Welcome To The Yamaha Past Masters Racing Club

Fish and Cooper complete YPM 2010 podium

Written by Tony Hoare Sunday, 05 September 2010 21:34

A full-house of second places for Pete Fishwick secured him the runner-up spot in the 2010 championship behind Michael Smith, who made it a sixth clean sweep of the season at Snetterton. Fish now holds a 37-point lead over third placed Jamie Cooper going into the final round, but Cooper is missing the Brands event so will be unable to leapfrog Fish into second. Both Fish and Cooper have enough of a lead over joint fourth place men Dan Wright and Chris Newbigging to know they are secure in their current positions.

The surprise package of the Snetterton weekend was local rider Graham Higlett, who took two fourths and a fifth before making his debut appearance on the podium in the final race of the weekend. He became the first newcomer on the podium in 2010 as so far it's been dominated by Smith, Fishwick, Cooper and Wright - with cameo appearances from Dexter Eyre (Oulton Park), Pete Branton (Brands GP) and Anthony Johnson (Brands Indy). Higlett got the better of Carl Newbigging on the last lap after getting a better run past a backmarker.

The Snetterton round brought an end to the club's internal championships. Chris Newbigging had already wrapped up the Clubman Cup, but Higlett's display earnt him second place and absentee Paul Norris hung onto third. In the Rookie Cup Joe Catton did enough to overhaul Ryan Hales for second behind champion Marc Prentice. Rangi Racing hung onto second place in the Team Cup, behind Ginger Nutters and ahead of Team Norbar.

Full points are now on the menu at the top of the home page.

Champion Smith

Written by Tony Hoare Sunday, 15 August 2010 22:41

Michael Smith confirmed his YPM championship with two rounds of the season still to go. His fifth clean sweep of the season at Cadwell Park puts him 226 points clear of his nearest challenger, and there are only 200 points left to race for, so he is unassailable in the title race.

Pete Fishwick is now second in the championship after he strung together three seconds and a third place to move ahead of the unlucky Jamie Cooper, who retired from the third race of the weekend with a broken exhaust. The lost points sent him behind Fishwick in the championship race. Dan Wright took three thirds and a second, so the podium belonged exclusively to Smith, Fishwick and Wright.

All four YPM championship winners are now settled, as the Clubman Cup, Rookie Championship and Team Cup leaders are all now out of reach with just one round remaining each. Chris Newbigging wins the Clubman Cup, Marc Prentice has wrapped up the Rookie Championship and the Ginger Nutters of Mike Smith, Adrian Grove and Kev Marshall cannot be caught in the Team Cup.

Full points after the Cadwell Park round are in the '2010 Points' section on the main navigation page

Foursome show from Smith

Written by Tony Hoare Sunday, 25 July 2010 21:46

The return of former YPM front runner Anthony 'AJ' Johnson livened up the racing at Brands Hatch, but he was unable to stop Mike Smith's incredible run of YPM results. Smith won all four races on his YPVS, dipping under 53 seconds on a track that was seriously compromised after a machine in another class left a trail of oil from Surtees to the start-finish line.

The full house of wins makes it 17 out of 18 for Smith and his only defeat came after he saved a highside on the opening lap of a race at Pembrey in round two of the championship. A hat-trick of second places for wildcard rider Johnson only helped extend Smith's lead over his title rivals Jamie Cooper and Pete Fishwick. Dan Wright also falls back in the standings as he withdrew from the meeting after his close friend Craig Jennings was injured in the first attempt to run race one.

Novice Carl Newbigging, on his first appearance at the Brands Indy circuit, took a sixth and three fourths and was first Clubman in all four races, closing the gap in that title after he missed the first three rounds through injury.

Points standings after five rounds of eight are now on the site.

AJ looks to shine

Written by Tony Hoare Sunday, 25 July 2010 06:27

Former YPM race winner Anthony ‘AJ’ Johnson is chasing the top spot of the podium again in today’s races at Brands Hatch. AJ is making a guest appearance on Nick Sanders’ machine and took two podium finishes in Saturday’s races.

AJ ended the second race within half a second of the dominant championship leader Mike Smith, who won both races to further extend his lead in the title chase. Only Smith and Johnson dipped under the 54-second lap mark so today should see close racing between the two. To further liven matters, Brands is currently experiencing rain. This will please wet weather specialist Johnson, whose pit crew are wearing ‘wetter the better’ t-shirts.

Jamie Cooper cemented his second place in the championship with a second and a third while his main rivals both lost out. Pete Fishwick crashed out of the lead in race one and was stuck in traffic after having to start race two from the back of the grid. And Dan Wright missed both races to assist the family of his close friend Craig Jennings, who suffered head injuries after crashing in the first attempt to run race one. Popular YPMer Craig is currently in hospital in Essex and everyone associated with the club wishes him well in his recovery.

YPM Team Cup transfers

Written by Tony Hoare Sunday, 04 July 2010 07:59

Rider changes are now permitted in the new YPM Team Cup, following a request from a competing team to replace one of their riders.

Some of the teams contain riders who are inactive this season, so each is being given the opportunity to make one change throughout the season. Expect to see Team Equipe Rioja make the first change, with a move also expected from Team Gibson.

Teams who want to change should contact championship co-ordinator Marcus Donkersley.