Battle Stations!

 

Battle Stations!

Navy vs Army vs Air Force: Welcome to the Inter-Services Road Racing Championship

 

Words: Stuart Barker

Images: John Barns/Jacksnaps and

Simon Hill/Hill Photography and Design

The Inter-Services Road Racing Championship is a championship like no other. It sees teams of serving Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force personnel going head-to-head on a wide variety of bikes to see which of the Armed Forces is fastest.

            The championship system is not unlike the old Transatlantic Match Races set-up, where riders score points for their respective teams, but it’s much more complex. Due to the fact that some riders are on Honda CB500s, Twins or Supersports while others are on Superbikes, a handicap system is needed to create a more level playing field

            The rivalry between the three services is intense at the best of times, but on the last lap of a motorcycle race - when each Service’s honour is at stake - it reaches a whole new level. But the best thing of all is that racing bikes helps develop the skills needed to be better Servicemen.

            ‘It’s all to do with leadership, communications skills… all the things we need to do our jobs are conveyed in sport’ says Bri Fuidge, a Royal Marine who took over the running of the Navy racing team in 2016. ‘Taking part in activities like racing gives you better physical skills and improves hand-eye coordination. It also helps build camaraderie and improves leadership skills. All the skills we need to do our jobs in the armed forces can be enhanced by taking part in bike racing.’

The first Inter-Services race was held at Mallory Park as a one-off event, but in 2013 a championship was held for the first time, though under a very different format to the current one. Back then, all riders entered their respective classes in the Thundersport GB series and points were tallied up to see which services had performed best. That meant that different forces riders were out in different races, and in along with civilian racers.

            ‘When we ran the Inter-Services Championship as part of the Thundersport GB series. We would see how many grid slots we could get across various classes, divide that number by three - so there were equal amounts of Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force riders - and then select the fastest riders based on lap times’ Fuidge explains.

            ‘Originally, we all used to race in whatever class our bikes were eligible for. So, for example, there might be some Navy riders out in the 600cc class, while others raced in Superstock or the Honda CB500 class. Any points scored would be added to a table and the winning Service could be worked out at the end of the day. So, we weren’t actually racing against each other, as such.’

The racing's always close in the Inter-Services Championship

            That all changed in 2016 when Dave Stewart of Thundersport GB allowed the military to have its own one-off race. ‘There were all sorts of bikes in it’ Fuidge says. ‘Some riders were on Honda CB500s, others on Supertwins or Superbikes - everything, all mixed into one race.’

The race was such a success that by the following year the forces had their own six-round championship. With so many different bikes involved, a complex handicap and points system had to be created to level out the varying performance of the bikes and to keep tabs on how many points each team had totted up.

‘You could have a great rider on a CB500, but he’s never going to be able to win a race against Superbikes, so we had to create a handicap system’ Fuidge explains. ‘The riders on CB500s and Supertwins would get 5 handicap points, but we left the 600cc and Superbike riders alone, because their lap times were fairly similar. Also, every rider who starts a race scores a point so, if there’s 20 riders on the grid, the last place finisher still gets a point. Even if you crash, you get a point.

‘The idea is to help those fast riders who can’t afford bigger bikes. The way we’ve arranged the points system means that, even if they’re on a CB500 against Superbikes, they can still contribute to their respective team’s effort. It’s complicated, and it involves a lot of spreadsheets, but it works.’

Another complication is that not all the riders can attend every race; they’re still active serving personal, after all (only regular or reserve individual are eligible for the championship) and may be needed elsewhere. ‘Because we’re all in the military, not every rider can make every race’ Fuidge says. ‘A rider might be able to do the first three races but could then be deployed overseas. The way we get round that is by having the eight most consistent riders scoring points for their team, and each rider can drop their worst round from the championship. So, if a rider couldn’t attend a round, they would just drop that round, and that would level things out. It’s a very complicated points system!’

            The forces riders also compete in other classes over a No Limits Racing weekend (No Limits took over the Thundersport GB Championship in 2023), whether that’s in Supertwins, Supersport 600, or Superbikes, but they all make an extra effort when they’re representing their service against the others in the military races. A Navy rider, for example, might be racing in the 600cc championship but, when it comes time for the Inter-Services race, his lap times will typically drop by about one or two seconds! ‘That’s true for most of us’ Fuidge says. ‘We always try that bit harder when we’re battling against the other Services!’

            It’s not difficult to imagine; last lap, Cadwell Park, and there’s a Navy rider in the lead with an Army and an Air Force rider right on his tail, each one representing something much bigger than just an individual rider - there’s so much pride at stake.

Advantage army at Cadwell Park

Each year, the rider who scores the most points is crowned as the individual champion, but even that’s not important compared to winning the team championship. ‘The fastest guy over the series will be the champion, but, in the military, no-one cares about that - it’s all about the team’ Fuidge says. ‘Each team wants to beat the others, and that’s far more important to us than being the fastest rider in the championship.’

While the championship has the approval of the respective services, the riders buy their own bikes and kit and largely pay their own way - although there is a certain amount of assistance from the Navy, Army, and Air Force. ‘There is some financial support, but it’s very little’ Fuidge explains. The military can help us in very specific ways, though; the main one being what’s called ‘duty status.’ So long as we’ve done the right paperwork with due diligence, have all your risk assessments done, and you get selected to represent your Service, then we get time off to compete and we still get paid because we’re representing our respective services. The military allows us to use its transport too, because we’re officially representing our services.’

The army won the 2024 Inter-Services Road Racing Championship, while the individual champion was Warrant Officer Class 2 Gavin Watts of the Royal Anglian Regiment.  But the sheet has been wiped clean for the 2025 season, which will once again see Britain’s armed forces going head-to-head for the bragging rights of being the fastest service on two wheels!

Not the number - Royal Navy rider Natalie Cro used to be a police officer

Pure Road Racing

While the Royal Navy and RAF allows serving members to race on pure roads circuits, the Army currently do not support these events. As a Royal Marine, Bri Fuidge is currently representing the Navy in the International Road Racing Championship (which includes rounds at Hengelo in the Netherlands, Frohburg in Germany, Chimay in Belgium, Horace in the Czech Republic, Imatra in Finland, and Schleiz in Germany) but he explains why members of the Army are not able to represent the Army at certain events. ‘The Army no longer supports real road racing after the death of Paratrooper Billy Redmayne at Oliver’s Mount in 2016’ Fuidge says. ‘That means we can’t have a joint services road racing team because we are unable to have all three Services represented.

Bri Fuidge (156) in close company at the Frohburg road races in Germany

The RAF doesn’t have a blanket ban on road racing - only on the TT. This allowed Chief Tech Rad Hughes - who began racing in 2010 - to achieve his dream of racing at the Manx Grand Prix in 2012, where he finished 5th in the Newcomers’ race. Over the years, Hughes has won 22 replicas at the Manx, including a standout second place finish in 2019 Ultra-Lightweight race. He also set his fastest lap of 116mph onboard his Kawasaki ZX-6R that same year.

Rad Hughes getting some air at the 2024 Manx Grand Prix

Bri Fuidge takes a second spot at the 2024 Cookstown 100

Like Fuidge, Hughes has competed at the North West 200, Southern 100, Oliver’s Mount, the Tandragee 100, and the Cookstown 100, to name but a few. His ambition is to join Fuidge racing in the IRRC.

Fuidge - who raced a 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6 in the IRRC this year - is looking for sponsorship to allow him to upgrade to the Superbike class next year, or to at least have a more competitive Supersport machine. ‘I’d like to step up to the Superbike class this year, but I’d need to get a bike’ he says. ‘I’m currently racing against Triumph 765s and Ducati V2s, so it’s not easy, but I still scored points. If I stay in the Supersport class, I’ll have to look at upgrading to something like a Triumph 765.’

 

No Limits Racing/Inter-Services Road Racing Championship

Provisional Calendar 2025

March 23/24: Snetterton

April 26/27: Brand Hach GP

May 31/June 1: Croft

June 28/29: Donington Park GP

July 19/20: Anglesey

August 16/17: Cadwell Park

August 30: Oulton Park

September 27/28: Donington Park GP

 

For further details visit http://nolimitsracing.co.uk