ROSS-TRUM - MANX GRAND PRIX 2012

Ross Johnson went into this years Manx Grand Prix, hoping it could be lucky number thirteen and finally take winners laurels in the Lightweight race, onboard his Kawasaki ZXR 400. With his freshly tuned RMKD engine, he was more confident than ever. Practice week showed potential, with Ross being second fastest in the time sheets with a speed of 106.793MPH, set on the Thursday Evening. An anticipated late charge from a particular rival based in the north east of the country unsurprisingly, did not materialise.

RMKD mounted Bob Farrington was also 'on the pace' in practice with a lap speed of 100.365MPH.

In the race, Ross Johnson was in second at the end of lap one, and with Howarth retiring on lap two, it put Johnson in the lead. A dream first win to top the ross-trum was on the cards. Tim sayers cut the gap to 2 seconds by the bungalow on the final lap, but Johnson hung on to win with an average speed of 103.196MPH. Bob Farrington came over the line in a strong 8th place.

To summarise... If you want to win, with good reliability, you want an RMKD engine, 'liKe'.

Nick-ER Slick-ER... Derby Phoenix Cadwell Park 13-14 October

New kid on the block Nick Anderson, the Scarborough Uni pre-graduate debuted for team RMKD in the F400 / Mini thunderbikes class. The invincible Dan Frear made his debut onboard his new ER-6 Supertwin, which meant a win was almost impossible.

With too much youthful exuberence earlier in the weekend, and a few dubious technical infringements on behalf of the Derby Phoenix technical staff, it was left to the last outing of the weekend to grind out a result. With Dan Frear heading home due to having unsuitable tyres for the wet conditions, Nick could see nobody to challenge his pace in the mini-thunderbikes class. Stepping onto the stock ER for the first time all weekend from the back of the grid, Nick wasted no time in catching the bumbling pack. Powered by his new RMKD engine Dan stamper being the only person to shine out in the gloomy conditions. By the end of lap 2, Nick was in a dominant lead in the mini-thunderbikes class, chasing BSB bound Stamper for outright victory. He pulled further away from rivals in his class, finishing 4 seconds behind outright winner Dan Stamper. He confidently pointed towards the sky whilst wearing his winners cap, before later slurping a celebratory drink of champers from his winners pot, which he had rightfully earned.

With his feet now well and truly locked under the RMKD table after that sterling result, it has now left team boss Roger Middleton with a dilemna of how quickly to move onto the next level.


PP Nathan Mollon.