Team Greenfield Rd.3 Race Report- Redcar

Team Greenfield- Round Three Race Report

Round Three of the Dirt Track Riders Association Indian Motorcycle Flat Track Nationals saw the team head up north for the first ever Flat Track race held at Redcar Speedway. The racing would take place over the weekend with the Pro and Inter’s taking to the track on Saturday night, reverting back to the much-preferred new format of timed qualifying. With support from the Vintage class and Youth Senior’s. Sunday’s racing included both the Youth Junior and Inter classes, along with the majority of the DTRA classes. 

Qualifying on Saturday kicked off at 3pm, with two, three-minute qualifying opportunities. With over 36 riders competing it was critical to fall inside that top 36 to make it through to the heats. Both Bailo and Pickering were on it, with consistently high lap times. There was not a lot in it with Gerard qualifying third with 15.331, with George coming in at fifth with a time of 15.438, only milliseconds separated the top five.

The schedule resumed at 6pm with George heading out in the first heat race, lining up on the front row alongside fastest qualifier Rob Mear and Richard Mason. Pickering slid past Mason on the last corner of the first lap, with a controlled manoeuvre up the inside, on a freshly watered slick track. Pickering crossed the line in second, transferring him straight into the semi. Bailo had an effortless heat win, leading from start to finish, once again showcasing his talent on short tracks. The top 24 riders were split between two Semi’s, Bailo riding in the first of the two, stayed out of trouble and took the chequered flag. Pickering made a solid start in his Semi but on the first lap there was a multi-rider pile up, resulting in the red flagging of the race. The riders then lined up for a full re-start, with Pickering holeshotting leading the way, until a coming together with Mear unsettled him, pushing him back to third, where he finished the race, transferring him straight to the main with the other top five finishers.

The final was the first race of the day where the Team Greenfield riders’ paths crossed. Despite winning all of his races Gerard had the second gate pick, after Rob Mear who also won all of his races and had the fastest lap out of the two. Pickering took sixth pick. As the light went green Pickering struggled to get off the line, exiting the first corner in eighth, while Bailo battled his way to the front. As the race progressed Pickering made up places to sixth, hanging onto the tails of Dijkstra and Birtwistle, who followed the leading pack, quickly pulling away from the other half of the pack. Bailo sat tightly behind Mear, waiting for his opportunity. As the laps were counting down in the fifteen lap final Bailo rode as if every lap was his first, faultlessly he made a pass up the inside of Mear and very quickly broke away from him and the rest of the pack. Pickering continued to put pressure on Dijkstra but just couldn't make the pass, Pickering crossed the line in Sixth. Bailo won the DTRA's first ever Flat Track race at Redcar Speedway and became the first ever Spanish rider to win a race meeting in the UK series.

The Youth Inter class was fiercely competitive at Round three, with many of the riders displaying significant improvements and increased aggression. Fergus looked sharp all day placing second behind Luke Gardner in all of his heat races. It was clear that Fergus was struggling with his starts, making hard work for himself in some heat races where he was held up in traffic, allowing Gardner to pull away from him. Fergus crossed the line in second for his double point final, cementing his overall finish position of second place. Fergus showed real tenacity throughout the day and was constantly seeking advice and tips from his more senior team mates on how to get the best out of all his races. His eagerness to learn is a credit to the Greenfield Team.

Toby Johnson the Team’s Youth Junior rider gained more valuable racing experience over the weekend at Redcar. A little ‘off’ in practice was Toby’s first ever crash during a race meeting, this incident resulted in him missing his first race, while we sorted out a freak problem with the carb on his bike. Toby took back out to the track steadily to complete his days racing. We’re pleased that Toby carried on and we look forward to seeing him back out there next time.

Unfortunately, Max Inman our Youth Senior rider couldn’t make it to Round Three. But we look forward to seeing him at the next Round of racing, here in Greenfield for the TT. The next Round of the Flat Track Nationals will be held over the weekend of the 7^th and 8^th of July.

Thanks to Paul France (@pegef) for the photos.
Words by Leah Tokelove.

Team Greenfield Dirt Track Rd.2 Race Report- MCN Festival

Round 2 Race Report- MCN Festival, East of England Showground

Round two of the Dirt Track Riders Flat Track Nationals saw all five of the Greenfield riders head to the East of England Showground, Peterborough for a weekend of action packed racing at the Motorcycle News Festival of Motorcycling. 

After a rain out at the last round, Fergus Bluff, the team's

Youth Inter rider was raring to compete in his first proper race of the season. Fergus was triumphant in a very competitive Youth Inter class, winning all three of his heats respectively with some close racing and clever battles with Luke Gardner. Fergus maintained his winning streak by winning the double-point final by a significant margin, showing true class and massive improvements on the track. Another local lad, Thomas Hunt, finished a well deserved third in the Youth Inter's, displaying a lot of grit and determination right down to the chequered flag. 

Toby Johnson, the team's youngest rider also took to the track on Saturday morning, racing in the Youth Junior class. Toby has made huge improvements with his riding since his last outing on track and was riding noticeably better as the day went on. Toby secured a fifth in his first heat, then finishing in third in his remaining heat races, with some bold passes on his competitors. Toby made an excellent start in his double-point final, confidently working his way through the pack, unfortunately due to a mechanical issue Toby had to retire from his final. Thanks to earlier good results Toby was still able to finish fifth overall giving him some valuable championship points, we aim to resolve Toby's mechanical issue and get him back up and running as soon as possible, but we feel that Toby learnt a lot from this race meeting.

After missing the first round of the series, Max Inman, the Youth Senior rider joined his team mates at the MCN festival for his first ever race on his KX-F 250. Max finished his day's racing in second place, showing continuous improvements each time he went out on the bike. The 250 is a big step up from his CRF 100 and Max really is getting to grips with the handling of a much larger and powerful bike. We're really looking forward to watching Max progress over this season, he's already proved his potential and ability to learn fast. 

Saturday's live show at the festival saw the Pro's take to the track to compete for their share of round two's championship points. Owing to the nature of the meeting (a scheduled show as part of the festival's entertainment) there was a very limited time frame, which meant reverting to the original race format instead of the new system of timed qualifying. Saturday's line up saw some familiar faces return, including five time British Champion Aiden Collins and American Flat Track racer Johnny Lewis, their presence at the meeting ensured for some exciting racing.

Gerard Bailo was on his usual form, after finishing fourth in the first round of the Spanish Championship two weeks prior, Bailo was hungry for more top results. In a full grid lineup Gerard was able to secure a fourth in his first heat race, progressing to a second place finish in the next heat and winning his final heat race of the day respectably. 

George Pickering the team's other Pro rider, secured classy third pace finishes in all three of his heats, generating him enough points for a middle row start- taking sixth grid pick for the final.

The Pro final built up a large crowd in the stands, with the anticipation building the light went green for old favourite Aiden Collins to burst to the front of the pack, thanks to another brilliant start. Gerard initially raced his way round in third position, managing to hold Johnny Lewis off for a significant proportion of the race but Johnny never deterred and tried every move possible to eventually aggressively, yet sensibly pass Gerard up the inside and create space. After a steady start Pickering was able to pass Richard Mason around the outside, to then set his sights on Rob Mear, after making an inside pass on Mear coming out of turn four George was able to concentrate on catching fifth place Dijkstra. The chequered flag waved with Bailo finishing fourth and Pickering crossing the line in sixth. 

Thanks to Paul France and William Hales for the use of their images.

Words by Leah Tokelove.

Team Greenfield Dirt Track Rd.1 race report

Round one of the Dirt Track Riders Flat Track Nationals at the Adrian Flux arena in Kings Lynn, saw Team Greenfield’s debut performance. After two three-minute qualifiers Team Greenfield/ Noyes Camp pro riders George Pickering and Gerard Bailo qualified 2nd and 4th respectably, with George completing a 16:303 second lap and Gerard a 16:598. On to the heat races both riders were able to secure wins, which enabled them to transfer straight to the semi-finals. From there George won his semi-final, securing him a position on the front row for the Pro final. Gerard finished 3rd in his semi, in a hard-fought heat won by Peter Boast and Toby Hales coming in a close second. With the top five automatically transferring into the final, Gerard secured his place in the final.

Thanks to his quick lap time in the semi-final George was rewarded with the first pick of the grid positions, choosing the outside gate. Gerard had the sixth gate pick, so had to settle for a middle row start, choosing the second gate. From there Gerard made an incredible start, racing past the front row to take the lead on lap one of fifteen. However, George wasn’t as fortunate. From the front row George was pushed out wide and had to hang on to the pack in sixth position. After a few laps George was able to pick off Peter Boast and Richard Mason, allowing him to get behind the podium positions. Toby Hales passed Gary Birtwistle, then began the chase for Gerard. Meanwhile George chased Gary and with a few laps to go George was able to push up the inside of Gary to slip into third position. Gerard had been riding his own race, relatively unchallenged in first position, until the last corner of the race. Toby gained momentum on Gerard and coming out of the last corner was able to just creep up Gerard’s inside, leaving it a drag race to the line with Toby just edging his front wheel over before Gerard who finished second, followed by George in third. Both riders showed pure class and style, with some great racing and results.

Sunday’s racing saw Team Greenfield’s junior’s Fergus Bluff and Toby Johnson take to the track. The constant rain overnight left the track in undesirable conditions, with practice used as an opportunity to sight out the track. For the first Youth Intermediate race of the day Fergus Bluff lined up on the outside of the middle row. The slick outside gate wasn’t ideal, making it difficult for Fergus to get drive off the start. After two laps Ted Wilkinson, Luke Gardner, Thomas Hunt and Fergus broke away from the pack, with a considerable lead. Fergus was able to pick his way through to the front to take the lead. Going into the last lap Thomas Hunt got some good drive out of turn two to take the lead, with Fergus finishing in second. Toby Johnson made his race debut in the Youth Junior class. In his four-lap race Toby made great progress building his confidence, racing and switching positions with Lincoln Forte, in very tricky conditions. Toby finished his first race in fourth place.

Unfortunately, with the persistent rain the track became un-raceable. The meeting had to be called off. With only one round of races completed there wasn’t enough results to declare positions, so Sunday’s round will not stand in the championship.

We’re looking forward to Round 2 at Peterborough Show-Ground for the MCN Festival Of Motorcycling! Max Inman will be joining us there on his KXF250 in the Youth Senior class! 

We’d like to thank everyone at the DTRA for a great weekend, our mechanics and team members for all of their help, everyone that supported us and all of our sponsors for making it happen.

                                        Thanks to Paul France for the Team photos
Words by Leah Tokelove