NYRRSC FEATURE.
An unforgettable year for Rob Brown
Nineteen year old Rob Brown, who has been backed by the NYRRSC for a number of years, had clear plans for the 2009 season; to compete in all the North East Motorcycle Racing Club events and to do as many rounds as possible of the Thundersport GB Superstock 600 Championship. The stock spec Yamaha R6 would be used in the North East Club events as well, but the lack of outright performance didn't prove too much of a problem, in fact Rob would take on machines that had a much more substantial power advantage and still end up fighting for titles.
Mallory Park was the venue for the first round of the Thundersport GB series, the growing Championship that bridges the gap between Club racing and the British Championship and boasts two hours of t.v. coverage of each round. (On Motors TV) Rob qualified 15th but in the races exceeded his expectations with three top ten finishes. This led to an increased commitment to the Thundersport series.
The first round of the North East Club Championship at Croft was perhaps Rob's best meeting to date, with three seconds and a victory that saw him finish in front of the highly regarded Les Shand.
The form continued as Thundersport visited the historic Cadwell Park circuit in April, Rob qualified sixth and finished the races in fourth, third and third. Putting the North East Club rounds to one side for the moment, May’s Thundersport meeting at Pembrey saw Rob finish in the top five on all three occasions. He didn't particularly enjoy the circuit, but the results were satisfying!
There were some demanding times for Rob and his team when the series moved on to Oulton Park. It was the only one day meeting in the series so a single combined practice and qualifying session with a race to follow in the afternoon was always going to be hectic, add in continuous heavy rain and things became more difficult still. Rob was one of those to struggle when he crashed after only two laps of practice. When he slipped off he was in fifth position but as his rivals got to grips with the conditions he slipped down to 15th. Hard work from the team saw the bike ready for the race and Rob paid them back by fighting through to 12th place.
Snetterton Thundersport was given a miss due to North East Club commitments so the next appearance was on the high profile stage of the Donington World Superbike round and Rob managed to qualify sixth, despite a fuelling issue...that is, he ran out of petrol! Saturday's race saw Rob finish 10th but things went wrong on the Sunday when an engine blow-up put him out of the race.
The next Thundersport outing was at Angelsey in September. Now with a different engine that felt quite unlike his previous one with some of it’s' characteristics, Rob qualified mid-field but had another engine failure in the first race. The Welsh coast had been a long way to go for not a lot of racing! So that was the end of the Thundersport series for Rob, but at the North East Club things looked a lot more promising, with two Championships a possibility...
At the second round of the North East Club Championship at East Fortune Rob was invited for the first time to compete in the Open class and promptly managed to qualify on pole! He was second on the grid for the 600 event. Tricky conditions come Saturday race time saw Rob skip the open races but he claimed maximum points in the two 600 races (although some of the Scottish riders finished in front of Rob, notably David Paton, they were not members of the North East Club and therefore did not score points.)
Sunday was a great day; 3rd and 4th in the open race and maximum points again in the 600 class.
Round three was at Knockhill and it was Rob's second visit to the British Championship circuit. He had to struggle past a few mechanical problems but ended up in the top five in all the races. This gave him a 30 point lead in the 600 class and put him a handful of points ahead in the open class. But those Championship leads suddenly turned into
Championship wins when the final round at East Fortune on the 10th and 11th of October was cancelled due to a political wrangle between the Scottish ACU and the circuit and club. So Rob's season had come to a victorious end with two titles to his name and now he had all the winter to sort out the second blown engine from Angelsey, everything was looking good...
...or so it seemed, because three weeks later the dispute was sorted out and the final East Fortune race was back on, with full championship points up for grabs.
With the bike sorted again, Rob headed back up to Scotland and in damp conditions managed to bag front row starts in both classes. In the 600 race Rob's main rival John Deen got past him but later had to pull out leaving the NYRRSC backed rider in a very strong position. Rob took 4th place in the Open race after earlier battling for the lead.
In the second 600 race a third place finish proved to be enough to win the Championship (although this was not known until John Deen failed to finish one of the Sunday races.)
In the second open race Rob blasted into an early lead but was gradually pegged back and ended up in quite a battle, but then disaster struck when Rob got into a big accident on the brakes and went flying into the tyre wall without losing much speed at all. This resulted in second place overall in the open class, but more importantly Rob was rushed into intensive care with concussion, a punctured lung, broken ribs and shoulder blade, a collar bone and most worryingly two damaged vertebrae in his neck.
Two and a half weeks later Rob has been out of hospital for a week and reports that the things that could heal quickly have done but the bones are going to "take some time".
Rob can't resist a quick moan that he had finally got some made to measure leathers but came round from his accident to find that they had been cut to shreds to get them off him!
Rob wanted to send a big thank you to the marshals at East Fortune, the medical staff who helped him, Rob senior and the North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club, especially Derek who attended and helped out at a number of the meetings. Looking to the future, Rob is hoping to do a full season in Thundersport GB in the Superstock 600 class and although he feels he feels he has achieved his ambitions in the North East Club, he may return there early on in 2010, especially if his confidence needs a boost after the big accident.
