RAFMSA Motorsports open day Mallory park

 

 

We at the RAF Classic motorcycle racing team are all proud members of the Royal Air Force Motorsports Association or more simply; the RAFMSA.

Things are getting busy - Gavin Heggs

Every year we hold an open day for all RAF personnel to come take a look at what is on offer and take part. This year it was road racing's turn to show off and we did that in style at Mallory park circuit. 

There were displays from go-carts, motocross and a giant inflatable tent filled with state of the art racing simulators that were running way into the night with everyone getting a go in cars they could never dream of affording.
On track we had a car group featuring road and rally cars from a number of classes. We also of course had the motorcycles out too with a large contingent from Thundersport, some road racing and not forgetting, the classic motorcycle racing team.

Classic team getting a corner early - Gavin Heggs

The classic team comprised Gavin Heggs and Symon Woodward who had managed to sneak in son Joe for some bonus track time. Being a car track day organised by Javlin trackdays, and also being Mallory, noise was always going to be a problem. Woodwards Firestorm managed a couple of laps before getting told to do one and Heggs' VFR750 made a high score on the noise test and didn't even turn a wheel. Lucky for him, he had just picked up an NC30 off a former CRMC member Harry Wale on his way down to Leicestershire so he at least got to pootle around.

Motorcycles were well represented - Gavin Heggs

There were some seriously fast guys out in the motorcycle group much to Heggs' dismay (who was not one of them) who was having a hard time keeping up with the CB500 let alone some of the 1000cc stuff. 

Symon chasing down Joe - Javlin trackdays

Team Woodward kept themselves amused by pushing their ZXR400 and SV650 round the circuit, absolutely not racing one another.

Always fun to watch sidecars  - Javlin trackdays

We were all too happy to give up a session to the side car outfit that had come along. Although sadly not recognised under the current MSA rules. They ripped round for one session showing off what they could do and hopefully getting noticed as they thoroughly deserve full RAFMSA support.

TR7 - Javlin trackdays

Of course we can't ignore the cars, this whole event was organised for and by them after all. There were plenty of BMW's and a really lovely sounding Peugeot with individual throttle bodies. Naturally our favourite was was the old stuff like this TR7 and a wide bodied rally Corolla, or was it the Mini with an R1 engine in it....

After tonnes of time on the track, we were all chatting about racing on its way, with the Thundersports guys heading straight to Anglesey and Classic team thinking of Snetteron in a couple of weeks. It was superb to catch up with new and old faces.

With the event open to the public, we got to meet a huge range of people, all brought together by the love of motorsports. We all thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and we all look forward to doing it all again next year, hopefully with a few more classic racing team member too!

 - Javlin trackdays

Joe on the SV650 - Javlin trackdays

 - Javlin trackdays

 - Javlin trackdays

 - Javlin trackdays

 - Javlin trackdays

Heggs on the NC30 - Javlin trackdays

 - Javlin trackdays

If you want to stay up to speed with the ups and downs of the team you could do worse than to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

For our longer reads, you are already in the right place. This is where we post our race reviews and other articles on Blogger.

If you want some nail biting viewing, we also have a YouTube channel. So far it is a list of videos gleaned from our various members and other racing disciplines in the RAFMSA but expect some original content soon.

The Classic Racing Motorcycle Club (CRMC) offer live timing and have race results going back years so if you can’t make it to come watch the action you can still stay up to date.

All serving RAF team members race under the banner of the Royal Air Force Motorsports Association (RAFMSA) alongside our veteran former members and associate members. If you are serving and wish to get involved with motorsports you can find all the contact details you will need on the RAFMSA website or get in contact directly with us.

Finally special thanks go to the companies who continue to support us:

Royal Air Force Motorsports Association, Royal Air Force Central Fund,

EBC brakes UK, NGK spark plugs UK, Stahlwille UK, Classic Racing Green,

R-Tech Welding, Ragged edge racing, Talon Engineering, Forcefield body armour,

MCA Leicester, Spencer Racing, Tony Salt Tyres, Witham group Motul, PJMphotography, Speedsnap, Hel performance brakes and individual sponsors:

Symon Woodward: Mick Abbey tuning.

Andy Green: New Era Restorations


This blog post was written by the Royal Air Force Classic Racing Team members whose names are featured above then compiled and edited by Gavin Heggs.