Team Race Reports

30-01-2011

DQR UKGNCC Winter Dust Off

Bwlch Y Sarnau

Although the number of IQ-Racing team members were short at this event due to winter preperation those who did ride had a good day.

Endaf represented the team in the morning 250cc race coming from a horrendous start leaving him 3mins behind the leaders on the opening lap, to move through the field to 3rd. A small mistake cost him a place with a 4th place finish and a trophy. This is hopefully the first of many to come in the next few years.

New team member Geraint Jones was another to suffer a poor start leaving him almost last on track, but a hard push at the start saw him move through the field to run the majority of the race leading the clubman class and 3rd in the race. Only a small mechanical niggle in the last 15mins saw him drop out of the running. His potential was there for everyone to see as he made his way through novice and clubman riders passing all but 1 of the expert riders.

New team mate Tom Jones was another to fall foul on the day but only by an unfortunate scoring error. Tom lead the novice class for the whole of the race with a faultless ride. Unfortunately was given second in class to another novice rider with a mix up in the lap scoring results. In fairness to the other rider though given first he was first to admit the error saying it was incorrect knowing that he in fact been lapped by Tom. The results were checked and corrected and Tom was given the win !

15-08-10

DQR UKGNCC Championship Rnd 6

Rugby,

The same track but a different course as last weeks QRA event. The same riders as last week attended this event along with Endaf in the youth250 race. The Saturday was eventful getting into the track and set up with some fantastic thunder and lightning. We made about 60 pancakes for the kids on a hot plate and with a few Birthdays at the event the wine was flowing then out came some giant inflatable Sumo suits. This made for a very eventful evening as things got a little silly and ended with a few sore heads in the morning.

Endaf had a great start to his race leading off the line and into the first corner. He finished lap one in 5th ( a great position for him ) and held this position for 45 mins. Halfway through the race he hit one of the large whoops wrong and jarred his wrist, he managed a couple more laps but had to pit for a break because of the pain. With painkillers he made it back out onto the track for the last half hour and rode very well picking a few positions back. He finished in 16th which considering the 15min break (approx 2-3 laps lost ) and a field of over 30 riders is still a great result.

Martin managed to holeshot the start again and led the race from start to finish with Clint Eagle constantly nipping at his heels at every opportunity. They finished one two which is a great result for the team considering Clint is going to race with Martin at the Great 8 team event over the bank holiday.

Aled had a good start to his clubman race running near the front he continuosly managed to pick up positions and with a strong finish pushed past into 3rd place.

Adam had a bad start when he stalled the bike. One of Adam's greatest attributes is his ability to put in consistant lap times lap after lap event after event and this showed at this track. He managed to make his way from last with his bad start all the way to 4th finishing only 20 seconds behind 3rd. With one more lap he would of made the podium.

Another great day for IQ-Racing another great event by Dragon Quad Racing !

05-08-10

QRABritish Championship Rnd 4

Rugby,

This event was attended by three IQ-racing members. Martin Benbow in the pro class and both Aled Jones & Adam Shanahan in the support class Both support riders had decided to use this event as practise for next weekends DQR UKGNCC event at the same track. Martin had the hole shot in the race and ended the first lap in the top 5. He managed to run an almost faultless race in 3rd place and was catching both David Baldwin and Paul Winrow. Unfortunately blisters got the better of him and stopped him pushing any harder. Martin had decided to ease off and settle for a well earned 3rd when he passed Baldwin with a broken chain. This is the sort of luck Martin had last year but luck played into his hands this time giving him 2nd place on the podium.

Aled and Adam both had a fantastic race with both of them swopping 1st place with Aled finally managing to get the top podium when Adam had to make a routine pit stop, A One Two for the team is another fantastic result.

Three riders 1, 1st and 2, 2nd's made a fantastic result on what was a very challenging tight and twisty track.

18-07-10

DQR UKGNCC Rnd 5

Tyn Twyll, Llanarmon

Just three IQ-Riders at this meeting with races and personal commitments clashing. Endaf was out first in the youth 250cc class and after a great start was lapping consistantly in the top half dozen. This is phenominal considering his age in the class and the fact that he has just moved up from the 100cc class. After an hour Endaf was unfortunatley rammed from behind and forced of track into a tree. Both rider and bike were unhurt but it took a number of minutes to free the wedged bike. Endaf finished 9th which is still a fantastic finish and one the team are proud of.

Unfortunately due to clashing dates the adult race saw both Martin Benbow and Adam Shanahan commiting to this championship whilst Andy Mellor decided to go to the QRA. Martin had a fantastic race passing fellow pro rider Stuart Jones early in the race to lead and take the flag in an almost faultless display with Adam overcoming a number of minor issues to take a 5th. Both results adding to good totals seeing Martin leading the championship and Adam tying for 3rd.

13-06-10

DQR UKGNCC Rnd 4

Saint Wells, Bwlch Y Sarnau

An overcast day saw the team as usual supporting Endaf in the 250 class. From what was a slow start on a very challenging track which saw a mixture of off camber field sections and a very rutted motocross track Endaf made very steady progress through the field as his confidence grew. He finished in a very respectible 13th place right behind fellow local rider Huw Jones. This saw a marked improvement in confidence and a few places higher finish in this still only his second race on a 250cc.

The adult race saw Martin Benbow with his usual steady start but also saw him hit the front early in the race and although he led the race to the finish he was pushed into keeping a fast pace by the hard charging Liam ryland who kept the distance between them at a steady 30-45 seconds. Adam Shanahan run a pretty faultless race from start to finish finishing in 5th. The continued improvement Adam makes is astounding considering he was new to this sport only a few years ago and has managed to push through the classes to the Expert+ class.

The clubman race was something to behold and saw IQ-Racings Aled Jones battling with friend and class competitor Dewi Rowlands. I don't think either competitor could tell what position they were in as they swopped places and paintwork lap after lap after lap. This battled raged to the finish with Aled taking the honours in 4th place with Dewi in 5th. Had they both known they were only seconds from a 3rd place podium then I think we would have seen fireworks!

21-03-10

DQR UKGNCC Rnd 1

Manor Farm, Rugby

It was a wet and muddy start to the first event of the season. The aim was to gather together as a team to try to take a team photo although time and conditions didnt allow.

Youth Rider Endaf Owen had a fantastic start to the event making his way through the pack to second place where he set about chasing after the leader until mechanical gremlins yet again affected his race.

In the afternoon adult race Martin Benbow had a fantastic start leading the race and pulling away with every lap until he was forced into the pits for a repair dropping him down the order to eventually finish 4th, Adam Shanahan ran a faultless race finishing a very creditable 5th in his first season in the expert + class.

In the Clubmen class Aled Jones had a race packed full of mechanical issues but worked round them to guarantee a finish and secure some points. Novice Rider Joe Smith had an incident free race in his first race with the team completing 14 laps.

In the 4x4 class Steve Williams always had a battle on his hands riding a standard Can-am renegade against a larger than normal field made up of mainly new Renegade XXC's with Power Steering but still managed to push eventual winner Craig McCormick all the way finishing a close second. Roger Neville had a good start in 4th but was relegated to the back of the field when he got stuck behind a broken down Tim Clarke. With 2 hours gone he had made his way up to 4th but pushing to hard through a woodland section to catch 3rd place Simon Lang he misjudged a corner clipped a tree, breaking a front A-arm giving him a DNF for the day.

31-01-10

UKXC - MWTRA Forest Challenge

Colstey Wood Shropshire

It was a cold start to the day with temperatures below freezing and with a light flurry of snow the flag dropped 5 minutes earlier than scheduled. The pro class set off with Martin Benbow following Pro riders John Robson and Richard Bradford with Andy Mellor close behind. With an uncharacteristic unorganised start, Stuart Jones missed the drop of the flag, he had to run to his bike whilst the others took off down the track which left him playing catch up from then until he retired at the end of lap4. The three leaders swopped places for much of the first half of the race with Martin eventually showing his fitness by pulling out a lead of over 3 minutes. This is testament to Martin who was on a borrowed bike that he hadn't ridden before and with a thumb throttle rather than the twist grip he is accustomed too.

Andy Mellor ran his usual "keep out of troubles" race making sure of a finish in fourth and collecting his points. This way of thinking has payed dividens for Andy who took the 2009 QRA British Stock Class Championship as well as the ACU Forestry Championship with this consistent finishing.

Steve Williams dusted off his Can-am Renegade 800 which he hasn't ridden competatively in over 12 months since winning the 2008 British 4x4 Championship and looked like he hadn't got off it. Steve started last off the line leaving the others in his class to go. He made short work in making his way through the field finishing top of his class and up with the 450 pro's in fifth place.

Lady rider Beverley Barnes was at the event and borrowed an iq-racing 450 honda from team iq-racing's Stephen Williams. Beverley who wanted to use the race for experience, fitness & practise as she is riding a Honda rather than her own Can-am in the Le-touquet beach race next weekend. Beverley had an uneventful race picking up third place in the expert class.

New Team Member Adam Shanahan has shown massive improvement in the sport rising in class every year from novice through clubmen and now to expert. Adam run a faultless race winning his class at this event.

The team had a great day with everyone finishing what was a gruelling race on a well set out, but very cut up, and whooped out physical track.

Please visit each riders own page for individual race reports.