Moto3 Wildcard entry for 17-year old Joe at British Grand Prix

British Motostar championship contender, Joe Irving, will make his first appearance at a MotoGP event when he lines up for the Moto3 race at Silverstone on August 31.

The 17-year old from Holmfirth has been a consistent force in British Motostar - the national equivalent of Moto3 - on KTM RC 250 R machinery, taking three wins and nine podiums in 2013 and is currently battling for the championship lead after seven rounds of the 2014 season, with four wins and three other podiums.

Trainee chef Irving will be aiming to impress the partisan crowd at the Northamptonshire circuit when he lines up on his familiar British championship machine, supplied and run by Loughborough-based KTM dealer, Redline Motorcycles.

We grabbed a quick word with ‘Joe Toad’ ahead of his Grand Prix debut this weekend at Silverstone.

How are you feeling?

Joe Irving: I’m actually less nervous compared to a British Championship weekend. I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Well, that’s what I’ve been telling everyone else! But honestly, there are no consequences and only good things can happen from this experience.

What you think the biggest challenge will be of riding at Grand Prix level?

I’m going to have to increase my speed dramatically to keep up with riders here, compared to British championship. The team and me will have to take really big steps this weekend to keep up, but we’re up for that and as best prepared as we can be.

Do you have a personal goal?

To qualify! I want to improve on my best time from the British championship round from here last year. Another goal is to finish the race. That may sound daft, but a lot of wildcard riders have been known to crash out. To break the top 30 would be good as the pace is hot. I’m just going to ride my bike as fast as I can.

Are there any particular riders you want to beat?

There’s a big group of riders that I’ve ridden against before. Jules Danilo beat me at Silverstone by 0.05 seconds when he did a wildcard in the British championship last season, so I need to get revenge on him. I’ve also raced against Ana Carrasco and Scott Darou before in Spain.

Do you like the Silverstone circuit?

It’s my favourite circuit we come to in the British championship. I just really like how wide and big the track is; it’s a proper Grand Prix circuit compared to the ‘normal’ tight and twisty British tracks.

Do you have any home advantage?

There are a few riders making their debut rides at Silverstone and, not including this weekend, I’ve ridden here three years on the trot so I’m reasonably comfortable here.

Have you made any changes to the Redline KTM RC 250 R?

We can run the twin exhausts from the KTM GP Race Kit as there are no noise restrictions here. They’re so loud - 10db over the British championship limit! I really like them, you can hear the bike a lot better.

The biggest changes are a few different stickers on the bike from new sponsors that have come onboard, such as Halifax Glass.

We are running the same specification Dunlop tyres as we do in the British championship, so there’s nothing new for me to get used to. Well, apart from the pace!

What have you been doing in the run up to the event?

Racing a lot! We were only just at Cadwell Park this past Bank Holiday weekend, but our race was rained off. But there have been a lot of British championship races in the past six weeks. I’ve been training on the push bike a lot in between working as a chef at my parent’s pub and the only weekend the team had off we did some display runs on the bike at the Brackley Festival of Motorcycling.

I also held a fundraiser to help cover the big cost of doing this wildcard and the support we had from people and companies donating prizes was amazing. People really stepped up and the auction was a big success, so I can’t thank everyone enough for making my Grand Prix dream happen.

Substantial Reward offered for their safe recovery

At around 11pm last evening, the inner foyer of the National Motorcycle Museum was broken into and a large amount of the Museum’s trophies and TT replicas stolen.

Each of the Museums trophy cabinets was smashed causing substantial damage to the displays.

Many of the trophies and TT replicas have little 'scrap' value ,but are unique and irreplaceable as part of this countries Motorcycling Heritage.

Because of the historical importance of these trophies the National Motorcycle Museum will be offering a substantial award of £20,000 for information which leads to the safe recovery of these important artefacts.

Anyone with any relevant information is asked to contact West Midlands Police or the National Motorcycle Museum on 01675 443311 or e-mail Museum Director James Hewing [email protected] 

The Museum has re-opened as normal this morning.

www.thenmm.co.uk‏

Jordan takes Lightweight Race in last lap thriller

For the second time in the day, Rob Hodson was left rueing his luck when leading a race at the IMGold Manx Grand Prix.  After his pit lane problems earlier in the Junior MGP Race, he ran out of fuel in the day's second race, the Manx Grand Prix Supporters Club SuperTwin and Lightweight Race.

In an incident packed race, Gary Gittins was leading the SuperTwin Race but came off on his final lap at Ballagarey leaving James Neesom to take the chequered flag.  In the concurrent lightweight Race, race leader Dave Taylor received a 30 second pit lane penalty when leading the race, which saw Mick Jordan come through on the last lap to take the honours.

Conditions remained good around the Mountain Course for the second race of the day, although Clerk of the Course Phil Taubman warned riders that the high winds were blowing debris onto the course.

Rob Hodson was first away and the Wigan rider was clearly hoping to put his earlier problems behind him. With Phil McGurk a late withdrawal, Stuart Garton was second away twenty seconds behind Hodson.

James Neesom, who retired at Sulby with cramp in the earlier Junior Race, led Andrew Farrell, fresh from his Junior podium, by half a second at the first checkpoint at Glen Helen with Gary Gittins, and Hodson just over a second behind the leading pair.

That remained the top four at Ballaugh although Hodson moved up to second with Ben Rea, the 2013 Newcomer C Race winner, holding fifth and that was the top five at the end of the first lap.  Gittins's 111.402 gave him a lead of less than a second from Hodson (111.336) with Farrell (111.135), Rea (110.057) and Gittins, riding the quirkily named 'family and friends' Suzuki (110.000), completing the top five at the Grandstand.

Hodson moved into the lead by Glen Helen on the second lap and had built a 6 second lead from Neesom by the Bungalow but with everyone at the Grandstand preparing for a likely pit stop, news came through that Hodson had retired at Hillberry having run out of fuel.

Gittins elected to go straight through on the second lap which put him forty nine seconds head of James Neesom at Glen Helen who was in turn fourteen seconds ahead of Farrell in third with Ben Rea fourth and 2014 MGP Newcomer B Race winner Dean Osborne in fifth. 

Gittins came into the pits at the end of the third lap with a 27 second lead but then news came through that he had come off at Ballagarey on his final lap. He was reported as conscious and treated by the medical team at the scene.

Gittins' accident left James Neesom with a commanding lead of over 20 seconds at the front of the field and the Hunmanby man duly came home with a final lap of 110.118 for an overall 1:22.34.608/ 109.658mph from second placed Andrew Farrell (1;23.03.484/ 109.023).  Callum Collister, the 2013 Newcomer B Race winner, secured the final podium place with 1:23.36.128/ 108.313.

In the concurrent Lightweight Race, Dave Corlett was in front by 1.6 seconds from Mick Jordan with Gavin Lupton third at Glen Helen but at the end of the opening lap Jordan (105.105) had moved into the lead from Lupton (104.423) with Rikki McGovern (103.334) in third ahead of Corlett (103.138) who dropped to fourth.

Jordan came into the pits at the end of the second lap with a six second lead after his second lap of 106.635 from Lupton (106.862) with Dan Hobson ((106.382) in third a further seventeen seconds back in third. Dave Taylor, who was fourth, elected to go straight through and therefore hit the front with a lead of twelve seconds over Jordan at Glen Helen.  Taylor duly pitted at the end of his third lap but any chance of a podium finish was ruined with a 30 second pit lane speeding penalty.

Meanwhile at the front of the field a battle royal for the race win was developing between Lupton and Jordan with the former leading by 0.4 seconds at Glen Helen on the last lap. However Jordan was on a charge and moved into the lead by Ballaugh, eventually taking the chequered flag ten seconds ahead of Lupton with Hobson retaining third place.

Two Wheeled Nomad

Upon registering Pearl’s mileage clock 10,000 miles, without conscious volition I stopped seeing our trip as an extended holiday.

This had now become a way of life for us. The honeymoon period wasn’t altogether over, it was simply the start of a new chapter having learnt the basic ropes of two wheeled travel. Namely journeying into the unknown and coping with all its capricious twists and turns – coming out the other end all the richer for it. South America so far was adorned by many pleasurable experiences mingled with the odd misadventure thrown in for good measure. We were able to carry all we needed on the back of two motorcycles, which wonderfully, excluded all those unnecessary societal burdens. I’m done with those. My new mantra naturally emerged: to wring out as much fun from life in the most gutsy, earthy, rollicking, lip-licking way. Philosopher Alan Watts said exactly that – let go and be hung up on nothing and I would add, by nobody. We felt free.

The 50 mile ride from San Pedro de Atacama took us north longitudinally in ascent to the Antofagasta region. The sky was an animated arrangement of clouds straight from an episode opening of The Simpsons. En route to El Tatio, we were ungrudgingly slowed by a herd of goats consuming the width of the road. Watching the mature ones amble and kids toddling along bum-to-bum, my heart went out to commuters back home in murderous bumper-to-bumper traffic. Straggling behind a frisky band of bearded goats was my kind of traffic jam. In eventually skirting around the herd we blasted through our first ford of water; my lower half got drenched. The splash I’d zealously made soaked my legs trickling into the top my boots. Wet feet forgotten, we were favoured with clusters of vicuña dotted on the mountainous plains – a wild relative of the llama, supposedly valued for its fine silky wool. Like the llama, vicuña were a lot less skittish than the similar looking but larger guanaco. It gave us a moment to marvel at them in the altiplano high Andean pastures against a brilliant blue sky backdrop.    

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Leon Morris takes a win and a third as he increases championship lead

• Marty Nutt takes race two win
• Dek Crutchlow father of Cal Crutchlow guest rides in Ducati TriOptions Cup
• Jakub Smrz breaks wrist in free practice of British Superbikes

A packed Bank Holiday crowd were treated to two thrilling races over the weekend with Leon Morris and Marty Nutt taking a win each.

Leon Morris, Carl Cox Motorsport/ P&H Motorcycles increased his lead in the Ducati TriOptions Cup title fight with a win and a third place at Cadwell Park. Marty Nutt the Ducati Coventry rider took the win in Race 2 while Dennis Hobbs had to settle for two second places over the weekend.  

In race one Morris lined up on the front row behind team mate Dennis Hobbs on pole with 2013 Champion Marty Nutt third on the grid.  It was however Morris that led Hobbs and Nutt into the first corner and would hold this lead for the majority of the race, with Hobbs close behind and Nutt watching the battle unfold in third. Despite all three riders maintaining the same positions this was not a procession as Morris and Hobbs swapped places over the closing third of the race. Unfortunately Hobbs was unable to make any overtakes stick and he had to settle for second place behind Morris with Nutt coming home in a close third.

Morris went into race two with a 26 point lead and with only two more rounds was keen to consolidate his championship lead. Having set the fastest lap in race 1, Morris started from pole with the race being designated a wet race as the forecast rain made conditions and visibility tricky for the Ducati TriOptions riders.

It was Morris who again led into the first corner followed by championship rivals Hobbs and Nutt. Immediately the front three pulled out a four second lead over fourth placed Guiver with Nutt putting a fastest lap on lap 3. Hobbs was hounding Morris but Morris in turn responded with a fastest lap, the three were showing an impressive pace considering the wet track and had soon increased the gap between third and fourth by over seven seconds.

Dennis Hobbs’ persistence paid off on lap six passing Morris through Coppice and immediately pulling away. Now Morris had Nutt to contend with as the Irishman put in yet another fastest lap and soon Nutt was to move into second place and close in on the P&H Motorcycles 899 Panigale of Dennis Hobbs. Meanwhile Morris was falling back on the leading two and could only watch as Nutt took Hobbs at Hall Bends on lap 8. Hobbs did his best to take the lead back but with backmarkers coming into play had to settle for his second 2nd place of the weekend.

Sean Neary (Mymate.co.uk) had a disappointing race one after crashing out on the first lap at Mansfield but recovered in race two with an 8th position. Rob Guiver (Hyside Motorcycles) put behind him a DNF at Oulton with a fourth and a seventh place, while the rider of the weekend was Fast Bikes journalist Al Fagan who continued his good form with two sixth places.

Not all the attention was on the championship leaders as one of the stories of the weekend was the return to racing at the age of 68 of Dek Crutchlow, father of Ducati MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow. Dek rode the Ducati UK 899 Panigale guest bike to a 20th place in race one and 21st in race two.

Quotes:

Leon Morris

“Overall a good weekend with a win yesterday and a third today in really tricky conditions. The key for me is having dry conditions which are much more predictable whereas today was not. Today I felt really strong and felt like I could go with them and win the race.  I have increased my lead by a couple more points over the weekend and won the event overall so it’s been a blinding weekend.”

Marty Nutt

“Yes, very happy and believe it or not we have not changed anything on the bike since Oulton. Obviously we backed everything off for the wet race but the bike is good now so we can take it to any circuit. I am looking forward to Assen and Silverstone which are mega tracks for me, but I think Dennis and Leon are good round those tracks too so there will not be much advantage there.”

The Ducati TriOptions Cup returns for the penultimate round at Assen on the 19/20/21 September.

For the Millsport Ducati Racing team, the weekend came to a premature end when Czech rider, Jakub Smrz crashed out in the Superbikes free practice on Saturday. Smrz clipped a curb, causing him to high side and throwing the rider over the handlebars resulting in a broken left wrist. He was taken to the Hull Royal infirmary where the wrist was straightened and he will return to the Czech Republic for surgery. It seems unlikely that the rider will make Donington, but the team and rider have targeted Assen for his return.

Jakub Smrz

"I think I touched an exhaust or something on the curb and then it made the bike unstable and I highsided. I went to hospital where they put me under anaesthetic and they straightened the break. I think normally for this type of injury you would expect to be out for 5 to 6 weeks but I hope to be back in time for Assen. When I get home I will see my surgeon and see what he says.

“I am very disappointed. We knew it would be difficult here but we have Donington and Assen coming up that I hope to be fit for. I will call my surgeon and we will make a plan.”