£33’000 raised for CJ Riders Fund
www.cjnine.com

Once again the Brands Hatch Chris Jones Finale Auction was a huge success. Over the two nights the Fund managed to raise a huge £33’000 and special thanks must go to all the riders and contributors to the auction, without them this stunning figure could not have been achieved.

Jolly Jack Burnicle, Scoop Carter and Mr Whitham put on a awesome show and Saturday night and the money was rolling in. Once again John ‘Flint’ McGuinness bowled the crowd over by donating one of his very special and meaningful TT Replica medals and was baffled when it raised a staggering £3’000. This was the second year running that the 13 times TT winner donated one of his prize possessions to the Fund and it was greatly appreciated. On Sunday night they managed to get McGuinness out of the shirt he was wearing at the time and that was auctioned too! He was not the only person to be robbed of their clothes he was joined by Cal Crutchlow, Jack Burnicle and Clive Jones who movingly sold the his Chris Jones Race Shirt, only the second thing belonging to Chris that has been sold by the Jones’ family.

As leathers, boots, helmets, pictures, VIP passes and various other items rolled off the auction table the money came flooding in. A superb job was done by all involved on the evenings and thanks must go to everyone, from the riders, helpers of the Fund, the buyers and most importantly Pam, Clive and Lucy Jones who do such a fantastic job through, what is still something which is very painful for them. Without them the Fund would not exist. The initial purchase of the X-Ray machine has been used countless times throughout the 2007 season and most recently on Saturday by Chris Walker who was involved in a fast crash during the practice session, saying “Today I got to use Chris’ x-ray machine, it’s mega!” The Fund are continuing to raise Funds to provide more medical equipment for the British Superbike series, details of which can be found on www.cjnine.com.

The next big event for the CJ Riders Fund is the Bikesport Awards Dinner on the 24th November to be held at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham, coinciding with the International Motorcycle Show at the NEC. Tickets are £50 each inclusive of a 5-course dinner, awards ceremony. Riders confirmed so far are Chris Walker, John McGuinness, Leon Haslam, Kiyo and Johnny Rea.

For more information see www.cjnine.com or download a booking form at the following link: -

http://www.cjnine.com/downloads/2007-bikesport-awards-booking-form.pdf

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Carly Rathmell

www.brendan-roberts.com
Brendan Roberts had to settle for a disappointing sixth and seventh place respectively in the two National Superstock races at the final round at Brands Hatch at the weekend, 12th – 14th October. Roberts was hoping for a strong end to the season but it was not to be as he struggled to find a suitable set up on the Ducati 1098 around the tight 1.2-mile circuit.

With a whole host of riders competing in the Superstock Championship, conditions on the track during qualifying were not ideal. With around 40 riders all competing for the pole position spot and only two seconds covering the entire field of 38 riders it was always going to be a tight fought battle to the chequered flag.

After qualifying in 12th position for the two races he ensured he got a good start for the first race and was through to ninth by the third lap. As the race progressed the pack were bunched together, staring up the exhaust pipe of Marshall Neil when Neil’s bike blew spraying oil all over the track and all over the chasing Ducati of Roberts. With a number of riders falling on the oil the race was red flagged and re-run as a 10-lap sprint. On the re-start Roberts gained a good start and was soon through the sixth position and fending off the chasing riders.

After a few changes on the Saturday night Roberts set the fastest time during Sunday’s morning warm-up, but with his low qualifying position he was going to always struggle to turn that into a strong race result. Fighting a hard race he was sandwiched between the two Yamaha’s of Jon Kirkham and Hudson Kennaugh and due to another red flag and the race being declared at 17-laps, Roberts could only secure seventh place.

A slightly disappointed Roberts said “It’s definitely been a tough year for me, I’ve struggled all year with my injured right wrist, which I sustained early in the year and it’s certainly had a knock on effect to my racing. It’s taken months for it to heal and is still not right now, I’ve been told by the doctor that it’s unlikely I’ll regain full movement in it. I’ve battled through the pain and got on with the job as best I could. We found it difficult to find a good set up for me at Brands and I made things harder for myself by qualifying in 12th place. I’d like to congratulate John (Laverty) on his first win of the season and also thanks to all the guys at the Buildbase team for taking me on half way through the year. They are a great team and it’s been a pleasure to ride for them. I fly back to Oz on the 21st and looking forward to the break. I’m still waiting to hear about next year but fingers crossed I’ll be back in Europe, thanks to everyone at the Ducati Xerox Junior Team and the Buildbase Team for all their hard work this season.”

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Carly Rathmell
Freelance Sports PR
www.carlyrathmell.com
carlyrathmell@yahoo.co.uk

www.centurionracing.net
 
The Centurion Racing team had a strong finish to the 2007 Maxxis British Supersport Championship. Running three riders at the final round at Brands Hatch, James Westmoreland and Dan Cooper were joined by the 2007 British 125 Champion 19-year-old Luke Jones. All three riders rode an exceptional race at the tiny 1.2-mile circuit gaining 9th, 11th and 19th place respectively.

The trio struggled during qualifying and with a huge amount of riders on the circuit it was difficult to get clear track and a good run on a qualifying tyre. With only one second covering the top twenty riders in the Supersport class it was always going to be a tight battle as to where they would finish. Westy secured 16th, Cooper 19th and Jones 32nd on his first appearance on a 600 machine, this was the way they lined up for the scheduled 24-lap race.

All three gained positions off the start and Westy was sitting in 13th, Cooper in 14th and Jones 28th at the end of the first lap. All were carving their way through the tight knit field and manoeuvring their way through the tight pack gaining positions in the process. Aaron Walker crashed heavily into Paddock Hill Bend on lap 22 and forced the race to be red flagged and a result was called.

The team ended the year on a high and without any major hick-ups or problems, they are extremely happy with the way the season has progressed and how the two rookie riders Westy and Cooper have achieved some fantastic results gaining ninth and 15th in the overall Championship results and Westy securing Centurions second Supersport Cup Championship title.

Commenting Westy said “It’s been a very tough weekend but to finish ninth and run such a good consistent fast pace is very encouraging. I got a good start but got tangled up in Paul Young’s accident and lost a lot of time. I rode my hardest today and that was all I had. I’m happy because I was up against it and once again I have shown I can run up front in British Supersport, roll on 2008!”

Cooper said “Despite a really bad qualifying session I’m pleased with my end of season result as it’s one of my strongest results all year. I’ve really enjoyed this season and riding in the 600 class, it’s been a big step up from 125’s but I would like to thank everyone at Centurion Racing for giving me this opportunity. I’m hoping next year I will be able to get some stronger results for the Centurion Team.”

Jones said “This was my first time in the 600 class and I had a lot to learn in the three days. I’m very grateful to the entire Centurion Team for allowing me to race their bike at the weekend. For my first attempt in the series I was reasonably happy with the outcome. It’s a huge difference to riding a 125 and I quickly had to adapt my riding style and learning how to ride the bigger bike.”

The team are delighted with their 2007 season results and would like to thank all their sponsors and supporters that have made the team what it is throughout the year. They are very much looking forward to welcoming Dennis Hobbs to the team for the 2008 season.
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Carly Rathmell
Freelance Sports PR

Hi all

Well Cadwell for me was certainly the ultimate in highs and lows of racing.

All my ‘boyz’ seemed to be having a trouble free and good weekend and things all seemed to be running pretty smoothly.

Brendan was on form all weekend and took the win in the Superstock Class, Martin J got his best result to date of fifth in the Supersport Championship. Westy had a bit of a nightmare after a big crash during qualifying. The Hawk boys had a pretty good weekend, Haydon made a welcome return to BSB for the team.

Leon C was going great and seemed to have re found the form that he showed at the start of the season when he took three podiums in the first BSB races. He looked great all weekend at Cadwell, race day just wasn’t meant to be for him. He got caught up with Johnny Rea in race one which saw the pair crash out at the chicane and then race two real disaster struck. He crashed coming over the mountain section on lap eight, he landed awkwardly and heavily breaking his femur and fracturing his pelvis. It was a sad sight seeing him in so much pain and I really hope he can be back racing soon and show us all the Camier spirit and talent that we’ve grown to love over the years. I know he’ll come back a stronger person and I as a close friend will be wishing him well all the way and will be right behind him. You can leave messages for him on www.leoncamier.com. Get on it Shafter, we know you can! (Smarls x)

It was a real high to low in a couple of hours, with Brendan taking his first win in the dry since he suffered his terrible injury at the start of the season. Now it’s Leon’s turn to fight back and sure he will.

I will keep you posted.

Cheers

Cx