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Twistgrip Motorcycles, Nottingham (2026)

01/11/2025

TEAM TWISTGRIP RACE REPORT
FINAL ROUND OF THE 2025 YPM CHAMPIONSHIP FROM DONINGTON PARK

After 7 meetings and 27 races the championship had come down to the final round. Three riders were still in with a chance of the title. Team Twistgrip rider Alan Cooper held a slender 19 point lead over Dave Ball with Mark Haigh not too far behind in third. Four races left to decide who would be the 2025 Yamaha Past Masters champion.

The weekend did not start well and on the third session of the Friday test day Alan joined the infamous "Craner Club". A dubious honour given to those that crash at the ultra fast Craner Curves section of the track. Unlike many that have joined this club before both Alan and the bike got off pretty lightly. It was caught on film and if you wish to see it then go to 1 min and 42 seconds of the video linked below. It did not take long to get the damaged sorted and Alan was soon back out for the rest of the days practice sessions.

Alan did not need to push too hard looking for race wins. He just needed to stay out of trouble and have four solid point scoring rides. Team Twistgrip's Kevin Wholey was also on the grid and was the pre race favourite to take victory.

Race one and the drama started even before the race had. A long hold in the assembly area let the tyre temperatures drop. Dave Ball was caught out by this and slid off on the warm up lap. Alan's main rival was out and this changed the whole complexion of the meeting. It really was now a case of bring it home safely in the top four or five in each race and that should be enough. As expected Kev won the race and Alan came home in fourth increasing his lead to 32 points.

Race two saw Dave Ball starting from the back of the grid due to his warm up lap incident in the previous race. Alan had the benefit of a pit board so he knew where his rival was as the race progressed. When he saw that Dave had closed to within two seconds he upped the pace a bit to make sure of keeping him at bay. Kev won again. Alan was fourth and Dave Ball fifth. The lead had increased by another two points and was now up to 34 with only two races left to go.

Onto Sunday morning and race three. The predicted rain had not yet arrived. All the calculations had been done. Alan knew what he had to do. If Dave did not win the race then anywhere in the top six would do. On the first lap Alan settled into a safe fourth place with Dave not far behind him. The pit board once again proved invaluable allowing Alan to see that Dave was catching him and to be expecting a passing move. When it did come at half race distance Alan knew that all he had to do was follow Dave home. No need to take any risks. This is exactly how it panned out. Kev took victory with Dave third and Alan fourth. That was it. Job done. Team Twistgrip's Alan Cooper was now confirmed as the 2025 Yamaha Past Masters champion. Three titles in a row for Team Twistgrip. Two for Kev and one for Alan.

Race four and the rain had now arrived. Kev decided to give this one a miss but Alan ventured out as the newly crowned champion. His bike however had other ideas and developed a serious misfire on the warm up lap. More than likely some water in the electrics causing the problem. It was a good job that he was not needing some points from this race. A disappointing end to the meeting but the most important task had been completed.
Team Twistgrip would like to thank all of the YPM riders, teams and supporters for a great season. In particular Dave Ball and Mark Haigh for some great racing and taking the championship to the final day. It really is a great race series and I am sure will carry on for many years to come. A thank you as well to DFDS Seaways for their continued sponsorship of the championship.

Machine preparation is key to success and Andy Ball of 2T Engineering has given us the best engines possible. Having a fast bike makes winning that little bit easier and we are very grateful for all of his efforts.

A special mention for Cheryl for her tireless work looking after us. She never stops. Well maybe just long enough for a glass or two of Sambuca. Loyal supporters Kev Capon, Scott Hetherington and new recruit to the ranks Roland Roberts. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to Andy Dyer of SAF Holland for use of the hospitality suite and Karen Cooper for her hard work preparing a wonderful buffet lunch and refreshments. I am pleased to report that over the two Donington meetings Team Twistgrip managed to raise over £360 for Andy's chosen charity " The Vicky McClure Dementia Choir". Thank you to all of the team and our guests for the donations towards a very worthy cause.

Next up is the awards presentation night. Tuxedos and evening dresses are the order of the day. This is on the 22nd of November at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. A chance to let our hair down and celebrate the seasons achievements. I will post another report after this has taken place. But for now thanks to everyone for following Team Twistgrip and roll on next season.

Crash Video - https://youtu.be/rHxYVOVEp9s?si=50C0l-CI1u1jDX_q

04/10/2025

TEAM TWISTGRIP SEASON UPDATE

THE 2025 YPM CHAMPIONSHIP

I can't believe that I am writing this update with only one meeting of the season left. It seems like only 5 minutes ago that we were getting ready to head off down to Brands Hatch in mid March for the start of this years campaign. I must apologise for the lack of race reports this year. Things have been pretty hectic at Team Twistgrip HQ and I have not had a spare minute.

It has been a season of ups and downs for our only regular rider of the year. Alan Cooper #30 has been challenging for the lead of the championship from the off. The top spot has changed hands numerous times between Alan and his main rival Dave Ball. Alan's championship ambitions have not been helped by having four crashes throughout the year but recently Dave has fallen twice which has evened things up a bit. Recently a third challenger has emerged in the form of Mark Haigh so it is all to play for at the final round at Donington Park in two weeks time. Alan has a narrow 19 point advantage over Dave with Mark a further 28 behind. There is still 100 points up for grabs so it is going to go down to the wire.

Current YPM champion and Team Twistgrip rider Kevin Wholey #51 has only raced at selected rounds. When he has ridden though he has showed why he is the current champion by winning all 11 races that he has started. He will be riding at the final meeting and hopefully leading Team Twistgrip on to championship glory.

The final meeting is at our home track of Donington Park on the 18th/19th October. It would be great to see as many of our supporters there as possible. If you can't make it then as always you can follow the action live with commentary and live timing on the TSL Timing website or app.

Thanks as always to Andy Ball at 2T Engineering for his work on engine development and to all of the Team Twistgrip crew. A special mention for Cheryl who has kept us all in order and looked after the catering and hospitality in such wonderful fashion.

SEE YOU AT DONINGTON

15/04/2025

Team Twistgrip Race Report.

Rounds one and two of the 2025 YPM championship.

Firstly an apology for the late report from round 1 of the series. Things have been really busy at Team Twistgrip HQ recently and I have not had chance to put pen to paper. Hence the reason for combining the first two meetings in this post.

Round 1. Brands Hatch 15/16 March.
Team Twistgrip is fielding just one regular rider this season. Alan Cooper #30 is back in action after suffering a broken ankle at Cadwell Park last year. This was Alan's first time back on the bike in 8 months so he was bound to be a bit rusty. Current and two time champion Kevin Wholey #51 is taking things easy this year and just racing at selected meetings. This was not one of them. He is still taking to the track by giving his time on the test days to help with coaching and instructing of less experienced riders. We are also fielding guest riders on our bikes from time to time and Ian Stanley #58 joined us at this meeting.
Qualifying went well and Alan managed 3rd position giving him a front row start for race one. This was a very close affair with five riders battling for the lead. At the flag it was Dave Ball that took the win but only by 0.03 of a second from Alan. Not a bad result for his first race back from injury. Race two and Alan went one better and took victory. A result that gave him an early lead in the championship. Onto Sunday and race three. The weather at Brands was very cold with freezing conditions overnight. A long hold before the race let the tyre temperatures drop significantly. Alan made a poor start and pushed really hard on the first lap to try and make up some ground. The rear tyre had cooled too much and chewed up really badly. The best Alan could manage here was 6th. Race Four and a different rear tyre fitted. Alan made a great start and took the lead which he maintained for 11 of the 12 laps. On the final lap Dave Ball nipped through at Paddock Hill Bend. Alan still fancied the win hoping to get a better drive out of the final corner and pip his rival to the flag. His plans were scuppered though when another rider ran Alan wide at the crucial moment. All the drive was lost and he had to settle for second.
Overall a good weekend. A win, two second places and a sixth leaving Alan second in the championship 16 points adrift of the leader.

Round 2. Oulton Park 4/5 April.
Only three weeks since the previous round and we found ourselves at Oulton Park. A great circuit and we were blessed with glorious spring sunshine. An unusual meeting this one as due to circuit usage limits and noise restrictions to get a two day meeting we were racing on Friday and Saturday. Also we only had three races rather than the usual four.
Alan was the only regular Team Twistgrip rider in action and Ian Stanley was once again having a guest ride. We unexpectedly ended up with a third Team Twistgrip bike on the grid as one of our fellow competitors Damian Lee borrowed Kevin's bike as he had suffered mechanical issues with his own.
Timed qualifying went very well and Alan took pole position. Numerous stoppages throughout the day and the meeting was running way behind schedule. We only just managed to get out for our race before the circuit curfew. Unfortunately after four laps a red flag incident stopped the race with Alan in the lead. With no time left to restart the race the result was declared with Alan as the winner. Or that's what we thought. It was later decided that the race would be re run the following morning as not enough of the race had been completed to declare a result. This meant three races on Saturday. All three races followed a very similar pattern. It was a close fight between the front four riders with the lead changing hands many times but Alan managed to get in front when it counted and won all three of the races.
Coming into this meeting Alan was in second place in the championship 16 points off the lead. The good results here have turned things around and he leaves Oulton Park with a seven point advantage at the top of the standings. The next round is at Snetterton in Norfolk on May 3/4.

Thanks as always to 2T engineering, Pirelli, helperformance.com and Torq Media

24/11/2024

TEAM TWISTGRIP END OF SEASON REPORT.

Firstly I need to start with an apology for the lack of reports from the last few meetings of the season. Following my accident at Cadwell Park in July I seem to have developed writers block. Hopefully that is all behind me now.

At the time of my last report Team Twistgrip rider Kevin Wholey #51 was maintaining a healthy lead in the series. Throughout the rest of year he continued this form and won the championship by a massive 278 point margin. From a total of 32 races he had 26 wins and 6 second places. Total reliability from man and machine. His record is even more impressive if you look back a bit further. The previous season saw 31 races with 21 wins, 9 second places and a third. Once again no DNF's. In fact you need to go back another 14 races to find the last time that Kevin did not finish a race. That is a total of 77 consecutive race finishes. This is testament not only to Kevin's riding abilities but the excellent machine preparation by Twistgrip Motorcycles in conjunction with 2T Engineering. A feat that is even more impressive when you take into account that these are nearly 40 year old two stroke machines that we are racing.

As I mentioned earlier my season finished early with a broken ankle sustained at Cadwell Park in July. A year to forget really. Onwards and upwards though and provided my ageing bones are up to it then I hope to be on the grid at Brands Hatch in March. Team Twistgrip also fielded some guest riders throughout the year. Ian Stanley joined us at Donington and Brands Hatch. Darren Cooper at Donington and Cadwell. Pete Fishwick did Cadwell and Derek Cripps completed the guest list at Brands Hatch. All of them had a great time on the Team Twistgrip TZRs and again we had 100% reliability.

We recently attended the clubs annual presentation evening held at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. Kevin was there to collect his championship trophy but the awards did not end there. Team Twistgrip were chosen to receive the Danny Whalin Memorial Trophy in recognition of their help and support for the YPM racing community. It is a great racing class and we are only too glad to do what we can to help out all of our fellow competitors. The best was yet to come though as Kevin was selected by the club to receive the Sir Algernon Guinness Memorial Trophy which is given to the top rider of the club across all of the classes. A well deserved honour and recognition of his outstanding results and consistency. It is a truly stunning trophy. It was donated to the club back in 1956 by The Guinness family (the brewers) following the death of Sir Algernon Guinness who was the president of the club for many years. I am sure it will be taking pride of place on Kevin's mantle piece.

As for next season our plans are yet to be finalised but rest assured there will be some Team Twistgrip TZR's on the grid.

We would not be able to achieve all this without the help and support of many people. It is said that an army marches on it's stomach and so does Team Twistgrip. A massive thank you to Cheryl for all her hard work keeping not only our team but half of the paddock fed and watered. She seems to have acquired a nickname of "The Sambuca Lady". I can not think why. Also thanks to Phil Sentance for all of his help. He is now a fully qualified tyre fitter (just as long as you are not in a hurry). All of our loyal supporters especially Kev Capon who did not miss a meeting all year and Scott Hetherington. They both travelled all over the country to cheer us on and their generous donations to team funds went towards providing the food at our team BBQs.

Thanks as well to Andy Ball at 2T engineering for engine tuning and development. Pirelli UK, helperformance.com, Torq Media for the photography and Andy Dyer at SAF Holland for the use of the Donington hospitality suite.

Roll on 2025. The season will be here before you know it.

09/07/2024

Thank you to everyone for my birthday wishes. When I said I might get plastered on my birthday I was not really imagining this.

11/06/2024

Team Twistgrip Race Report. Round 4 of the 2024 YPM championship from Donington Park.

This was the "Big One" for Team Twistgrip. Our home race. Four bikes on the grid and plenty of supporters there to cheer us on. Our regular riders were joined by Darren Cooper and Ian Stanley.

They have both posted their own reports so I will not go into too much detail on their exploits. Both reports are linked below at the bottom of this report. They both enjoyed their weekend and finished all of their races.

Darren had his best results so far on the TZR250. He really seemed to get to grips with riding the little two stroke and had four solid top ten finishes also improving his personal best lap time by over three seconds. Ian improved all weekend and was happy with his placings and lap times. He was struggling getting the bike off the line. If he can improve that then he should find himself a lot further up the finishing positions.

As for our regular riders it was the perfect weekend for Kevin. Pole position and all four race wins. What more can you say about that. The seasons tally so far is 16 races, 15 wins and one second place. It would take a brave man to bet against him taking the championship again this year.

On the other had Alan had a bit of a disappointing weekend. The problems started in qualifying. An electrical issue severely restricted the bikes performance. He only completed three laps and qualified way down in 21st place. The first race saw him having to battle his way through the field to take fifth place. This gave him a much better grid position for the second race where he managed to pinch second place on the last corner. Lap times were good and he was hoping to take the fight to Kevin in Sundays races. No team orders here.

Unfortunately his bike had other ideas. In the first of Sundays races it was immediately apparent that the bike was down on power. After three laps Alan pulled in. Inspection of the motor revealed a broken piston. Time for a quick engine swap before the final race. Repairs completed and back out for the last race. Starting ninth on the grid Alan get his head down and by lap six was up to a safe second place. Coming out of the chicane the bike started to misfire and lost power. Another DNF. The normally ultra reliable Team Twistgrip TZR250 had saved up all it's problems for one weekend. A real shame as we had many supporters there to see us in action.

Many thanks to Andy Dyer of SAF Holland for the use of the hospitality suite for the weekend. Everyone had a really good time and thanks also to Karen Cooper for her hard work preparing all of the refreshments in the suite. Thank as always to Cheryl and Phil for looking after all the team members over the weekend. Not forgetting the BBQ king Darren Cooper for providing Saturday nights meat feast. It is a shame he is a vegetarian.

Plenty to do now getting all of the issues sorted ready for the next round at Cadwell Park in three weeks time.

Thanks as always to 2T engineering. NGK Spark Plugs, Pirelli, helperformance.com & Torq Media for their continued support and also Andy Dyer of SAF Holland for use of the suite.

Photo Credit: https://www.torqmedia.co.uk/

Darren Report - bit.ly/3Rn3oFz
Ian Report - bit.ly/4aThllP

27/05/2024

Only a few days to go until our home round at Donington Park on June 1st / 2nd. We will have four bikes on the grid and it has been a busy few weeks getting everything ready.

If any of our supporters would like to come and see Team Twistgrip in action we have a few spare tickets available. If you would like to go then please send me a message rather than just replying to this post. There are limited numbers for Saturday and Sunday and will be on a first come first served basis.

If you can not make it you can always follow the action on the TSL live timing and commentary app. Hope to see you there.

14/05/2024

Round 3 of the 2024 YPM Championship from Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk.

This was the first of our two visits this year to the challenging Snetterton 300 Circuit. At three miles in length it is the longest circuit that we race at.

The Friday test day was a very wet affair. It never stopped raining all day. We were first on the programme for qualifying and racing on Saturday and although it had stopped raining the circuit was still wet as we headed out at 9.00 am for our timed qualifying.

Alan continued his good wet weather form and set pole position with a time over 4 seconds quicker than anyone else. Kevin took second spot on the grid. By the time racing started the circuit was dry but due to the amount of rain we had and also a fluid spill on the test day the grip levels were not as high as they could be.

Race one and Alan got the holeshot with Kevin in close attendance. At the end of the back straight Kevin used the slipstream to good effect and took over the lead. It stayed this way for the next few laps with very little to separate the two. On the fourth lap Alan was closing in on Kevin through the infield section of the circuit. Without warning he lost grip through Hamiltons corner and crashed out of the race. Kevin had a very similar moment but somehow stayed on board and then cruised home to take the win. No major injuries to the rider and the bike was soon fixed ready for the next race.

For the second race the start positions had changed with Kev on pole and Alan second. Kev made a good start and Alan was hot on his heels. This lasted for two laps until unfortunately Alan suffered the same fate as the first race crashing out this time on the entrance to Palmers corner. No excuses this time it was pilot error. Trying a bit too hard. Kev was untroubled at the front and took yet another victory.

Onto Sundays action and only one Team Twistgrip rider on the grid. Alan had suffered a bit of a bashing the day before and was sore all over. His main concern though was his right thumb. He was finding it impossible to bend and could not grip the handlebar properly. Safety must come first and he had to take the difficult decision to sit out the days races.

Kevin won both of the races. The first one saw him have a bit of a challenge from Dave Ball but the second one was an altogether easier win. This is now 11 wins and one second place from 12 starts. Pretty good going.

We are now looking forward to the next round which is our local one at Donington Park on June 1st / 2nd. We are planning something a bit special for this meeting and Team Twistgrip should have four bikes on the grid. Our regular riders will be joined by Darren Cooper and Ian Stanley. This should give us plenty to do but we are up for the challenge.

If any of you are able to make it along please pop in to Team Twistgrip HQ and join us for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

As always thanks to helperformance.com, 2T engineering, NGK Spark Plugs and Pirelli for their continued support.

Photos are courtesy of Team Twistgrip supporter Nick Bowen.

26/04/2024

The second meeting of the season and we were off to South Wales and the small but challenging circuit of Pembrey. Kevin was returning there after a clean sweep of wins and the lap record last year. Alan had not ridden there for six years and never on his TZR so there was a bit of learning to be done.

Qualifying on Saturday morning was in wet conditions. Alan found the conditions to his liking and took pole position with Kev a few places back and starting from the third row. The first race started in the dry but after a few laps it started to rain quite heavily. Kevin was leading at this point but slowed his pace as the conditions worsened. Dave Ball was in determined mood and pushed on despite the rain to pass Kev and take his first YPM win. Well done Dave. Alan came home in third.

The next three races were all in dry conditions and normal service was resumed with Kev taking all three victories. Alan was struggling to fully get to grips with the circuit and had a fifth and two third places. Solid championship points but not quite on the pace he was hoping for. This has extended Kev's lead at the top of the championship and Alan has moved up to second. A Team Twistgrip one two at the moment.

It was good to see our old friend Mark Hoogenboom who is now a resident of Wales and classes this as his local track. He thought he was coming for a nice relaxing weekend of watching the racing. We had other ideas and found him plenty to do. I think he was glad to be going home for a rest.

The next round is at Snetterton in a weeks time on the 4th/5th May. You can follow all the live timing and get the commentary as normal on the TSL timing app.

Many thanks to 2T engineering, NGK Spark Plugs helperformance.com and Pirelli for all their support.

Photo Credit: Chequered flag images

24/03/2024

Team Twistgrip Race Report. First round of the 2024 YPM Championship at Brands Hatch on 16th/17th March.

Firstly a quick look back to the end of last season and to celebrate Team Twistgrip rider Kevin Wholey winning the 2023 YPM Championship. With the serious leg injury sustained by his main championship rival Doug Edmondson and the tragic loss of Jamie Kelman at the final meeting of the season it did not seem appropriate to celebrate at that time.

Kevin was in dominant form throughout the year. He was never off the podium and recorded 21 wins, 9 second places and 1 third. One hundred percent reliability from man and machine. Excellent riding from Kevin and perfect machine preparation by Twistgrip Motorcycles in partnership with 2T Engineering.

So back up to date and the 2024 season kicked off at Brands Hatch last weekend. It was the normal format of four races over the weekend and Team Twistgrip had two riders on the grid. Kevin #51 was there to defend his title and he was joined by Alan Cooper #30 who was making a return after taking a year off.

Kevin continued where he left off last season by taking pole position and a clean sweep of all four race wins. Alan's results improved steadily over the weekend. In the first race he was fourth and in the next fifth. He followed that up with third and second places in the final two races.This puts Kevin firmly at the top of the standings and Alan is in third place.

The next round is at Pembrey on the South Wales coastline in three weeks time.

Many thanks to 2T engineering, Torq Media, NGK Spark Plugs, helperformance.com and Pirelli for all their support.

Photo credit: www.torqmedia.co.uk

Twistgrip Motorcycles

01/11/2025

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15/04/2025

24/11/2024

09/07/2024

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