Special awards for Hesman and Smith

Written by Tony Hoare Monday, 28 November 2011 18:11

YPMers Mike Smith and Neil Hesman were both awarded with extra special trophies at the Bemsee awards ceremony on Saturday, November 26.

YPM champion Smith walked off with the spectacular Sir Algernon Guinness Trophy – named after the land speed record holder and racing driver from the early 20th century – that goes to the Bemsee club’s overall rider of the year across all classes.

And hugely popular Hesman was awarded the Danny Whalin Memorial Trophy that goes to the rider who most embodies the spirit of the YPM class. The ever-smiling racer makes a bigger contribution to the class than he appreciates and he was filled with emotion when presented with the trophy by the late Danny Whalin’s sister Chloe.

The YPM top three from 2011 – Smith, Pete Fishwick and Graham Higlett – were awarded their trophies on the night, as was Rookie champion Paul Toland. Steve King, Ray Capp and Mike Wake were handed the Clubman Cup top three trophies by Keith Roissetter. YPMer Roissetter was given a standing ovation by the whole audience for the way he has recovered from life-threatening injuries suffered in an accident at Cadwell Park in August.

Champion switch brings thrills

Written by Tony Hoare Sunday, 25 September 2011 21:47

Mike Smith marked his second championship by switching to a TZR250 and still winning two races at the season finale at Brands Hatch, including the Paul Hogan memorial race. And Smith was leading another of the weekend's races when he crashed out because of a broken gear lever. His switch to a 250, still in its early stages of development, led to the most exciting racing of the YPM season.

Championship runner-up Pete Fishwick won a duel with Smith to take the coveted Danny Whalin memorial race on Saturday before withdrawing from Sunday's races and Graham Higlett and Steve King were able to scrap with Smith in Sunday's races. King took his first YPM win in Sunday's first race, making him the fifth different rider to win a YPM race in 2011. King also overhauled Ray Capp to win the Clubman Cup.

The Rookie Championship provided a thrilling finish with Paul Toland reeling in leader Doug Edmondson in the weekend's first three races, meaning the pair started the final race of the season on equal points. Toland went into an early lead, Edmondson moved through to challenge him for sixth in the race and the top rookie spot, but the improving Toland held on to clinch the Rookie Championship by five points.

Standings for the three main YPM championships are now online and can be found by clicking on '2011 points'.

Smith is the champion

Written by Tony Hoare Tuesday, 06 September 2011 13:17

Mike Smith wrapped up his second consecutive YPM National Championship title with a clean sweep of four wins at Snetterton last weekend. He finished the weekend with a lead of 147 points over Pete Fishwick, with only 100 points to race for in the final round at Brands Hatch.

Neither Smith nor Fishwick took part in a fifth race of the Snetterton weekend, which was on the schedule to replace the postponed fourth race from the Cadwell round in August. This went to Graham Higlett, who finished ahead of Steve King and Ben Miles to secure his first-ever win in YPM.

Higlett finished the weekend in third place in the championship, 88 points adrift of Fishwick and 43 clear of King, who looks as though he will be unable to make up the gap to reach the championship podium.

But King will have silverware on his mind at Brands as he is now just 19 points behind long-time leader Ray Capp in the Clubman Cup. Capp knows he has to finish ahead of King in at least one race, as four wins for King and four seconds for Capp would give King the title by a point.

The Rookie Championship will be an interesting battle as Paul Toland delivered a fine performance at Snetterton to move within 30 points of leader Doug Edmondson, who will be looking to secure the championship at his home circuit.

Next round: Brands Hatch, September 24-25.

Rangi recovering after Cadwell crash

Written by Tony Hoare Monday, 15 August 2011 00:39

Popular Aussie Keith Roissetter is recovering in hospital after being seriously injured while racing with the 400cc class at Cadwell on Sunday.

He was airlifted to Hull Royal Infirmary after suffering multiple fractures, two collapsed lungs and a head injury. Doctors brought Keith out of an induced coma on Tuesday and he was showing signs of responding to requests. By Wednesday morning he was reported as being more alert than 24 hours earlier and his nurses were making positive noises about his progress. On Wednesday, doctors sat Keith up a little and by the end of the day he was able to smile and acknowledge visitors with a wave of the hand.

He faces a long road to recovery, but the whole Bemsee racing fraternity is behind Keith and knows his fighting spirit will help him pull through.

Witnesses said Keith collided with another bike on the run to the chequered flag and he was sent into the bank on the inside of the circuit before being thrown onto the track beside the entrance to pit lane. He received extensive treatment on the circuit before the air ambulance arrived to take him to hospital.

YPMRC would like to thank the Bemsee medical staff for their treatment of Keith and we will provide updates on his condition through the forum on this site when appropriate.

King & Bown triple treat

Written by Andy Muse Wednesday, 17 August 2011 11:37

Steve King kept his Clubman Cup championship push on track at Cadwell, with three class wins closing the gap to class leader Ray Capp to just 64 points - and with just 9 races remaining in the season recent results suggests it’s going to go right down to the wire!

Andy Wheeler was in the mix at Cadwell too, with three excellent second place finishes splitting King/Capp and closing the gap between the two even further. But Capp has to be happy with his trio of third places on a loan bike after his own TZR was stolen less than a week prior to the meeting. Wheeler could have been in the hunt for third place in the championship as he now sits 58 points behind current third spot man Mike Wake, but Wheeler has suggested he won’t be racing at Snetterton or Brands.

Andy Bown also picked up three Rookie class wins to extend his lead over second placed Doug Edmondson to 18 points, and it looks like the trophy will be lifted by one of these two riders come the end of the season. Paul Toland sits a further 45 points adrift of Edmondson and is riding consistently enough to keep the two front runners on their toes, but the repeated Bown-then-Edmondson-then-Toland results in all three races at Cadders suggests that the current points gaps will continue to steadily grow as the season moves into the penultimate round. If Bown misses further rounds, as he has suggested, this could be the deciding factor.

Next meeting: Snetterton 200, 3 & 4 September