Festival Motos Clasicas.General ranking is available here
Race sheets details are available here
ICGP and ICSB together for a new race dimension !Race report coming soon
 |
The ICGP circus rolled up to the Navarra Circuit in Northern Spain and set up camp ready for a weekend of hot, competitive racing. This 2.44 mile twisting challenging track was newly built and opened in June 2010, located near to Los Arcos in Northern Spain with dry deserts and mountains in view.
All the usual suspects were there, along with a lot of Spanish competitors who had come along to compete in the first round of the new ICSB series that was to run alongside ICGP for round 3. Also returning were Yves Hecq and Andre Gouin both missing from the first two rounds due to injuries.
A free practice was available Friday, with qualifiers set for Saturday and both races to be run on Sunday.
Ian Simpson having missed the first round at Hengelo was lying 4th in the championship, with Mike Hose leading, and Guy Bertin lying 2nd after only finishing one race in both of the first rounds, he did however manage to push the bike over the finish line for the 2nd race at Rijeka, after breaking down just before on the penultimate lap, scoring him 9 much needed points. Newcomer Andy Muggleton has settled in well to the series, and was lying 3rd, with a podium visit from both of the first 2 rounds.
Camps set up, fettling done, the riders set about qualifying on this challenging track – the corners necessitate some very low gears – with 1st gear being employed 7 times throughout the lap. A few missed gears were audible from track-side, and some interesting lines taken to negotiate the triple bends halfway round the track.
 |
Qualifier 1 saw Bertin set fastest lap, with Hose just 0.6 seconds behind, Simpson coming in a second after that. But all was not happy in the Simpson camp, and they were beset with engine woes, but one good engine from two emerged, and by Qualifier 2, Simpson was 2nd on the grid with Bertin on pole, and Hose completing the 1st row.
The 2nd qualifier was not without dramas – Peers-Jones managed just one lap before noticing performance issues, and returning to the paddock found that one of the carburettor floats had dropped out. Werner Reuberger; the 250cc category current leader crashed and broke his clavicle in true Lorenzo style. Chris Knight high-sided in the closing stages of the qualifier, with man and bike meeting track at a speed not conducive to either’s health, and causing the red flag to be deployed.
Several hours of medical centre and hospital later, the text came through asking if the bike could be repaired! But with a missing chain, a fire, bent gear lever and handlebars, it was the loan of a spare bike that saw Chris line up on the 2nd row, alongside Hoffman and Muggleton for Race 1.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The temperatures were high as the grid formed for race 1 and right from the start it was clear that Bertin had his eyes on the win as he started to stretch a lead from Ian Simpson and Mike Hose. It turned out to be a lonely race for many with Bertin winning by 4.5 secs from Simpson who in turn was 13 secs ahead of Hose. Walter Hoffman had a good ride for 4th place although 19 secs adrift of Hose. Andy Muggleton continued his good form with a fine 5th and Chris Knight pipped Richard Peers-Jones by 2/10 of a sec for a fine 6th place after his big get off the previous day. Robert Burns had a coming together with Guy Bertin and unfortunately hit the tarmac, William Gougy pulled out on lap 6, Peter Thorne on lap 1 and Werner Reuberger failed to make the start from his crash the previous day.
The 250cc class was a very close fought battle between returning Yves Hecq and Stefan Tennstadt with Hecq taking the win by 3/10 of a sec and Frenchman Bernard Tabarly bringing his Armstrong home in 3rd. In the Masters Guy Bertin took the win with Walter Hoffman 2nd and Richard Peers-Jones 3rd.
By the time race 2 was forming the track temperatures has risen to nearly 50 degrees. It was clear as soon as the red lights had gone out that Mike Hose wanted to control the race from the front and headed the initial charge from Bertin and Simpson. The dynamics of the race changed on lap 8 when Bertin’s Kawasaki broke a chain leaving Hose and Simpson to battle it out for the win. A fantastic dual emerged with Simpson edging out Hose by 3/10 sec for the win. Rookie Andy Muggleton continued his great form of getting a podium finish at each venue this year. Richard Peers-Jones and Berard Fau had a hard fought race with Peers-Jones coming home 4th and Fau 5th and Robert Hall having a good ride for 6th.
Walter Hoffman failed to make the start with clutch problems on his 350cc Yamaha and William Gougy, Barry Neal, Stefan Tennstadt, Jean Dondaine and Bernard Tabarly all had machine trouble and failed to see the chequered flag. Yves Hecq had a much easier time for the win in the 250cc class from Andre Gouin and Marc Auboiron completing the podium. Richard Peers-Jones took the win in the Masters from Bernard Fau and Robert Hall.
The new circuit of Navarra proved to be a great challenge and the Spanish sunshine helped to make a fantastic weekends racing.
350cc Race 1 :
350cc Race 2 :
|
250cc Race 1 :
250cc Race 2 :
|
Master Race 1 :
Master Race 2 :
|