Alex Mann is back for the BEMSEE MRO Minitwins 2022 Championship!

Posted in Alex Mann, BEMSEE, Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Donington Park, Motor Bike, Motor Racing, Motorsport, Oulton Park, Silverstone, Snetterton on 12 March, 2022.
Alex Mann is back for the BEMSEE MRO Minitwins 2022 Championship!

The BEMSEE MRO Minitwins 2022 Championship kicked off on Saturday 12th March on the Brands Hatch Indy track.

We are very proud to be sponsoring Alex Mann once again, and can't wait to see what this year has in store for him.

The first race of the season was this weekend at Brands Hatch. 

Friday was good, a dry morning and a wet afternoon meant confidence was built and gearing was sorted. It rained over night on Saturday and the track was drying, not enough though so qualifying was done on scrub wets, the right choice as Alex finished in position 4 for Race 1.

Not a great start to Race 1 ending up at the back of an 6 man train, but a 21 second lead over 9th meant he just saved the tyres and bought it home in P8. 

Race 2 had a better start but starting from P8 meant Alex was already back of the group. The last lap was dramatic with paintwork being swapped and riders out of their seats ending with a 3 way drag to the line with Alex finally finishing in 7th.

It had rained again overnight on Sunday but was drying leaving Alex confident there was a big enough dry line to go for it on drys. A good decision until lap 3 when the heavens opened just long enough to put water down which made it impossible to ride on drys, it was all Alex could do to stay upright to finish 10th.

Race two was the same story with decisions with tires meant another P10.

At Snetterton, it was a great start to the day for Alex - he started in 7th and ended in 2nd! Alex had the fastest lap time, so he is now in pole position for the next race. The final race went much better than the qualifying race, where he started and finished in 7th in both races. Fingers crossed for the next race.

Round 3 at Oulton Park - Alex felt a little disappointed as felt he had more to give, but a solid weekend again. P3, P7, P6, P3.

Round 4 - Cadwell

It was a decent weekend at Cadwell, a silly crash in race 1 meant Alex dropped a few points. But still after the DNF he managed P6, P5, P4. His times improved in race 4 after he found something in sector 1! Great weekend racing.

Round 5 - Brands Hatch

Having not ridden the GP layout since a horrid October in 2020 where Alex finished one race in appalling conditions, he knew this weekend would be hard fought!
The weather was a scorching and made grip in places hard! Friday was a good days instructing watching all pupils improve massively! Unfortunately, he had a tangle with a another rider into Graham Hill and ended up going to the hospital after being declared unfit to race! He managed to get out of hospital within a few hours, a chipped bone and small fracture between the two balls of his elbow meant he had pain but movement!
Quick work from Alex's dad and Keith Povah meant the bike was ready after it looked very second hand to race, should he be fit to. Alex managed to hold the pain back during the medical which saw him declared fit to race, game on!

Qualifying was hard as it was cut short due to an incident, which meant he only got 3 laps but that was enough to test the arm. He managed to get to P8.

Race 1 - P5
Race 2 - P5
Race 3 - P4
Race 4 - P3

Got down to a 1.40.074, 39s were on the cards, maybe more but hopefully next time!

Nice to round a weekend like that off with a big positive! Solid championship points in the bag!





Round 6: Donington Park

P4, P5, P4, P5

Some good hard racing!! Alex felt he could have done more but still all to play for at the final round!

Here's what Alex had to say about this round:

After a couple of successful rounds and at Brands GP and Cadwell Park, I'd managed to close the gap to the top 3 in the championship. Although Dave Twyford could tie the championship up that round and 2nd place held by Glyn Davies, the best place up for grabs is 3rd place!!

A solid weekend with good points, was hoping for a hit more pace which I thought I had, but the battling on track was too much for any real improvements on lap times!

It was a great weekend and the seasons final round has come round so quick, it was the final round for a lot of riders in the "academy" who pitch up together and we've had a great laugh all year and supported each other in out respective classes, so thank you, John Reynolds, Keith Povah, Arren Carpenter, Liam Spiller, Craig Bicknell, Oli Nunn, Tom Garner, Ian Ashby, Gareth Faith and Connor Murray.




Round 7 (FINAL): Brands Indy

Race 1 – Alex approached this race with calmness and got to a good start. As he increased in speed lap by lap, he made it all the way up to position 6.

Race 2 – Being in 6th position, this race started better for Alex. However soon after due to a ‘wheelie of the line’, he managed to reach Paddock on the track into 8th position. Thereafter, he made it to 6th position one again where he had competed with Jack Muir during a few laps. Meanwhile, Kev Lilley passed him by.

Race 3 – This race started off on a Sunday and was similar to the previous day where the weather conditions were damp. Alex did not feel confident that Druids and Clearways on the track would be dry so he opted to compete on wets (tyres). On the warmup lap, he found himself contemplating whether competing on the wets would be the right decision. He started off well and got behind Dave Twyford in 3rd position. He tried his hardest to get past but a slide down Paddock Hill bend on the track resulted in shagged tyres. This resulted in him making it to 6th position, once again.

Race 4 – Alex found himself with another difficult start at Paddock on the track and could not get past Kev. He found himself in 6th position.

The 2022’s racing concluded with Alex in P5 in the championships (Out of 49 scorers). It is worth mentioning that he did incredibly well to be 1 point off of P4 and 14 points off of P3.



After acknowledging his contentment with finishing in the Top 6 at Bemsee and to walk away with pole position and some of his fastest laps, here are some words of appreciation from Alex Mann, himself:

‘Huge thanks to my family for helping this year, Val and Steve for sorting our top-notch accommodation each round! My wife Katy for coming and supporting and dealing with my pre-race stresses during the week. :) My mum and dad for being there every round helping and sorting everything out. My uncle Lee for giving up his weekends to keep on top of the bikes maintenance and running.

Keith Povah for his pre-race talks and tactical conversations! And, for busting me into shape for the season with his brutal honesty.
All the lads who have made paddock life awesome this season!

Of course, this season would have never been possible if it wasn’t for the kindness and support of my sponsors, some who have supported me for 3 years now. I’ll be forever grateful for making my childhood dream happen!!
Michael Jones Jeweller | TT50 – Cars Northampton | Carbody Banbury LTD | Denham Hedley Commercials Limited | helpforperformance.com | TW Suspension Tech | Tangerine Red | RAD Motorcycles | Espirit Group
Well done to Kev Lilley for 3rd, well deserved mate. Also to David Twyford for walking the championship ‘






 

We are incredibly proud of all of Alex’s hard work, determination, and achievements throughout this past year. We look forward to continuing supporting him next year. Meanwhile, you can follow his journey on his social media handles here:


Facebook – Alex Mann Racing #97     |   Instagram - @mannracing97 


 -----

The race dates for the championship are as follows:

12th-13th March 2022 - Brands Hatch Indy 

2nd-3rd April 2022 - Silverstone

7th-8th May 2022 - Snetterton 300

3rd-4th June 2022 - Oulton Park International

25th-26th June 2022 - Cadwell Park

16th-17th July 2022 - Brands Hatch GP

6th-7th August 2022 - Cadwell Park

3rd-4th September 2022 - Donington Park National

1st-2nd October 2022 - Brands Hatch Indy