EndoBen Racing

10/10/2022

Darley moor F600 🏆 champion!

As great as that sounds it certainly wasn't a great weekend for us!

Waking up to a damp but sunny morning on Saturday, left a big decision on tyre choice. Andy barber kindly took me for a drive round the track in the course car to look at the conditions, and it was certainly 50/50 dry and wet. Being first session out for f600 qualifying, we stuck with brand new drys.

F600 qualifying P2 1.05.56

Alot of steady laps was really surprised to get 2nd with alot of lads running wets. We did 13 steady laps fastest lap being the 13th.

Stars untimed practice.

Still on dry tyres the track had improved alot over the first session so left me confident for the following qualifying.

Stars qualifying P16 58.98

Track was now 90% dry and the pace felt good. Unfortunately around lap 5 my lamber sensor decided to snap from the link pipe leaving a good 3 inch hole in the link pipe. Back to the pits for an emergency repair ahead of race 1.

F600 race 1 P2. +1.06.

Got a brilliant start again straight into the lead and felt comfortable doing my first ever 58 second first lap. Jake hopper BSB stock 600 rider came past end of lap 2 and I was happy to follow being a none points race. Unfortunately the start of lap 5, I missed the yellow flag after the first chicane. I had lined up jake and a back marker for an overtake on the exit. Jake went to take his overtake then rolled off on seeing the yellow, and I didn't 🙈 took avoiding action but unfortunately clipped his seat unit with my left handle bar/hand. Knew straight away I'd done something bad to my fingers. Plugged on for the remaining 4 laps in agony. Was happy to finish 2nd meaning 2nd for the important race 2.
On return to the pits, seeing blood pouring from my gloves wasn't a pleasant site. The nail had completely lifted from my little finger with tears along the skin. We cleaned and taped it up. Unfortunately this would be the end of our weekend.
We missed the stars race in order to focus on f600 race 2, but when that came around I couldn't get my glove on my left hand 😔 gutted was an understatement. Only David Carson could finish level on points with us if he won both points races sat/Sun. We watched race 2 on edge and Carson crossed the line in 4th meaning we took the championship.
Was hard to feel happy about it not being out there racing with everyone else. It's the only bad round we've had all year which is a credit to everyone who helps me score the points we needed all year.

Brian and percy. The main men, keeping me and the bike sorted every round without fail. Chris ross on sponsoring us this year has been a big help. And to take a championship with him is brilliant. My dad Steve Dale has helped me alot with fuel and helping out after crashes with helmets and leathers etc. And of course ferne and the boys for the full support all year.

Unfortunately for next year. I have other priorities meaning racing will be taking more of a back seat. Still hoping to make a few rounds to keep my hand in. But on summary over the past 2 full seasons

PE600 2021 champions
F600 2022 champions
PE600 race record holders.
F600 curtis milner trophy awarded.

Been a great 2 years and met some brilliant people ✊️💨💨🏁

05/10/2022

from a good 13 years ago! Don't think many race tracks would allow this tho 😬🤣🤘✊️💨💨

28/09/2022

😎 not long now till darleymoor round 7/8. Ready for it ✊️💨💨

18/09/2022

Oulton Park

18/09/2022

Thundersport oulton Park.

Friday test day.

Test day we got a few laps in. First session we missed due to be wet, and 2 red flagged sessions in the afternoon ment I didn't quite get as much seat time as I wanted. Id forgotten how demanding the track is and wasn't massively happy with my times.

Saturday qualifying P9 1.49.620.

Was a cold qualifying and struggled to get upto pace. Being over a second slower yhrn P8 I knew I'd have to get the best start possible to get in the mix for a tow of the faster riders.

Race 1 P4 +11.126

Manged a decent start and straight up to P6 into cascades. Thr pack infront seem to pull a gap till around mid race when I started reeling them back in. Fortunately for us 2 riders left the circuit last lap at druids allowing us to take 4th place and fastest lap of 1.47.257. My goal was to get in the 48's so was well chuffed with the lap time.

Race 2 P4. +17.088

Another brilliant start and slotted into 5th place on the back of the leading pack. They gained abit of distance and I had reeled them back in around lap 5. lap 6 I was being held up by 4th place when the lad in 6th shown me a wheel into shell, I knew I'd have to make a pass on 4th to get a move on, after 2 attempts I made a pass over hilltop and kept him at bay into hislops knowing I could make a gap for the ramaing race. slightly slower lap time of 1.47.605 but the rear tyre was well past its best by now, and was a great battle to take the 4th place.

Another brilliant weekends racing. Great to spend time with friends and family who came to support. Brian and percy as always keeping everything rite for me.

Next round is the stars of darley in October, where we hope to take the F600 championship ✊️💨💨🏁

15/09/2022

14/09/2022

Darley RD6 report.

On arriving Sunday morning, thick fog was everywhere therefore delying qualifying by 45 mins. Once we got out I took it easy as it was still cold in the air. Qualified 2nd with a 1.00.47

Race 1. P2

Due to the morning delay, this race was cut from 8 to 6 laps. I got a mega start getting straight into the lead. I had to borrow some leathers after the crash at anglesey, and really struggled to get comfy in the race. And the bike didn't really do what I wanted it to do! After leading the whole race I made a mistake into the hairpin loosing drive down the back straight allowing 2nd to come past into the last corner. Finished P2 +0.21 back and a 58.17

Race 2. P2

We made some changes ready for this race and being a 10 lapper was hoping it would be better and it was! Still struggled getting comfortable on the bike, we lead from the start again but on lap 4 I made the same mistake as race 1 allowing 2nd to pass by. Being the points race, I opted to sit in 2nd as there was a good gap back to my main rival in the championship. Ginished P2 +3.94 and a 58.31.

Fortunately for us, our main rival had an issue in race 2 allowing our point advantage to reach 30 points. With 2 rounds left and 2 races, we only need 1 point to win the championship! 😁

Thanks to Brian and percy keeping the bike going as usual. Friends and family for the support!

This weekend we head to oulton Park with thundersport. My last round with the novice bib 😎

02/09/2022

Bikes all back together after the anglesey crash 🤦‍♂️ after 2 crashes this year she certainly isn't the prettiest out there 😬 Darley RD 6 next Sunday. Hopefully I'm feeling better for that one ✊️💨💨🏁

24/08/2022

Anglesey RD6 thundersport, ups and DOWNS.

Friday test day allowed me to re learn the track since I hadn't been for over 3 years. Weather was dry and sunny but windy so was challenging in some areas. A few suspension changes helps drive from the worn out rear tyre and we finished with a time around 1.13.9

Saturday.

Qualifying with a brand new set of tyres we done a 1.13.049 putting us p7 for race 1 and 2. The wind had picked up yet again from the previous day making some areas difficult more so on race 2. P6 for race 1 and P7 for race 2. Times dropped off each race as a result if the wind, but we where battling with the 2nd wave of riders from 3rd to 7th which was fun.

Sunday.

My times from the previous day had put us P8 for both races, but with the sun shining and the wind dropped, I was certain we could improve results. Race 1 another P7 with a could few battles and felt really comfortable on the bike. Best time of 1.13.1. Race 2 and last of the the weekend, in my head I wanted a top 5 finish, so time to go all out!
Another good start battling with the 2nd wave of riders, lap 4 I put in my PB time 1.12.2, sitting in 5th place and chasing down 4th and 3rd. Lap 6 unfortunately at rocket out I got throttle happy mid corners and ended up barrel rowing towards peel down the track. Thankfully with a bit of a gap behind I managed to crawl as far off the track as possible to not get the race red flagged. Gutted was an understatement! Quick check of the medical center, nothing broken, hips took the brunt of the fall, bike came off better 🙌

Was definitely a whole new experience riding with thundersport. Having only ever ridden at darley, I was started to belive I was only a 1 trick pony. Was happy with my results and was great to ride with no pressure of a championship in mind. Some highlights of the weekend

Fastest through the speed trap in race 4 💪
Getting into the 1.12's with a perfect lap of 1.12.007
3rd fastest in sector 1 where I'd struggled the day before.

As always, thanks to Brian of tyrewise and percy of percys autos for all the work they do on a weekend, definatly wouldn't be possible without them. Chris ross of ROSS protective clothing for coming supporting me and Adam, Ferne Alfie Ollie and Eddie for cheering dad along, thanks to dad for paying for the test day 🙌 and mates for the support around the track 👏💪

Time to heel and sort the bike for Darley in under 3 weeks time, followed by oulton the week after!