Southern 100, Oulton Park & Wirral 100!
Connor Behan enjoyed an excellent week at his first road race in the Southern 100 on the Isle of man earlier this month on the TDR Honda 400. Picking up the best newcomer award and coming 4th in class in the Station Garage 125cc/400Race. Unfortunately, mechanical problems forced a disappointed Connor out of the 2nd race of the day, but overall a fantastic result at the 4.25 mile Castletown circuit.
The 125cc/400cc that could not be run on Wednesday was slotted into the Thursday morning programme to be the final race before lunch. The 125cc race was going according to the script on the first lap with Chris Palmer, William Dunlop and Ian Lougher covered by a few metres as they approached the corner for the first time. As Palmer and Lougher banked into the corner; Dunlop peeled away and stopped his machine briefly; before touring to the pits to retire. In the 400cc class Alistair Haworth had grabbed the initiative to lead by 1.2s as he rounded Cross Four Ways for the first time. Peter Simpson was in second; closely followed by another local man; Adam Jones.
Palmer led Lougher by 2s on lap 2; whilst Lougher held an advantage over the soon to retire Lee Vernon of 6.2s. In the 400cc class Haworth led from Simpson by 2.6s with Jones 0.9s in arrears of him. The pattern for the race was set in the smaller class with Palmer increasing his lead and Lougher pulling steadily away from Nigel Moore. Whilst Haworth was secure in his position; Simpson and Jones had been joined in battle by impressive newcomer Connor Behan; Dave Madsen-Mygdal and Dave Moffitt. Once ahead in this battle Dave Madsen-Mygdal moved away from Simpson. Dave Moffitt retired at Cross Four Ways on the final lap; whilst Connor Behan nursed his smoking machine home to claim 6th overall and 4th in class.
Station Garage 125cc/400cc Race
1. Chris Palmer 125 Mannin Honda 93.967mph
2. Alistair Haworth 400 Yamaha 93.202mph
3. Ian Lougher 125 Honda 92.868mph
4. Dave Madsen-Mygdal 400 Honda 92.422mph
5. Peter Simpson 400 Honda 92.127mph
6. Connor Behan 399 Honda 91.859mph
Oulton Park Junior Superstock 600 Round 7.
Round 7 of the Junior Superstock 600 at Connors local track of Oulton Park was a very testing time for the team. P1, Connor managed only 5 laps before pulling in to the pits with mechanical problems. Qual 1, later on the Friday, only managing to complete 3 laps he was forced again in to the pits, the problem being with the power commander. Luckily, living local had its advantages, and it was off to Dyno-pro racing in Runcorn, where the Team worked through the night trying to fix the bike. At the end of Q1, Connor stood in 25th place, and we were praying for a dry session on the Saturday, so he could improve on his times. By the time Q2 arrived, it had stopped raining and the track was drying out quickly, luckily Connor managed to improve on his times and jump to 9th place, not ideal but good considering the track conditions and the earlier shortened practise and qualifying. Warm up was held on the Saturday, due to time restrictions at the circuit, Connor posted a 1:43.634 lap, 2nd fastest.
Come race day, it could be described in one word ‘washout’. The whole racing programme was delayed, due to the atrocious weather conditions at the leafy Cheshire circuit. Races were shortened, stopped and ultimately abandoned as the track was deemed too dangerous to proceed, with standing water on various parts of the track. With the Superstock 600 race scheduled to be the last race of the day, we had a good inclination at the start of the meeting, that it would not be run. The re-run will take place at the Donington Round on Saturday 10th September. Although bitterly disappointed the race was cancelled, we believe it was a very wise decision by race control.
Anglesey Wirral 100
Another impressive round of the Wirral 100 at the coastal circuit in Anglesey, saw Connor notch up no less than 9 wins in various classes. Competing in the Junior Open, Forgotten Era and F400 Series, he produced sterling results on board the TDR Machine. Connor was forced to miss the previous Wirral 100 meeting at Anglesey, due to it clashing with the BSB meeting at Thruxton, but he currently leads the Junior Open Championship, whilst sitting in 2nd place in both the Forgotten Era and F400, with the final round at Anglesey in the middle of October.
