Brands Hatch Indy -

Talan Racing - Brands Hatch Race Report

Andy Houghton #333 - Clubman1000

Test day on the final round was the most frustrating day of the weekend, if not the year! Wet in the morning but not wet enough for wet tyres and the cooler air temperature meant it was not warm enough to dry the track quickly. Once it did dry, an ill-timed shower meant Andy made 2 laps on dry tyres before having to abandon the session. One decent 15 minute session was achieved in the afternoon and that was about it! For this reason when Andy was let loose in the qualifying session he completed 22 laps. This was more about practice for Andy, and as he got more confident he put in some solid lap times and qualified a respectable 10th in class.

Race 1 saw a poor start for Andy and although faster than the guys in front of him around most of the circuit he was losing all that time on the exit of Clearways where he felt he couldn't be as aggressive on the power as he wanted to be. perhaps partly due to the incorrect tyre choice of cuts over slicks for the weekend. Three racers were eventually picked off from Andy's start at the back of the grid all done with lunges up the inside, one each at Druids, Graham Hill and Surtees.

Race 2 was the best start of the weekend as Andy jumped four places and was straight in the battle. Five riders were circulating together all putting in similar lap times, there was jostling for position throughout the whole 15 laps with Andy falling back and gaining positions multiple time through the race ending up finishing 9th in class.

Race 3 was not such a good race. A poor start left Andy stuck behind a slower rider and he took a number of laps to make a clean overtake stick, by which time the pack was gone. Left in no-man's land Andy settled for a safe end to the race weekend (and the Season) and through his consistency, when others were not so, still ended up with a 9th in class once more.

Qualifying 29th from 32

Race 1 - Start 32 Finish 29 (9th in Class)

Race 2 - Start 31 Finish 25 (9th in Class)

Race 3 - Start 30 Finish 21 (9th in Class)

Talan Skeels-Piggins #83 - MRO600

The final race meeting of the season and with Talan laying in 8th position in the championship, just one point behind 7th, there was lots to compete for. Talan was out instructing on Friday, so did not have time to dial himself into race pace, but as he has ridden the Indy circuit many times, it wasn’t too much of an issue. Also, the very greasy conditions meant that no one was really pushing it hard.

All four races saw the same group of racers competing wheel to wheel. With Talan battling for positions from lights out to chequered flag. Each race he managed to get a little further up the field, but his hopes for a wet set of races never came to fruition. Although it was damp on Sunday morning, it wasn’t purely wet, which is when Talan can really make inroads on the leaders. The best pace was found in race 2, when Talan dropped into the mid 52sec lap, just 0.7sec off his pb in the warm.

However, it was a safe and enjoyable final round of racing for Talan, who has continued to rebuild his confidence (with his nine fingers) and develop his understanding of the Yamaha R6 race bike throughout the year.

Qualifying 39th from 42

Race 1 - Start 34 Finish 27 (14th in Class)

Race 2 - Start 34 Finish 21 (12th in Class)

Race 3 - Start 31 Finish 19 (11th in Class)

Race 4 - Start 31 Finish 20 (8th in Class)