All content © Bob MuIIins

SRMCC

Ashdown Farm, 21 March 2015

First event of the year for South Reading MCC and what a good lap they put out of over 6 miles including 2 MX sections, fast open fields and plenty of woodland

Expert Class

Andrew Bull dominated from start to finish and by the end of lap one he had such a lead he could control at his leisure and entertained all with his skills especially in the fast open areas of Ashdown, for the other podium places it was definitely more of a battle with the two Sherco riders of Jon Hunt and Tom Ellwood who were eventually split by Cornish rider Kyle Jacobs who finished 3rd on the podium and it was Jon Hunt who won the Sherco battle with runners up spot and Tom 4th, 5th and a great result for Jack Liddiard whom was far more consistent lap after lap which without doubt contribute to a top 5, the Kirbinator was in fine form but will be disappointed to be in 6th but considering the talent and youth above I feel it’s a great result, 7th Chris Pryce who had a wee hiccup towards the end as was running top 5 prior to that, 8th and a great showing from The Dumpster Paul Armstrong among such a gaggle of good riders and will be quietly smirking by beating Junior Armstrong 13th but Junior can have bragging rights on fastest lap of the pair, 10th Dan Lawry whom for once actually looked like he was enjoying himself and not a bad result considering, 11th Tim Metcalf and 11 laps and put in a good solid ride and seemed a bit more committed and faster in the nagger copses, 12th awesome ride for Darren Perry who generally rides Clubman A and consistency played a major part in his result today, 15th Niles Reid with 11 laps, TS rider James Meston rode solidly throughout and made very few mistakes but if I was to be critical he is a polite and considerate rider which probably over the event cost him 3 or 4 places, 17th Dave Taylor whom has not ridden for a very long time and still showed he has the talent to run with the top boys but needs to ride regularly and get back to bike fitness, 18th James Foxley not sure why he is so far down the results as lap times up with top 10, Roger Holland had a bad day at the office but looking at lap times etc he would have been in the top 5 all things being equal, Haydn Maller also had a bad day at the office.

Clubman A Class

What a close class this one was with nearly 20 riders all completing 11 laps each, but the airborne styler and giant figure of Donovan Pearce grabbed the top spot and was the happiest I have seen him on a bike for a very long time and that was clear to see and very much the deserved winner, runner up and another great result to an already good season for John Muizelaar who really is in a rich vein of top riding and good results, 3rd Graham Reid on new machinery which looks like a good partnership in the making, 4th Adrian Francis who was having a great battle with good friend James Browning 7th until he decided to put the hammer down and just missed out on that final podium by a whisker, 5th went to Dorset’s Rob Smith who was without doubt one of the quickest out there but a few mistakes kept him off the podium, 10th Brad Warton who had a very consistent day and had a great battle as usual with Lee Boulden 13th until Lee made a mistake that unleashed Brad, good day for Daniel Dicker who has gone from Sportsman ability to Clubman A ability in a very short while, Rob Higgs on the beautiful Beta 14th was one of the quickest out there and in my view should have been top 3 so maybe had problem I am unaware of, 16th Phil Davies who does not look right round the pits without his best mate and son Elliot who is travelling around the globe but never less Phil always enjoys his bike time, Great to see Wayne Tame back in the Enduro mix and looked happy and quick out there and I believe got the fastest lap of class and then something went wrong as finished down in 18th, Paul Chalwin 20th and his performance today showed that he struggles when Lee Blackburn is not there to chase and hound ;-) Barney Thurgood looks and sounds a lot better than his position dictates but body language depicts he was having a ball, Good to see Bruno Studley back out off road and am sure he will be pleased with 10 laps which is a few more than Nick Rumble and 1 more than Nick Summers, Keith Workman also completed 10 laps although towards the end he looked like he had done 100 laps, always good to welcome back strangers so good to see Paul Duffy The Silver Haired Wizard who notched up 10 laps, Steve Taylor travelled all the way from Somerset only to be hit in the face by a rock which curtailed his day.

Clubman B Class

Two riders in the guise of Lennie Tidd and Rob Maller were the dominant force in this class and close it was but Lennie was so much cleaner through the naggery copses at Ashdown and made up a lot of ground and that was the difference between him getting top spot over Rob, 3rd Martin Turner who seemed very much more at home here today and should be a good confidence booster, 4th Nigel Walker whom did nothing wrong in my vista and looked like he was really enjoying his ride and will be a very happy man with result, 5th first ride out for well over 18 months for Robert Hladik and very much proved he can finish where he left off and hopefully see more of him this season, Richard Holland 7th had a very consistent day but looked pained every time through the very rough woopy copse, 8th and a good solid day for Ady Matthews who seems to be having a bit more luck than last season, 9th Tony Wilde and always good to see a TM out there despite his long list of excuses, 10 laps and 11th place for Al Turner which again will be a good confidence booster and test of fitness for the Champion pie eater, 13th Zac King who seems to have an abundance of energy and enthusiasm as also riding tomorrow at Rogershill, Big David Sharpe had a very good solid ride and will be well chuffed with result but is probably more interested in his new garden project, Neal Wailing should have been top 5 but must have had problem some when, Rob Mussell only by the skin of his teeth beat good friend and slimming world’s Tim Lunn with both on 9 laps all I can say is that the writing is on the wall and Tim “oompa loompa” Lunn will succeed, Jake Dormer whether you hate him or love him he sure loves the camera and kept me amused that’s for sure, Daniel Kohler completed 9 laps, Marc Wright looked a lot happier and confident than last time I saw him and as always looks full factory, Greg Scanlan did not look as happy out there today going on body language but managed to squeeze out 9 laps, Adam Pearson was the last ride to do 9 laps and rode solidly throughout, Jonathan Starkey 34th just missed out on that 9th lap, Andrew Wilson flying the RAF colours rode so much better and dare I say very confident from the last time I saw him ride but his lovely team mate Alexis Colyer also riding under the RAF banner let me down as I had made a side bet she would beat Andrew (You owe me Alexis lol), Francesco Lo Sciuto was out on his brand new steed and what a cracking little bike the Gas Gas 200 is and managed 8 laps as well, Simon Gatehouse managed 7 laps and as always enjoys his riding at Ashdown, Chris Reader did not have the best of days with only 2 laps completed but still one better than Matt Noad whom must have had a mechanical woe,

Beginners Class

What can I say about teenager Jack French who won this class with such class, style and speed considering the very few times he has ridden competitively he simply blew me away and without doubt a genuine Enduro rider in the making and would have finished top 5 Clubman B today which is applaudable, runner up also on 10 laps was Scott Ward whom pushed Jack all the way, 3rd and a very happy Lawrence Gordon whom was consistent lap after lap, 4th Nathan Page with 9 laps along with 5th placed David Botting, Lee Davis had a good outing with 9 laps and a top 10 position, finishing off the top 10 was Richard Mitchell with 8 laps on the Husky, BSB engine builder Paul (Bazza) Hannaford has made vast improvements since last event despite being handicapped from birth with littleleg syndrome, Ben Brown had a good solid ride with 8 laps completed, another big improver was Richard Grover with 7 laps but body language was a lot more confident, Squid’s bit of alright Anne Cherry put up a good show as always with 7 laps and that effervescent smile, Greg Rademeyer 17th spot and 7 laps completed, 19th Stewart Liming who was running top 5 on the Kawasaki so maybe had a problem or decided the body had had enough of those copse woops, finishing off the top 20 was Lewis Darodwand who completed 6 laps, TS rider Darren Giggs as always had a fun day no matter where he finishes or what happens.