The curtain comes down on the 2008 grasstrack season this Sunday (2 November) with the traditional International Bonfire Burn Up at the Boarded Circuit in Collier Street, Yalding, Kent.
With no Burn Up in 2007 the Tonbridge & Malling Motorcycle Club have assembled an all star line up with quality in depth not seen on these shores for many years, with no less than 7 of next years World Longtrack challengers in the solos alone and the countries top sidecar crews in both the 500cc and 100cc classes, there’s a guaranteed feast of racing action to look forward to!
In the solos the club have pulled off the coup of the season by tempting Coventry speedway’s 2007 British Grand Prix winner Chris ‘Bomber‘ Harris back to the sport after an absence of several years and it will be intriguing to see how he fair’s against the grasstrack elite who compete against each other week in week out across the circuits of europe and the UK. 2008 World Longtrack No.2 Glen Phillips will be aiming to finish the season on a high after one of his most successful seasons to date both on grass and shale despite the heartache of losing his British Masters title after an engine failure on the last lap of this year’s final.
Having had mixed fortunes this season Lincolnshire Poacher winner Andrew Appleton will hope his lack of Collier Street action in recent times will not hinder his chances of taking this coveted title as several of the other fancied chargers have shown a real penchant for the boarded circuit in the past. Back in May young Dutch star Dirk Fabriek won the Lester Goodwin Memorial ahead of a distinguished field so he may well be the man to beat on the day.
Joining Phillips and Appleton as Britain's quartet in next years World Longtrack series will be Richard Hall and Paul Cooper who have both gone well at the Kent venue in the past, Hall who pushed Kelvin Tatum all the way in 2006 has had limited grasstrack appearances in the UK due to his Scunthorpe Speedway commitments but showed his class with qualification for the 2009 series at Aduard two weeks ago. Cooper who qualified through the same meeting really has done the grasstrack scene proud of late and having retained his 250cc British Championship at Collier Street in September it will take a brave man to bet against him winning again on Sunday.
Along with Fabriek the European contingent is lead by the vastly experienced Dutchman Theo Pijper, fellow countrymen Dennis Noordman, Jannick De Jong, Sjoerd Rozenberg, Pascal Swart and from Germany Peppi Rudolph. Collier Street track specialist Mitch Godden cannot be under estimated, neither can Northerners Jason Handley, crowned 2008 British Masters Champion at Rhodes Minnis in August, or Jamie Rogers who will be some experts outside bet to upset the script on the day. With such a star studded line up in the solos picking a winner is virtually impossible, the same can be said in the sidecar classes with crews from both forms of this discipline locking horns at various venues up and down the country and in europe throughout the season and will do once more this weekend.
In the 500cc sidecar class newly crowned British Champions Shaun Harvey and Danny Hogg will start as marginal favorites having won their title at Collier Street back in September but several other teams will not let Harvey and Hogg have it all their own way. Father and Daughter team Nick and Abi Radley will want to go into the winter months in possession of the bragging rights having twice narrowly missed out when the two teams last clashed at this venue, both times controversy rained and the fireworks could come early if previous form is anything to go by. New British No.2 Scott Dunn and Natasha Bartlett have been improving all season and to see them with another rostrum finish would not be a surprise, throw in the remaining top 9 teams in the UK at present and all the ingredients are there to make a fascinating afternoons racing in this class.
The awesome 1000cc sidecars line up will be headed by 2008 British Masters Champions Rob Bradley and Shaun Simpson and while some of their best results have not come at the Boarded Circuit it will very hard to discount them as serious contenders with confidence high in the camp after such a successful campaign. 2007 Masters Champions Colin Blackbourn and Paul Whitelam Jnr will be out to avenge the loss of that title they were cruelly unable to defend due to injuries sustained earlier in the season when Blackbourn broke a collarbone and damaged shoulder muscles, they have only recently returned to action but are sure to be in the shake up come the end of the day.
The evergreen legend that is Rob Wilson will be going for a fourth Burn Up title with Terry Saunters in the chair and despite having some mechanical gremlins over the last few weeks of the season this pairing who rate Collier Street as one of their favorites will have a major say in the outcome of this years event. Lincolnshire Poacher winners Myles Simmonds and Kevin Woodley have been back with a bang in 2008 following Woodley’s badly broken leg at the Long Marston Masters last year and will fancy their chances as will Midlands sidecar icon Steve Smith who won the first of his three Burn Up titles way back in 1989. Smith has been riding with various passengers for a large part of the season due to injuries sustained to his trusty partner Carl Pugh at the FIM Gold Cup in August, this may well have hampered his progress this season although with Dave Hogan on the back the pair were victorious at the recent Worcester Winner meeting.
John Halsey and Ivor Matthews, two names synonymous with grasstrack sidecar racing in the UK for many years are making a welcome return to the scene to renew old acquaintances and whilst Matthews who has Rick McAuley in the chair has been competing on shale, Halsey with old sidekick‘ Jason Glenie has been concentrating his efforts helping son Danny with a speedway career. It will be interesting to see how quickly they can adapt to the conditions but it’s safe to say neither will be along just for a ride round!
The beautiful tones of the V-Twin Godden piloted by Welsh crew Neal Owen and Kevin Colborne will be making it’s first appearance of the year at Collier Street and can Paul Whitelam with Alan Elliott convert their early season form along with Gary Jackson, Rod Winterburn, Mark Cossar and take top honours on a track they have all done well at in the past?
With all roads leading the this famous circuit on Sunday racing will start at 12.30pm prompt, the evening before will see Elvis by request in the big tent and the whole weekend will be rounded off with a professional fireworks display. For all the up to the minute info leading up the weekend go to www.tmmcc.co.uk
