The 2006 Star Bikes Sporting TT series concluded with the final event at Skidby last Saturday. With most of the overall positions sorted for most riders there was a only a slight chance to improve their points totals although several riders had still only ridden 9 events and could improve significantly.

A good field of 26 riders faced the timekeeper with several private entries turning up for a last full on effort before the onset of the winter months. Weather conditions were perfect for racing with reasonably warm temperatures and very little wind although what breeze was blowing was from the east and up the hill making for quick times. Chris Whitelam made it a maximum score for the series with his 10th solo victory. He recoded 22.54. The quality of his ride can be judged by the fact this was nearly as fast as his time in the open but this was on the full 10-mile circuit that is about 30seconds longer than the event used in the open event. In second place and only16 seconds behind was Steve Guymer who has clearly benefited from his recent racing trip abroad. If Steve puts in a good winter he could be challenging for the top step of the podium next year.

The next 5 places were separated by less than a minute with Andy, Dean Glenn, Neil and Vince all closely grouped together. Vince’s time was especially of note when you consider he was riding a standard road bike. This was probably cost him a minute to most riders on time trial bikes and a 63 second improvement would have seen him in 3rd spot. Again with a good winter Vince could be a serious challenger next season. It was also good to see Neil getting some of his old fitness back as he started to push further up the results sheet. The season has also seen some of the lower placed riders make steady improvement over the course of the year and Mike Kilgour and Dave Milson’s times have been slowly improving all year. Mike Adams must be cursing the Skidby course as he failed to finish for the second time due to mechanical problems.

After the event we all gathered in the Half Moon in Skidby for the prize presentation accompanied by sandwiches and chips. The total prize fund totaled £1025 with 17 riders receiving vouchers for Star Bikes and the section winners also receiving tickets to the annual dinner. The timekeepers, marshals and pushers off also received bottles of wine in recognition of the help they have given over the year. On behalf of the riders I would like to once again thank Greame, Gil, Sheila, Liz, Barry, Ian and Roy for all the help they have given over the year. Finally I would like to thank Roy Irwin of Star Bikes for his continued generous support that helps me to put up such a good prize list. £1000 for a club series is pretty good going by anybodies standards and it would be interesting to see if any other clubs have such a rich prize list for their club events.

That’s it for another year, time for a well earned rest and to start planning a training programme that would give you the fitness improvements that everybody yerns for. Details of next years series will be published on the website around Christmas time.

Seniors and Veterans                                                                                                                           Points

  1     Chris Whitelam             00:22:54                                  Hull Thursday RC                                               50

  2     Steven Guymer              00:23:10           @   00:00:16       Manx RC                                                           47

  3     Andrew Barnes             00:23:47           @   00:00:53       Hull Thursday RC                                               45

  4     Dean Fulstow               00:23:58           @   00:01:04       Hull Thursday RC                                               44

  5     Glenn Whitehouse         00:24:03           @   00:01:09       Hull Thursday RC                                               43

  6     Neil Cleminshaw           00:24:20           @   00:01:26       Hull Thursday RC                                               42

  7     Paul Purdy                    00:24:52           @   00:01:58       Star Bikes RT                                                     41

  8     Dave Millson                 00:26:46           @   00:03:52       Hull Thursday RC                                               40

  9     Samuel Dyason            00:26:48           @   00:03:54       Hull Thursday RC                                               39

  10   John Lockwood             00:27:05           @   00:04:11       Hull Thursday RC                                               38

  11   Nathan Chester             00:27:10           @   00:04:16       Hull Thursday RC                                               37

  12   John Anson                  00:28:48           @   00:05:54       Hull Thursday RC                                               36

  13   Alan Kaye                     00:29:38           @   00:06:44       Hull Thursday RC                                               35

  14   Phillip Eden                  00:30:06           @   00:07:12       Hull Thursday RC                                               34

  15   John Weaden               00:30:51           @   00:07:57       Hull Thursday RC                                               33

  16   Mick Adams                  DNF                                        Hull Thursday RC

  17   Karl Downes                 DNS                                        Hull Thursday RC

Juvenilles and Ladies                                                                                                                           Points

  1     Vince Cartwright            00:24:49           @   00:01:55       Hull Thursday RC                                               50

  2     Matthew Barratt             00:25:14           @   00:02:20       Hull Thursday RC                                               47

  3     Calum McElwee            00:25:59           @   00:03:05       Hull Thursday RC                                               45

  4     Mark Walker                  00:27:34           @   00:04:40       Hull Thursday RC                                               44

Private Entries                                                                                                                                     Points

  1     Pete Fielding-Smith       00:24:26           @   00:01:32       Hull Thursday RC

  2     Paul Jolliffe                   00:24:53           @   00:01:59       Hull Thursday RC

  3     David Brearley               00:25:31           @   00:02:37       City Road Club (Hull)

  4     John Brearley                00:27:34           @   00:04:40       City Road Club (Hull)

  5     Dave Green                  00:29:09           @   00:06:15       Hull Thursday RC

  6     Les Barratt                   00:31:04           @   00:08:10       Hull Thursday RC