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Gisburn |
  
GREAT WEATHER For the first time in a few years, the conditions were fine and dry at the very popular venue of Gisburn in Lancashire, for Round 4 National Putoline Hare Scramble run by Dirtbike-Traxs. The fantastic turnout of riders for both days proves that Gisburn is still as popular as ever, as usual, the crowds were drawn to the infamous Barnes Banks. They were entertained all day by the number of the thrills and spills as the adult riders from every class pinned the throttle in an attempt to conquer the steep hill sections. The event drew in some top class riders from the XC and motocross scene, with the like of Lincoln Brewster, Martin Sandiford and Harry Hillas deciding to give the Lancashire venue a bash. Even Steve Ireland took a break from organising his WOR events to give the regulars a run for their money. With only a week to prepare the course due to the venue being too wet, the Dirtbike-Traxs team put in some long hours to get the track ready for the weekend's events. It is amazing how the track dried up in a week and for both days the riders had to battle the hard, bumpy conditions and without the showers the weather man promised, the amount of dust was going to be a big factor.
It was a massive achievement for all the junior riders who worked tirelessly on their little machines. They all deserve a massive pat on the back for sticking at it. It was Ben Turner who came in 1st, followed by Tommy Grimmer in 2nd and Liam Crowe in 3rd. We have to give a mention to Leanne Field who just missed out on a podium spot; it won't be long until she is a regular trophy winner. Jade Gordon once again took 1st spot in the Ladies class a lap ahead of Emma Ball in 2nd and Megan Wilson in 3rd.
As the dust cleared after Pete Botchett set the Experts off, it was David that led the Expert class through lap scoring after the 1st lap. Yet again David was unstoppable, clinching yet another win and adding another 1st place trophy to his collection. The battle for 2nd & 3rd was a real hard fought contest between Andy Warren and John Robson, Andy managed to gain the upper hand but with only a couple of laps to go he flipped his machine, allowing John in to take the 2nd place spot. It was a close call for Andy as Mark Beevers was hot on his heels finishing a mere 5 seconds later.
Youth conquered experience as Matthew Ambler held off the challenges of John Kerwin to take the top spot in the Sportsman/Novice class, the pair battled it out over 13 laps. Lewis Ryan claimed 3rd spot. In the 4 x 4 class Andrew Kelly took 1st, Tim Clark 2nd and Paul Taylor 3rd. The multitude of campers woke on Sunday morning to lovely clear skies with very little wind. This was a promising start to what was to be a fantastic day of XC racing. The lines were jam packed for the morning race; the Dirtbike Traxs team even had to extend the start area to accommodate the huge sportsman entry.
1 minute 38 seconds separated 1st, 2nd, 3rd, in the Sportsman Open class, Lee Stansfield managed to clinch the win from Chris Coulson and John Bolton made it into the 3rd spot. Tony Gunn showed he is ready for the Sportsman class when he managed 10 laps to win the Novice class from Ste Litler in 2nd and Billy Aldred in 3rd. Ryan Ireland dominated the Senior A group with an 8 minute lead on his nearest rival Ben Clarke in 2nd. It was a battle between Jade Gordon, fresh from her win in the ladies race the previous day, and Gina Bewlay for 3rd, Jade managed to pip Gina to the post by 30 seconds to clinch it. With a short break before the start of the main race, it was all hands to the pumps to alter the track slightly to add in an extra challenging decent and an extreme climb for those that felt the brave enough after tackling the now very hard and slippy Barnes Banks. It was a chance for the top boys to show everyone from the morning race how to do it.
In the Over 40s class, Anthony Crowe blasted off the start line and left everyone in his dust trail. By the time he came into lap scoring on completion of his first lap he a more than a minute ahead of his nearest challenger. There was no stopping him and after the 2 ½ hour race he had gained a whopping 5 minutes on the 2nd placed David Selkeld and nearly 8 minutes ahead of WOR regular Gareth Lloyd in 3rd.
It was another close fought battle in the Clubman Open class between Andy Hormshaw and Steve Watson. It was Steve that led for the first half of the race until Andy found his second wind and upped the pace to beat Steve into 1st place by 47 seconds. Dean Johnson held on to third place a lap down on the top 2. The Dirtbike Traxs Team would like to thank all the Marshalls that helped out this Saturday and Sunday, and to everyone that helped set the track up. Round 5 will be held at Driffield on the Bank Holiday weekend for any
information on this event go to www.truegritoffroad.org.uk
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Round
of the Putoline series 4 kicked off at 12 o'clock sharp on Saturday with
the Youths & Ladies race. Spike Gilby took the hole shot for the
Senior B and proved that he is the one to beat this championship as he
led the remainder of the class for the whole race. At the end of the 90
minutes, he had notched up 11 laps and fought off the challenges of Jack
Stafford who finished in 2nd, also on 11 laps with Billy Steinman coming
in 2nd with 10 laps.
The
quad fraternity turned out in force again for the 2.30 start. The dry
and dusty conditions were always going to be a huge battle for the quad
riders and a 2 hour race around this testing track was going to be a
real challenge.
In
the Quad Clubman race Andrew Dixon managed to take the lead from Steven
Johnson after the 1st lap and notched up some consistent lap times to
maintain his lead right to the end. It was only a couple of minutes that
separated the top 4, who all managed 13 laps, it was Steven Jonson who
grabbed 2nd from Justin Wilson in 3rd.
As
the ground frost disappeared from the start line the morning riders were
eager to get underway. At 09:30 sharp the starters horn blew to release
the mass hordes of the Sportsman E1 class Ben Scott led the pack through
the first lap with a nail biting 11 minute lap, he was to maintain his
lead for the remainder of the race. Peter Carr only just held onto 2nd
place from Darren Skillen who finished 5 seconds later in 3rd. The top 3
managed to complete 11 laps during the 2 hr race.
Lincoln
Brewster was always going to be the man to beat and he not wanting to
disappoint, he led from the off with a flying start in to the fast
flowing first left hand corner. As the crowds watched the dust cloud
kicked up from his rear wheel disappear over the horizon, they could
just about make out Martin Sandiford hot on his heels on a KTM instead
of his usual Gas Gas ride. By the first lap, Lincoln had a 10 second
lead on Martin. At to the half way point, Lincoln had long since settled
into a rhythm and was always about 5 seconds faster per lap than Martin.
By the final quarter of the Race, Lincoln was increasing his lead by 15
seconds every lap and finished off in style without ever conceding the
lead and claimed 1st place 2 ½ minutes in front of Martin. There were 4
riders in the running for 3rd place all completing 15 laps, but by lap 2
it was obvious Harry Hillas was the man who was setting the consistently
faster laps and finished nearly a minute and half ahead of his nearest
rival Andrew Hackett.
The
Clubman E1 could have been a totally different race if Jordan Johns had
not come a cropper at the bottom of the Banks and damaging his foot. He
led the class for the first few laps and was just getting back into a
rhythm when he was forced to retire. Jack Colley was another hopeful who
has been challenging for a podium spot in recent races, but also had a
big off on his third lap. John Calvert eventually took up the mantle and
led the pack home 3 minutes ahead of his brother Stephen. Matthew
Cowling claimed 3rd spot after a mistake by Liam Eddleston on the final
lap cost him valuable seconds.