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National Putoline Hare Scramble Championship 2010 |
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Nothing "namby pamby" about Manby!!! The Dirtbike Traxs Team had a venue change for Round 9 of the National Putoline Hare Scramble Championship, Manby Motorplex, in Louth. The open expanse of the 4 x 4 off road training area at the Motorplex was an ideal setting for a H & H race, with wide rolling tracks, tight twisting corners, and a couple of small hills for the show boaters to get a bit of air time! The team was fortunate weather wise as they spent endless hours the week before putting in what seemed like thousands of stakes and umpteen miles of tape. As the campers arrived on Saturday it was a lovely warm day and in the evening the atmosphere around the camp was buzzing, with people enjoying barbeques and music. On Sunday morning the crowds woke to a windy day and a little drizzle threatening to make the conditions very slippery for the Ladies and Youths who were getting ready to start the proceedings at 9:30 am. But spirits were very high on the starting line, especially for the couple of first timers, Bethany Gordon and Kelly and Issy Skillen.
In the Ladies race, Emma Ball lead from the start, closely followed by Anita Gordon, but half way in to the race Anita took a nasty spill, which gave Emma the chance to open up a good lead. Emma eventually finished the race in 1st, a lap ahead of Anita in 2nd, who could not manage to claw back those lost minutes. Ellie Cooke had a good ride again finishing 3rd and Kelly Skillen came in smiling after successfully finishing her first race, well done. It was a good turnout in the junior race and it was Championship leader Ben Turner who lead from the start and with an incredible 12 laps under his belt he notched up his 7th Championship victory, 4 laps ahead of nearest rival Dan Clark, with third place going to newby rider Bethany Gordon. A big well done to all the Ladies and Kids who battled their way through
the slippery conditions!
The Clubman E1 class win was taken by Liam Eddleston who was pushed hard by Eddie Field in 2nd, Eddie had a great ride beating off the challenges of Jordan Johns in 3rd, who had held 2nd place for a good portion of the race. In the Clubman Open class, DBT newcomer Lee Thornton had a fantastic ride to clinch 1st place from two Championship contenders Ryan Patrick and Chris Cooper. Ryan increased his lead in the standings with a 2nd and Chris had the 3rd spot with less than a minute behind. The Sportsman E1 class win was taken eventually by Chris Perry, it was a close run race as Darrel Patrick fought hard to pip him to the post. At end there was only a 6 second gap separating the pair. Matthew North managed to clinch third place from Daz Skillen to claim his first DBT trophy. Andy Trimmingham was going well before having a nasty off, which saw his race come to a premature end with a shoulder injury. We wish him well with his recover.
The Senior A class saw the Senior B championship leader Mike Gilby stepping up to challenge the older boys and girls. Callum Morewood took the holeshot, but Mike is definitely one to watch for the future as the step up in class did not phase him at all as he lead the pack for the first half of the race until engine trouble forced him into early retirement leaving Callum Morewood to take the 1st place spot a lap ahead of 2nd place Jade Gordon and Jack Stafford in 3rd. Andrew Page took the win in the Novice class, some 2 laps ahead of 2nd
place Darren Hart with Dean Laverick in 3rd. The Sportsman class win was taken by Sean Wealleans by 2 clear laps, it might have been a different story if not for a blown rear bearing on David Plant's quad. With 20 minutes left and pushing Sean hard the bearing on the drive shaft gave up the ghost, which let in Ian Wing to claim 2nd place with Paul Hodgeson getting 3rd.
The 4 x 4 class saw two newcomers, Dave Thornton and Clyde Thompson, battling it out for 1st and 2nd. It was obvious the track suited 4 x 4's, as the pair notched up 17 laps, 2 more than anyone else. Dave managed to hold on to the lead and came in 1st, 4 second in front of Clyde with Paul Taylor in third with 15 laps. Once again the Dirtbike Traxs Team would like to thank all the Marshalls and helpers that helped make this weekend a success, especially Stu, who took a lot of time out and braved the hail stones on Thursday to help set the track up. The final round of the Putoline Championship will be held at Driffield over the weekend 2nd & 3rd October. Check out the TGOR website for bookings. The new DBT Winter series will be kicking off very soon, check out the website for details. The first round will be a blast at Butts quarry on 31st October.
Dirtbike-Traxs had a venue change from the original advertised venue and went to the all woodland track at Helmsley in North Yorkshire for Round 8 of the National Putoline Hare Scramble Championship and with it came a weather change after 7 rounds of reasonable conditions. The track is without question the toughest of XC venues with tight tree sections, long rutted fire breaks and the inevitable tree stump to avoid and it was to get tougher when the conditions took a turn for the worst prior to race day. The DBT team arrived mid week to set up and the conditions could not have been better, blue skies, track in good conditions after the grading work, so things were looking good. Friday morning came and along with it the rain, which persisted none-stop until 8:30 Saturday morning just in time for the scheduled practice session. The downpour had left the track waterlogged in places but it did not put off the early risers who were keen to get their teeth into this testing course. With the practice session out of the way it was time to for the Quads to battle it out for 2 hours around the strength sapping tight track. David Baldwin was back after missing the last round and he was keen to reassert his dominance in the Expert class and with a flying start his close rival Andy Warren was going to have his work cut out to catch him. All eyes were on the exit out of the woods as everyone waited in anticipation to see who would be first round to lap scoring, as most people expected it was David with Andy right behind. The conditions and the pace David was setting turned out to be too much for Andy as the gap between the two increased after each lap. At the end of the 2 hours David came in first more than 3 minutes ahead of Andy who had pulled out all the stops and was almost matching David's lap times for the last 2 laps. In the Clubman class, all the regulars decided to stay away, so it was up to the two new comers John Welford and John James Walker got to battle it out. John Welford came home with the win 2 laps ahead. The Sportsman/Novice class was won by John Kerwin followed by Matthew Ambler who had a nightmare first lap which lost him time on the leader that he never managed to recover, in third place came Shaun Wealleans, Gary Hodgeson was going well until he hit a tree snapping his front wheel clean off. The 4x4 class was won by Paul Taylor with Katie Hodgeson in second.
A good turnout of Ladies saw some fine riding from Emma Ball, who led from the off and took a well deserved first place trophy, a clear lap ahead of second place Anita Gordon and third place Ellie Cooke. In the Junior class Archie Flack showed his potential by winning the class by 2 clear laps ahead of second placed Daniel Clark who was a lap ahead of third placed DBT newcomer Peter Sharples. Everyone who took part in the morning race deserves a huge applause for getting round the track considering the conditions.
John Bradford, who led into the first corner and maintained his lead in the Over 40 class to come in 3 minutes ahead of second place Chris Ball both with 9 laps, with Stuart Goodall in third on 8 laps. The Sportsman E1 class win was taken by Harry Eccles with 9 laps, a full lap ahead of Karl Chadwick in second and Chris Perry in third. The Sportsman Open class was won by James Allen, only a minute behind though and pushing hard was Sean Routledge in second with David Bolton in third. Novice class win was taken by Dan Hunter, a great achievement after working all Saturday to repair his bike which broke during practice, second place went to Rupert Smith with Ryan Bulman in third. Think its time to move up to Sportsman class for you three next time! Finally the Senior A class saw a brilliant performance from Jade Gordon, lapping all her rivals, to claim first spot ahead of Gina Bewlay in second and Jake Barnard in third. Once again the Dirtbike Traxs Team would like to thank all the Marshalls and helpers that helped make this weekend a success, especially the ones that braved the weather on Friday to help set the track up. Next event is the TGOR/DBT Ironman at Butts Quarry in Derbyshire on 29th August for any information on this event see the TGOR website www.truegritoffroad.org.uk . Camping available from Saturday , hope to see you all there.
Dirtbike-Traxs returned to the ever popular venue of Gisburn in Lancashire for the last time this year for Round 7 of the National Putoline Hare Scramble Championships. After months of glorious dry weather, Lancashire had been hit by some pretty heavy rain fall over the previous few days, but when DBT turned up on the Wednesday to set up the track the weather had took a turned for the better, with blue skies and temperatures back up to the 20s. The fine start was not to last long though, as on Saturday evening, the heavens opened up yet again, with a constant drizzle that lasted well into the early hours of Sunday morning. The crowds that decided to camp over on the Saturday night were not put off by the sudden down pour and it was not long before the barbeques were out in force. To make things a little more interesting, the decision was made to run the track in the opposite direction to the previous race here, with the addition of a couple of cheeky extreme hill climbs for the experts this was going to be a cracking ride for everyone. The track had also under gone some grading work to iron out some of the longer rutted and bumpier sections. However after the previous nights down pour, the track conditions had totally changed, now with a slippy top surface to contend with, this really was going to test the riders to the max, especially with the dreaded Barnes Banks section to tackle. Once again there was a great turn out, with some of the top riders in the area pitching up to battle it out around this testing track. With the front for packed with the likes of Craig's motorcycles sponsored rider Gav Houson, Ride Off Roads very own Wayne Braybrook, back for his first ride out after 3 months off, REME BEC championship rider Kev Murray and TGOR's rising star Scott Altass, who decided to move up to expert class to give his brother Craig a run for his money, this really was going to be a race not to be missed.
At the end of the race, the Quad riders were treated to some free Monster energy drinks, kindly given out by the Monster Energy crew who turned up and attracted the crowds in their huge Monster Energy truck. After the rain had been drizzling all Saturday night, the competitors awoke to a cloudy, overcast sky, but thankfully no rain. But with the previous nights rain it was going to be a very difficult ride for the young riders. The course had to be altered slightly, removing the wood sections which would have been impossible on the little bikes. Even with the alterations the little ones needed all the courage they could muster to tackle these gruelling conditions.
In the Ladies class it was a fantastic battle for the top three places, with less than a minute separating them at the end of the race. It was Molly Howe who eventually claimed top spot 43 seconds ahead of Emma Ball in second and Anita Gordon a mere 11 seconds behind Emma in third. Each one of the Junior class deserves a huge round of applause for getting round this testing course on their little machines and every one of them managed to finish, well done. Ben Turner was the overall winner with 7 laps with Tommy Grimmer in second with 5 laps and Daniel Clark in third with 4 laps. With the track now fully opened and remarked out, it was the turn of the adults to tackle the greasy conditions. The crowds gathered round in anticipation to see the all star line up gun their engines into the first corner. It was a one race format and all adults were set for a strength sapping 3 hours battle.
Meanwhile Tom Healey was gathering pace and rapidly picking his way through the pack. Towards the latter stages Tom managed to catch up on Gav and Gary making it a three horse race to the finish. At the end of the 3 hours it was Tom Healey who came through to claim first place just over 2 minutes ahead of Gav Houson with Gary Daniels having to settle for third a further minute behind, all three having completed a remarkable 17 laps. With the experts leading the way, the Over 40s was dominated by Mark Houson and Anthony Crow who both notched up 16 laps but Mark came out on top, 5 minutes ahead of Anthony with Chris Ball in third place on 13 laps. In the Clubman E1 class John Calvert managed to pass his brother Stephen early on in the race to finish with a much deserved win and the determination and battling of Jane Daniels got her on to the podium in second leaving Stephen Calvert to pick up the third place trophy.
The top three Sportsman E1s finished on 13 laps and within 6 minutes of each other, Harry Eccles was first with Stuart Thompson in second, less than 2 minutes behind and Chris Perry got third. Joe Wheeler was the winner in the Sportsman Open class with 14 laps, a clear lap ahead of second placed James Allen and Ian Heyworth in third. The Novice class saw Dan Hunter come over the line in first place with 12 laps, Darren Hart in second on 11 laps and Leyton Parker in third with 10 laps. Finally the Senior A class saw an outstanding ride from Ryan Ireland who completed 11 laps, 2 more than the second placed Ben Clark on 9 laps and Jordan Berry who finished third with 8 laps. Once again the Dirtbike Traxs Team would like to thank all the Marshalls that helped out this weekend, especially the Sunday dragging numerous amounts of bikes up the hills, and to the regulars that helped set the track up. Round 8 will be held at Helmsley in North Yorkshire over the weekend 14th and 15th August for any information on this event see the Dirtbike-Traxs website www.dirtbike-traxs.com or ring 07914777534, hope to see you all there.
The National Putoline Hare Scramble at Bolton by Bowland had Kev Murray was back on the scene with a vengeance, leading the pack from the off in the red hot Lancashire sunshine to claim his second win of the National Putoline Championship. After the longest period of dry weather any of the local Bolton by Bowland residents had ever seen, the track had dried out fantastically leaving the going definitely good to firm in most places and not a bog in sight for the first time in 5 years of racing at this venue. The forecast of a bright sunny day brought out riders from all over the Northern counties, making the event a total sell-out in the Adult Race. Some of the top riders in the area turned out to do battle over the fast flowing Lancashire country side including Kev Murray returning after his top 10 finish in the British Enduro Sprint Championship and Andy Cripps on his return from a successful Erzberg challenge.
Dead on 12 the horn blew to set off the Expert class and it was Kev Murray who blasted to the front into the flowing right hander and flew up the short straight on his back wheel closely followed by David Wilson the Championship leader and Grant Hacking. Kev was on a mission from the start and had opened up a good lead coming into the first lap and that was how it stayed for the whole 3 hour race. Andrew Hackett was Kev’s nearest challenger at the end of the race cutting his lead down to a mere 20 seconds with only a couple of laps to go but a pile up slowed Andrew down which cost him vital seconds. Andrew eventually finished 2 minutes behind Kev, both of them notched up a massive 19 laps, National Putoline Championship leader David Wilson finished in third with 18 laps. Andy Cripps was in hot contention for a podium finish until a damaged water pump on his Kawasaki saw him retire on lap 15. The challenge is definitely on for the remaining rounds of the series as Kev Murray is determined to be available for the final 4 rounds to attempt to close the gap on David and claim overall championship winners spot.
The Clubman Open class was a closely contested race, Lee Stansfield was the first off the line and into the first corner but it was Neil Marshall who emerged as eventual winner with David Dudley in second only 50 seconds behind, third place went to Rob Pearce a further 2 minutes later.
The Sportsman E1 class was won by Richard Bentham, which sees him jump into the lead in the championship standings and second place went to Dangerous Daz Skillin only a minute behind, Tony Wilson claimed third, a lap down on Richard and Daz. The Sportsman Open win was taken by Darren Simpson, with his nearest rival being Ian Heyworth 4 minutes behind and Karl Chadwick a further 40 seconds after Darren. Finally the Senior As, which was reduced to 2 hours 30 minutes was won by Isaac Archer, who managed to stretch his lead to 14 minutes ahead of Jake Barnard in second and a lap behind the front 2 was Adam McCarthy in third. It was a fantastic turn out for the Youths race, which kicked off on the Sunday morning for a change and it was Michael Gilby who dominated the Senior B class after an unusual poor start followed by Billy Steinman in second and in third place Ryan Gee. In the Junior class Ben Turner finished first with little Tommy Grimmer second and Joe Depledge in third. All the little junior riders deserved a massive applause for finishing especially those on their first race on their little bikes. The Ladies completed the line up for the Sunday morning, which was won by the local lass Emma Ball, Ellie Cook took second and Tara Johnson took third.
The Quad Sportsman/Novice class win was taken by new comer Alec Hainsworth followed by Matthew Ambler and after initial bike trouble John Kerwin came in third place. Finally in the 4x4 class Paul Taylor took first with Katie Hodgson second. Again Pete and Louise would like to thank all the helpers and marshals a massive thanks for making yet another Dirtbike-Traxs event a resounding success, it would not be achievable without your help. Come and join them again at Bolton by Bowland over the weekend of 10th & 11th July for an Ironman challenge, where the track will be totally re-worked to give the riders a different, longer ride at this fantastic venue. Details
The weekend turned out to be a scorcher in more ways than one at Woodhouse Farm in Great Ayton for Dirtbike-Traxs's 3rd Round of the National Putoline Hare Scramble, with the promise of some sunshine and a line up of top riders for the main race. The weather was forecast to be fine for the Saturday race but a risk of showers for Sunday, for once the weather man got it wrong and the sun was beating down all weekend up in the North East of the country. The hot & dry conditions made a welcome change from the cold, wet and boggy conditions of the last few months for the regular DBT riders of the National Putoline series. The track had been graded and widened in places the week prior to the race, to accommodate the ever growing Quad following and to ensure a more enjoyable ride for all the solo riders, with many more passing opportunities than before. Due to the rapidly drying conditions the dust was going to be a major factor for the riders and the organisers. But for the regular followers of the DBT series they were in for a real treat, especially with the epic battle between Graham Jarvis and Kev Murray for the 1st place spot in the main race. The crowds were gathered around the start area for the main race on Sunday afternoon. The turnout of Graham Jarvis, coming in fresh from a number of recent race wins and Kev Murray, REME's very own BEC Championship rider, eager to build on his training for the British Enduro Sprint Championship next week. This was going to be one of the battles of the series and the crowds were not going to be disappointed.
In the Over 40s class the race was won by Chris Ball who notch up an impressive 18 laps. It was the battle for 2nd and 3rd which was close. David Heap pushed his machine to the limit, but it just wasn't enough as Howard Blundell put in an impressive charge to get 2nd a minute an half ahead of David Heap by the time the flag came down at the end of the race. The Clubman classes set off together on Sunday and it was James Reeves in the Open class who got the hole-shot followed by the smaller bikes of Eddie Field and Scott Altass in the E1 class. In the E1 class, the battle was between Jordan Johns, Liam Eddleston and Scott Altass. It was Liam who came out victorious with Jordan Johns in 2nd , losing the lead after stopping to have his blistered hands taped up and Luke Gorse coming in for his first podium finish of the series in third. Scott Altass missed out on a finish due to clutch failure. The Clubman Open class was won by James Reeves with 19 laps, with David Dudley in 2nd also on 19 laps and Richard Graham in 3rd with 18 laps.
Saturday's races saw a very good turnout for the kids and quads with the Senior Bs leading the way. It was Mike (Spike) Gilby who stormed to victory a full lap ahead of the rest with 11 laps, in second place Darryl Gee fought off the challenges of Dan Suddaby in 3rd. In the Ladies race, Jade Gordon added to her trophy collection by coming in 1st, 5 minutes ahead of second place rival Molly Howe and Emma Ball in 3rd making her come back riding for the DST team. Finishing off the proceedings for Saturday was the quads. Every one of the riders in all classes deserves a massive amount of congratulation on completing one of the toughest and tightest courses in the DBT series. It was David Baldwin who came out on top again in the Expert class with a 5 minute lead of his nearest rival Gavin Dodds in 2nd and Andy Warren in 3rd, all three managed 15 laps. In the Clubman Class, Justin Wilson racked up 14 laps to claim 1st spot with Steven Johnson 1 minute 24 seconds behind in 2nd and Andrew Dixon came in 3rd with 13 laps. The Sportsman/Novice Class was won by John Kerwin who claimed his second trophy of the weekend with 13 laps, With Matthew Ambler in 2nd and Paul Robinson in 3rd. Katie Hobson deserves a mention as the only 4 x 4 entry and it was a fantastic achievement to get her machine round the tricky course and stay the distance. A huge thank you is deserved to all the helpers, especially the marshals who made this event a safe and enjoyable ride for everyone, thanks guys and girls. Next round is at the massively popular Gisburn venue, this is always a sell out so get your entries in early because in past years the entries have been closed well before the race day. Check out the DBT website at www.dirtbike-traxs.com or phone 07914 777534 to enter.
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The
blare of the horn sounded dead on 9:30 am for the start of the Ladies/Youths
race and in the Senior B class, who were off first, the battle for a podium
finish was going to be tight between the top 4. It was Billy Steinman who set
a blistering pace, eventually coming in after the 90 minutes a full lap ahead
of everyone else, completing 14 laps. William Trigg came in 2nd closely
followed by Ryan Gee in 3rd. Matt Clark was going well until he was forced to
retire with gearbox failure. Luke Owen also had a good run out in preparation
for his first bash at the Western Beach race on two wheels.
The
over 40's class saw an old MX stalwart Nigel Packham dust off the cobwebs of
his old Husaberg to give the younger members of the class a run for their
money. With Nigel left on the line desperately trying to get his old steed
going, Chris Ball and David Heap battled it out for 1st and 2nd. At the end of
the race there was only 58 second separating the pair, with Chris pulling out
all the stops to fight his way to the front to claim the 1st place spot and
with David in 2nd, Nigel had to settle for 3rd, slightly exhausted after
struggling to kick the bike over every time it stalled.
The
Sportsman Open class was another close contest with only 6 seconds again
separating the top two. The win was eventually taken by Ian Heyworth with Dave
Bolton in 2nd and Gareth Hawkins in 3rd.
With Saturday drawing to a close the prospect of a fine day for Sunday had
everyone in high spirits and with the hope that the track would dry out
significantly after the quads had dispersed the majority of the water from the
track. The following morning a track inspection was carried out and due to the
track now being quite slippery and rutted following the quad race, the
decision was made to reduce the length of the course for the youth and ladies
race. At 9:00 am the youth and ladies race was ready to get underway after the
mums and dads had managed to get the kids watered and fed ready for the early
start. As the starter gave the signal for the first line to go it was Nathan
Cooke, Luke Owen and Mike Gilby batting for the hole shot, Nathan managed to
get ahead of series leader Mike and Luke out of the first corner, but Mike
soon took the lead and in his normal fashion lead for the rest of the race.
The two Gee brothers, Daryl and Ryan were out to give Mike a run for his money
but the two could not quite close the gap. Ryan had the edge over his brother
for the second spot until lap 4 when Daryl managed to pass Ryan and stay ahead
for the remainder of the race to claim second place, Ryan held off a great
challenge from Billy Steinman to take third place by 3 seconds.
As 12 o'clock approached the crowds gathered around the start area to see
the main race get underway. The full track had been put back in for the
adults, which was still pretty slippery and with the long rutted sections this
was going to test the riders to the max for the scheduled 3 hour race. On the
front row was the Expert class with series leader David Wilson eager to notch
up another win to establish himself as the clear favourite with 2 races to go.
Lee Sampson was also geared up to get his first DBT win on his Gas Gas after
his unfortunate early exits at previous rounds, as was Alex Owen who came
hobbling to the start line having dropped his trailer on his toe. Another DBT
newcomer was 90 MX regular Steven Newbold, who was keen to prove motocross
riders can hold their own on the XC scene. With the addition of the Over 40s
class on the front line and a packed second row of Clubman riders raring to
go, the crowds were in for a treat. As starters horn blew it was John Bradford
in the Over 40 class who lead everyone into the first corner closely followed
by Lee Sampson and David Wilson. It was not long before Lee established a good
lead and settled into a good rhythm, weaving through the tight trees like he
was on rails. The track really suited Lee's style and as the race progressed
his lead stretched even further, when he came through the finish line after
the 3hrs to claim the overall race win, he was an incredible 10 minutes ahead
of his nearest rival David Wilson. Lee was chuffed to bits with his win said
"It is great to finally finish a Dirtbike-Traxs race!" Alex Owen
came in third after a valiant effort considering his earlier injury. Steven
Newbold unfortunately had to retire early on in the race, something to do with
scratching the graphics on his new bike according to his mechanic, nice one
Steve!
In the Clubman E1 class there were 5 potential winners, who all finished
with 9 laps, Liam Eddleston, Declan Hellywell, Luke Gorse, Luke Flack and
Jordan Johns. Luke Gorse was the first off the blocks with a fantastic start
and out of the first corner like a rocket, but after leading for the first 2
laps he saw Declan Hellywell snatch the lead followed by Liam Eddleston and
then Jordan Johns. Declan maintained the lead to finish first followed by
Jordan who managed to grab second place from Liam round about lap 6. The
Clubman Open class was taken by David Dudley who led from the first lap and
finished almost 5 minutes ahead of second placed Jack Kitching. That sees
David as favourite to win the Open class of the series. Fresh back to the DBT
scene was Gareth Lodge who got a very credible third place after a hard fought
race, proving he's still got a lot to offer before moving up to the Over 40
class.
As the DBT team prepared for another weekend of XC racing, the sun was
shining on the Saturday afternoon and the program of events kicked off
with the Quad race. With a lot of the regular Quad riders away on their
hols, it was Expert rider Andy Warren who everyone was out to beat. From
the off Andy blasted away ahead over them all, riding like a man possessed
for the whole 2 hour race finishing a lap ahead of the next Expert rider
John Chew. With only one Clubman rider, Steve Johnson, it was no contest,
but he was set off with the Experts and finished only 17 seconds behind
John Chew, maybe the Expert class is on the cards for next session for
Steve. In the Sportsman/Novice class Matthew Ambler romped away with the
first place trophy with 10 laps, a lap ahead of his nearest rival Alec
Hainsworth in second. There was a real battle for the third spot with Sean
Wealeans and Paul Ransom being beaten to the post by Paul Robinson in
third. In the 4 x 4 class Andrew Kelly proved he could compete with the
boy racers on his four wheel drive machine, also notching up 10 laps to
come first ahead of Tim Clark on 9 laps and Katie Hodgeson in third.
At 9 am sharp the Youth and Ladies race got underway with the Senior B
class first off the line. It was DBT regular and current Championship
leader Mike Gilby first in to sweeping first left hander with Dan Lappin
and Billy Stienman hot on his heels. It was Mike who set the pace for the
first lap but struggled to maintain it due to a problem with his power
valve. Mike misfortunes gave Daryl Gee the opportunity to take the lead
and with Daryl getting faster on every lap, there was no catching him. It
was a great win for Daryl, finishing nearly 4 minutes ahead of Mike Gilby
in second and Billy Stienman in third.
All eyes were on the Expert line up as the clock reached 12, dead on
time the starter's horn blew setting off the first wave of riders. Gary
Daniels was the quickest off the line and into the first lefthander. Gary
took full advantage of the clear route and was the first to tackle the
virgin extreme routes. It was a disastrous start for Tom Healy on his new
bike, as he was left there in the wake of everyone else trying to get the
bike going. The bike eventually roared into life and Tom was off on a
mission to make up his lost time. As the spectators waited around in
anticipation to see who would be the first through lap scoring after the
first lap. The familiar figure of Gav Houson was the first to come over
the far field and up through the final bends in lap scoring with a 9
second lead over Gary Daniels with Biff Smith hot on their heels.
After the initial mayhem leading into the new sections the expert
riders settled into a rhythm, Wayne Braybrook started to pick his way
through the pack until disaster struck and a stone went straight through
his radiator causing a premature end to his comeback ride. He was not the
only rider to have his ride cut short; Lee Sampson was again out of luck
having to retire with a broken front brake. However there were no such
misfortunes for Gav Houson, who was setting some mind boggling lap times
along with Gary Daniels who was pushing Gav hard.
Clubman Open class was another hard fought battle over 14 laps with DBT
regular and Championship contender David Dudley flying round in first
place after a great contest with the eventual second placed Chris Berry
and another Championship contender Dean Johnson in third also with 14
laps.
For the main race on the Sunday afternoon the organisers chose to go
with a 3 hour one off race to give the less experienced riders a chance to
follow the top boys around this fast challenging course. With the start
set for 12 o’clock sharp the eager riders lined up under the beating sun
ready for the starter’s horn.
In the Clubman E1 class it was a similar theme with the ever improving
True Grit rider Scott Altass rocketing off the start line to take the
hole-shot and never gave up his leading position for the whole 3 hours,
racking up a whopping 17 laps. Watch this space with young Scott, it won’t
be long before he’s giving the likes of Kev Murray a run for his money
and then who knows, British Enduro Championship challenger of the future?
Scotts nearest challenge came from Jordan Johns and for his first serious
ride back after injuring his ankle at Gisburn, second place on 16 laps was
a great achievement. Third place went to James Robinson also with 16 laps
and 9 seconds behind Jordan.
Chris Ball took the win in the Over 40s class a lap ahead of his
nearest rival John Lofthouse with John Bradford in third.
After the practice session on the Saturday the Quad race got underway
with Andy Warren leaving the rest standing at the start of the Expert
class but it was David Baldwin who again emerged as overall winner with
Andy battling hard to come in second, David Holman claimed the third spot
a lap down on David and Andy. It looked like Gavin Dodds was going to give
David a good run for his money until injury cut his race short on the 8th
lap just as he was closing the gap on David.
In the Quad Clubman class Steve Johnson raced home with 11 laps, a lap
ahead of everyone in first with Mark Scott in second and John Whitley in
third both on 10 laps
At 1.00 o'clock sharp, the starter's horn blew for the start of the
main race and it was David Wilson, Kev Murray and TGOR rider Danny Field
who were first into the sharp right hand first corner, it was David who
managed to get into the corner first with Kev pushing hard to get the hole
shot. But it was Kev Murray who took the inside line, leading the pack up
the first long hill climb. Graham Jarvis was off to his usual relaxed
start, getting off last from the line. It didn't take him long to claw his
way through the pack, by the end of the first lap he was in third spot. It
was Kev who came in through lap scoring first after lap1 and he was to
keep that position for the majority of the race with Graham Jarvis pushing
him every second of the way.
In the morning race it was Chris Perry who took the win in the
Sportsman E1 class followed very closely by John Kerwin, both with 15 laps
and Mike Slater 2 minutes behind in 3rd. The Sportsman Open Class win was
grabbed by Mick Bottomly from William Charnock in 2nd with Lee Stansfield
in 3rd.