At last, after 10 months the Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Club will be opening the paddock gates and letting their members out onto the Darley Moor Motorsport Centre’s track, near Ashbourne (DE6 2ET), to unleash the pent-up adrenaline that has been ‘caged’ since well before the national Lockdown. For a motorcycle racer the gap before the end of one season, in October, to the start of the next, in March, is usually too long, but to add a further five months has been almost torture!

This longed-for weekend will be a Closed to Spectators Test Day on Saturday 12th September, with Race Day, open to spectators, on Sunday 13th September. What should have been Round 5 of the Club Championship but will be the first race meeting of the three left for this season, no Championship points on offer, as that needs to be at least five rounds.

At the time of writing there are many local Darley Moor racers already booked in, plenty of top 3 finishers from the 2019 Championships and this will certainly grow over the next few days.

Glenn Atkinson (Northampton) – 2nd Classic & Forgotten Era Up to 250cc Championship

Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth (Sutton Coldfield/Lincs) – 2nd Formula 600 Sidecar Championship

Stuart Bradbury (Kilburn) – Pre-electronic & 750 Twin Champion

Mark Brailsford (Chesterfield) – CB500 & Suzuki Bandit Champion

David Carson (Northwich) – Mini Sound of Thunder Champion, 2nd Formula 600 Championship

Liam Clements (Newcastle under Lyme) – 2nd CB500 & Suzuki Bandit Championship

Josh Daley (Wigan) – Open Solo Champion, 2nd Peak Cup Championship

Anthony Eades/Nick Roberts (Hyde/Coventry) – 2nd Open Sidecar Championship

George Holden/Oscar Lawrence (Meller Brook/Kingsclere) – 3rd Formula 600 Sidecar Championship

Dan Knight/Ben Hughes (Macclesfield) - 3rd Open Sidecar Championship

Graham Oakley (Chesterfield) - Classic & Forgotten Era Up to 250cc Champion

Steve Price (Cheadle) – 2nd Pre-electronic 600 & 750 Twin Championship

Scarlett Robinson (Buxton) - Runner-Up Junior Championship

Tim Walsh (Buxton) – 3rd Pre-electronic 600 & 750 Twin Championship

Adam Walters (Derby) – Pre-injection Champion


Race fans, spectators you are obviously very welcome on Race Day, but you will need to order your tickets by Tuesday 8th September, to allow postage, online at http://www.darleymoor.co.uk. No more buying tickets on the gate for the time being. Be sure not too miss out on some excellent racing on two, three and four wheeled machinery, that should be in fine fettle with all the extra preparation time every competitor has had this year.

Come along and witness the latest sports bikes, built for the road, but stripped to the bare minimum and ridden harder than any road rider SHOULD. With a large variety of machinery out on track; two stroke and four stroke engines from 125cc, 390cc and 500cc single cylinder, 300cc, 500cc, 650cc, 800cc and 1200cc twin cylinder, 675cc triples, 400cc, 600cc, 750cc and 1000cc four cylinder, plus 125cc and 250cc and 500cc original race bikes. Then there are the 600cc and 1000cc sidecar outfits, plus 125cc and 250cc karts, plenty for everybody.

The Darley Moor Club have put a lot of effort in to bring the circuit and facilities in line with other venues and for spectators to be permitted to the race meetings. A large amount of work has been undertaken to improve facilities for spectators in the only area where they will be currently allowed to view from, Park Corner to the Hairpin, including a new spectator bank at Park Corner from which you can see the Starts.

As you can imagine in this exceedingly difficult year there are several strict guidelines that must be adhered to:

1. No Spectator Access to Darley Moor Motor Sports Centre for Track Days or Test Days

2. Spectators must not attend if they show any signs of Covid-19 or are required to self-isolate.

3. All Tickets must be purchased in advance from http://www.darleymoor.co.uk, up to the Tuesday before the meeting, to allow postage.

4. All Season Ticket holders must leave their name and telephone number with Gate Staff.

5. All tickets will be Daily Tickets and no camping is available on site.

6. Spectators will not be allowed into the Paddock.

7. Spectators will only be able to view from Park Corner to the Hairpin.

8. The Pope Straight will always remain closed.

9. Social Distancing must always be observed, and spectators are encouraged to use the sanitiser units around the site.

There are just two more race meetings left, following this forthcoming meeting, in this strangest of seasons, at the Darley Moor Motor Sports Centre, all events start at 10am.

Saturday 12th September – Test Day DMMCRRC – No Spectators

Sunday 13th September – Race Day 1 Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Championship

(Spectator tickets to be ordered by Tuesday 8th September from http://www.darleymoor.co.uk

Adult £13.00 Seniors £10.00)

Saturday 10th October – Race Day 2 Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Championship

Sunday 11th October – Race Day 3 Darley Moor Motor Cycle Road Race Championship

(Spectator tickets to be ordered by Tuesday 6th October from http://www.darleymoor.co.uk

Adult £13.00 Seniors £10.00 No overnight camping)

Unfortunately, the Stars at Darley races scheduled for this final race weekend is cancelled.

For any further information regarding race and test days please check http://www.darleymoor.co.uk; Facebook: Darley Moor Sports Centre; Instagram: darleymoorsportscentre; telephone: 01246 866537 or 01335 343833.


Photos by Tony Else Photogrpahy