Dukes
Race Calendar 2009Seton 09 line upMz Experience 09WSB R1 Philip IslandWSS R1 Philip IslandBMCRC/MRO Brands 080309Seton Tuning Brands MROCenturion look strongCrescent Suzuki AlmeriaTeam Co-Ordit 09Sy Langford BrandsWSB R2 QatarYPM Snett 290309YPM Snett 290309BSB R1 Brands IndyKennaugh 4th at BrandsYART win Le MansSolid Brands FitzpatrickOlivers Mount - Ian Watson CupWSB R3 AssenBSB R2 Oulton ParkBSS R2 Oulton ParkBSB Brands GP 090809Kennaugh leaves Linxcel Seton YamahaCooper thwarted at BrandsCenturion suffer at BrandsBMCRC/MRO Brands GPYPM Brands 260709Sy Langford Brands SuperstockFitz on song at BrandsBSB Cadwell ParkLinxcel Seton CadwellCenturion Honda CadwellCo-ordit Lowes loves Cadwell Langford CadwellBSB R10 CroftSupersport R10 Croft Centurion Progress at CroftTesting time at Croft for Co-OrditLinxcel Seton suffer at CroftOlivers Mount Gold Cup 200909BSB R11 SilverstoneSuccess for Coordit at SilverstoneSolid Silverstone for CenturionBetter w/e for Linxcel Seton at SilverstoneMRO Brands Weymouth podiumLangford - Silverstone SuperstocksYPM Brands 260909BSB Last Rd Oulton ParkLowes takes BSS Cup for Co-orditSolid end for Centurion at OultonBrignola wins Italian CIV3 points for Webb & Linxcel SetonWSB Portimao Spies winsYPM Lydden Hill 01-11-09Rangis YPM @ LyddenMotoGP Rossi top in test

YPM Brands 260709

YPM Mid season review - after Brands GP - 25/26-07-09


With 47 riders signed up to YPMRC club its been another year of great support by the riders that show an affection to their class that others can only wish for. The request for 1 round a month, over 8 months were almost met by Bemsee a sterling effort indeed. A series that includes a trip to Oulton Park, Brands GP and the ever challenging but much loved by the class, Cadwell Park.




The first round of the 8 round Bemsee championship opened at a very wet and windy Snetterton in late March, and almost looked like a full house for Mike Smith on Gerry Pell's YPVS350 until he ran out of fuel in the last race on Sunday. Pat Herron on his 350 did all he could to challenge him but a tough weekend showed him crash out on Saturday, destroying the frame and forcing him to borrow the freshly built YPVS350 from Spencer Reeves, resulting in two top 10 finishes and proving that Spencer's bike was pretty much ready to go. Dan Wright showed his resilience after knocking himself out in the second race on Saturday, to get signed back on and get a win in the last of the weekend - The remaining pot positions were taken by Pete Fishwick on his Norbar Racing TZR250 and Paul Welch again on a TZR250.

Having a slot at the Bemsee Centennial meeting proved to be a more successful one for Mike as he powered the 350 to 4 wins followed by Pat Herron on his Taymar 350 with Dan Wright taking all the final podium positions apart from a close battle with Pete Fishwick and Roy Parbury, with Pete coming out on top. Jamie Cooper, John Parbury, Terry Poulter, Keith Roissetter all taking top 10 positions across the weekend.

What seemed like an eternity and no racing in May early June brought a return to Snetterton and of course the mandatory downpours we get accustomed to at that circuit - Mike Smith making it a bit of a habit still out performed the chasing pack with 4 wins although his ability to keep the 350YPVS on track, perhaps not inline in the monsoon on Sunday afternoon was impressive - This race saw many new riders visit the top 10 in favourable conditions for them - often seen doing rain dancing in the paddock - notably Paul Norris on his TDR250 who was hunting a podium position but finally finished with a 5th , Andy Muse nabbed his first top 10. Ben Miles racing for Gibson exhausts came very close to his first top 3 showing great improvement this year. Paul Welch dropped it at the last corner handing the final podium to Dan Wright - Truly horrendous conditions. Pat Herron struggled on a set of tyres just not up to the conditions. In the other races that weekend Jamie Cooper bagged his first podium and gave Dan a good fight in the last race of the weekend.

Next up was the fabulous Oulton Park - a first time for this class since 2003 and given the restrictions imposed from the circuit the meeting has to be held over Friday and Saturday thus only allowing Friday to cater for practice and qualifying and Saturday to showcase the 2 races for each class - Such was the success of the meeting that Bemsee managed to tag an extra lap to each class for the afternoon. In what is becoming a runaway championship Mike Smith won both races with Pat Herron taking both 2nd places - Pete Fishwick did his best to keep him honest though separated at the line by .208 of a second - Dan Wright took 3rd in the final race of the day. The YPM's showed a collective spirit by boosting the 400 class and backfilling their grid with 18 riders thus doubling the entrants. It's been a while since the 400 grid saw Silkolenes and Castols finest fill the air.

Just breaking the halfway point bring us to back to Brands Hatch but this time for the full GP circuit with the fast and furious Hawthorn's and the infamous Sheene Curve makes the tack a must try for any racer and I'm yet to hear any racer talk bad of this track. The story was not the same for Mike Smith and his Pell 350 though as he didn't even complete one lap in practice. With a seized lump he borrowed Adrian Groves spare bike and put it on the podium in 3rd, but then his luck ran out, the spare ;1- bike from Adrian Grove gave up the ghost in race 2, the Pell bike broke in Race 1 Sunday and that being enough for Mike he called it a day - Pat Herron showed a clean set of heals in all races over the weekend which included picking up the Danny Whalin Challenge Cup in the afternoon race on Saturday. Fishwick and Wright fought for the 2nd and 3rd places take one each on Saturday. Jamie Cooper joined the Herron chasing pack along with Roy Parbury on Sunday - The heavens threatened to put a damper on the proceedings but it never really materialised and a 5 rider dash to the finish made it a closer event for the final race.

The championship standings now Have Mike Smith leading Pat Herron by 21 points with Wright reasonably safe in 3rd a further 60 behind, but with 3 meetings still to go its still wide open.

The final meetings of the year are at Cadwell Park, Brands Hatch and a return to the recently refurbished Lydden circuit at the end of October - There could even be some YPM riders tagging on the back of the 400 grid at Thruxton.

I'd like to thank our sponsors for their continued support NorfolkLine, Rush Europe, NGK, ARD Racing, Norbar and Gibson Exhausts



Report Pete Fishwick
Pics Eric O'Brien

RSS