Dan Ingham (Team Cti Motorsport) Wins the Manx Grand Prix Senior Race!

The idea of putting something back into the sport that I am passionate about and which has provided me with so much enjoyment over the years was mooted very early in Daniel Ingham’s racing career. Unfortunately, at the time, the Company was not in a position to contribute to his efforts, but I promised that we would do so if circumstances changed.

Despite this, Dan continued to race on the roads and, in particular at the Manx Grand Prix with support from a number of other sponsors. Thanks to the family’s in-depth understanding of motorcycles and the generosity of these sponsors, Dan was achieving some seriously impressive results on machinery that was older and producing less power than most of his fellow competitors – a sign of things to come – and with the kind loan of a Strangford Holiday Park Suzuki GSXR-750 Dan widened his participation in the ‘Manx’ by entering the Senior race and the impressive results continued (including posting his first 120mph average lap speed and becoming a member of the Tommy Clucas Club as a result).

At the end of 2021 we were able to consider sponsorship of Dan. With a change to the rules coming in the following season (Senior class moving away from 750cc to 600cc fours) and Dan already having access to Russell Brook’s very quick Brook Built Yamaha R6, we decided to challenge in the Supertwins Class on the then newly-released Aprilia RS660. The bike was acquired from Wheels Motorcycles in Peterborough and Dan set about converting it from a road to race machine. In 2022 this was supplemented with some engine internals from Peter Hickman Racing (PHR), which gave a healthy gain in peak power. Dan rode the wheels off the 660, but in reality was never going to be truly competitive against the exotic, expensive and more powerful Italian Paton machines. Therefore, the realistic aim was to try and obtain a podium place and, if possible, be the first non-Paton home.

Dan continued to ride in several classes, including campaigning an old RVF400 in the Lightweight Class and an oil-cooled GSX-R750 in the Classic Superbike Class, before focusing his efforts on just the Supertwin and Senior races. The overall objective for Dan therefore was to put the Castings Technology RS660 on the podium and realise his lifelong dream of winning the Senior. With this in mind and given that Dan had put Russell Brook’s very capable R6 on the podium twice in the previous two years (second in 2022 & third in 2023), Castings Technology International provided him with a brand new Yamaha GYTR R6 for the 2024 season. Dan would compete in just two events this season; the North West 200 [NW200] (Supertwin & Supersport Classes) and the Manx Grand Prix [MGP] (Supertwins and Senior Classes). Dan’s first ever entry into the NW200 was a learning curve, but as ever, he was quick ‘out of the blocks’ with solid performances and improving lap times in both classes over the two days in the blistering temperatures that welcomed fans to Portrush.

Those who follow our regular updates will know that the weather in the Isle of Man during the MGP was far less forgiving and, in an already compressed schedule, riders struggled to get the required practice and qualifying laps under their belts. Despite this, Dan was strong on the Aprilia and stronger still on the R6, heading the timesheets initially. Despite the widely unpopular shortened schedule, unseasonably poor weather and distinct lack of practice / qualifying, Dan did what he does best and put in consistent fast laps.

Competition in Supertwins remained fierce and, with numerous Paton’s in the mix, it was always going to be a challenge (again!) to fight for the podium. Nevertheless, during the race Dan was secure in 3rd place and creating a gap to 4th when the race was red-flagged part-way through the 2nd lap, due to an incident at Ballacrye and the race stopped. Rescheduled for the following day (Monday), the weather played its part again and the race was cancelled, with a result declared as the positions at the end of lap one. This meant that Dan had secured third place and, whilst it is not the way he would have preferred to get on the podium, the general consensus was that these would have been the final positions had the race run its course. So, objective #1 achieved!

Following many more weather-enforced delays to the schedule on Monday 26th August, the MGP Senior (shortened from 4 to 2 laps) finally got underway. Despite less than ideal road conditions, starting with the number 1 plate and leaving the startline first, Dan put in a very impressive first lap average speed of 118.868mph and was consistently increasing the gap to second place at each check-point. With racing delayed many times, Dan’s nerves had taken their toll and he was suffering from fatigue during the second lap, in particular in his hands and arms (which were strapped in an attempt to mitigate the effects). Nevertheless, he continued to increase the gap between himself and the following pack, eventually winning the MGP Senior race by a commanding 35 seconds to achieve objective #2!

In what has been a challenging year for the family, a combination of both elation and relief was felt by all concerned and the post-race interviews in the winner’s enclosure were emotional to say the least. Nevertheless, Dan’s tired arms still managed to lift the exceptionally heavy trophy (just!) and immediately following the podium presentations there was time for Dan, wife Helayna and children Joey & Phoebe to catch up with his mum & dad who sadly couldn’t be at the event this year via video call.

The Chairman & myself on behalf the Board would like to congratulate Dan and his family, not forgetting pit crew members, Angus & Bash, friends, supporters and contributors and thank them for the broad range of publicity they have brought to the business prior to and during this year’s MGP, including television and radio coverage. It is an absolute privilege to have worked with and supported them to reach the challenging goals that Dan had set himself. From a personal perspective, I would like to than my Chairman and the Board for supporting our investment in Dan, which I believe he has repaid many times over!

Please see links to pertinent media below:

Highlights of the Senior Race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d64RQl2MHQw

Post-race interview with Daniel:

?https://youtu.be/E5k5vemmYAc?si=cwXp52XZOEcAkV-m

Being able to compete at this level of motorsport is both challenging and costly and like many up-and-coming riders, they rely heavily on sponsorship to allow them to participate. We are really fortunate to have a number of other businesses helping us to support our racing effort, which comes in many forms, including discounts, free-of-charge parts, technical support, and helpful advice, all of which is invaluable. These organisations are all at the top of their game, so please check out the links to them below! If you are interested in supporting Team Castings Technology with (even modest) sponsorship, please get in touch with Lauren Brentnall in the first instance ([email protected]). Coverage of the ManxGP & NW200 (live and highlights) is extensive and across numerous platforms.

With huge thanks to: @Brent Gladwin (GR Motosport), @Tom Tunstall (MotorcycleRaceParts.co.uk), @Justin Price (https://titek.co.uk/), @R&G Racing Limited, @Wheels Motorcycles, @K-Tech Suspension, @Rock Oil, @BSD Performance Peterborough (https://lnkd.in/eGh2R2Fu), @UK Race Support (https://lnkd.in/e8cGrgMR), @Obsession Engineering (https://lnkd.in/e68cUn9P), @TJPerformance (https://lnkd.in/erh443qj), @Performance Parts Limited (https://lnkd.in/ecUMrUPP), @Digital Deadline, @Derek Jones Butchers (https://lnkd.in/eZ5mxj9r), @Paint-Worx Autobody Repair Centre (https://lnkd.in/eDuCdvXH), @Oadby Motorcycle Services (https://lnkd.in/eYbCNWwQ), @Clarity Window Cleaning Services (https://clarityderbyshire.co.uk), Russell Brook (https://www.facebook.com/brookbuiltracing/), @Jonathan King and @Ashley King at Tamworth Yamaha (https://yamaha.tamworthyamaha.com/), @Chris Hurst.

#castingstechnology #castings #titanium #roadracing #aprilia #rs660 #replicast #yamaha #GYTR #R6