Happy New Year & Last Year’s final Races…

Happy New Year everyone from the AIR Kawasaki Team! Just giving you guys a roundup of last year’s final races.

Terlicko – Aug 2010

Due to the fact that we did not compete at the Ulster GP, the team travelled to the Czech Rep to compete in the Terlicko Road Races. We arrived there, and the weather was fantastic (in the 80s/90s). The practise got underway on Saturday morning at 7am. At the end of the day, Indi was heading the leading board in both 600 and 1000cc classes. There were two other riders there from Northern Ireland – Victor Gilmore who qualified 4^th on the T. Lindsay Suzuki and 6^th on his 600 Yamaha. The other was Adrian McFarland who was competing on a 600 Yamaha which he had borrowed from Indi, he qualified 7^th.

On Sunday the first race for Indi was the 600, where he was on pole position. He stalled on the start line, the rider behind him looped it which in turn caused a 7 bike pile up on the grid. After the restart, Indi was down in 8^th place after the end of the first lap, but by the start of the last lap he had gone into the lead, breaking the lap recording. He went on to win by 3.5 seconds.

Later that day he went out on the 1000cc where he took pole on the big Kawasaki. He had some stiff opposition in the form of a number of Germans riding BMWs and Gilmore who was on the front row on his T.Lindsay Suzuki.  Indi lead from start to finish and destroyed the lap record on 4 occasions, winning the race by almost 14 seconds. Gilmore held 3^rd place until the last lap where he was passed by one of the BMW, and had to settle for 4^th place.

Killiane – Sept 2010

We arrived at the Killiane Road Races, just north of Dublin, in good spirits, fresh from our double victory at Terilcko. On Saturday morning we had the usual crack in the paddock and practise got underway. Indi slid off in practise on the big bike but he was a-okay. On Sunday, racing got underway in good weather and it looked as if we were in for a good day racing. But unfortunately on the first lap of the 600 race, our friend Victor Gilmore crashed around the back of the circuit and ended up losing his life. Needless to say, racing was abandoned. We stayed in Ireland and attended Victor’s funeral. After that, we caught the ferry across to the Scarborough Gold Cup meeting.

Scarborough Gold Cup write up to follow shortly…

Ulster GP 2010

The AIR Kawasaki Team and Michal Dokoupil entered the 2010 Ulster GP. Unfortunately due to a dispute with certain members of the Dundrod and District Motorcycle club it was decided it would be in the best interests of AIR Kawasaki Team and Michal Dokoupil to give this event a miss.

Armoy Races 2010

We arrived at Armoy on a rainy Friday morning (6^th August). Fortunately we did not have to park in the main paddock, and managed to park in a farm across the way.

Practice got under way but was in total disarray due to the weather. It was then cancelled. On Saturday morning, race day, things didn’t look much better but the weather picked up and stayed fine all day. Indi’s first race was in the 1000cc, where he finished 7^th. The next race was the 600 class – he started from 11^th place on the grid and managed to finish in a magnificent 5^th place in front of established stars such as Adrian Archiebald and Davy Morgan. Indi’s next race was the Race of Legends, where he started 12^th on the grid and finshed in 7^th place. His last race was the 650, he started on the front row along side Ryan Farquahar and Johnny Borrows, and finished a fine 2^nd to Farquahar.

Ryan Farquahar and Michal Dokoupil in Armoy village

All in all, the meeting was a success, both for the organisers and the AIR Kawasaki Team. The team left with Indi going back to Prague and myself back to Manchester.

Skerries, Scarborough, Southern 100 & Kells Results!

SKERRIES ROAD RACES 2010

Have you ever heard the saying ‘a calm before the storm’? Well this is what I think the Bush was, because not a thing went wrong; whereas at the Skerries nothing seemed to go right.

650cc twins

The first race we competed in was the 650 twins, Indi was holding 3^rd place at the start of the last lap and as he peeled into Dublin corner another rider hit him, smashing his front brake lever off. Indi dropped from 3^rd to finish 10^th.

1000cc

In the 1000cc race Indi started 14^th on the grid and finished in 11^th place. It was after this race that we found an oil leak, which meant the bike wouldn’t be used for the remainder of the meeting.

600cc

That morning I had taken the 600 up to the dyno. I then asked the race officials if Indi could try the bike on the 250 warm-up lap, which they agreed to. As he was coming back into the paddock, the chain jumped the front sprocket and went through the water pump –which put an end to the day’s racing. Unfortunately, in the grand final local rider Myles Byrne lost his life which brought the meeting to an end.

In conclusion, the Skerries meeting was a total disaster as far as AIR Kawasaki were concerned. But we would like to thank the organisers for their dedication and help. We would like to send our sincere condolences to Myles Byrne’s family.

COCK O’ THE NORTH, SCARBOROUGH 2010

We arrived at Scarborough on Friday 9^th July and set up shop. On Saturday morning we competed in the practice. The first race Indi competed in was the 1000cc class where he qualified in 14^th and finished in 11^th. The next race up was the 650 twins where he finished in 5^th place. The first 600 race, he qualified in 12^th position and finished 7^th in the race.

Sunday was very overcast. The first race of the day was the 650 twins where he finished 5^th again. In the second 600 race, he overshot mere hairpin while dicing for 5^th place . In the main race – The Cock o’ the North – Indi qualified in 22^nd place and finished in a credible 11^th place with some superb riding. The final race of the day was an invitation race in which Indi started from the second row of the grid. By the end of lap 1, Indi was holding 1^st place and went on to win the race by over 7 seconds.

We then left Scarborough as we had to catch the 2am ferry from Heysham to the Isle of Man to compete in the southern 100.

SOUTHERN 100 IOM

We arrived at the southern 100 and set up camp. Practice took place on Monday 12^th July in reasonable conditions but by Tuesday night things had altered. The first 1000cc race took place in atrocious weather conditions and was red-flagged after 6 or 7 laps where Michael Pearson crashed heavily – fortunately with minor injuries. We decided not to take part in this race.

On Wednesday, as Indi went to start his warm up lap for the 650 which he had qualified 3^rd, he had a problem with the steering damper and had to return to the paddock. In doing so, we missed the race. The 600 race was our next outing that night and Indi had qualified in 8^th place. He completed the warm-up lap and while he was sitting in the grid he flicked his visor open only for it to come off his helmet completely. The race started without him and Indi had to sit this one out as well.

On Thursday the weather was playing havoc again. In the first 600 race of the day ‘Indi’ went for the wrong choice of tyres. He went for full wets but by this time the road had dried. After competing one lap, he retired to the paddock. The next race up was the 650, he went off the grid in 3^rd place and held it for 5 laps, but after a dingdong battle with Dave Mofitt, Indi had to settle for 4^th place losing out to the faster bike.

The last race of the day was the grand final where Indi started 11^th on the grid, but by the time he got to cross four ways he was up to 5^th place. Only then to be taken out by Mark Buckley who in turn had his hand pulled off the handlebars by Tim Venables. Buckley and Indi both went down, causing about £600-700 worth of damage to the bike. We left the IOM on the Friday morning back to Heysham and arrived in Manchester at 3.30pm. Here, we made a decision to compete at the Kells Road Races over the next two days. We then had to load the 3 bikes and everything else we were taking into a long wheel base transit. We then had a shower and something to eat, after which we set off to catch the 2.30am ferry from Holyhead to Dublin. We arrived at the docks with 10 minutes to spare.

KELLS ROAD RACES 2010

We arrived in Dublin Docks at 6.30am and made our way up to the Kells Road Race circuit. We set up shop in a spot which our mate, Victor Gilmore, had kept for us. Practice went well, Indi qualified in pole position for the 650 race. And then in 4^th place for the 600, which put him in the front row of the grid along with Keith Amor, William and Michael Dunlop.  In the 1000cc class, Indi qualified in 11^th place probably due to a problem with the gearbox. Unfortunately in the last practice session of the day Stephen Larkin crashed and lost his life.

Sunday morning was very overcast and wet. After consultation with the Larkin family the race organisers said that the family wanted the races to continue, as this is what Stephen would have wanted. The first three races were held in damp conditions. The four race was the 650 twins which Indi was in pole position in front of Ryan Farquhar and Johnny Borrows. But after two warm-up laps, it was decided to have a dinner break to see if the rain would stop. This was not to be and after various consultations amongst the organisers, it was agreed that the race would be abandoned due to standing water on the track. The AIR Kawasaki Team would like to take this opportunity to send our sincere condolences to the Larkin family.

We then packed everything away and headed to the Dublin port to catch the 8.30pm ferry. We finally arrived back home in Manchester on Monday morning at 2.30am. We then had to unload all the bikes and equipment out of the van so as to return it before 8.00am. Our next meeting that we hope to compete at is the Mid Antrim 150 and the Armoy Road Races. See you all soon!

BUSH ROAD RACES Results!

"Listen Indi this is what you need to do"

650cc twins

On Saturday the 19^th June, we competed at the Bush Road races in Ireland. Indie was a new comer to the circuit and after a few sighting laps in a friends car he said it was very technical circuit. But it did not take him long to get into the swing of things. The first race was the 650 supertwins, where Indie qualified in 5^th place. At the end of the first lap, he was in 2^nd position. On lap 4 both him and John Borrows smashed the lap record by over 7 seconds. Borrows held on to win, and Indie took a brilliant second place, and just missed out by 3/10 off a second to hold the outright lap record for this class. Not bad on his first attempt.

Indi & Johnny B celebrate 1st & 2nd places in the 650 twins race

600cc Race

The second race of the day was the 600 race. Indi qualified in 11^th place at the end of lap 1 Indi was in 3^rd place ahead of Davy Morgan and Michael Pearson.  On lap 2 at Cranstons Corner Pearson went underneath both Morgan and Indi and in doing so hit Indi which unsettled him and allowed both Pearson and Morgan through.  Indi followed them for a couple of laps but after seeing some outrageous moves my both riders he decided to drop back and settled for 5^th place.

Indi hard on the heels of Davey Morgan in the 600 race

1000CC Race

The 3^rd race which we competed in was the 1000cc class but we were still using the 600cc machine. Indi qualified in 12^th place and after a sluggish start worked his way up to 7^th place by the end of the race.

BUSH OPEN – MAIN EVENT ON THE DAY

Indi started from the front row of the second grid for this race in 13^th place which in itself was a blessing as it would give him a clear road due to the fact that they started 10 seconds after group 1.  I told him to make sure and try to get a good start and he did this at the end of lap 1 he was leading the B group and on corrected time was on 9^th position.  By the end of lap 6 he was up into 7^th place and 3seconds behind the 5^th place Michael Sweeny.  I told Indi that he would come into his own in the second half of the race as the lads riding the big bikes would start to feel it physically in the 10 lap race and sure enough they did. I could tell by Michael Sweeny’s body language that he was starting to tire so I gave Indi the go ahead and in doing so he reeled in 5^th and 6^th place men  to take a magnificent 5^th place in the Bush Open.  It was a great ending to a great days racing.

THANKS

I would like to pay special thanks to the following people:-

To – D & G Wray Racing for helping the team to compete at the Bush Road Races.

To – The organizers and all the helpers for making it such a successful event.

Last but not least to Paul Cranston, his wife Jenny and the family for the wonderful hospitality which they extended to the Air Kawasaki Team.

Paul Cranston and his wife, Jenny

TT RACES 2010 Results!

The AIR Kawasaki team went to the IOM to compete at this year’s TT races. In practice we experienced handling problems on the ZX10. We took it round to K-TECH who put lighter springs in the front forks, and altered the ride height at the rear. This made a big improvement and took Indie’s lap times from 118 to 122 mph.

On the Thursday night of practice, we put a fresh engine into the 600 Kawasaki, and on Friday night, the last night of practice, his lap times went from 115 to 119 mph. This was again a big improvement, and it looked as if it was all systems go for racing.

The Saturday Superbike race started and Indie went down brae hill and lapped at over 122 mph from a standing start. On lap 2, on his way to ramsey, the bike would not rev above 9000 rpm. He got it back to the pits, only to retire. We later traced the fault to a blocked filter in the fuel pump.

We waited eagerly for Monday as we had to compete in the 600 Supersport race in the morning, and the Superstock race in the afternoon. Again Indie roared off down brae hill on the 600 bike, and was lapping in the 119 and 120s. He finally finished in 27^th place out of 78 starters, and received a bronze replica. The team was happy with his overall result and his times.

After lunch, we made our way up to the start to compete in the Superstock race. After keeping a close eye on practice times, I told Indie we had a chance of finishing in the top 20 with a good run and a good pit stop. He completed the first two laps but when he pitted, he asked Alan, part of the pit team, if he could see anything wrong with the front of the bike. Alan said he couldn’t, so Indie started lap three. But at glen vine, the steering damper came adrift, and Indie had to complete the last two laps with no steering damper. His speeds dropped from 122 to 112 mph laps. He was in 22^nd place at the time, so a top 20 finish was certainly on the cards before this happened. Indie still managed to finish in 37^th position, and again received another bronze replica.

Before racing started on Thursday, there was a one lap practice for the senior TT which was to take place on Friday. Indie took the ZX10 out and after jumping Ballaugh Bridge on his way to ramsey, he felt the bike move around below him. He slowed down, only to find oil leaking from the rear shock. He pulled off to the inside of the course, and made his way back to the pits, as he did not want to be stranded in Ramsey.

The Wednesday Supersport race was postponed to Thursday afternoon due to bad weather. In the Supersport race, Indie wanted to race his 600 Honda as he had brought it all the way from the Czech republic. Again he was lapping in the 119s, but when he pitted at the end of the second lap, the handle bar on the twist grip side had loosened. We eventually tightened it, but it cost him almost two minutes in pit lane which dropped him to 43^rd place. But at least he overcame the problems to finish another race.

Friday morning arrived all too soon. K-TECH had left the paddock, so we had no one to repair the burst pipe on the rear damper. After speaking with Ryan Farquhar and Ian Lougher, I took the rear shock out of the 600 and put it in the big bike. We had no way of trying it, so we were in the lap of the gods. We made our way to the start line. I had now been commandeered as part of the pit crew in pit lane when the news came through at the start of lap three, that Guy Martin had crashed at Balleygary, a very fast section of the TT course. We all hoped for the best. Then the news came through that the reason why it was red flagged was because approximately 50 meters of hedge was on fire due to the crash, followed by reports that Guy was conscious and on his way to Nobles Hospital. The race was restarted an hour later, but reduced to four laps. We made some adjustments to the rear shock. Again Indie started off down Brae Hill. When he completed his first lap from a standing start, it was 123.86 mph. His second lap was going to be even quicker, around 125 mph. His light came on to indicate that he had arrived at Signpost Corner, but he never arrived at the pits. We found out later, that he had run out of fuel at Govener’s Bridge, half a mile from the end of the lap. This was due to him lapping faster than he had ever done before, which caused him to run out of fuel. Indie was disappointed to say the least, but he said the bike handled to perfection, so at least we have gained some knowledge as to what dampers work best on the ZX10.

On Saturday we went to the Manx’s Telecom races at the Billowen circuit near Castletown. We took the 650 twin and the 600. This meeting was totally different to the TT. The organizers were very helpful, and the whole event was so laid back. We practiced on both bikes, made some alterations to the gearing on the 600, and replaced the rear damper with the help of a couple of the Black Horse lads from Ian Lougher’s team who were watching. We finished 3^rd in the 650, and 3^rd in the 600, and in return received £650 in prize money, which we badly needed as we had used a lot of money to compete at the TT. I then remembered it was by birthday, so we had a few drinks!

COOKSTOWN 100 RESULTS!

Considering it was Indi’s debut at the Cookstown 100 – the meeting was a great success. He qualified 5th fastest on the 650 twin, he also qualified for the 600 race and the 1000 race.

His first race was on the 100o cc, starting from 23rd on the grid he finished 12th! His next outing was the 600, starting from 21st he went on to finish 11th! He then went to the grid on the 1000 cc for the main event of the day, starting at 23rd – he raced from dead last on the grid to finish 7th at the flag.  Incredibly, he was lapping a tenth of a second short of a 1.25 lap.

The last race of the day was the 650 twins, Billy told Indi that if he could find another 2 seconds a lap, that there might be a chance of a podium finish. But Indi went even better by taking 7 seconds a lap off his qualifying time. This resulted in Indi and Ryan Farquhar smashing the existing lap record! Ryan went on the win, but Indi took a magnificent 2nd place in front of course specialist, John Borrows.

I would just like to thank Norman Crooks and everyone connected to the Cookstown club for running such a great event. A big thanks also to Anne Fields and her daughters at the Manor House Hotel in Moneymoor for their great hospitality.

CHECK OUT the photos here.

Our next race is at the IOM TT.

RACE DATES FOR 2010

The AIR Kawasaki Team have again secured the services of Czech rider Michal Dokoupil (Indi 23) for the 2010 season.

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AIR KAWASAKI EVENTS  2010

*APRIL 18  IAN WATSON SPRING CUP-SCARBORORUGH

****APRIL 23/24 COOKSTOWN 100

**MAY 11-15  NORTH WEST 200

***MAY 22/23     HORICE CZECH REP

***MAY 29^TH )      I.O.M  TT  RACE

JUNE 12^TH )        TWO WEEKS

****JULY 2/3^RD SKERRIES

*JULY 4^TH BARRY SHEEN CLASSIC-SCARBOROUGH

**JULY 10/11^TH COCK-O-NORTH-SCARBOROUGH

***JULY 17/18^TH KELLS INTERNATIONAL

**JULY 30/31^ST MID ANTRIM 150

****AUGUST 6/7^TH ARMOY

****AUGUST 11/14^TH ULSTER GP

***AUGUST 21/22^ND TERLINCO – CZECH REP

**SEPT 11/12^TH KILLALANE

****SEPT 18/19^TH GOLD CUP – SCARBOROUGH

**SEPT 25/26^TH FROHBERG – GERMANY

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PRIORITY GIVEN TO THE MEETINGS WITH THE MOST STARS.

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AIR  KAWASAKI  RACING ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR SPONSORS

IF YOU THINK YOU COULD HELP PLEASE CONTACT BILLY OR TONY

ON 07784808554 BILLY -  07966063576 TONY

BIKE FOR SALE!!!!

EX  KENNY HARKER 07/08 600 KAWASAKI AS RACED BY

RYAN FARQUHAR 2007– SERVICED AND READY TO RACE – PRICE £4600.00

Welcome to the home page for AIR Kawasaki

Anglo-Irish Racing Team

Meet the Team

LATEST NEWS.

Our 09 season started with Tim Poole riding for us. Tim won at Oulton Park, Cookstown 100 and Darley Moor where Tim was leading 600cc and 1000cc championships. Unfortunately Tim was injured while competing at the Barry Sheen Classic road race at Scarborough in May and is now out for the remainder of the season.

We have now recruited Czech rider Michal Dokoupil to replace Tim for the rest of the season.

It was whilst competing at the Kells road races in July that Michal took his first win for AIR Kawasaki, becoming the first ever Czech rider to win a road race in Ireland. Michal followed this up with a win at the Dundrod 150 as well as taking three 10^th places at the Ulster GP– two in the 600 supersport class and one in the superbike class. Considering this was Michal’s first time at any of these meetings, it was a fantastic achievement.

Michal has also competed at the Skerries, Cock o’ the North at Scarborough and the Race of Legends at Armoy.

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RACE DATES!!

THE TEAM SHOULD HAVE BEEN RACING AT THE KILLALANE ROAD RACES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 12TH/13TH SEPTEMBER AND ALSO AT SCARBOROUGH ON THE 19TH/20TH SEPTEMBER BUT UNFORTUNATELY DUE TO WORK COMMITMENTS WITH CZECH TV, MICHAL ISN’T ABLE TO ATTEND EITHER MEETING.

THE NEXT MEETING WE’RE COMPETING AT IS FROHBURG, GERMANY ON 26TH/27TH SEPTEMBER.