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6th October 2007

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2005

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19th March  2005

"...Protec/Aprilia RSV 1000 championship leader Darren Jones needed 10th or better for the title. Less than 100 metres from the lights, Jones found himself in the gravel at Paddock Hill, and his title chances were in jeopardy.... Jones had remounted. Although slightly worse for wear, he nevertheless continued and by close had progressed to 10th and the championship was his..."

2nd November 2004

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28th October 2004

"...Protec/Aprilia RSV 1000 championship leader Darren Jones needed 10th or better for the title. Less than 100 metres from the lights, Jones found himself in the gravel at Paddock Hill, and his title chances were in jeopardy.... Jones had remounted. Although slightly worse for wear, he nevertheless continued and by close had progressed to 10th and the championship was his..."

28th October 2004

".....Win the race and collect the title was the task for Darren Jones in the Protec/Aprilia RSV Mille series...the Speedaway Aprilia racer led for a number of laps....with 3 laps to go it was looking good for leader Jones...." 

20th October 2004

"......Darren's work had been complete earlier in the season when the Speedaway Aprilia pilot notched up four wins and three seconds and established a healthy cushion..."

9th October 2004

"....Rounding off the extravaganza is the Aprilia Mille championship for the thunderous Italian machines. Darren Jones & Mark Ramsbotham have had excellent races all year both with a fair share of triumphs...."

6th October 2004

"......It's looking very good for Darren Jones in the RSV Aprilia Mille championship.  The Chesterfield rider has dropped just 15 points all season, and this is the hallmark of an astute rider.  Darren will take some holding again here at Silverstone.  Plenty have tried to tame the Speedaway Aprilia mounted rider this season; he came second to Daniel Tarratt twice and Marc Ramsbotham once.  Today the battle for supremacy will take place between these three..."

26th September 2004

"........Championship leader Darren Jones and Marc Ramsbotham renewed their season-long exchanges out front....."

7th September 2004

"......Darren Jones and Marc Ramsbotham (both Aprilia 1000) had their share of the front-running action...."

7th September 2004

"........Championship leader Darren Jones and Marc Ramsbotham renewed their season-long exchanges out front....."

25th August 2004

".....Darren Jones, (1000 Speedaway Aprilia), fourth in the first race, headed Marsden home again, but this time as the winner, almost 3 seconds in front.."

24th August 2004

The main suspects, including Darren Jones, Daniel Tarratt and Marc Ramsbotham look to be getting away..."

21st August 2004

"....The Protec/Aprilia Mille championship has seen some spectacular action so far. The main suspects, including Darren Jones, Daniel Tarratt and Marc Ramsbotham look to be getting away..."

20th August 2004

"....In this class, at least, it should be the regulars scrapping it out for the points without newcomers influencing things, although Darren Jones on his 1000 Aprilia might join the front runners...."

"...Darren Jones clinched his 101st race victory in a tense Protec/Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille race....."

13th July 2004

".....while on the same opening lap the like mounted Darren Jones got the better of Aprilia rider Don Plane on the Cooper Straight to take second...."

  27th July 2004

".....Jones got his Speedaway Aprilia back in front with a neat inside pass on him at Paddock....."

13th July 2004

"........Darren Jones clinched his 101st race victory in a tense Protec/Aprilia RSV 1000 Mille race....."

12th July 2004

"......The Aprilia RSV 1000 championship has seen Darren Jones occupy the top place for five rounds. Darren has always maintained a comfortable cushion at the helm, and the Speedaway Motorcycles Aprilia pilot is going to be hard to dislodge......"

11th July 2004

"....An almost perfect points tally has seen Darren Jones take a commanding 30-point advantage in the Aprilia Mille championship....."

27th June 2004

"....Darren Jones extended his advantage in the Aprilia RSV Mille championship with another disciplined victory over Daniel Tarratt. Although Jones took the hole shot on his Speedaway Aprilia, he was forced to race with care as a four-way battle raged in the early stages......After the race settled a little and Tarratt, who came out of retirement after round one, took control briefly but Jones hit back immediately. ...."

15th June 2004

"............Darren Jones extended his advantage in the Aprilia RSV Mille championship with another victory over Daniel Tarratt......"

9th June 2004

".....Riders to keep tabs on include championship leader Darren Jones...."

31st May 2004

"....It's been a dream start for Darren Jones in this season's Shell Oils Aprilia RSV Mille championship. The Chesterfield rider brings to Oulton Park a 100% record, and he will be fiercely defending his acheivement today. Darren's 2004 Speedaway V-twin has been working perfectly...."

8th May 2004

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8th May 2004

".....Championship leader Jones powered his Speedaway Aprilia into a slender lead.....and took victory number two."

20th April 2004

".....birthday boy, Darren Jones clinched the Aprilia RSV Mille race. Jones, 33, powered his Speedaway Aprilia to victory...."

6th April 2004

"It was Darren Jones from Chesterfield who powered his Speedaway Aprilia to first round victory."

4th April 2004

"......but a challenge from an RSV Mille competitor, say Darren Jones is also a possibility."

3rd April 2004

".....Darren Jones sped to a double victory, which could see the Chesterfield racer grab the second position after the final round..."

26th October 2003

"....but after round nine RSV Aprilia pilot Darren Jones moved up into the runner-up slot....."

25th October 2003

"....Darren Jones went on to win comfortably from Marc Ramsbotham and John Pugh. Jones won Sunday's race by seven seconds from Tarratt, with Ramsbotham third to move into second place in the standings, two points ahead of Tarratt...."

21st October 2003

".....A fine second in the last round from Darren Jones keeps the Chesterfield rider in the hunt for championship honours and podium visits this weekend should see Darren home in third in the standings for 2003......"

4th October 2003

".....and Darren Jones will be placing pressure on the top three positions....."

13th September 2003

"....Darren Jones (1000 Aprilia) is not in contention for the Supertwins title, but he was just too good for the opposition , including some championship contenders, in their 2 outings......"

27th August 2003

".....and expect to see RSV Aprilia runners Tony McBride and Darren Jones in the thick of things as well"

16th August 2003

"...Although Darren Jones and Scott Roper have shown ultra constistency througout the year, today it may be Mr Consistency himself, Dan Tarratt who can halt the Scott charge."

3rd August 2003

Photo taken from race programme. Daz chases Chad Hashmi at Brands Hatch.

"....Both Darren Jones and Scott Roper have been strong runners lately...."

20th July 2003

"....After taking the holeshot his initial chaser was Darren Jones........Jones who was then taken by Scott Roper for 3rd was in the midst of his reply when the red flags came out on lap 13 and the race was over...."

16th June 2003

"....Darren Jones and Scott Roper are racing fast and with great consistency so either of these two could take the thing....."

15th June 2003

".....Third home was Darren Jones, sporting a painful injury sustained during the earlier club meeting, who again got an excellent result by sensibly not pushing too hard and waiting for misfortune to strike those who did ...."

27th May 2003

"But today it could be Darren Jones or Graham Darracott stopping the Scott run. Since being awarded the Sir Algernon Guiness Trophy for being the BMCRC Rider of the year, Darren Jones has continued to improve and the Chesterfield rider is a real threat to Scott's dominance. Jones certainly doesn't look like a rider wanting to quit. He once became fearful of the sport, but now he's full of confidence and I expect this classy operator to be on the Mille podium today."

27th May 2003

".....Initially Scott received some close attention from Daniel Tarratt, Darren Jones, Graham Darracott and Simon Clarke.......Scott Roper moved through the pack and got into a fight with Darren Jones and Mark Compton for fifth...."

20th May 2003

"..".....Bullimore was second to Darren Jones (1000 Aprilia) in the first race......Midway leaders Simon Clarke (1000 Aprilia) and Darren Jones were definately a target..."

20th May 2003

".....just nine points separate Scott Roper, Marshall Neill, Daniel Tarratt, Graham Darracott and Darren Jones....."

11th May 2003

"...Scott Roper and Darren Jones were Scott's early opponents....."

6th May 2003

".....Darren Jones charged hard on his RSV Aprilia...."

6th May 2003

".......The RSV Aprilia Mounted Darren Jones leads the charge......."

5th May 2003

"......3rd place in the championship, Daz Jones found himself back in 11th place on the grid..........as Scott Roper, in 2nd place, tried to fend off the attention of Daz Jones who made up from a poor grid position........As the track dried, Jones soon ran into tyre problems and lost ground as his RSV did its best to flip him over the highside. Graham Darracott soon took advantage and got by Jones ......So it was another win for Warren Scott, Scott Roper in 2nd place followed by Graham Darracott and Daz Jones."

22nd April 2003

".....Darren Jones, who earned a superb rostrum third in round one, will undoubtedly maintain that form,......"

21st April 2003

"..............Neill had started well down the grid having holed his radiator in qualifying, he then carved up the field down the back straight having only Scott and Daz Jones ahead of him by the end of that lap.......Jones held third from Danny Tarratt for the last podium place............."

24th March 2003

".....Darren Jones will almost certainly be amongst the front men. The Chesterfield rider had a decent season in 2002 and this was recognised by the BMCRC who presented Darren with the Charlie Gunner Trophy for being the most improved rider in MRO......."

23rd March 2003

"........Darren Jones, Chad Hashmi and physiotherapist John Barton from Crosby in the IOM, could be the main riders in this one......."

22nd March 2003

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"....Just behind him the competition is very much closer with Danny Tarratt, John Rhodes, Steve Booker and Darren Jones separated by 23.5 points....."

"North Derbyshire's top bike racers hit Leicestershire's Mallory Park on Sunday for round ten of the Sky Sports MRO/Powerbike Tour. Whittington's Darren Jones struggled with tyre problems during morning qualifying, which left him in 8th place for the start of the Aprilia RSV Challenge. A quick tyre change helped his cause for the race, and he clawed back three places to finish fifth. The race action from Mallory is scheduled to be shown on Sky Sports on September 26/27."

12th September 2002

"....Darren Jones isn't out of contention yet either and both he and local man Stuart Maclure will be looking for their first Mille Cup wins........"

".....Darren Jones, the 32 year old Chesterfield racer, was always in the leading group and he finally finished fourth on the Normandale Fabrications/Mark Clark-backed Mille, less than half a second down on Rhodes."

4th September 2002

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22nd August 2002

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20th August 2002

"........The reigning champion Marshall Neil is out with injury but still leads the series, from Danny Tarratt the Snetterton winner, John Rhodes & Darren Jones make up the leading four contenders......"

18th August 2002

"Race winners were Darren Jones (1000 Aprilia) and Jamie Poole (996 LG Leisure Ducati)"

6th August 2002

"It was Darren Jones who led early on........"

23rd July 2002

"Neill was on pole, Steve Booker, Paul Garner and Daz Jones all making the front row. Jones got the holeshot and lead the field out through the complex and into the countryside returning with Neill giving chase.....Neill, Tarrat and Jones rode at a constant lick.....Neill, Tarratt and Jones took the podium spots although towards the end Tarratt was dropping off the pace and a few more laps may have seen him taken by Jones. No change to the first 4 in the Championship as a result with Neill firmly at it’s head and Tarratt and Jones close in on Rhodes in 2nd place."

Bikermag.co.uk

8th July 2002

"....over Tarratt who now joins Darren Jones in joint third place in the championship table."

25th June 2002

"....Hats off to the guys, holding third was Darren Jones heading a freight train of 6 riders behind him....."

10th June 2002

"Darren Jones has had a good start to the year and looks more accomplished on the Mille every time he rides it. Coming from a background on two-strokes it took him a while to adapt to the brute power of the RSV, but it is now clear that he has mastered the big Vee-Twin and a race win is on the cards soon."

25th May 2002

"Darren Jones scored maximum points on his 1000 Aprilia in that first round. He tops the Sound of Thunder table on 50 points, 17 clear of Nigel Manning Morton and 21 in front of Jamie Poole."

18th May 2002

"....John Rhodes, second to Neill in the title race, couldn't detach himself from a hectic three-way scrap with Darren Jones and Steve Bullimore for fourth, and eventually finished sixth.......Darren Jones' fourth position will net the Chesterfield rider enough points to keep him in the hunt....."

14th May 2002

"....Aprilia mounted Darren Jones and Neil Simpson kept the pressure on Oldroyd.............Jones, who Simpson was dicing with remained calm and took third to better his eighth in race one."

14th May 2002

".....The last lap saw Neill take the win with Hashmi 10 sec adrift followed in by Tarrent and Jones."

7th May 2002

"......No-one could beat Darren Jones (1000 Aprilia) in the Sound of Thunder events. He cruised home to a seven second victory over Nigel Manning Morton (1000 Dataline Express Honda) in the first, but Jamie Poole (996 JLG Racing Ducati) was only a second behind in race two......."

30th April 2002

"Mallory Park was the host for the New Era Superclub Championships on Sunday and North Derbyshire’s top racers were once again in action.

Old Whittington’s Darren Jones came, saw and conquered in the Sound of Thunder class. From the start of race one, he powered his Team DSR Aprilia 1000 to the front and never looked back, easily gaining a comfortable seven-second lead from his nearest rival.  However, he almost came unstuck on the final lap at Shaws hairpin, as his bike tried it’s hardest to spit him over the high side. He managed to wrestle the big V-twin to re-gain his composure and take the spoils.

Race two was a tougher battle for him as he started from 25^th on the grid, but by the end of the first lap he’d already fought up to 4^th place. By lap six of the ten lapper he was in 2^nd and was chasing down the early leader. On lap seven, disaster struck for the front-runner as he threw his Ducati down the track in a very heavy crash. The red flags came out and the race was stopped which handed Darren his second victory of the day."

22nd April 2002

"....Simpson appeared to be going backwards in the poor conditions as both Rhodes and Frost overhauled him on the fourth lap and one lap later Darren Jones also moved through..........Jones took fourth with Paul Beasley coming home a soggy fifth......"

16th April 2002

"....Chad Hashmi and Darren Jones lost out on their chance of a podium placing when Jack Frost and Paul Beasley tangled right in front of them on the penultimate lap going into the top of Paddock Hill Bend....."

1st April 2002

"....From half distance all the attention was on the battle for third, a six-way scrap involving Darren Jones, Steve Bullimore, John Rhodes, Chad Hasmi Paul Beasley and Jarrod Frost........"

19th March 2002

“…..Dark horses here could well be Stuart Maclure and Darren Jones, both have the ability to win……”

10th March 2002

"Brian Greenfield and Darren Jones enjoyed a mid-order battle. Jones, a 30-year old software demonstrator, continually hassled the Ipswich rider but Greenfield stayed calm to pick up more valuable series points and keep the pressure on the top three."

29th May 2001

"At Mallory, Chesterfield-based Darren Jones, was placed seventh and fourth in the Sound of Thunder class." 

10th March 2001

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1st May 2001

"Chesterfield's Darren Jones also raced in the Sound of Thunder class but, due to teething problems with the gearbox on his 1000cc Aprilia, opted to start from the rear of the grid and used his track time for testing. "

22nd March 2001

  "Lincolnshire seaside resident, Andrew Whittley, from Cleethorpes was in the top six running until he crashed his George Petch Wheels machine at Shell on lap seven while Darren Jones, from Chesterfield, crashed his Speedaway Motorcycles RS at Druids while 14th on the final lap."

August 1999

Biggest test yet for local race ace.

Darren's drive for success

MOTORCYCLE race ace Darren Jones is gearing up for his biggest sporting challenge after a season interrupted by a horrific injury.

Chesterfield's champion road racer - who has his own web site on the Internet is all set for his first full season in the National Aprilia RS250 Challenge.

Darren, of Church Street North, Old Whittington, has continued to progress since his first season in 1995 when he finished third in the New Era Clubs 350 Production Championship.

He won that title in 1996 and 1997 and defied a crippling wrist injury in an attempting a hat-trick in 1998.

He had to have a bone grafted from his forearm to his wrist and spent 14 weeks in a cast before returning the track.

Darren completed just five of the 15 rounds before breaking a knuckle in another crash and yet still managed to finish fourth in the championship.

Then came a huge turning point in his racing career when he was spotted by Stave Bastable of Speedaway Motorcycles, Blackheath.

From being a successful club champion Darren now finds himself up against the best in the country and is hoping to attract more sponsors to help him compete.

Amongst his current supporters are K.E.L. Paintwork of Whittington Moor, and Chesterfield Motorcycle Centre.

"In return for sponsorship I can raise a company's profile in the way of advertising by placing the company name on the race bike and race transporter and by providing a page on the Internet for advertising."

The 1999 season starts in March at Cadwell Park and finishes in September at Donington.

To find out more about Darren call his web site at http://www.humpy.demon.co.uk/dsr

January 1999

"CMC also sponsor the Rodger Stuart Racing Team (125 Yamahas and Aprilias), Craig Milner (CBR600) and Darren Jones (RD350 Production Champion)."

June 1998

  "Chesterfield rider Darren Jones took his 350 Production Yamaha to a hat-trick of wins at the New Era Club's meeting at Snetterton on Monday. Following his three winning rides at the Norfolk circuit the previous day, Jones went home unbeaten."

27th May 1998

  "Darren Jones. Winner of the New Era Club Championship 350 Production Class 1997 (photo on front cover).

In the Club Championships extra congratulations go to Andy Everett for he gained 219 points out of a maximum of 225 to win the Jean Maslin Trophy for 1997. Well done Andy - commiserations to Darren Jones who wanted so much to hang on to this trophy he won last year. Unfortunately it was not to be as injury intervened."

December 1997

"Race aces Rodger Turner and Darren Jones visited the Chesterfield Motor Cycle Centre at Calow recently to celebrate their season of success. Whittington based Darren overcame a couple of serious accidents to comfortably win the New Era 1997 350cc Championship aboard his Yamaha, and Holmewood's Rodger dominated the competition to scoop the 125cc prize."

Chesterfield Express

6th November 1997

"Club champions Darren Jones (350 Production) and Paul Everett (F400) ended the day unbeaten with three wins apiece." 

1st October 1997

  "Dean Clapham and Darren Jones finished first and second in their three Yamaha/Forgotten Era duels."

28th May 1997

  "In the Club Championships extra congratulations go to Darren Jones for he gained 189 points out of a maximum of 210 to win the Jean Maslin Trophy for 1996. Well done Darren - your determination to win this trophy certainly paid off."

November 1996

"Darren Jones from Chesterfield. Darren is the new 350 Production Champion and the highest point scorer in the New Era Club Championships for 1996. Well done Darren!"

  27th October 1996