A scorching hot race day at Mallory Park would normally draw huge crowds - and the guys behind this year's BSB series put together a packed schedule of races to keep them entertained - only for the England football team to thwart their plans by qualifying for today's second round match against Germany. Surely only the die-hard fans would turn up for the bike racing?

Sadly, it wasn't just audience numbers that were down. With two serious potential race winners - James Webb and Sean Emmett - no longer participating, the grid was down to twenty which is bad news for the series as a whole. Both riders came to the series with excellent racing credentials and solid teams behind them and were front runners at Oulton Park. The Robinson's Foundry race team has shut up shop for good, leaving James Webb without a bike to ride and Emmett has parted company with the Riders of Bristol and Bridgewater team - presumably leaving them with a spare bike. Hmmm..... maybe James should give Riders a call ...

The musical chairs don't stop there - the Black Bear Harley-Davidson team started the weekend with their third rider of the series - Darren Fry - who put in a terrific performance in qualifying to take fifth place on the grid. Two places back was another new face: Ed Smith was standing in for the injured Dave Wood and, with his team mates Gault and Gourlay, was proving that the speeds of the Stratstone bikes at Oulton Park weren’t a one-off. Manchester Harley-Davidson's John Robb and Blade's Darren Neal also didn't make the starting grid, despite qualifying, so only 18 bikes started the race.

With McWilliams all set to dominate - setting fastest times in the free practice and qualifying sessions – and doggedly pursued by Edwards, it looked like the top two finishers were a foregone conclusion. Behind them though, the next six riders were all in with a chance - and the Stratstone bikes particularly were queuing up to take advantage of any opportunities to sneak ahead on track.

As it turned out, the slightly sparse crowd at Mallory were in for a treat. Firstly, lined up on the grid the bikes looked phenomenal, the glorious sunshine glinted off the bikes and the XR1200's good looks and engine thud drew everyone's attention. Secondly, we had a real race on our hands from the word go ...

Lea Gourlay, third on the grid, was particularly keen to redeem himself after his crash at Oulton Park and he launched himself into a tussle with McWilliams right from the off. The pair of them pulled away from the rest of the pack early on in the race, with Gourlay hounding McWilliams on every lap. Seeing the two of them hammer it round the hairpin at full tilt, you just know the designer of the XR1200 never had lean angles like that in mind. It was great to see and we were truly relieved to see some real racing and proper competition. Here at Am-V we’ve always been big fans of McWilliams but no-one wants to see him waltz to the finish line on his own at every round!

As the end of the race approached, Gourlay's determination came to the fore - he went round the outside of McWilliams at Shaw's - a brave manoeuvre to say the least - which put him in the perfect position to lead into the Bus Stop chicane and into a bit of a wobble which forced McWilliams to tuck in behind him and to hope that he could pass him on the home straight. But it took a few more corners before McWilliams passed him and made it stick.

But seconds later the race was red-flagged when Darren Fry had a big off which meant the race positions over the finish line on the previous lap determined the race results - Gourlay had won, in some considerable style and, it has to be said, with a bit of luck.

Mike Edwards secured the last step on the podium after a close, race-long battle with Edinburgh Harley-Davidson's Torquil Paterson. They swapped places a couple of times but on lap 11 of 15 Edwards made a nifty pass on Paterson and held it, securing him third place. Paterson impressed us again - he really man-handled the bikes round Gerard's and the chicanes. Braking into a tight corner from a 75mph straight on a 500 pound bike takes skill and strength - he was stunning to watch.

We will update the blog when we have some news on Darren Fry’s condition - such a shame that he crashed out especially as, once he got away from Gault and Compton, he made great progress and started to catch the front four. All we do know is that the Black Bear bike took a bit of a beating and will need some TLC before Knockhill next weekend, where the gloves will certainly be off!

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Final part of the inaugural round of the Henderson XR1200 Trophy at Oulton Park, lifted from YouTube

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Lifted off YouTube, the first of four parts of the Oulton Park inaugural round of the Henderson XR1200 Trophy

If you were lucky enough to spend Bank Holiday Monday at Oulton Park for the inaugural XR1200 race, please chip in and let us know what you thought of the event.



For those who missed it – and it's very different at the trackside compared to the telly – it was a real spectacle: the people involved have taken the concept of racing Harley-Davidsons in the UK, put it into practice and are well on their way to building a credible and entertaining race series.

The dealer-based teams did the Harley-riding public proud – they produced beautifully finished and colourful bikes which they then proceeded to ride the wheels off – with no quarter given to the bikes, fellow competitors, team budgets or gearboxes (as the team mechanics will be able to tell you!).

Jeremy McWilliams claimed pole position in this morning’s qualifying session and looked good for a race win – in fact he led the race from start to finish – but the record books won’t get across the battles going on behind him on track.

Stratstone’s Alex Gault and Lea Gourlay qualified second and third respectively but Gault left the track early on in the race which left him fighting down in the lower orders on team mate Dave Wood’s bike. Wood is out of action after a crash at Mallory last week, and Alex trashed his own bike in free practice yesterday – hence the last-minute swap.

For the first five laps Gourlay battled with Mike Edwards of Rider’s Motorcycle’s for second place and secured it with the outright fastest lap – and the lap record for the XR1200 at Oulton, at 1:50.785 – before crashing out at Old Hall, leaving Edwards to chase down McWilliams alone for the second half of the ten lap race.

Edwards' team mate Sean Emmett (whose speed on his paddock scooter post-race was impressive) sadly had to retire from fourth place due to a mechanical failure.

Dijon Compton acquitted himself well on the Leeds Harley-Davidson bike, dicing with Emmett for the first six laps and then putting in consistently fast times to take a confident third place.

Just behind him, Robinson’s Foundry’s James Webb and Edinburgh’s Torquil Paterson duked it out throughout the race to come in fourth and fifth. Gault made up places to catch them and looked strong enough to make a pass - but went off-track a second time and lost his chance.

A special mention must go to Gary Byrne who is riding to promote Great Ormond Street Hospital on one of the Blade team bikes – do check out www.justgiving/garyandlewisbyrne. He came in fifteenth and nets himself a point towards the championship.

Thanks guys – for a great day out and a terrific start to the championship - we’re already looking forward to the next race at Mallory Park on the 26-27th June!

Finish	No.	Rider	Team	Laps	Time	Difference	MPH	Best Lap
1	99	Jeremy McWILLIAMS	Warr's Racing	10	18:42.531		86.33	1:51.190
2	11	Mike EDWARDS	RidersMotorcycles.com	10	18:43.131	0.600	86.28	1:50.957
3	4	Dijon COMPTON	Harley-Davidson Leeds	10	18:57.723	15.192	85.18	1:52.513
4	66	James WEBB	Foundry Racing H-D	10	19:00.851	18.320	84.94	1:52.351
5	31	Torquil PATERSON	Edinburgh H-D	10	19:00.909	18.378	84.94	1:52.584
6	17	Alex GAULT	Stratstone Racing	10	19:07.407	24.876	84.46	1:52.225
7	8	Rob McNEALY	Shaw Racing	10	19:17.489	34.958	83.72	1:53.963
8	39	Matt LAYT	Black Bear Racing	10	19:17.511	34.980	83.72	1:54.572
9	29	Darren JAMES	Warr's Racing	10	19:19.487	36.956	83.58	1:54.350
10	18	Joe MOORE	St Leger Harley-Davidson	10	19:32.109	49.578	82.68	1:55.748
11	69	Rhys BOYD	Team GFI	10	19:40.258	57.727	82.11	1:55.572
12	5	Darren NEAL	Blade Motorsport	10	19:41.379	58.848	82.03	1:56.761
13	55	Julian TILLOTSON	Guildford Harley-Davidson	10	19:41.838	59.307	82.00	1:55.595
14	10	John ROBB	H-D Manchester	10	19:49.852	1:07.321	81.44	1:57.517
15	44	Gary BYRNE	Blade Motorsport	10	19:49.928	1:07.397	81.44	1:57.631
16	3	Renaud AMAND	Harley-Davidson UK	10	19:56.055	1:13.524	81.02	1:58.073
17	6	Gordon GRIGOR	West Coast H-D	10	20:05.996	1:23.465	80.35	1:59.427
18	25	Bernie PRICE	Jersey H-D.com Racing	10	20:37.498	1:54.967	78.31	2:02.108
DNF	19	Sean EMMETT	RidersMotorcycles.com	5	-	-	84.96	1:52.649
DNF	9	Lea GOURLAY	Stratstone Racing	4	-	-	86.00	1:50.785

Imagine that you’re 18 and that you’ve never ridden a Harley before. That you are just about to put your leg over an XR1200. And it’s a Race Spec XR1200 from renowned specialist builder Harris. You’re on a race track – which, by the way, is the world famous Brands Hatch circuit. Nervous? Good. Now, take a deep breath, you’re up against racing legend Jeremy McWilliams.

Welcome to the world of Harley-Davidson’s XR1200 Trophy race series which will see young contenders pitted against former Grand Prix racers.

Yes – it’s good news. Since the last issue of American-V went to press, there have been two significant developments which have had me getting very excited.

First off, Harley-Davidson needed a minimum of 16 bikes to sign up for the series to actually take place. It’s now early April and the total is 24, so not only is the series going ahead, but there’ll be some strength and depth to the racing.

Secondly, over the last few weeks the teams have named their riders and the announcement that former GP racers Jeremy McWilliams and Sean Emmett are definitely riding (for Warr’s Racing and Riders of Bristol and Bridgewater respectively) will raise the profile of the series massively in the eyes of traditional race fans and ensure high expectations and, hopefully, decent audiences.

This could have made a few waves amongst the less well-known racers signed up for the series, but no. Some might have started out by doing their local Harley dealer a favour and getting a ride at five British Superbike events into the bargain, but they are now going to be racing against some seriously famous names. And they’re not intimidated: it turns out the younger riders are all-too keen to take on the older generation, to see if youth can triumph over experience.

The official BSB test date at the Brands Hatch circuit was held on 17th March and several XR1200 teams turned up to put the bikes through their paces alongside the Superbike and Supersport teams.

The series regulations and technical specifications are being finalised as I write, so the lap times and top speeds from the Brands test session shouldn’t give too much away, but with power outputs ranging from a reported 77 to 95bhp some teams’ bikes were left standing on the straight. However, once those regulations are finalised and each team has optimised their performance within them, and as long as those regulations are carefully policed at each round, the variation will be much reduced, placing a greater emphasis on the rider’s ability to get the bike round, and their team’s ability to make the bike run consistently quickly.

And, as a couple of teams have pointed out to me, the first time you ride an XR1200 in anger on a race track you’ve got plenty of things to get to grips with before you start worrying about a few horsepower here and there.

Of course, the younger riders haven’t had the opportunity to race Harleys – some of them were still at school the last time 883s were raced in the UK.

Joe Moore, at 18, is the youngest rider and comes from racing GSXRs and R6s. Rob McNealey, at 25, is a skilled SuperMoto rider determined to get his teeth into road racing and sees the XR1200 Trophy as an great way to start.

In fact all the racers I have spoken to have been enthusiastic about the bike and pleasantly surprised by the weight, its distribution, and the handling – once they’ve wrestled it off the truck, that is.

Some teams have been testing their bikes in Spain since January but now the grid has exceeded expectations, delays in getting final race kit parts from Harris have meant others are only just getting theirs out of the workshop, never mind actually riding it … and it’s just five weeks ’til the first round at Oulton Park!

Traditional wisdom would suggest that those teams that signed up first and have been meticulously testing for months have a clear advantage over dealerships that signed up just a few weeks ago and are still waiting for the last few bits and pieces to finish the bike, but this is motorcycle racing and a combination of Lady Luck and a huge range of variables means that you can chuck normal rules out of the window – and sit tight and watch to see what actually happens out on track.

To complicate matters, the tyres have been changed which is bound to have wrong-footed the first few teams to sign up as they will have set the bike up for the old Dunlop D209s. They’ve now been replaced by the D211. I did hear the expression “handles like a pregnant yak” … mentioning no names!

What this all boils down to is a real mixture of teams on the grid. A select few have direct experience with racing Buells and Harleys. Other dealers bring knowledge from other forms of motor sport, and some have no experience whatsoever.

Not only that, but team budgets and personal expectations will differ wildly too.

As I reported last issue, teams such as Warr’s Racing have been testing abroad and, having signed old ally Jeremy McWilliams, and more recently, four times Canadian Thunder Champion, Darren James, who has many years experience of racing Buells under his belt, their intention to win couldn’t be clearer.

Other dealers are taking a more laid-back approach: the boys from Jersey Harley-Davidson certainly see the series as a way to promote their dealership, but their aim, above all, is to have fun and enjoy the opportunity to go racing. They’ve teamed up with rider Bernie Price from Guernsey, who only got his hands on the bike a few days before we went to press and so missed the official BSB Brands Hatch test – but went ten days later and was pleasantly surprised with
the bike, first time out. With a lengthy ferry journey to even their nearest track they’re
likely to win the ‘most-travelled team’ award at the end of the year.

Having said that, Darren James will be racking up some serious air miles.

What this mixing pot of teams have in common is they are all linked to a UK Harley-Davidson dealer and they are all hugely enthusiastic about the whole adventure, and it’s getting close now.

So what now?

In case motorcycle racing is new to you, each team will usually get two sessions on track at each circuit before the races.

The first – usually on a Friday – is a practice session allowing the riders to familiarise themselves with the circuit, and for the teams to tweak the bike to suit the rider and the track.

The second session is “Qualifying” and the fastest time you set during this session determines a rider’s position on the race grid: this will be on Saturday at Oulton Park.

In some race series, qualifying can be very entertaining, so if you are planning a day or weekend at the races, check out the times of the qualifying sessions too.

While the last place on the grid is only a few metres behind ‘pole position’, it can make a huge difference to your chances in the race in terms of the traffic you can expect to encounter in the first few corners, and you’ll lose a lot of time trying to get past people – especially annoying if
your are quick but you didn’t do yourself justice in qualifying.

I have heard rumours of a two start race and even a reverse grid – but we will have to wait and see about that!
The points system is fairly simple: first place gets 25 points, second is 20, third is 16, fourth is 13, fifth nets you 11 and then it’s one point less all the way down to 15th place. So you can still get some good points even if you’re running at the back – and even just staying on the bike (or
getting back on after a fall) can make all the difference at the end of the series.

The prize fund for the overall series winner includes a road legal XR1200 and a decent amount of cash and tyres will be given to podium placed riders and ‘man of the meet’ at each round.

Might just cover the cost of taking part?

No, not really, but none of the teams are taking part to make money – more like the excitement of the challenge, being there, the publicity, the sheer outright fun and the potential glory.

In a picturesque setting in deepest Cheshire, the Oulton Park circuit is many racers’ favourite. There are great viewing points all round the track and the gradients and bends the riders meet pretty much straight off the start line make for exciting first laps.

You can get there from the A54 or A49 (just off the M6) and there is camping at the site if you plan to make a weekend of it (but book ahead: its a very popular event). See their web site for tickets or to book camping.

Hint: If you’ve nerves of steel, spectate from Lodge corner, the final bend before the start-finish straight, for some wild passing manoeuvres.

Dealer: West Coast Harley-Davidson
Location: Glasgow
Rider: Gordon Grigor

Racing is a new adventure for West Coast but the canny Scots have teamed up with fi ve times Scottish National Champion Gordon, who’s had a whale of a time testing the bike in Portimão, Portugal – he is having a ball and can’t wait for the racing to begin!

Dealer: St Leger Harley-Davidson
Location: Doncaster
Rider: Joe Moore

The youngest rider – with good backing from his family-based team and a hugely enthusiastic dealership – we wish them all the best.

Dealer: Stratstone
Location: Midlands and London
Riders: Alex Gault, Lea Gourlay, Dave Wood

The biggest team of the lot with a serious investment in three bikes and three strong riders – one for each of the Stratstone dealerships – it’ll be interesting to see if inter-team rivalry will come out during the season.

Dealer: Shaw Harley-Davidson
Location: Lewes
Riders: Rob McNealey and Roland Sands

Shaws are out to win this – they’ve been taking testing very seriously and they are bringing Roland Sands of Biker Build-Off fame in for selected rounds on the second of their bright green bikes.

Dealer: Riders of Bristol & Bridgewater
Location: South West
Riders: Sean Emmet and Mike Edwards

With a combination of Sean’s time on the XR1200 last year and “Spike” – well he’s just got experience of everything! A team to look out for – they will liven things up on and off the track.

Dealer: Team GFI - Preston Harley-Davidson
Location: Lancashire
Rider: Rhys Boyd
Rhys replaced Craig Foley just before the Oulton Park race as the rider for this team - real last-minute stuff!

Dealer: Manchester Harley-Davidson
Location: Stockport
Rider: John Robb

A little bit of bias might creep in here as this is my local team, so they’re bound to do well: we’ll be there to cheer them on at Oulton Park.

Dealer: Lind Group
Location: Guildford and Norwich
Rider: Julian Tillotson

The team finalised Julian as their rider just before Oulton Park and more testing is underway for Mallory. If we can persuade Harley to give a prize for the best looking bike on the grid, these guys may well win it.

Dealer: Leeds Harley-Davidson
Location: Leeds
Rider: Dijon Compton

The bike’s ready, the rider’s ready – but events have meant that testing is only just getting underway. Dijon and his crew and the experience they’ll bring to the party should get the glamorous sounding maroon-and-white bike into point-scoring positions.

Dealer: Jersey Harley-Davidson
Location: Channel Islands
Rider: Bernie Price

Bernie was inspired to take up racing at the grand age of 37 whilst spectating at the Manx GP whilst dealer Owen has been riding a tuk-tuk around India – but he’ll be back to support Bernie at Oulton Park.