It's well documented that local road racer Danny Shaw from Barrow has had more than his share of injuries this last few years.

Despite being hampered by serious arm and shoulder problems, he's still put up some good performances in the Ducati Tri Options Cup series that ran alongside the televised British Superbike Championships and took place on all the major UK circuits.

At the final round, on the Assen circuit in Holland in September, he took yet another heavy fall, though thankfully it was not too serious.

The winter months are going to see further repairs to his injuries and physio training, meaning he'll hopefully be fully fit for an assault on the same championship next season.

Meanwhile the youngest member of 'Team Shaw' - Danny's six-year-old son Travis - has been making his debut on the Mini Moto racing scene under the watchful eye of his dad.

He's been honing his skills on a fully race-tuned 40cc Blata, having raced at the local Rowrah Stadium, near Whitehaven, and many other English tracks.

A couple of weeks ago, he successfully contested a round of the Scottish Mini Moto Championship held on the Knockhill circuit near Edinburgh. He certainly fared better than I did on my first visit there ..I fell off!

The Barrow youngster qualified on pole position for his first race of the day He contested three races during the weekend against a field consisting of many more experienced riders in the pack, but dad`s advice did him good.

He came away with well-deserved fourth and fifth placings in the Junior 'A' class, crossing the line just one second behind the winner. Not a bad result for his first time there.

Last weekend, he made the trip down to the Lockwell Hill Karting track in Lincolnshire to gain some more experience again under the watchful eye of dad, before either contesting the next round of the championship at an indoor venue at Kirkcaldy, or on the outdoor Three Sisters circuit near Wigan. Watch this space..

*Our good old English weather again caused devastation in the motorcycle sporting calender.

Last weekend, the return round of the North v South Team Challenge motocross event was due to take place on the Fat Cats track near Doncaster.

The Cumbria Motocross Club, who organise the meetings on the Route 44 track at Haverigg, had everything in place at the Doncaster venue when torrential rain left them with no choice but to abandon the meeting.

It was a bitter blow for the 22 riders and supporters of our Northern team who had travelled down and were eager to get back into action after winning the first leg of the competition at Haverigg in September.

The organisers are hoping announce a new date for the rescheduled match soon.

*Often criticised from making the wrong decisions, the TT organisers, in my opinion, have made a correct one for a change, namely they have decided to drop the race for electric bikes.

While I’m the first to admit the technology of these machines are something to behold and they can lap the TT course at well over 100mph, do spectators really want to see less than a dozen machines circulating in a one-lap race?

Excluding them from the programme will give the other classes the much more practice time required to set up their machines for the rigours of the 37-and-three-quarter-mile TT course.

The other worry has always been when one of these machines does catch fire, traditional fire-fighting equipment won’t extinguish them.

This came to light last year when one caught fire in the paddock area.

*Still on the motocross scene, my congratulations to Barrow's Dee Jay Walker, who clinched the Cumbria Motocross Club's 'A' Championship this year on his 250cc YZ Yamaha despite heavy opposition from 450cc mounted riders.

It was a fitting end to the season for the Barrow rider (picture by Eddie Pullin), who has had more than his share of injuries this year (and just become a dad).

The next meeting of the recently formed South Cumbrian section of the Vintage Motor Cycle club is this coming Tuesday at the Ulverston Sports club on Priory Road at 8pm.

New members and owners of machines over 25 year old are always welcome.

If you intend on booking your holidays for next year's TT, the dates have now been confirmed. The first practice is on Saturday, May 30, while the race week runs from June 6-12.