was unlucky not to pass 2004 JRA Champion Matt Hoyle on the
final lap, leaving him with another 12th place finish. His lap times
however, were good enough to have finished in the top 6, so all in all, we
can again take plenty of positives away, knowing he has another track
under his belt, and on his return to Mallory, he should fair much better.
The
thought of going back to Snetterton on May 14th & 15th with New Era is
really exciting Aaron now, he feels he is riding the Activ8/Stealth Racing
Honda better now than when he last visited the circuit, so expect to see
an "Azman" in confident mood, hopefully the sight & sound of many family
members and friends will spur him on and really kick-start his
season.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MRO Nationals, Croft 16th
/ 17th April
I felt
it was a little early in the year to try Aaron out at a National meeting,
after all, he's only ridden the Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda on slicks
once, but he was chomping at the bit for some quality track time, and to
see how good the cream of the UK's Club racers really are. We were also
going to be up against and old mate from Aaron's minimoto days, Dan
Linfoot, who is now in his 3rd year of Road Racing, and has been really
flying so far in 2005 in the BSB 125 GP Series, although he was only
really competing to sort out the clutch problems which dogged him at
Thruxton after a really impressive Qualifying performance. Looking at the
list of riders, Aaron was by far the least experienced GP125 rider in the
field, and the fact that the weather conditions for the Friday Practice
day were awful, with strong winds and driving rain, meant that our plan
for Aaron to really start to get to grips with his Dunlop slicks
backfired, although he did look very impressive on his more familiar wet
tyres !! Many prayers were said that night for rain, as it seemed like
Aaron's best chance of a decent result, prayers that were answered in
spectacular fashion, as the paddock woke Sunday morning to a track under
several inches of water. With the forecast for the rest of the weekend
promising better weather, the meeting was put off until track conditions
were better (it would be after lunch before any bikes took to the circuit)
Qualifying Session 1
The
format of the MRO meetings is closer to the BSB meetings than smaller Club
events in that the first two sessions are Qualifiers, and the best time
set by the end of both sessions gives you your grid position for your two
races. With the track drying in places, but still tricky into Tower and
Sunny In, Aaron opted for a wet front tyre and a cut slick rear (again,
this would be Aaron's 1st experience of a cut slick !). In the tricky
conditions, and hampered by being in the
middle of a pack intent on tripping each other up, Aaron managed a
1:44.331 and 13th place, not bad considering he was just in front of BSB
rider Alex Barkshire. When Aaron came in he was frustrated as he felt
that, with a clear track, he could've gone much quicker. For Session 2 he
opted for cut slicks all round, as the track was almost dry, but very
cold, but he was sure he could improve on his time. Checking the bike
over, I found that the bearing in the rear wheel spacer had fell apart,
meaning that the rear sprocket had been grinding away at the swinging arm
almost throwing the chain off - big thanks to Matt Hoyle's dad for sorting
us out with a replacement so that we could get out for Session 2.
Qualifying Session 2
Aaron
once again got stuck in a pack of about six riders, so with 3 laps a few
laps to go, he dropped his pace right off, and set himself up for a fast
couple of laps. This alone made impressed me so much, this is all new to
both me & Aaron, and for him to concentrate for 2 flying laps, on his own,
on a circuit he doesn't know, really shows that he's coming of age already
in the GP125 class. His final lap was a 1:37.838, knocking a massive 6.5
seconds off his time from session 1, and putting him 7th place on the
grid. When Aaron came in this time, he was really pumped up & ready for
Race 1, which was scheduled for the last session of the day.
Unfortunately, the Club decided to postpone the race until 1st thing
Sunday morning as time had run out due to the flooding problems earlier in
the day, not only that, the race was to be shortened from 10 laps to 5,
meaning the pressure would be on Aaron to make a good start, not easy
considering the riders surrounding him on the grid. The bearing we
borrowed also failed, but thanks to the guys at Road Racing Ireland, I was
able to sort the bike out ready for Sunday.
Sunday - Race 1
The
paddock woke to bright sunshine, meaning the slicks were back on the bike,
and I knew that the more experienced riders would now be really up for it,
knowing that track conditions were almost perfect. At the start, Aaron
seemed to get too much clutch slip off the line, and found himself way
down in 16th place. With the race only 5 laps long, Aaron had left himself
with a mountain to climb, and he crossed the line in 16th, feeling that he
had been taught a valuable lesson - you can't go to the MRO and fluff your
starts ! Aaron wasn't too downhearted, and nor were we, as we knew that he
could up the pace if he got a better start in race 2.
Top 3
finishers were :- 1st - Dan Linfoot 2nd - Matthew Percy 3rd -
Luke Hinton
Sunday - Race 2
In
between races, 2 stroke specialist Stuart Nicholls, who had
been
working on a 250 GP in the garage next door, offered to help me out with
the carburetion on Aaron's bike, and did a marvellous job as at the start
of race 2 Aaron got away with the leading bunch in 7th place, only for
Stuart Finlay to high side badly, causing the red flags to come out. While
on the grid waiting for the restart, Aaron said that he thought the clutch
might be slipping a little, something which would hamper both his restart,
and his 7 lap race. Even with the clutch slipping badly, Aaron had a
gritty ride to 12th place, still beating his time from race 1. The whole
weekend had been a series of highs & lows, and it's a shame that a
slipping clutch meant that Aaron couldn't really show his true potential,
but he'll be returning to the MRO when they come to our local circuit,
Snetterton, in July, to see how much he has learnt.
Top 3
finishers were :- 1st - Dan Linfoot 2nd - Matthew Percy 3rd -
Tim Stott
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Era Superclub Rd 1 & 2 - Cadwell Park 27th/28th March
Cadwell
doesn't hold fond memories for Aaron, it was here last year that his first
race began & ended on the warm-up lap when the Jawa he was riding seized
at the end of the Park straight, so it was little surprise when Sunday
arrived with the circuit covered in thick fog, meaning lengthy delays, and
the closure of the "Club" part of the circuit (the fast bit !), meaning
all classes had to run on the mile-long "Woodland" circuit (or "Bill Ivy"
circuit as it has always been known). Aaron's exclusion from testing due
to his age again put us way behind with set-up, and with the slippery
nature of the Hall Bends through to Barn Corner due to the area being
surrounded by trees, riding on slicks for only the second time wasn't
something he was looking forward to.
Sunday
It was
well after lunch before anyone saw any action, and Aaron tip-toed onto a
very damp & greasy looking track at around 2.30, together with the 125GP &
Formula 400 riders for his Qualifying Session (how anybody was supposed to
get a good lap in with 39 bikes on the Woodland circuit is beyond
me!) Aaron made excellent progress, quickly settling into a good rhythm,
but was soon being hampered by the larger 400cc bikes in the slower
corners. Aaron Qualified 7th out of the twenty 125GP bikes with a
time of 55.26 secs, but was confident that he was riding well within
himself, and should be able to improve in the race, although it looked
highly unlikely that anyone would catch the impressive Ross Willshire, who
was almost 3 seconds faster than the next 125.
The rest
of the day was a start/stop affair, and after race 2 out of 18 was
abandoned at 4.30, the meeting was halted with the hope that better
weather would grace the Lincolnshire circuit on Monday. The arrival of the
missus, who has to be congratulated for driving up from Norfolk on her own
!!??, was most welcome, as were the alcohol reinforcements !! A BIG shout
has to go out to the "BETTY SWOLLOCKS BAND" who pitched up just 30 yards
from our caravan on Sunday night and delighted "most" of the paddock by
thrashing out some excellent tunes until the wee hours - most excellent
entertainment!!
Monday
Although
the fog had lifted slightly, it was still very damp & cold when we woke,
but the day soon got under away with a short practice session for all
classes before resuming proceedings with Race 2 from Sunday.
Race
1
Some of
the 125GP grid had drifted away overnight, leaving a starting grid of 16 (
we had lost Ross Willshire in morning practice after a huge get-off at
Barn, leaving poor Ross with a broken collarbone). Aaron took his place on
the second row, and still having to work on his starts, managed a good one
as they set off for the warm-up lap, only to fluff it when it mattered as
the lights went out! Aaron went into the awful hairpin at the bottom of
Coppice near the back of the pack, but emerged at the base of the Mountain
in 6th. Matt Hoyle made an early break for it, but was reeled in by
Phillip Wakefield late on. Aaron was in a 5-way battle for 3rd, with Lee
Costello & Ashley Cornall both over-running the hairpin on lap 3, leaving
Aaron, Sam Burman & Scott Redding (on the 80cc Metrakit) to scrap it out.
Lee caught & passed these 3 with a couple of laps top go, but as Aaron
headed Sam & Scot into the hairpin in a safe (or so we thought) 4th place,
Sam came from too far back going into the hairpin, and T-boned Aaron as he
turned in, resulting in Aaron almost running off the circuit, Scott taking
advantage, and Sam slipping way back to 10th place. Aaron chased Scott
down, but ran out of laps, but after such a ferocious challenge from Sam,
a finish seemed like a good result! Aaron finished 5th,with a
fastest lap of 52.11, a big improvement on his Qualifying, so the trend of
the times tumbling with Aaron's growing knowledge of track & bike seemed
to be continuing.
Race
2
Aaron
made a much better start, only for the race to be stopped on lap 1, when
Matt Hoyle seemed to be caught out by the increasing levels of mud on the
circuit at the base of the Mountain, hurling him over the highside, and
leaving him in Lincoln Hospital with concussion- get well soon Matt. At
the restart, the race was to run over 7 laps instead of the scheduled 8,
due to the stoppage. Aaron got a flyer this time, only to get swamped at
the 1st turn by a marauding pack! From 8th place, he eased his way past
several riders & made it up to 4th as the last lap flag came out, but a
combination of the hard-charging Ashley Cornall behind him, and Scotty in
front of him, saw him ask too much of his front tyre going into turn 1,
and he slid gracefully into the bales! It appears though, that the race
was ran over 8 laps instead of 7, meaning a result was declared while
Aaron & his Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda were still an item, so a credible
4th place it was then !! It was then decided that, as the meeting had run
pretty smoothly all day, all classes would get another race, which
would be their 1st race off the Monday program, meaning we had a fight on
our hands to check the bike over & change to slick tyres, as the track now
seemed to be completely dry.
Race
3
Unfortunately we made our way down to the holding area a bit too early,
and by the time Aaron took to the circuit, his tyres were completely cold.
He made an excellent start, and at the end of lap 1 was in 5th place. He
then slipped back each lap, seemingly unable to carry any real corner
speed, it looked as though he wasn't at all happy with the set-up of the
bike (he was actually lapping slower on slicks than he was on wets in the
previous race). Aaron finished in a lowly 10th, not what we had hoped for
or expected, but when he got back, he explained that the cold slicks were
giving him no positive feedback at all, and when he did try to push
harder, he likened it to riding on marbles, so in hindsight, a 10th
place finish was better than another trip into the bales (or worse).
So what
started off as a rubbish weekend improved greatly, and with both a share
of good & bad fortune, things at Activ8/Stealth Racing seem to be
progressing nicely. Next meeting will provide Aaron's biggest challenge of
his racing career to date, on April 15th/16th/17th we go up to Croft for
Rounds 3 & 4 of the MRO Nationals, but with Friday set aside for a full
day's testing on the circuit, Aaron is hopeful that he will be able to put
on a good show.
Race
results from the Cadwell meeting can be found on the New Era website at
www.neweramcc.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Impressive Debut for Aaron at BEMSEE Rd1 & 2, Snetterton 12th/13th March
I have
to say that it was fitting that Aaron's Senior Road Racing debut came at
our local circuit, and one that he dreamed of racing at from the age of 5,
when he used to go to cheer on his idol James Whitham. This was his first
competitive ride on the Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda RS125, and he would be
competing in a new class at the BEMSEE meeting, the 250 Minimonos
(basically open to any single cylinder road racing machine up to 250cc).
It would also be, weather permitting, Aaron's first taste of slick tyres,
and with that in mind, we had booked
Aaron
a day off school to attend the Practice day on Friday. It wasn't until he
went to sign on that we discovered that, until the age of 16, he will be
unable to practice with the other 250 Minimono riders at any Motor Sports
Vision circuits (Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Oulton Park & Snetterton), as
their Insurance doesn't cover under 16's to be on track with adults,
although his ACU licence permits him to race against them - disappointed
doesn't quite sum up how fed up we both were at having to watch all of the
lads on 125's getting their bikes set up & improving their times all day
Friday. I'm sure we did provide some entertainment for the other riders in
the paddock though, attempting to put our 5-sided awning up on the caravan
in near-gale force winds !! Aaron had the stopwatch out on his rivals, and
assured me he should be able to put on some kind of show, with or without
testing.
Saturday 12th March
Morning
warm-up was a strange one, with SALT being put down at the very fast Coram
Curve, where it appeared that some ice had formed on the circuit
overnight. With the track temperature at +1 degree, Aaron opted to go out
for the 10 minute session on wets, a wise move considering how many riders
wee caught out by the freezing conditions. With Aaron not able to push
very hard, I felt sure he would struggle on slicks for Race 1, but he
assured me he'd be fine (never one to panic this lad - leave that to Dad
!)
Race
1
Early
crashes & re-starts meant that by lunchtime we had only managed 4 races,
and with 250 Minimono scheduled for Races 11 & 22, it looked like being a
very long day. He eventually lined up in his allocated 8th place on the
grid at 2 o'clock, and after a shaky start, he settled down into 8th
place, with a bunch of 4 riders breaking away from the rest of the field.
Aaron caught & passed Giles Spencer, and with the demise of Lee Costello
(while leading) and local lad Anthony Rogers, Aaron found himself in 5th
place, which he held comfortably until the Chequers came out. Aaron
finished a sizeable 39 seconds down on eventual winner & Snetterton
specialist Michael Wright, with a Fastest Lap of 1:26.849. Final Results -
1-Michael Wright 2-Richard Austen 3-Dean Hipwell 4-Mike Smith 5-Aaron
Easter 6-Giles Spencer 7-Chris Mailia 8-James Dye 9-Kieran Francis 10-Ross
Constable 11-Ian Stanford 12-Jamie King Fastest Lap - Michael
Wright- 1:21.577
Race
2
During the gap between races, we changed the main jet to try to cure the
"bogging"
Aaron
was experiencing exiting Russells, and geared the bike up slightly for the
ultra-long Revett Straight. It was 5.15 by the time the 250 Minimonos
lined up on track, and the light was starting to go. This time Aaron made
a better start, and came round on Lap 1 in 5th place, a position he was to
hold by a margin of 15 seconds from ACU Academy Cup rider Anthony Rogers.
Aaron's lap times were getting consistently faster, and he had pegged back
race winner Michael Wright to 20 seconds, improving his overall race time
by 22 seconds over the 7 laps, finishing with a Fastest Lap of 1:24.653.
That night we made plans for Sunday, hoping that he could carry on
improving his times at the same rate, but rueing the fact that, with a
Practice day on Friday, he could've already been on race-winning pace-
such are the joys of running a Junior Road Race Team in the big world of
Senior Road Racing ! Final Results - 1-Michael Wright 2-Richard Austen
3-Dean Hipwell 4-Mike Smith 5-Aaron Easter 6-Anthony Rogers 7-Luke Hinton
8-Chris Mailia 9-Connor Behan 10-Ian Stanford 11-Jamie King Fastest
Lap - Dean Hipwell - 1:21.178
Sunday 13th March
Race
1
With Aaron's points haul from Saturday, he was on the second row of the
grid in 5th spot. Weather conditions had improved slightly, but it
remained bitterly cold, with reports of bad weather coming in later. Aaron
got off the line well, but a return to old habits (they really do die hard
!) saw him take a steady 1st lap & come into view in 8th place. Ben Miller
passed him into Russells, just as Luke Hinton lost the front and crashed
right in front of them both. Composing himself, Aaron set off after the
leading pack, and came round on lap 2 in 5th place, right behind Lee
Costello. Aaron passed Lee into the Esses on lap 3, and pulled away from
him in a desperate attempt to latch onto the front 3, but without a tow
down the ultra-long straights, he eventually had to settle for 4th place -
an excellent result all the same. Aaron's Fastest Lap had come down by
another second & a half, with a 1:23.094, and his overall race time for
the 7 laps had come down by a further 13 seconds. When Aaron came in he
was much happier, the bike seemed to be running really well, and he was
already making plans to latch onto the leaders from the off in Race 2.
Final Results - 1-Michael Wright 2-Richard Austen 3-Mike Smith 4-Aaron
Easter 5-Ben Miller 6-Chris Mailia 7-Connor Behan 8-James Dye 9-Kieran
Francis 10-Ross Constable 11-Ian Stanford 12-Jamie King
Fastest Lap - Michael Wright- 1:20.310
Race
2
This race was to remind us why we've never given up on Aaron's racing,
even when things have been almost too unbearable to carry on. Aaron
had now got himself a front row start, and although he made a good one,
could only manage 6th going into Riches. When he came into view he had
fought his way up to 3rd, and was right on the back of the so-far dominant
Michael Wright & Richard Austen. Aaron seemed to get excellent drive out
of Russells, and on lap 2 had made it up to 2nd place, barely a second
behind Michael Wright. He then proceeded to swap Fastest Laps with Michael
as Richard fell by the wayside, and held the fastest lap until lap
7, when Michael beat it by 0.035 seconds. Aaron was held up by a back
marker coming into Russells on the final lap, and settled for a
hard-earned 2nd place, crossing the line just 2.3 seconds behind Michael.
Most impressive from Aaron's point of view is the fact that he had taken a
huge 49 seconds of his total race time from Race 1 on Saturday, a time
which would've indeed won both Saturday races by some margin. Aaron ended
with a Fastest Lap of 1:21.215, and a massive smile from ear to ear !
Final Results - 1-Michael Wright 2-Aaron Easter 3-Richard Austen
4-Ben Miller 5-Luke Hinton 6-Giles Spencer 7-Chris Mailia 8-Ross Constable
9-Connor Behan 10-Kieran Francis 11-James Dye 12-Ian Stanford
Fastest Lap -
Michael Wright- 1:21.180
If this
is to be the shape of things to come for 2005, we should see Aaron
steadily improve and should be in for a fantastic season. He will however
be at a massive disadvantage at most meetings, with him being excluded
from Practice days due to his age, something we're unfortunately going to
have to accept.
His next
race is with New Era Superclub at Cadwell Park on Sun 27th/Mon 28th March,
and having never raced at the circuit before, he faces a real uphill
battle to reach the high standards he has already set himself.
Aaron
would like to thank Paul "Stealth" Collins for giving him this opportunity
on a fantastic bike, Activ8 for the stunning Hideout leathers, all of the
BEMSEE staff and marshalls for keeping the meeting going, and last but not
least, all of the friends and family who turned out to support him at his
1st meeting - he hopes he did you proud.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snetterton
Testing 19th/20th February
This
weekend saw Aaron cut his teeth with the big boys, with a full-on
MRO/BEMSEE testing weekend at our local circuit, Snetterton, organised by
the European Superbike School. The weather forecast wasn't great, and
looked even worse when we turned up at the circuit on Saturday morning to
be greeted with strong winds & snow! The start of the day was delayed by
about an hour, which gave us enough time to get set up in one of the pit
lane garages, and discuss how Aaron should tackle the day ahead.
The 125 GP class were put in with the 400's and 650 MiniTwins, splitting
them from the Supersport 600 & 1000cc lads. The day was also to feature
ACU Schooling for all classes, for Novices to obtain their licences for
the 1st time, so the timetable was one 15 minute session every hour -
perfect, considering the temperature was 3 degrees, and the snow had
turned to rain.
The
Activ8/Stealth Honda behaved impeccably all weekend, meaning I could time
all of Aaron's sessions, as the plan was to try a few subtle changes to
the bike once Aaron's times tailed off. Problem was the times didn't tail
off, with every session they tumbled by 3, 4, 5, sometimes 6 seconds from
the previous session. with the wind gusting across the Revett straight,
and the sleet always threatening with the temperature hovering at 4
degrees, this really was impressive riding form Aaron on what was his
first taste of a "proper" circuit on the GP bike. Riders seemed to be
going down all over the place, but Aaron just kept getting quicker. Never
has Aaron ridden with so much confidence in such awful conditions. The day
had started with a steady 1:52.4 for Aaron, but finished on a damp
circuit, with the bike still on a full wet set-up, with a 1:26.2, after 6
x15 minute sessions. I'd never seen Aaron in such a confident mood, he
seems to have really taken to the GP125, it was nice to meet up with our
Team Manager Paul "Stealth" Collins again (a Snetterton "Veteran" from the
1980's), who made the trip down from Laceby, Nr Grimsby to cast an eye
over the proceedings.
Sunday
arrived with
a
bang, and 2 inches of snow !!!!
How
the track staff managed to get us out on circuit I'll never know, but by
about lunchtime Aaron was back on circuit again. This time however, the
weather didn't clear, and with regular snow & hail showers slowing things
down, he just did as many laps as he dare, being under strict instructions
not to throw it down the track !! The times once again tumbled, and when a
halt was called to the day by the organisers, I had to almost drag Aaron
off the bike & throw him into the van to get him home !
We must
say a big thank you to Tony Scott & all at the European Superbike School
for making the weekend happen in the face of awful weather conditions, all
of the Marshalls & track Staff for keeping the meeting going, "Stealth"
for coming to support us, Chris Simpson at Activ8 for the splendid new
Hideout leathers,
Anthony
Rogers & The Vet for some great scraps out on track, Picture Management at
www.picman.co.uk for some great
action shots, and Aaron's 1st proper fan, Wendy Seaman, for being so
enthusiastic & supportive!
Aaron
was exhausted after this weekend, but on the way home, said that he "felt
so lucky to have been given the chance to ride such a great bike, and
riding at Snetterton was something he had dreamt about since his first
trip there to see his hero, James Whitham when he was 4 years old, he just
never believed he'd actually do it" That makes two of us !!
We're
now looking forward to his first race meeting on the Activ8/Stealth Racing
Honda on March 12th & 13th, but we hope to be able to attend the practice
session on Friday 11th. Finally a big thank you to all of the other racers
& who offered Aaron many words of advice & encouragement over the weekend
- next step is to hopefully get him on a dry circuit on slick tyres, but I
have a feeling the wets will be seeing a bit more use in the months to
come !
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-season
Testing under way.
Last
Saturday (5th February) saw us make the 5 hour trip down to the "always
wet" Llandow circuit, near Cardiff. This was Aaron's first ride in anger
on the Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda 125
,
and although the track was wet all day, and temperatures hovered around
the 7 degree mark, he managed to dramatically improve his lap times in
every session, while getting a feel for the GP chassis, and obtaining some
valuable set-up information. We managed to get the bike set up pretty
well, and Aaron
seems
to be beginning to get to grips with the Bridgestone wets we are using at
the moment. Hopefully we will get some decent "dry" track time before his
first race on March 12th, but if his pace in the wet so far is anything to
go by, it will be well worth waiting for !
Next
outing will be the European Superbike School Testing weekend at our local
track, Snetterton, on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th February, and with the
days split into just 2 classes, and ACU licence holders only allowed on
circuit, we're really looking forward to what should be an excellent
weekend.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KBC Support
for 2005
KBC
Europe will be supplying Aaron with quality helmets for the 3rd
consecutive year in 2005. Thanks to Managing Director Sam Neill, and all
at KBC Europe Limited, suppliers of Precision Engineered Motorcycle
Helmets. Call KBC on 01283 227400 to find your nearest KBC stockist.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First outing
for Aaron on Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda
After
meeting up with a few old racing friends at the presentation do for the
British Minimoto Championships last week, we had arranged to travel down
to Llandow, South Wales on Saturday 20th November for a days testing
alongside some
of
the front runners from the Metrakids 50/70cc Series. As usual, we tracked
the weather forecast all week, and left Norfolk at 4am expecting to arrive
at the track basking in sunshine - all the best laid plans, eh ? Just 50
mins from the track, as we passed through Ross-on Wye, we hit a SNOW
shower, and from that moment on, Aaron looked decidedly glum !!
We
arrived at the circuit with just fine drizzle in the air, and an air
temperature of just 2 degrees - at least I had the sense to stick some old
wets on the bike on before we left home - just in case ! It seemed to take
an age to get the Honda up to temperature on the stand, but once there,
Aaron took to the circuit with the words "throw it down the track & you're
walking home" ringing in his ears from a very wet & cold dad !
First
session only lasted about 5 laps, Aaron pulled up at the van shivering on
the bike, and unable to feel his fingers - maybe Llandow in late November
wasn't such a perfect place for his first ride on a GP125 after all !? We
started the van up &
cranked
the heater up, and after a bit, managed to thaw the poor lad out. (for
once, Aaron wasn't "faking" it, everyone who had been on circuit, adults
included, had said that 5/6 laps was the max before you just lost all
feeling in your hands/feet due to the cold & wet conditions)
Second
session went much better, Aaron stayed out for 9 laps, and was really
starting to up the pace & look confident on the bike. Although the wets he
had on weren't the best, he said that the track felt very grippy, it was
just the severe cold which was holding him back a bit. A break for lunch
saw the heavens open, and when Aaron splashed his way out for another
session, he found large puddles of standing water on some very fast parts
of the circuit (the water spray from the flood at the aptly named Glue Pot
corner was visible from the other side of the circuit - apparently more
than a few people come "unstuck" there!) After 4 laps I called him in &
packed up for the day. We would've preferred better conditions for Aaron's
maiden ride, but he is already asking when he can go down to Llandow again
to meet up with good mate Scott Redding & co., and he seems to have
regained his confidence in the wet. Big thanks to the bike's owner Paul
"Stealth" Collins for just being on the end of the phone when help is
needed - you'll never know just how much your knowledge is appreciated !!
Aaron's
overall summary of the Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda :-
"pulls
your arms out of their sockets, handles better than anything I've ever
ridden, Brembo brakes are awesome - you certainly know you're riding a GP
bike - when can I have another go ?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Activ8/Stealth
Racing Honda on Display at NEC Show
It was a
bit of a mad rush, but with the help of Paul at Paint Motor Specialists,
we managed to get the Activ8/Stealth Racing
Honda prepared & on display at the 2004 Motorbike Show at the NEC
Birmingham. The bike will be on show all week (4th - 14th November) at the
Activ8 Racing stand (CV18, Hall 20). Aaron is seen pictured here on the
stand with Chris Simpson (centre), who looks after the Racing side of the
Company, and is also the Main UK Importer of the stunning French-made BMS
Minimoto range (as ridden by Aaron's little buddies Kurt & Matt Wigley (www.adaptracing.co.uk)
- yes, as seen on TV !) , and Tom Simpson (right) who looks after the
Activ8 Friction Reducing Additive side of the business. If you're at the
show, why not pop along to the stand (opposite the main Suzuki stand) and
catch Tom's Activ8 demonstration, I can guarantee you'll be
extremely impressed, and while you're there have a look at Aaron's
ride for 2005. Thanks to all at Activ8 for looking after us while we were
at the show, it was great to catch up with a few "old faces" too (it never
fails to amaze me how many ex-minimoto riders have made the jump up into
Road Racing in the last couple of years - good luck to you all for 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ONWARDS AND
UPWARDS AS AARON SIGNS FOR ACTIV8 / STEALTH RACING FOR 2005
2005
looks set to be an exciting year, as Aaron will now be riding the
Activ8/Stealth Racing Honda RS125 GP bike. The deal will see him supplied
with the bike & matching leathers for the 2005 season, and should provide
him with the perfect platform to step up into the National Class in 2006.
We are now busy making plans for the forthcoming season, and look forward
to working with the bike's owner, former Racer & TT Mechanic Paul Collins,
and the Team Sponsor, Activ8, who are already well known within the
Minimoto paddock. Pictured on the right are Aaron with Team Manager Paul
"Stealth" Collins and the Activ8/Stealth Honda (in last year's colours)
More details will be available after we've met with the Team at the NEC
Bike Show next week, so WATCH THIS SPACE !!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW SPONSOR
ONBOARD FOR 2005
Dereham-based Truck Sales specialists
NORFOLK COMMERCIALS are providing Aaron
with some financial support for the 2005 season. The family-run Company,
operated by Alan & Richard McCormack, are dealers in a wide range of used
trucks, and are also an authorised Isuzu Truck main dealer, for both new &
used Isuzu commercial vehicles. We would like to take this opportunity to
thank them and welcome them onboard, and hope they enjoy being part of the
Team in 2005.
