Super six seals Moor success for Lloyd Shelley
Records tumbled as Lloyd Shelley was once again hailed star of the meeting after securing two stunning back-to-back championships at Darley Moor.
Ten champions were confirmed early during the penultimate round at the Derbyshire circuit but it was the Burntwood star who shone brightest.
After setting the fastest lap in practice, Shelley took to the grid six times, winning all six races and setting the fastest lap times in five.
Darley spokesman Brian George said: “From a total of 44 racing laps completed, Shelley was leading for 37 and retained the two championships he won last year – The Sound of Thunder and Formula 600.
“The very first race of the day, Peak Cup, gave an indication of what was to come.
“He was in behind Andy Taylor and Carl Morris before setting about closing gap and recording what turned out to be the fastest lap of the day on the fifth lap, hitting the front and pulling out a gap of 2.7 seconds in just the final two laps.”
Shelley also took the lead in the second Peak Cup race by the end of lap two, taking victory by almost 10 seconds.
The first Formula 600 race saw a flag-to-flag victory for Shelley, as did the two Sound of Thunder races.
Carl Booth led for the first two laps of the second Formula 600 race before Shelley again squeezed through on the third to win.
Booth then became involved in the battle between Stone’s Richard Stubbs and Matthew Zschiesche, from Stoke on Trent.
Stubbs finally won the battle for second, with Zschiesche third, making it a Staffordshire one, two, three.
The combined Classics and Formula 125 races saw three champions crowned.
Burntwood’s Neil Hingley showed his class taking a double win in the Classic 1000 series but as he had not competed in the whole championship, the title was claimed by runner-up David Bradley.
A start-to-finish win in the first Pre Injection (up to 1300cc) race was enough to clinch glory for Jamie Pearson, putting the title out of reach of Mark Brailsford and Stone’s Andrew Lowe, who stayed third in that class.
Lowe and Ephgrave were also using the same machines in the combined Steel Framed 600/Pre Injection 600 races.
In the first race, Lowe did not make the grid but then stormed from fifth place to hit the front on lap five, taking victory by just 0.3 seconds, which was enough to retain the Pre Injection 600 title.
The last championship to be decided was in the Open Sidecar class, with the pairing of Anthony Eades and his Wolverhampton passenger Keith Box securing the title with two second place class finishes.
Dudley’s Mark Cockerton also retained second place in the Classic 350 class championship with 55 points, sandwiched behind Simon Collins on 90 and Brian Prescott on 38.
Eight championships will be decided with double points at stake at the final Stars of Darley round, October 7-8.
Meanwhile, Hednesford star Kurt Wigley will be looking to build on his top performance at Oulton Park when he travels across the Channel to Assen for round 11 of the British Superbikes this weekend.
The 21-year-old set sail for Holland on Wednesday on the back of a sixth and seventh place finishes during the previous round in the British Supersport class.
