Wigley racing consists of one of the youngest road racing teams with twin boys who will be 15 years old at the end of the season. They have been riding bikes since the age of 4 whereby they began having fun on PW50s. Kurt and Matthew’s road racing career took off at the grand age of 6 years old where they have gone from strength to strength and are totally hooked. 

The very first race Kurt and Matthew competed in took place at Donnington Park (as shown right) where Matthew gained his very first 1st trophy. They began racing in the Junior C group which was for novice riders. Admittedly they were a little wobbly at the time, but have progressed over the past six years beyond belief. Many people talk about how unbelievable the boys are if they have a crash they just get straight back on their bikes without losing valuable seconds per lap on their timings. They have also developed great style to go with their speed.        

Kurt and Matthew show their dedication and commitment as they are constantly pushing beyond their limits, racing against the clock to bring down lap times. During the boys second year of racing they had been put up into the Junior ‘A’ class with boys who were so fast we thought it would be years before our team were up to such speeds, but during the winter months the boys practiced hard        

During 2004 Kurt and Matthew raced with increased speeds. There were some extremely close racing with lads actually leaning on one another round corners, just like the big bikes and we are extremely proud with the end results of the season with gaining both first and second places in a number of Championships as can be seen in their individual records.        

During 2005 they again achieved brilliant results which can be seen on the pages for each of the riders. Their speeds and skills have constantly developed during this year they gained more confidence in passing slower riders and were now at the stage where they are able to concentrate on other riders to see where their lines are on the track and what their pit people are saying to them to enable the boys to think up plans and different lines to try on each lap to help in overtaking or defensive riding if required.        

Pic by MSPR Photography

  Minimotos have centrifugal clutches and no gears and therefore races are won on incredible corner speeds. During their second year, the boys lacked a little speed around the corners, but with riding their new 8.5hp machines, they are now throttling the 4.2hp machines and almost riding them flat out everywhere. We have many comments from people amazed at how well our team have improved during the past couple of years and seem to get stronger and faster each time they ride.        

During this year we took part in the LCRRC British Championship, the British Minimoto GP, the North of England and Eastern Counties Championship and the South of England Championship with meetings ranging from Rowrah in Cumbria down to Lydd in Kent, mainly on kart circuits.   It turned out to be an amazing year.  Although it was a lot of hard work racing almost every weekend throughout the season the team  managed an amazing record of being unbeaten in both the aircooled and watercooled class.        

We also competed in Belgium, again the results can be seen on the rider profiles, and were extremely pleased with the results considering this being the first time abroad racing where rules and regulations are quite different to the UK. The BMS bosses and riders were also present and also attended meetings in the UK during this year and were extremely happy with the boys’ performance, especially at times when they have been overtaken, but would not give up until either the end of the race or the regain of their place. Kurt and Matthew are now developing some aggressive riding which is sometimes needed with stiff competition.        

During 2006 this was an unusual year for the boys. They began riding their new 50cc GP bikes at the start of the year by way of a trip to the South of France following a couple of days practice at Rednal. Not only do they now have gears to change, but the complete physical size of the bikes to throw around corners was massive compared to their little bodies as they could only just touch the floor. The first half of the year was a huge learning curve but they worked hard and got to grips with things getting back their style and becoming one with their new bikes. Half way through the season we decided to take a further step up to the GP70 machines which was basically the same size of bike, but with engine modifications. Kurt and Matthew practiced hard on these new machines and towards the end of the year were setting some of the fastest lap times, but due to the changes we made this meant that they could not gain any decent championship positions.        

At the end of October we travelled to a circuit near Lyon in France to take part in an FFM round of the French Championship on the new supers. Unfortunately as Kurt was still in plaster from a broken wrist we only had one rider, but Matthew intended to win for the both of them. After qualifying in the first group of two of out of 60 riders and putting his machine in 7th place on the grid he battled with people from the age of 12 years upwards to take a 3rd place overall. He was then invited to compete in the race of champions whereby the fastest 12 racers on the day battled it out. Matthew gained the 2nd place on the grid. Once the lights had changed, Matthew whole shot the start and lead the race from start to finish. As you can see from the above picture, this shows the top 6 riders who broke away from the pack, but towards the end of the race, Matthew settled down into a rhythm and left the same distance between him and the next 5 riders. This was certainly an experience none of us will forget managing to beat the 5 times French Champion at his own circuit.      

Pic by Wileman Photography

During 2007 – If it was good enough for Leon Haslam and James Toseland it was good enough for us so we did, we went scooter racing. Derbi supplied us 2 No. 50cc scooters which we converted into 70ccs and made them into all singing dancing flying machines capable of reaching speeds of 103 mph with 22bhp. At 11 years old the ACU will not allow us to ride geared bikes on big circuits, but they will allow them to ride 100mph automatic – this does not make sense, but anyway, the lads had chance to ride with adults on large tracks and loved it. When they went into open practice and had 900 Ducati’s passing them down the straight they said that was awesome as the draft off them blew the boys off line. It was even more fun being able to sit the big bikes up in the corners and pass them through the tight twisty bits. It was the best racing they had had for a long time. The paddock was really friendly and helpful and the boys just had fun, but at the same time gaining experience of new circuits and battling hard against adults was a huge challenge.        

Pic by PLJ Photography

During 2008 – Kurt and Matthew road their new Moriwaki framed 250, 4 stroke machines at a number of UK circuits. Their debut outing was at Brands Hatch with the New Era Club where they rode in the CB500 class. Although they qualified mid pack, as they had not road these bikes in race conditions and with not taking part in a race start on these machines before we decided to request that they start from the back of the grid to ensure they did not get in the way of other riders, but when the lights changed the boys had 10 laps to do their best. Coming from the back of 37 riders it was surprising to see, but they worked their way through to a respectable 3rd and 7th place finish. In race 2 they again started at the back of the grid and finished 1st and 11th. Their corner speed was the most amazing thing along with their late braking. We have since rode at the majority of the Derby Phoenix club rounds in the 400cc open class and GP125cc. We have also rode with the Darley Moore club and the Super Mono Association. All of these clubs have made us feel extremely welcome and have accommodated us with the new machines.        

The best circuit has been Donnington Park and Brands Hatch. The Snetterton straight was too long and the 400cc just left us on the straight line power.        

Pic by Richard Glover

In the formula classes the boys have not been beaten, but the best race was in the wet at Brands Hatch in the 125GP class. From the third row on the grid they managed to holeshot and beat a number of 125GP machines.        

During 2009 – Kurt and Matthew continued in riding the Moriwaki MD250cc, 4 strokes.  They are so reliable.  The engines were prepared by Roger Ditchfield of Revolution Racing who certainly knows his stuff.  The boys took part in many races in the Derby Phoenix Open 400 Championship and learnt a great deal as they started off the back of the grid which assisted them with learning their track craft in overtaking and working their way through the grid.  We finished a respectable 3rd and 5th overall in the Championship.  One of the highlights of the year was having Shoei paint a couple of helmets to Kurt and Matthew’s design as a one off.  The boys were really proud of these.        

Pic by Richard Glover

During 2010 - 2010 started off well using the same machines as we had ridden for the past two years, however, SMR who run Swan Honda at BSB agreed to look after Kurt and Matthew’s bikes for the 2010 season through their performance centre.  With some extra engine work the bikes gained bhp and lap times started to drop.  By lapping Cadwell Park in 1:40 on a 41.7 bhp machine we feel is quite respectable.  It has been excellent having an association with the Superbike team and having the same people working on our bikes who work on the top BSB machines has been a real boost to the lads.     

 We have once again chosen to race with the Derby Phoenix Motorcycle Club and are taking part in the Mini Thunderbike Championship with bikes up to 750cc minitwin engines.  We may lose out on top speed down the straights, but the boys certainly make up for it with their corner speed.  The Derby Phoenix Club have been nothing but excellent to the boys from the Marshalls, Office, Organisers and fellow riders.  We have just completed the Championship with a fantastic result of Kurt 1st and Matt 2nd place overall.  

We are now looking forward to the 2011 season and trying to raise funds to take part in the French Superbike Championship riding in the 600cc Pirelli Championship.  We attended a successful test at Magny Cours in France and are now in receipt of an official offer to race as part of a well known French team as their Junior riders.  This is a big step up from what we have been doing but the boys are really enthusiastic as the assistance they had on their test day was first class and to ride for such a professional team will hopefully be a step in the right direction for the boys’ futures.   We are trying desperately hard to find sponsorship, therefore, if you have any ideas or change to spare, please don’t hesitate to contact us no matter how large or small – all donations welcome.         

A big thank you to all who have helped the boys to where they are today.  Many thanks – you know who you are.