LEWIS Rollo’s first taste of the 2013 Monster Energy Motostar British Championship happened at Oulton Park this last weekend.

Following a steep learning curve in the Aprilia RRV450GP Challenge from the beginning of the racing season, Lewis swapped his four stroke Aprilia for a more familiar two stroke Honda.

Having competed at the Cheshire track in the 2012 season on his standard Honda GP125. The youngster from East Lothian had knowledge and settings he could use, lightening the work load for father Barry and mentor Alan McIntosh.

Saturday’s practise sessions were used to help Lewis get used to the little two stroke Honda once again. By the second practise session he had already taken six seconds off his morning time. With some minor alterations overnight, Lewis and bike were ready for the days qualifying sessions.

Qualifying session one finished up with the youngster in 16^th position. However in the second qualifying session Lewis got dropped back to 18^th “I was in 16th again and then I caught up with a group and I got past them, but when we came to the straight they all came back past me. So I got held up and couldn’t go any faster, I dropped back to 18th what was still ok on a standard bike but 16th would of been a bit better” added Lewis.

Sunday morning practise went well filling Lewis with confidence being only one second shy of his qualifying time.

A fresh set of tyres and it was race time “I got a no bad start and got up to 14th into the first corner. I got in a battle with 13th and passed him into the hairpin, but by that time 12th place had pulled a four second gap. I managed to catch him and passed him and I was catching 10th and a 11^th, but by that time it was the end of the race. We were really happy from 18th on the grid to 12th overall giving us 9th in the 125’s. I managed to do a 1:52.0 so we were really, really happy with that because we only thought we would be able to do 1:55.0. So the weekend went really well and I stayed on the black stuff so that was good as well”

Photo’s Courtesy of and Copyrighted to LoisFastLane

The youngster had a busy day on his hands practise, qualifying and the racing all in one day, not only that but James would competing in three categories Junior C, Lightweight Production and the Open class.

The day started off well with the NGK Sparkplug supported rider qualifying first in the Junior C class and second in the Lightweight Production class, the Open class would run reverse grids.

In the Junior C class races James left the pack from the drop of the flag and won all three races. The little 4.2 Air Cooled Polini is one of James favourite bikes and his confidence shows whilst aboard it.

In the Lightweight production races James once again got great starts and slotted in to second in all three races, with some tyre to tyre, fast and furious racing, taking second overall.

For the Open races James would start from first position in race one, and decided to use his little Air Cooled bike for the tight and twisty circuit. After yet another great start James sat in second position for most of the race until he slipped off on the last lap, he remounted and managed to finish the race.

In race two James started from the back of the grid but got a great start. Fighting his way up to fifth it was starting to look promising, until he collided with another rider and was unable to finish. Both times the rider has walked away however his pride had taken a beaten.

Race three James once again collided with another rider but managed to stay on but fell at the next corner. He managed to get back on and through sheer determination finished the race.

In race four James got a brilliant start and slotted in to third where he stayed for the remainder of the race, giving him fourth overall in the fast Open class.

“James had a brilliant day winning the Junior C outright and second in the light weight, I saw some fast and impressive riding and his starts were good, we had disasters in the open but only his pride was hurt, this was a large grid and there were some very fast riders in the group James was riding with the best of them and only riding his Junior Bike to finish fourth overall was great.” Added Stephen, James’ father.

James would like to thank NGK Sparkplugs, Euroclass Drinks Limited, Bikewise, The YRF and his family and friends.

ROWRAH in Cumbria hosted the third round of the Fab Racing Minimoto Championship. Charlie Atkins would be the Sole YRF Junior representative with James Alderson concentrating on the Scottish Championship.

Contending the Junior Production class aboard the Minimoto Racing/Scott Redding academy sponsored GRC production Minimoto and the MiniGP50 class on his Metrakit Mini GP50, Charlie used Saturday’s early morning practise sessions getting to grips with his newly supplied GRC Minimoto.

With the weather gods on his side, Charlie soon got to grips with the machine and topped the time sheets in practise, however dropped to fourth during qualifying.

Sunday’s weather was not so favourable with flashes of heavy rain and strong gusts of wind. A hard fought race one saw the youngster from Goole, rocket from the second row and dog fight his way to the lead and crossing the line in first. Race two and three Charlie showed much of the determination that he did in race one finishing second and third, giving him second overall for the day.

In the MiniGP50 class Charlie once again showed astounding improvements on the bigger Metrakit 50cc machine over last year, topping the time sheet’s in practice. Qualifying one saw the youngster finish in second, however halfway through the second session the bike seized and threw Charlie off. Enough work had been put in early in the session to give him his first ever pole on the big Metrakit. Charlie’s father Gareth worked frantically overnight to have the bike ready for Sunday’s races.

With a freshly rebuilt engine Charlie lined up for race one, getting the hole shot he battled through to take second position. In race two the youngster set off strong again fighting for the lead, however three laps from the end Charlie slid off damaging the bike and ending the days racing. “Charlie’s massively disappointed. But we’re still so proud of him, his first win on the Proddy and first pole on the 50 is still some massive positives to take away with us” explained Gareth.

Charlie now sits fourth in the Junior Production class and third in the MiniGP50 class.

Charlie would like to thank the YRF, Julian from Minimoto racing and Scott Redding for all there help and support.

Photo’s courtesy of Rachel Bryden

THE recently redesigned and fast flowing Snetterton 200 circuit in Norfolk hosted round three of the Thundersport GB series.

Young Scotsman Lewis Rollo used Friday’s practise sessions to set up the two Aprilia RRV 450 GP machines he would use in both the Aprilia RRV 450 GP Challenge and the 650 Minitwins class.

Saturday’s qualifying started well in the Minitwins class with Lewis rapidly eating up time from his laps. Then at the end of the session disaster struck “Saturday morning it was qualifying in the 650 class, I was coming out the third corner onto the back straight and I high sided with three minutes to go. But I still managed to get seventh so that was ok and then in the 450 class I came sixth so that was one better, so we were happy” explained the youngster.

With two races in each class still to go on the Saturday, Lewis’ mechanics Barry Rollo and Alan McIntosh had work to do.

In the Minitwins races Lewis took sixth in race one and in race two crashed on the last corner whilst fighting for third. Two fifth places in the Aprilia RRV 450 GP Challenge would round out a very eventful Saturday.

With the bikes prepped and ready for Sunday’s races, Lewis started the Minitwins races from third position as a result of his lap times in Saturday’s races. Lewis crashed out of the last corner in race one and a hard fought fourth in race two.

Two solid results in the Aprilia RRV 450 GP Challenge closed out an up and down weekend in Norfolk “In the first 450 race I came ninth which wasn’t that good, but my dad and Alan said you are still in the top 10 so it is ok, better than crashing. But I was still not happy with it, so in the second race I got a better start and got away with the fast ones. But I made a mistake on the first lap and I dropped back a bit, I managed to catch back up with them and I set my fastest lap of the weekend and managed to get a seventh”

Photo’s Copyrighted and courtesy of Racing Line Photography.

With mixed conditions, it was the perfect opportunity to work on a selection of set ups to help the youngster get to grips with the Aprilia RRV 450GP bike. Living less than ten miles away, Lewis knows the circuit like the back of his hand. However this would be the first time he had attacked it aboard a four stroke machine.

Despite being on a lesser powered machine to the rest of the field and lack of track time on his Aprilia, Lewis still qualified sixth for the races. Two races on the Saturday afternoon saw Lewis take a dramatic fourth in race one as he carved his way through a sea of Orange bibs, swapping places with his rivals during the ten lap battle. In race two now settling in to his stride, the 13 year old blazed through to second at the flag.

Tricky conditions hampered Sunday’s racing, with strong winds and cooler temperatures. In the first race of the day Lewis struggled with the rear tyre squirming in to the corners due to the lack of heat. The mature racer within prevailed, as Lewis toned it back a bit to take the bike over the line in fifth and in one piece. The second and last race of the day was red flagged shortly after it had started due to an accident, officials decided not to restart the race due to the conditions.

Lewis’ next race meeting will be the third round of the Thundersport GB series at Snettereton 26^th-28^th of April.

NGK supported rider James Alderson got the ball rolling using the Thursday practise session to set up gearing for the long straights. Although the track temperature was very low, James found plenty of grip on the infield and made up for what he was lacking on the straights.

Friday saw three practises, which James set an impressive 56.57s lap on new tyres and a fresh clutch. As the day got warmer James lap times tumbled rounding off qualifying two with a 53s lap and lining him up on second spot on the grid in the Junior Production class.

Round one of the Championship was held on Saturday, and with three races ahead of him and a clear track in front James was out to impress. After a good start in race one James settled in to a rhythm and finished third. A slow start in race two saw James drop down to fourth, but with sheer determination he fought through the field and started to gap third position to take second over the line. Another slow start in race three dropped the youngster down to fifth only to gain one place by the end of the race. This gave James third overall for the day.

Sunday held round two and the end of the racing weekend. In race one James got a good start and settled in to third out of the first corner where he remained until the chequered flag. Race two saw James get bogged down off the line and end up in fifth, but using his speed on the infield charged back up to third and setting the best lap of 53.984s. James got his best start of the day in race three and after a hard fought battle, just lost out and dropped back to fourth, giving him fourth place overall for the day.

James would like to thank NGK Sparkplugs, Bikewise, The YRF and his family and friends for their support.

Young Charlie Atkins had a hectic weekend ahead of him also. The newly appointed Scott Redding Racing Academy Team rider, had his first taste of the Junior Production GRC bike supplied for him “Dad, this bike is mega fast, I love it” was the initial response after first practise. Charlie spent practise and qualifying getting used to the bike and managed to qualify in a respectable seventh place.

Round one, race one was to be Charlie’s first race start on the new more powerful bike, which he over cooked and came off. Managing to get back on the bike he made it in to the first corner second from last, and after a few laps started to eat up the field finishing his first ever Junior Production race in fifth position. Race two Charlie started to experience problems with the bike and coaxed it over the line in sixth place. Unable to find the fault in time Charlie was unable to compete in the third race of the day.

After an evening and morning of fault finding, a relieved Charlie Atkins Lined up on the grid for Sunday’s second round. Charlie once again started to improve from the previous day dropping 2.5s from his lap times and finishing the day with two fifth places and a sixth.

Charlie also had his Metrakit to race in the GP50 class, which would be a much more familiar feel. Qualifying in third Charlie had set himself a good position for the races ahead of him. In round one the youngster fought hard for two second places and a third, with only the starts proving a tad difficult. Round two saw Charlie take three second places and only two seconds adrift of the leader.

Charlie would like to thank the Scott Redding Academy, The YRF and Julian at Minimoto racing for all the help with the new bike and most of all his family for their continued support.

Lewis Rollo had yet another challenging weekend ahead of him. Not only being educated by his four stroke Aprilia RRV450GP bike, but also learning to ride in freezing conditions. The youngster from East Lothian took all this in his stride and soon the lap times started to tumble during practise on Saturday, slotting in to the top four at the close of play.

Once the sessions got underway on Sunday, after a brief pause due to a snow flurry, Lewis started to get his teeth in to qualifying. Getting faster and faster each lap and finally snapping up fourth for the Minitwins race. The second qualifying session would be for the Aprilia RRV 450 GP Challenge, Lewis had just started build up pace when he was hit from behind whilst overtaking. The blow from behind at Coppice, knocked the young Scotsman from his Aprilia and was unavoidably run over. “I was overtaking and someone hit me from the back, the bike just chucked me of and as I hit the ground someone ran over me and that’s all I can remember is being hit. I don’t know if I was knocked out for a bit as I can’t remember a thing. I was taken to the medics and the doctor asked me a number of things, and I just sat in a daze as I seemingly kept asking my dad ‘where am I’ and ‘why are we here’. Nothing made sense to me and I ended up getting really emotional.” As a result of this incident Lewis was rightly withdrawn from Sunday’s racing, with a view to undergo a second evaluation on the Monday morning.

Monday morning arrived and after undergoing a series of tests at the circuit medical centre, Lewis was given the all clear. As he had missed the Sunday races, Lewis had to start from the back of the grid in both the Minitwins and Aprilia RRV Challenge. After sitting down with his father Barry and mentor Alan ‘Tosh’ McIntosh, it was agreed that Lewis would use the races as practise to gain knowledge about the bike. Despite starting from the back of a very deep field in the Minitwins class, Lewis finished tenth and twelfth and in the Aprilia RRV Challenge eleventh and eighth, taking two seconds off his lap times.

Photo’s courtesy of Racing Line Photography

Competing in the Aprilia RRV 450GP class and the 650 Supertwin class (on the same Aprilia RRV 450), this would give the youngster a huge amount of track time with six practise sessions alone on the Friday. With the weather looking less than pleasant for the entire weekend, the Friday practise sessions were used wisely, setting the bike up for the conditions and adjusting to the bigger bike.

Weather wise Saturday didn’t fare any better, but with a day’s set up under his belt, Lewis felt confident and this showed in his impressive lap times. Even though he was competing against bigger bikes and more experienced racers in the 650 Supertwin class, Lewis managed seventh during qualifying on his Aprilia 450. With another qualifying session to go in the Aprilia RRV 450GP class, Lewis once again started to lap consistently and put in a lap time that secured him fifth on the grid come the races.

Saturday wasn’t quite over yet, with four races still to go before the end of the day. In the 650 Supertwin races Lewis brought the bike home in fifth position in race one. Then in race two blowing all expectations out of the water, stormed to first position by two seconds. Next up was the Aprilia RRV 450GP Challenge where he clinched fourth in the first race and yet another podium with third in a spectacular second race.

Snow greeted the racers on Sunday morning, thankfully clearing up before the days sessions began, however leaving behind freezing temperatures. Despite the conditions Lewis braved the cold and set the second fastest practise time in 650 Supertwin class. The high spirits were short lived however as Lewis lost the front during race one crashing out of third spot. Not letting the crash dampen his spirits he cleaned off his leathers for the first Aprilia RRV 450 race. Unfortunately the conditions got the better of the thirteen year old once again, cold tyres and a damp track do not mix well. This would end the day for the Scotsman, with the bike sustaining quite a bit of damage.

“I managed to qualify seventh in the 650 supper twins and fifth in the 450 challenge, what we thought was good for my first race weekend with the bike. I went out in the first 650 race and came fifth and in the 450 race and came 4th. Then went out in the second 650 race and I won it by 2 seconds and we were really happy with that. The last race I managed to get 3rd in the 450 so not a bad day for my first race day two podiums. We got up on Sunday to snow but it cleared up before practice but it was really cold. Practice went well I was second fastest in the 650 class. Then the day fell apart whilst lying third in the third race when I lost the front and crashed out. In the second race I crashed out on a wet patch at the start of the race on cold tyres, the bike was too badly damaged, weekend over.”

At the age of 13 the youngster from Gifford in Scotland, has already had quite an impressive racing career. He has dominated the Scottish Minimoto Championship for the last three years and in 2012 competed his first full season in the Aprilia Superteens where he stormed the championship, finishing 312 points ahead of his rivals.

For 2013 Lewis is contending the Aprilia RRV 450GP Challenge. Having won the Superteen championship, Lewis will be aiming to take the record as the first racer to win the Superteen and the RRV championship back to back.

The young racer will also compete on his own Honda GP125 in selected rounds of the Monster Energy Motostar British Championship, having been unsuccessful in securing a team for the full season. And also rounds of Melville Motorcycle club.

“I would like to thank the YRF for supporting me this year. It means a lot to know that you have people behind you and taking the time to show interest in you and giving me support. This is an exciting year for me as I’m out with the big boys and its going to be extreme for me. I’m hoping that I can go out this year and show people that I take this serious and I want to try and do as well as I did last year. I would just like to say to anyone who gets the chance to come to any of the races, come and find us and say hi, your all welcome as us Scott’s are a friendly bunch.”

The race is two hours long with a team of three picked randomly at sign on at the beginning of the day. Each team consists of a Novice, Intermediate and an Advanced rider who will race for ten minute stints on their own machines. A quick change over is essential at the end of the 10 minute session, with the Chief Mechanic (James’ dad Stephen) doing a transponder swap, to get the team back out on track.

The day started off with all riders having a five minute warm up which would also create their grid position for the start of the race. With James’ team starting from third the two hour race got under way with the Novice riders out first. After a few intense sessions and some lightening fast transponder change over’s the team soon found themselves in first place with a seven lap advantage. Unfortunately the top spot wasn’t to be theirs for long when the Intermediate rider on James’ team hit technical problems. The cat like reflexes of the chief mechanic jumped in to affect, as he darted across the track to retrieve the transponder to put on to James’ bike to finish the rest of the Intermediate session. Despite all the effort to get back out on track, the seven lap lead had vanished and the team crossed the line in second place just a few laps adrift of the leaders.

James used his track time to get to grips with the bike again after the winter period, and start focussing on the season ahead. With his new sponsor NGK Sparkplugs onboard, James is brimming with confidence about the 2013 season.

If you think you could help James in his 2013 campaign in way of sponsorship, Email Lee@youngridersfund.org for contact details.