After last years big freeze, the weather this year at the annual Plum Pudding Handicap Races was about as mild as it ever gets at Christmas.

Will Hodgson opened his account in the lightweight race with a dominant win, but this later cost him dear as the 2^nd running of each race was set up on a handicap basis and he had just set himself up with a 35 second delayed start for that one.

Alan Molyneux & Andy Halewood then took an equally dominant win from Bill Roberts & Nick Roberts in the F2 Sidecar class, with John &Tony Lowther. This fairly processional encounter set Molyneux/Halewood an absolute mountain to climb in the second event.

This was followed by the first Formula Senior event which turned out to be the race of the day. Right from the start Michael Niblett, Gary Arden, Luke Delaney and Gordon Scott flew off at the front of the field on their 1000cc machines, but by lap three they’d been joined by Hodgson on the Aprilia RRV450 and he set about harassing them at every turn. Each position was hard won with the power of the big bikes enabling them to re-pass on every straight, but eventually it boiled down to a scrap between Niblett and Hodgson.

Hodgson put the pass on Niblett 3 times without being able to make it stick. Then on the last lap, he got enough of a gap after passing around the outside at Gerards, to hold the position down the back straight. Niblett being a rider of no mean ability himself re-doubled his efforts and put the pressure back on through Edwinas and on the run up to the hairpin. This forced an error from Hodgson and he lost the front at the hairpin, very nearly coming to grief and only just hanging on to the bike. Niblett shot through to take the win and Delaney was past before Hodgson got himself sorted out. On the run to the line Gary Arden lost out on 3^rd to Hodgson by less than a bike length, but the RRV450 pilot had amply demonstrated just what a great machine the Aprilia is.

APRILIA SUPERTEEN CHALLENGE PRIZES - 2012 (release 12 of 12)

The most successful one make series in the world continues with Thundersport GB into 2012 with support from Aprilia UK, Lexham, Black Horse, IN Competition, Dunlop Tyres, Nitro and Stewart Events.

Aprilia UK, Lexham, Black Horse, IN Competition and Stewart Events are once again funding the extensive production and broadcast of the very popular “GP Racing Dream” programmes on both Eurosport TV and Motors TV in the UK and subsequently worldwide on Fox Sports and Channel Seven.

End of season prizes for the Aprilia Superteen Challenge 2012 have just been confirmed with the series sponsors and are as follows:-

The winner of the Aprilia Superteen Challenge 2012 will be given full use of an Aprilia RRV450GP machine to contest the entire Aprilia RRV450GP Championship in 2013, with full technical support from IN Competition and Bridgestone UK.

Second place in the Aprilia Superteen Championship will receive a full seasons race entry fees for 2013 for either the Aprilia RRV450GP Championship, or the Aprilia Superteen Championship (dependant on age and preference), both with full technical support from IN Competition.

Third place in the Aprilia Superteen Championship will receive a full seasons test days entry fees for 2013 for any Thundersport class of that riders choice.

All three riders will be enrolled in the Thundersport GB Moto Academy and receive expert technical suspension and tyre support for the 2013 season, as well as the opportunity to take part in exclusive test and training sessions during the course of the year.

Ian Newton of IN Competition said “We believe very strongly in our strategy of rider development, starting with our induction into the Aprilia Superteens at just 12 years of age and progressing via the Aprilia RRV450GP Championship at 14 or 15 years of age. We think this gives an excellent grounding in motorcycle racing, racecraft and a thorough understanding of machine dynamics. Add that to the TV exposure, promotion and opportunity to become comfortable during podium and grid interviews and we are then able to say that graduates of the Thundersport/Aprilia Academy are truly ready for the big stage.”

The above end of season sponsorship equates to significant funding to help all riders contesting the Aprilia Superteen championship and we would like to thank all of our valued sponsors on behalf of all of our competitors for their faith and commitment to the Thundersport GB sporting ethos.

THUNDERSPORT GB PARTNERS - 2012 (release 11 of 12)

As you’ve probably noticed by now, we’ve spent a lot of time and effort sourcing all kinds of support for the benefit of all of our regular racers. We understand that the last couple of seasons have been very tough for competitors, marshals, officials and sponsors alike and we are absolutely delighted to have retained so many of our loyal supporters and attracted so many more.

Our TV package is something we use to give coverage to all classes without asking our riders to fund it through their entry fees. This has now been completely covered for 2012 thanks to Morello Services, HEL Performance, Aprilia UK, Bridgestone Tyres, Moto Direct, Doodson Motorsport, Dunlop Tyres, IN Competition, LMB London, Nitro Helmets and Black Horse.

Furthermore the following sponsors have committed to significant product, prize and other promotional incentives:- Morello Services, Bridgestone Tyres, Stewart Events, HMT Racing, HEL Performance, AGV Helmets, RST Leathers, Dunlop Tyres, TMG Group, PCR Developments and Nitro Helmets.

We are also grateful to our media partners:- Performance Bikes, Bikesport News, Motors TV, Extreme Sports, British Eurosport, Fox Sports and Channel Seven.

We have plenty more to allocate during January next year and just in the last 24 hours alone we have come to agreements with GB Racing the number one supplier of crash protection parts and Buffwear the leading multi-functional headwear suppliers who have a long history of supporting motorcycle racing. We are still working with several other parties who wish to become involved with the Thundersport GB package and we will make these known throughout the run up to the start of the 2012 season.

Possibly the most innovative partnership for 2012 on the marketing side will be our upcoming joint venture with Motorcycle Racer Magazine, the top quality specialist magazine that caters specifically for motorcycle sport. We can’t let the cat out of the bag on this one just yet, but can promise all of our competitors a level of print media exposure never before available in our section of the sport.

The total commitment of products, prizes and incentives we have managed to source so far exceeds our initial hopes and we believe it will be a real shot in the arm for everyone who thrives on the buzz of being involved in motorcycle racing.

RST MOTORCYCLE CLOTHING GOLDEN ERA SUPERBIKES - 2012 (release 10 of 12)

Our newest and certainly one of our most exciting championships for 2012, is the resurrection of Superbike racing as it used to be back in the golden age of the 1990’s. The concept of classic 750cc Superbikes taking on the big Ducati & Aprilia twins of the same period has really attracted the attention of both riders and sponsors.

We are delighted to have a dedicated media partner for Golden Era Superbikes in the form of Performance Bikes Magazine, the biggest and best motorcycle publication in the country at the moment. PB will not only be doing the reportage on the series, but also running a Triumph 955i in the series too. Watch out for Matt Wildee’s monthly articles as the season progresses.

Title sponsorship and TV funding comes from Moto Direct, the UK importers for AGV helmets and owners of the fastest growing and best selling protective clothing brand - RST.

AGV helmets are probably best known as the choice of Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi and Giacomo Agostini, but they have also supplied a host of British riders such as Guy Martin, Barry Sheene & Jamie Whitham.

RST leathers are the choice of numerous British Championship riders including Alastair Seeley, Graeme Gowland, Ian Hutchinson, Chris Walker, Karl Harris, Paul Young, Billy McConnell and Christian Iddon.

Moto Direct have also set aside part of their sponsorship budget to subsidise a whole range of top quality riding kit for Thundersport GB registered riders. The nominated outlet for these deals is Sparklight Racing Ltd www.sparklightracing.co.uk in Essex. Below are just some of the huge range of products available.

There is also a full repair and badging shop in the RST Race Shop at South Normanton in Derbyshire. To see the full range of products and services visit www.moto-direct.com

To discuss accessing your Thundersport GB discounts please contact Gary Coombes on 01621 785202 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it anytime.

The above sponsorship equates to significant funding for this class specifically and the series as a whole and we thank Moto Direct, Performance Bikes and all of our valued sponsors for supporting us.

DOODSON SUPERTWIN 650 & F400 - 2012 (release 9 of 12)

The Isle of Man TT Races will this year feature a lightweight class called Supertwins, which is broadly similar to our existing Thundersport GP2 category. To keep things as simple as possible we have now re-branded our class as Supertwins for 2012 and it will continue to contain a Minitwin Cup for those competitors who wish to run their bikes in un-tuned guise. We think this class now has enormous potential, given the level of international coverage afforded to the TT.

During 2011 Thundersport GB went into partnership with a new insurance provider for our general insurances and test day cover. This enabled us to provide our pre-event test days at an average cost of just £99 per day across the whole season, which represents the best value in the market today.

Doodson Broking Group were our agents and the hugely respected insurance giant Zurich Insurance PLC were the underwriters. That partnership has been viewed within the industry as having been so successful, that it has prompted huge changes within the sports insurance field and our governing body, the ACU, have now appointed that same combination to cover all motorcycle events under their jurisdiction.

For 2012, that partnership continues and Doodsons have now taken advantage of the advertising slots on Motors TV, which in turn guarantees our funding for the new Supertwins & Formula 400 classes on Motors TV in the UK and subsequently worldwide on Fox Sports and Channel Seven.

This support is clearly a benefit for all Thundersport GB competitors and will help us to keep a lid on the cost of testing, whilst still providing the best cover available.

As a separate associate sponsor for this class, we are delighted to welcome AR Racing back into our paddock in 2012 and they are providing a £100 AR Racing voucher to the Rider of the Day from this grid. At each meeting there will also be a prize draw on the Saturday evening from all registered entrants present in this class for another £100 voucher towards the next event.

The above sponsorship equates to significant funding for this class specifically and the series as a whole and we thank Doodsons, AR Racing and all of our valued sponsors for supporting us.

GRID GIRL BONUSES - 2012 (release 8 of 12)

The Thundersport GB focus for 2012 is firmly set on keeping as much money within the paddock as possible. You have probably already noticed from our other announcements that we are working very hard in this direction.

Ever since we set up the Thundersport GB Championship, we have included that little bit of glitz and glamour to go with our Eurosport TV, Motors TV and internet broadcast package. Part of that has traditionally been our ever popular grid girls, who have always been obtained from agencies or outside sources. The bottom line cost for 2011 ended up being a not inconsiderable £5,500.- which has to come straight out of our sponsorship income.

This got us into thinking about how we could keep that money within the paddock for the benefit of the competitors themselves. Steve Day, having a bit of an eye for the ladies, was of the opinion that there were plenty of girls already coming along to events with riders and teams who would not be out of place in any modelling agency. If we offered the opportunity to our own teams first, it would keep that money within the sport. We then consulted with a few of our sponsors and they were universally delighted that even more of their money would be going to the riders themselves instead of an outside agency.

So, if you are over 16yrs old and have what it takes to be a grid girl, you could be a part of our team, and at the same time, help your team. We need 5 girls for each TV day at every event plus one reserve and we intend rewarding each girl with a £100 voucher that may be redeemed toward any test day or race entry, for any rider of their choice, for each day they work on the grid.

Over the course of the 2012 season, we will require 5 girls at each of our 9 events. The rider contingency bonus will result in a £5,400.- cash injection directly back into the paddock over the course of the season.

Obviously, this will take some organising and we are delighted to have recruited a Grid Girl co-ordinator to take on this task for us. We needed someone who is trusted and that the girls would feel comfortable with, a bit of a surrogate ‘Auntie’ for the girls. Fiona Harrison comes with all of the right attributes and she will tackle this task on our behalf. So if you are interested in this, please contact her to officially register for this opportunity as soon as possible, because we are expecting a high level of uptake and of course there will be limited availability.

Please contact Fiona on: 07989 412804 or: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The main object of this exercise has to be in distributing this opportunity fairly, so upon registering you will be asked which rider in which class you wish to sponsor with your ‘gift’. This is solely to avoid one rider with a veritable ‘army’ of girls available to them, reaping all the spoils.

The above sponsorship equates to significant funding directly back into the series and we hope to help as many riders as possible and we would like to thank all of our valued sponsors for supporting this initiative.

BRIDGESTONE THUNDERSPORT 500 CUP -  2012 (release 7 of 12)

Ever since Leon Haslam and James Toseland burst onto the scene via the old Honda CB500 Cup (as the class was then known), these humble parallel twins have been producing some fantastic racing at a lower cost than any other series in the UK.

Bridgestone and Stewart Events are once again funding the coverage on Motors TV in the UK and subsequently worldwide on Fox Sports and Channel Seven. New for 2012, the Bridgestone Thundersport 500 and HEL Streetfighters will be featured in their own stand alone programme “Thundersport Naked” (referring to the bikes of course!). Needless to say, they might share a TV show, but they won't share a grid...

Bridgestone Tyres are once again providing the race rubber as the control product at an absolute bargain basement price of £138 + vat per set fitted, balanced and with full technical support from our on site Bridgestone technicians. This price is valid for the dry BT003RS dry tyres with just an extra £10 (£148 + vat) getting you the wet weather variants. This highlights both Bridgestone and Thundersport GBs commitment to keeping this very important part of every racers budget as low as possible.

New for 2012 Bridgestone will also be providing over £1,500 worth of prize tyres for the championship in the form of “Rider of the Day” awards to be given out at each event.

LMB London have also committed to providing end of season awards of £1,500 worth of entries to any Thundersport GB 2013 class for the winner of the main championship as well as £500 worth of entries for the winner of the Thundersport 500 Novice Cup. (these may be used for testing or racing)

These great little bikes can be picked up as a full race package for less than £1,000 and can be run all season on a budget that wouldn’t even buy you a pair of grandstand tickets to the British Grand Prix as a spectator.

The series also has it’s own independent website ( www.cb500racing.co.uk ) where the championship co-ordinators have a whole range of bulk buying specials for all the parts you need to go racing at an unrivalled low cost.

The above sponsorship equates to significant funding to help all riders contesting the Bridgestone Thundersport 500 championship and we would like to thank all of our valued sponsors on behalf of all of our competitors for their faith and commitment to the Thundersport GB sporting ethos.

APRILIA RRV450GP CHALLENGE 2012 (release 6 of 12)

The Aprilia Superteens may be the most successful one make series in the world, but the next step in any aspiring young racers career is building a seriously good reputation itself.

Aprilia UK, IN Competition, Bridgestone and Scott & Stinson Engineering are once again funding the extensive production and broadcast of the very popular “GP Racing Dream the Next Step” programmes on both Eurosport TV and Motors TV in the UK and subsequently worldwide on Fox Sports and Channel Seven.

IN Competition supply these genuine racing machines at a price of just £8,995 + vat ready to race. This includes a set of Bridgestone tyres mounted on Marchesini lightweight wheels, up-rated Maxton suspension, the race bodywork, bespoke race exhaust, series decals, updated ECU map, chain guards, spare wheels (with discs) for wet tyres and HEL Performance brake lines.

Bridgestone Tyres are once again providing the race rubber as the control product at a subsidised price of just £165 + vat per set, fitted, balanced and with full technical support from our on site Bridgestone technicians. This price is valid for either the specialist race R10 Supersport dry tyres or the EO8Z/EO5Z wet weather variants. This underlines both Bridgestones and Thundersport GBs committment to this very important element of every racers budget and keeping costs as low as possible.

For 2012 Bridgestone will also be providing over £8,250 worth of prize tyres for the championship. IN Competition have also committed to having a full spares package at every event. This includes a whole spare machine kitted and ready to go if anyone should be unfortunate enough to damage their own machine beyond the extent of a race weekend repair scenario.

New for 2012, Nitro Helmets are also giving £2,000 worth of Nitro carbon helmets as “Aprilia Rider of the Day” prizes. These top of the range helmets weigh just 1150 grams and are as used by Neil Hodgson and Dan Linfoot this year.

Aprilia UK are fully committed to keeping running costs to a minimum for these riders too and have extended their Aprilia Racer package into 2012, which gives all competitors registered with Thundersport GB a 25% discount on all genuine parts via IN Competition.

The above sponsorship equates to significant funding to help all riders contesting the Aprilia RRV450GP championship and we would like to thank all of our valued sponsors on behalf of all of our competitors for their faith and commitment to the Thundersport GB sporting ethos.

THUNDERSPORT GB CALENDAR - 2012 (release 5 of 12)

At the end of the 2011 season we circulated our draft plans for 2012 to all of our registered riders and volunteers for comment and input. We have listened carefully and have moulded our ideas in accordance with the wishes of the riders as well as all of our valued sponsors and volunteers.

The five main objectives given to us were:-

1) To attempt to schedule events to be as close as possible to 4 weeks apart in order to make each event come from a separate monthly pay packet.

2) To provide a wide regional spread of venues with as few repeat visits as possible to any single circuit.

3) To make the average travelling distance, from a geographical point in the centre of the country, as reasonable as possible. It was considered that this would balance out over the course of the full season for everyone.

4) To continue with our “Premier” member discounts, including those for Scottish, Isle of Man, active military personnel and Irish competitors.

5) To attempt to source discounts, prizes and incentives for the benefit of all riders.

Instead of running a matrix system or having dropped scores, it was asked to include every class in all meetings.

The final listing detailed below comes as close as possible to that target with 9 events on 8 different venues. You have already seen some of our discounts, prizes and incentives in other releases and there are more to come.

Friday 2^nd March – Brands Hatch Indy (testing)

Saturday 3^rd March – Brands Hatch Indy (Round 1)

Sunday 4^th March – Brands Hatch Indy (Round 2)

Saturday 24^th March – Donington Park GP (Round 3)

Sunday 25^th March – Donington Park GP (Round 4)

Friday 20^th April – Mallory Park (testing)

Saturday 21^st April – Mallory Park (Round 5)

Sunday 22^nd April – Mallory Park (Round 6)

Friday 25^th May – Oulton Park GP (testing/qualifying)

Saturday 26^th May – Oulton Park GP (Round 7)

Friday 22^nd June – Snetterton 200 (testing)

Saturday 23^rd June – Snetterton 200 (Round 8)

Sunday 24^th June – Snetterton 200 (Round 9)

Friday 27^th July – Rockingham International (testing)

Saturday 28^th July – Rockingham International (Round 10)

Sunday 29^th July – Rockingham International (Round 11)

Saturday 25^th August – Anglesey Coastal (testing)

Sunday 26^th August – Anglesey Coastal (Round 12)

Monday 27^th August – Anglesey Coastal (Round 13)

Friday 21^st September – Cadwell Park (testing)

Saturday 22^nd September – Cadwell Park (Round 14)

Sunday 23^rd September – Cadwell Park (Round 15)

Friday 19^th October – Mallory Park (testing)

Saturday 20^th October – Mallory Park (Round 16)

Sunday 21^st October – Mallory Park (Round 17)

NITRO PRE-NATIONAL SPORT 600 - 2012 (release 4 of 12)

Since it’s inception in 2008, the Thundersport GB championships have earned a reputation for being extremely fast & competitive. Whilst this in itself attracts the most talented and ambitious riders to test themselves against the best of their peers, it can be very intimidating for less experienced clubman or novice riders.

So for 2012 we have introduced the NITRO PRE-NATIONAL SPORT 600 class. This class is for machines up to 600cc with riders who have yet to gain a National Licence for road racing. Any rider who qualifies by the above licence criteria may enter this class which may be entered either together with the Premier class or as an entirely separate entry as the races will run separately.

We already have a similar established class supported by Nitro in our Aprilia Superteen Championship which works extremely well. Nitro are also funding the acquisition, coverage and net cast of this new series as a part of their overall support of the Thundersport GB Championship.

The overall winner at each round will be given a fully funded entry to the next event on the main Premier 600 grid. Holbeach Motorcycle Tyres are generously providing a set of Dunlop, Bridgestone or Pirelli/Metzeler tyres as part of the prize and PCR Motorcycle Developments are providing a suspension overview and assessment. Both will provide full technical support as part of the package at each round.

This prize is available only once to each competitor during the season and if the same winner is repeated at subsequent rounds the offer is given to the next highest placed rider as we wish to give as many riders as possible this help and support.

Nitro have also brought in a Christmas special offer for all Thundersport GB competitors that includes not only their racing products, but also includes everything else in their extensive product catalogue (http://www.nitrorider.com/catalogue.html ).

From today until the 7^th January 2012 everything in the Nitro range will be available to Thundersport GB registered riders at a 50% discount and Nitro have set aside £8,500 to cover this. Goods are limited to 5 individual items per rider and orders must be placed via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it before 12 noon on 7^th January.

We are grateful to Nitro, Holbeach Motorcycle Tyres and PCR Motorcycle Developments for their support of this new initiative and we hope to help some talented riders with the graduation package during the course of the season and have perhaps given you the solution to a couple of Christmas gift ideas from the Nitro catalogue.

We would once again like to thank all of our valued sponsors, both old and new, on behalf of all of our competitors for their faith and commitment to the Thundersport GB sporting ethos.

Riders contingencies & support:-

Release # 1 = £22,000.-

Release # 2 = £16,800.-

Release # 3 = over £15,000.-

Release # 4 = over £12,000.-          (running total = over £66,000.-)

Release # 5 = Saturday 10^th (will include updated calendar)