BSSO 2016 #3
Round 3 of the British Scooter Championship saw the travelling circus of the BSSO race series take its annual trip north to the East Fortune circuit in Scotland for more high octane fuelled fun…
East Fortune thrills and spills.
The event was hosted by the North East and Melbourne Motor Cycle clubs and it’s fair to say they are extremely pleased to welcome the scooters. This race is mainly modern motorcycles but the spectacle and excitement of scooter racing certainly captures the interest of all involved. The circuit is an ex-airfield which is extremely fast, indeed average lap speeds were very close to 80mph, making it possibly the highest average speeds of the year. The weather in Scotland was brilliant for the second year running and T-shirts and sun block were definitely in order!
Practice was reasonably smooth although a few riders had some issues. Dave Delaney parted company with his Piaggio Zip at the end of the first practice lap, but fast work by BSSO officials had him re-scrutineered, doctor-inspected and back out on track before the end of the session! Local hero Stewart Mackenzie had two race scooters on hand to practice with and swapped machines part way through the session, spoiled for choice!
Two brand new riders also made their first appearance in street class aboard two very different machines… Kirk St Moritz debuted aboard his well-prepared newly built street class scooter, using the new Casa engine kit and making the most of the Casa deal to support British scooter racing. Fellow newcomer Andy Barnes however chose to simply race his normal rally going GP200 with minimal changes! His first outing highlighted some handling issues which he minimised using a slightly unconventional ‘bolt in rubber mount’ solution but he certainly looked like he was having fun.
Race 1 of the weekend saw the usual battle at the front with the super-fast Casa, Replay and JB riders really going for it. The two Italians (both called Luca!) were the only riders getting under 1min 14 in this session being chased by an incredibly quick heavily modified small frame Vespa ridden by the Parmakit sponsored Paulo Birtele making it an Italian 1-2-3. Luca Fuschini taking the win after Darren Conneely came off while battling for the lead, and Stuart Day also coming to grief on the last lap.
In Group 4 Dan Lewis was riding well and has really got his Rapido kitted engine working well this year, making the most of Steve Conneely’s non finish after a carb problem. In the auto classes there was a great battle in the big cc 6A class with less than two seconds covering the first three across the line. Lee Bamber come out on top this time from Warren Wilkinson and Justin Price.
In the LCGB Production class yet again Barrie Braithwaite and Steve Hamilton had a monumental battle with only 0.199 between them across the line.