With a small but quality field, the first round of the KRC Endurance Championship got off to a fast and furious start at Mallory Park. After 25 laps of practice in the morning it was Glynn Racing who were fastest, ahead of Team GBmoto (Mark Smith Halvorsen & Mick Godfrey / CorporateFX Yamaha R1).
At the 2pm start it was just like a short circuit sprint race, with GBmoto blasting off the line into the lead. Glynn Racing got to the front and held onto the lead for the 40 minutes of the two hour race, with the smaller Yamaha of M & C Racing who were on the same lap as GBmoto. Pitting on the hour in a close second place, the GBmoto R1 was very reluctant to re-start after Mark Smith-Halvorsen handed over to Mick Godfrey, riding for the team for the first time. As the pit crew pushed the ailing machine down pit lane it finally chimed in, but the team had lost nearly a lap to Glynn Racing in the process.
Team rider Mark Smith-Halvorsen said: “A very disappointing day where we expected to get the suspension dialled in for the next 6 hour race at Pembrey and get a winning result. The surface at both circuits is very bumpy and they also have lots of quick changes in direction too. Our bike did not feel right all day – but that may be because of the alternator problem. We have a great team, so I am sure the guys will not only have the problems solved quickly, but also be looking at a direction for the chassis settings before we test again. Good to see Mick Godfrey out there on the CorporateFX Yamaha for the first time - even if he did have to push it in!”
Determined to make amends for the recent disappointment at Mallory, Team GBmoto travelled to deep South Wales and Pembrey for another 2 hour race in order to best prepare for the next 6 Hour HMRC round at the end of July.
Morning practice was held in very mixed weather with only one session being dry; times were dominated by three teams in Round 2 of the KRC Endurance Championship. Team GBmoto (Mark Smith-Halvorsen & Mick Godfrey/ CorporateFX Yamaha R1) were fastest ahead of Glynn Racing and another leading national endurance outfit; Uprite Racing. The three teams were all within half a second of each other, just under the 62 second mark, some two and a half seconds ahead of the next qualifiers. Fortunately by midday the sun had appeared and the track was dry. After the drop of the flag and the ‘le-mans’ start, the field settled down with GBmoto snatching and holding the lead, despite everything Uprite Racing and John Crockford had to
throw at them. Glynn Racing pitted early on in the race and lost a lap and Uprite Racing stopped before the half hour mark to alter their suspension settings. All this meant that after 30 minutes, GB Moto held a 1 lap lead over recent winners of the first round - M&C Racing. Just before the first hour mark, Aaron Hughes of Glynn Racing crashed the R1 at Spitfires; sadly the bike was too damaged to continue and the fight for the lead became a two horse race. Towards the end of the second hour, Uprite Racing were still lapping in the mid 59s, however there was not enough time left on the clock to close down on the South Africans of M&C Racing and grab runner up spot behind the faultlessly run and ridden CorporateFX Yamaha R1 of GB Moto.
M&C Racing now head off to Snetterton in September at the top of the 2 Hour KRC championship table, with 45 points ahead of Team GBmoto with 34 points, 3 points ahead of Glynn Racing in third place.
Team Manager, Barry Watts said: “We came to get the bike right and get the riders dialled in for the next race here in July. However, our philosophy is never to come and play - we managed to get a great setting today and win convincingly by 5 laps over two hours. Mick Godfrey and Mark Smith-Halvorsen looked convincing and their experience and teamwork paid dividends. We need to go away now and prepare well for the next National 6 hour race, where we will still need all of our experience and lady luck to get a good result – Pembrey likes biting you back!”
Team GBmoto would like to thank all of its 2007 sponsors:
Corporate FX Ltd - Foreign Currency Brokers
Martin Williams & Co - Financial Advisors
Dunlop Motorsport - Tyres
Bodyscience - Training Garments and Fitness Supplements
Hideout Leathers - One-Piece Leathers and Protective Race Clothing
Extech UK - Micron Exhausts
FW Developments - Silkolene Oil
B & C Express - Tsubaki Chains & Renthal Sprockets
YPE Power - Engine Tuning
Lazar Signs - Vinyl’s, Signs & Banners