LAST weekend saw a double-header of sprint action and the sun shone down on the opening day, as the Jersey Motorcycle & Light Car Club ran their third sprint event of 2024 along the Five Mile Road.
Competitors were treated to ideal conditions as the road surface dried seemingly just in time for the morning’s practice runs.
A smoothly run event, only pausing for the occasional bus, afforded racers eight official timed runs to push their vehicles to the limits.
Experienced motorists and newcomers alike, formed part of a varied field of entrants comprising classic cars to modern day superbikes which also saw a handful of Guernsey competitors to join in on the action.
Matt Bewers, one of the club’s regular marshals and timekeepers at JMC&LCC events, thoroughly enjoyed his first time as a competitor on board his Suzuki GSR 600.
An impressive three records fell during the meeting, the first claimed by Alex Salmon in the Road Going Specialist Production 1401-2000cc class.
In only his second run he lowered his previous record and would go on to further improve, ending the day on a time of 12.05 seconds.
Len Amy driving his Mallock Mk32 bettered his own record from back in April 2011 with a new time of 10.85 seconds.
On two wheels, the 751-1000cc motorcycle record was beaten by Stephan Ward on his Kawasaki.
His prior record earlier in the year was improved by 0.03seconds resulting in a new time of 9.82 seconds in his final attempt of the day. Ward’s time would also prove the overall fastest time posted during the day.
The following day, attention turned to Les Jardins Car Park in St Helier, for the sole “Twisty Sprint” of the year.
A far cry from the flowing bends of the Five Mile Road, the temporary course was set up with cones and crash barriers, which provided a tight and technical challenge for all entrants on two wheels.
With motorcycle dealership The Mansell Collection sponsoring the event, there were prizes and trophies up for grabs for top five overall fastest times of the day with vouchers of up to £250 for the winner.
Despite a very wet forecast, only a few short rain showers provided ever-changing levels of grip as large parts of the track dried throughout the day when given the chance.
With some riders opting for wet weather tyres, others choosing slicks or even a combination of both, the top five positions switched throughout, as competitors got a feel for the conditions.
Early on it was Sam Touzel and Matthew Le Brun fighting for top spot with Jamie Howarth close behind in third.
But as the tarmac continued to dry and the rain held off, riders on dry weather tyres picked up the pace and soon, Greg Mansell and Jake Holland joined the battle for the top positions.
As the day progressed, it seemed as though slick tyres would prove the optimum choice, but with only a few runs left of the event, a rain shower caused further disruption to tyre strategies.
The enthralling event concluded with the top five times spread over three different classes of motorcycle.
Matt Le Brun claimed the honours over Sam Touzel, with Jake Holland in third.
Jamie Howarth took fourth spot, in front of Greg Mansell.
The fastest Sarnian honour went to Steve Collins who placed sixth.
