David Kennington Racing

Welcome to DKracing, the home page for all the latest news and information about my motorcycle Racing career. On this webpage, you will be able to keep up to date with all of my racing action from the Isle of Man and the UK, from short circuit racing to real road racing. You can find out about my racing career, past to present; also more importantly, information about my team and sponsors, without which, a lot of my progression and success would not have been possible. I hope you enjoy the site and hope you return soon for all the latest news!

Latest News

8th March 2012: Well, it’s been a while, so I shall start be wishing everyone a happy new year! I would personally like to congratulate chief mechanic Chris on the arrival of his first child, baby Millie, hopefully a Team Morning Motorsport member in the making! On a similar subject, I am also expecting my first child with my wife, and team member, Kimberley. Our baby is due two weeks after this year’s Southern 100 road races just to add to the seasons excitement!

DKRacing has had a quiet few months over the winter making plans for 2012. Unfortunately we have been unable to secure any new sponsorship for the season ahead, which has left us unable to make any definitive plans. We still have EAM Aviation on board, generously supplying us with workshop facilities once more, but apart from this, our fairings will be sponsor free for anyone who wishes to help. Due to these financial difficulties in the current economic climate, we have had to sell the Yamaha R6 which we have had for the last 2 years. It was a very sad day and nearly brought a tear to my eye!

After such a successful 2011 season, the team have decided to take a change of direction in the look for some new challenges. We are pleased to announce we have switched to Kawasaki machinery for 2012, and will compete in the Lightweight classes on our new ZXR400R. At present, the bike is still being prepared in the workshop, and we will hopefully be able to launch it by the end of the month. At present there are no plans to race the IOM Championships due to lack of funds, but we are pleased to say our Post TT race entry has already been accepted for June, and we will also be competing in the International Southern 100 Road Races in July. The only other definite meeting planned so far, is the ARA Endurance race in October. If possible, we would also like to compete in a couple of other selected short circuit meetings, and at present the Manx Grand prix is just a big question mark, but we are all positive for another successful season ahead.

We will try and keep the website up to date with monthly updates as the season begins, but for more up to date news, sign up to our DKRacing Facebook page for all the latest! Speak soon guys and gals and if there are any potential new sponsors out there, feel free to get in touch and have a chat.

25th October 2011: Sorry for the delay guys and girls!

It’s been a couple of weeks since the Endurance Race at Jurby. Debuting in the lightweight 400/650 class, I teamed up with 2011 400cc Champion and Forgotten Era Champion Rob Sells on his Yamaha FZR400RR (1989). With a wet practice we were steady away. As the Endurance start positions are taken from you race number, qualification times were not an issue and we were starting in a very healthy 10th place. We flipped a coin as to who would make the ‘Le Mans’ style start and Robs wrong choice on the coin toss meant he took the start.

Running across the track and mounting his bike, Rob got away well, although half way down the straight he was clipped by another rider causing him to miss a gear dropping us to 15th overall. Within 10 laps though, Rob was destroying the field and had us up to 5th place overall and 1st in class. We decided to pit every 40 minutes to refuel and swap rider. On my first stint, adapting to the 400 style, I held our position following closely behind the Martin Bullock mounted Callum Collister who was in 4th position overall. The session went well and I handed back over to Rob. He then did something very unexpected, he took 4th place overall overtaking Johnny Heginbotham (Callums team mate) into the pit straight turn and then proceeded to pull away! It was going well then all of a sudden Rob lost power, and position. He came pushing into the pits. On inspection, he had ran out of fuel! Martin and Chris then overfilled him as a safety precaution, bump started, and with me at the helm we were away again. The session went well and we had increased our lead to 5 laps. Once again Rob took over and increased this to a 7 lap lead in the Lightweight Class and 5th overall. Rob pitted and I mounted for the final stint. On my 3rd lap in, disaster struck! The bike locked up into turn one, I grabbed the clutch and she started running again, although it was obvious there was a huge lack of power. I pitted immediately. We were out of oil, we topped it up and rejoined the track for one final lap. Unfortunately, with 20 minutes of the 4 hr race left, the engine had gone. I pitted as I did not want to drop oil on track or cause danger to any other riders. We were so close. Fortunately, so close to the finish, I was allowed to push the bike across the line on the last lap to still finish the race, and due to our enormous lead we had built up, finish the lightweight class in 3rd position! A great achievement all things considered. The race was great fun and I have to thank Chris, Burnsy and Rob’s dad Dave for pit crewing for us, and of course Rob himself for asking me to ride with him, it was a great privilege and so close to a win!

Now the season is finished I have a few months to reflect on the rollercoaster that was 2011. A season that started with crashes, turned into near podiums, a win at the Southern 100, and podium at the Manx Grand Prix. I have to thank everyone for all their help. EAM Aviation, Definition Dance Company, Eamon McGee and all of Team Morning Motorsport to name a few. It’s been fantastic! As for 2012? A question mark it is. Without any sponsors and lack of funds, I am unable to make any comment as of yet. We will have to see how the winter progresses. Watch this space!

3rd October 2011: DK racing made a return to the short circuits on Saturday for the final round of the ARA Championships. With one set of 12 lap races each day on different circuits, it was a new format for everyone. In Saturdays meeting I was struggling on the brakes as I qualified on the 3rd row in the Center Championship race and the second row for the 600 race. Although the brakes are better on the Yamaha compared to the Honda I had raced all season, adjusting to the shorter braking distances was quite a challenge. After a reasonable start I held 8th position for the entire Center race, struggling with rear traction as the rear tyre chewed up. The 600 race was a similar affair, after a great battle on track with my old adversary Andy Fenton, I made a last lap pass up the inside of him at Snuffys corner to finish in 5th at the chequered flag. A great move at one of the fastest corners on the track.

With an overnight stay at Jurby, the team made a few adjustments to try to improve the set up and the rear tyre wear problems of Saturday. Unfortunately they didnt make much of a difference, coming home 8th again in the Center race. I made a brilliant start in the 600 race and was up to 3rd in front of Championship leader Mark Madsden-Mygdal but on the 3rd lap outbraked myself off the main straight running off the track and returning in 7th position to finish the race.

The results didn't reach my high expectations after returning to my TMM Yamaha but was still a great meeting. I finished 10th in the Isle of Man Center championship and 7th place in the 600 Championship. Down on last years results but I think shows what we put into the roads we lost on the track. Congratulations to Roger Maher for winning the Center title and Mark Madsden-Mygdal for winning the 600 Championship. I have to say a huge thanks to Laxey PLF, CBG Contractors, Peter Astell Burt and the Definition Dance Company for helping supply tyres and fuel. Without them we would not have made the start line due to financial difficulties after losing our title sponsor.

Finally, we are pleased to announce we will be riding our final race of the year, the ARA 4hr Endurance. I will be riding in the lightweight class, making my debut ride on a Yamaha FZR400RR. I'm really looking forward to riding a different machine and have to thank my team mate for the event Rob Sells for making it possible. Rob won this years 400cc Championship on the bike so we hope to be very competitive!

See you at the endurance on the 9th of October!

Photos courtesy of Martyn Wilson, Martyn's Foto's, & Christopher Smith.

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