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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Round 3 @ Carrog, North Wales. Sept 22/23rd 2007 Report by Gwynne Turner. Photos by Aspect Event Photography FAST EDDY SECURES THE MOTUL GB HARE SCRAMBLES 2007 "Paul Edmondson on his Maximum Solutions Suzuki made it three out of three wins in this last round of the MOTUL GB HARE SCRAMBLE Championships. Winning £500 at each of the rounds and scooping the whole prize fund the former 4 times World Enduro Legend can now add the 2007 MOTUL GBHS series to his list of honours. Since the series started in 2004 there have been four overall champions with Paul Bolton, Ryan Voase, John Shirt and now Paul Edmondson taking the prestigious crown. Edmondson was simply unchallenged in this final round and had time to really show boat his skills around the 6 mile circuit that the WOR team had created. Every rider commented at the finish at how good the course had been and the fact that the rain stayed away for the first time in the 3 rounds so far.
Paul said "Its been great for me to win all three rounds and the tracks have been really enjoyable and fun to ride. Also, winning the prize money has been a great bonus however, I must say I am surprised at the lack of Pro’s riding the events. I feel they have missed out on some good tracks and great practice. I’ll definitely be back again for the 08 championship." Lincoln Brewster was on fine form and although no match for the World level Edmondson still put in an event winning ride. Brewster's performance had Edmondson not been there was simply miles ahead of the rest of the Open class. Finishing 6 minutes ahead of 3rd placed Andrew Hackett. Hackett however was feeling revived and was back in something like the form he is well capable of but has struggled with of late; it was nice to see him pushing hard with his feet up style for the duration. James Painton the former super quick MX rider from a decade ago was riding in his 1st WOR event and absolutely loved it. Painton was running in a very strong 3rd place overall for most of the race and it was only the latter stages that Hackett managed to remove him from the podium and leave him in a very well deserved 4th place overall. The top clubman rider was Rob Taylor who had a real race with Harry Hillas for the 3 hours. Hillas has been on fine form of late and has been used to taking the top spot on the podium but Taylor was having non of that and took a well deserved victory come the end of the 3 hours. Taylor in fact finished 6th overall on the day throughout the experts as well with Hillas in 8th the time has come now were these two guys have got to move themselves up into the big boys class. 3rd in the clubman two stroke class went to Damien Butler with a fine ride that again see's him move up to the expert ranks with immediate effect. In the 4t clubman class it was Kieran Tomlinson as the victor from Richard Cookland and Lee Taylor in 2nd and 3rd place respectively The super fast former top drawer MX rider Richard Main had a slow start and was carrying an injury from a few weeks ago, this did not stop him storming ahead of Jack Twentyman to take the class by over a minute come the end of the race. Twentyman in turn put in a convincing win over 3rd placed Gary Benniman.
Briggs took the sportsman class overall from Josh Taylor who is following in his big brother's footsteps as a realty good rider. 3rd place went to Lewis Belfield with a very solid ride to take the last podium place. Team Green Kawasaki rider and one of the best Lady Riders in the country is Young Sophie Thomas and once again she put in a very tidy and controlled ride to take not only the Ladies race but the title of Champion for the second year running. Kate Lloyd was second and Jane Daniels 3rd. Jordan Blackshaw took the novice class on his dad's bike from Andrew Roberts and Ryan Faulks.
The beginner's class was running for the last time as it is to be combined with the Novice class as to be honest they are both the same thing. Andy Latham won from William Charnock and Paul Robinson. So that was the two main races of the weekend and the atmosphere and general mood at the meeting was fantastic with the result updates and the big MOTUL presence in the paddock and track side adding to the "feel" of the event. Results 2hr 3hr Juniors Final standings 2hr 3hr Juniors
The series will have a full write up and press spread regarding the winners in the very near future and like last year the winners will receive their awards and prizes at the 2008 TOUGH ONE in front of the huge crowd just to add some more prestige to the championship. Next years series will return as a 5 round Championship, not just 3 like this year. MOTUL are confirmed as the title sponsors and the series will go under a new guise, The MOTUL OIL NATIONAL HARE SCRAMBLES (NHS) Watch out for more details in the coming months. WOR Events would like to thank all of the landowners involved in the series, The title sponsors MOTUL, all of the hard working Marshals and track staff but most of all the riders for supporting the series so well.
"FAST EDDYS A WOR LORD!! AS BRIGGSY BAGS IT!!" Report: Gwynne Turner. Standings after 2 Rounds 3 Hour 2 Hour Juniors The 2nd Rd of the 2007 MOTUL GBHS series took place last weekend. The abbreviation GBHS is short for Great Britain Hare Scrambles, after another load of freak weather; Sunday's event should have been called the " Great Big Hail Storm" instead. Race boss Steve Ireland had an eager eye on the weather forecasts' on the week leading up to the events and made the gamble as to whether to run or not, It very nearly paid off as the Saturday Junior race was splendid as was the 2hr Inter level GBHS on the Sunday morning. Both these events, especially the Saturday were under lovely sunshine and blue skies. Just like the 1st rd of the MOTUL GBHS back in May, bang on the start of the main 3hr event, the heavens opened and down came the wet stuff. Not only rain but a powerful blast of hailstones! Hail Stones in the 1st week of July! Can you believe it? With the track having dried out fantastically after the Sunday morning race, the heavy 30 minute downpour simply drowned the venue and a reluctant Clerk of the Course had to make the decision to cut the main race by 1hour and 10 mins. No one complained though and a tough challenge had been set for the riders. Despite the conditions a lot of riders commented on how good the WOR Events Prepared circuit was and told the team to be proud it even ran.
Paul "Fast Eddy" Edmondson (left0 has now won both of the MOTUL GBHS' so far this year and is the clear favorite to become the new Champion come the 3rd and final round in September. The Maximum Solutions Suzuki of Edmondson was never really in trouble and the wetter the track became the better he seemed to go. LPE Team Green rider Ryan Voase put in a superb ride, challenging ED for a while and even taking a 3rd lap lead. However once the flying Midlander Edmondson had seen the countdown timer cut short he simply blasted away to pull a 1 minute and 14 seconds advantage to secure the £500 winners bounty. Voase was a quality second and Andrew Edwards (KTM 250F) took the final podium place with a solid 3rd. The top 3 riders all completed 10 laps apiece. Rowland Morris (WOR GG) finished in fourth place just 6 seconds ahead of KBR's GG mounted Lincoln Brewster.
Clubman 4 stroke winner was Lee Hattersley with 8 laps; Lee was the only rider in that class to complete that many circuits. 2nd place on 7 laps was Wayne Collins and 3rd went to Matt Keeling (also on 7) although Keeling was 3 minutes down on Collins. As always the veteran class's at WOR are highly competitive and in the over 35 category, Ian "Human Train" Barnett was simply reveling in the gloomy conditions. Winning the class by over 7 minutes from Gary Benniman was a worthy reward for Barnett. Benniman's little 200 Gasser was singing though and did just enough to hold off 3rd placed Anthony Crowe (Husky 125). Again 8 laps was the order of the day for this class. The Over 45's had it all to do. Starting last on the grid and facing the rain, it was the evergreen Dave Smith with another class controlling win to his name. The only rider in class to get 8 laps under his belt, Smith now leads the GBHS going into the last round. Colin Jones is steadily getting plenty of bike time back under his belt and was rewarded with a strong 3-minute advantage in 2nd place from final podium visitor Brett Hayley. Almost ironically, as the checkered flag came out, so to did the sunshine, a fitting end for another cracking MOTUL GBHS round. Earlier on the Sunday Morning the 2-hour inter level GBHS had taken place with classes for the whole spectrum of riders from Ladies through to Sportsman. These lucky riders still had some damp and murky places to deal with but on the whole had a lovely flowing track to ride with the aid of sunshine. The bogs were rideable and offering big smiles to go with the challenges. It's been a while since WOR have included some of the old fashioned bogs they were once famed for and it made a nice change to see a dirtbike flat out in 4th gear but only doing 20 mph! More of the same I say! One young rider that is hot on form at the moment is young Honda Mounted Michael Briggs. The stocky teenager is riding very sensibly and smooth and urged his machine to a fine overall win on both the Saturday and the Sunday. Riding in the very competitive sportsman class, Briggs was immaculate and took the lead at the 3-lap point. Battling with 2nd placed Russell Matt; Briggs managed to pull a near 3 minute advantage come the end of the 2-hour race. Both Briggs and Matt completed 11 laps (1 more than Edmondson, Voase and Edwards, albeit in better conditions!). Finishing in 3rd place with a fine 10 laps was another fast developing rider, Lewis Belfield. The Novice class had 3 riders all on 9 laps at the cutting edge with the top man being Lee Carpenter with a very comfortable 5-minute margin over 2nd placed John Roberts. The final shiny trophy went to Matt Gill a further 2 minutes down on Roberts. The ladies section had 8 starters and 5 finishers. These young ladies really do get stuck in and fully deserve any praise that comes their way. Top girl was last years 2006 MOTUL GBHS champion, Sophie Thomas. Once again travelling all the way up from Devon with her dad and Brother (Both ride as well!) it was The Team Green mounted blonde pigtails that stood on the top of the podium. Thomas's little KX85 managing to complete 1 more lap then second placed Kate Lloyd. Sophie did 8 laps and the ever-improving Lloyd did 7. The final rostrum place went to "miss consistent!" Jane Daniels. Daniel's was 7 minutes behind Lloyd come the flag. Top man in the beginner's class was Dean Jones on creditable 9 laps with Keiran Jordan and William Charnock in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. A small but strong Youth class was again dominated by the flying Yamaha mounted Gethin Humphreys, Whom managed to get 10 laps in and pip his older brother Owain into second place. Owain Humphreys did 9 laps as did 3rd man Gary Daniels, however Humphreys had a 6-minute advantage at the end of proceedings. As the last riders came across the line the track was in perfect condition for the 3hr battle that lay ahead for the pro race, only problem was that it was not to stay that way, ah well we were in Wales!
In the Upto 13's it was that man again, Gethin Humphreys that took a fine win from 2nd placed Simon Jones. Jones earning some valuable championship points on his KTM 85. 3rd went to the ever improving Josh Parry who has constantly been trying to get himself upto the podium positions. Well done Josh. The little warriors in the Upto 11's put in a great ride and the little wheels of some of the machines were certainly turning very fast indeed. The winner was Joe Wootton (KTM 85) with another committed ride. Small, determined and fast is a fair description of Wootton as is his runner up, Dominic Thomas. Thomas is the Brother of Ladies class victor, Sophie and the ability to ride a dirt bike with class obviously runs in that family for sure. The only 65 to make the podium was Dominic and with his Team Green Kx on full chat in the bog sections he fully deserved it. Third place went to Charlie Nichols. Charlie cruised his way around to earn some more of those valuable championship points. And so another fine event was had by all, despite the atrocious Sunday weather, WOR's gamble to run the event paid off and the series now has one more round to go at the end of September, lets hope it is 3rd time lucky for a dry GBHS…. Great Big Hail Storm!!! "MOTUL MAN OF THE MOMENT………MICHAEL BRIGGS." WOR's next event is Wednesday 18th July with a practice/tuition day from 10-3pm and then the Round 3 of the C F Racing Wednesday night Hare and Hound Summer series starting at 6pm for 2 hours. Everyone is Welcome at the open day at CF Racing (in Corwen!) on that same Wednesday from 2pm till 11pm ish!
ROUND 1 12/13TH MAY @ PEN Y BONT FAWR, POWYS PICS BY ASPECT EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY RESULTS BY THE DIXON TIMING COMPANY REPORT TO FOLLOW TODAY BY GWYNNE TURNER Paul Edmondson wins GBHS Round 1 Results "Paul "FAST EDDY" Edmondson blitzed his way to the overall win at round 1 of the 2007 MOTUL GBHS championship at a rain soaked Penybontfawr venue. The Maxim Solutions Suzuki 250, under the perfect throttle control of a 4 times world enduro champion was more than a match for both the opposition and the conditions. Edmondson is a master of wet, slippery going and the tougher the event the better the man goes. £500 was up for grabs for the open class and Edmondson wanted it!!! He got it. Paul now leads both of the UK's leading Off road Series. The PUTOLINE XC championship and the MOTUL GBHS. The circuit was an absolute gem and had the rain not once again come in with
devastating effect, could be possibly be one of the best off road motorcycle
tracks in the country. 9 miles per lap of ope Joe Wootton was having a cracking ride in the up to 11's solos and took a brilliant class win on his KTM with over a 2-lap advantage from 2nd placed Charlie Nichols. The stylish Nichols (KTM 85) finishing a lap clear of Kawasaki's Dominic Thomas. Up to 13's was topped by Gethin Humphreys who had a very comfortable lead over 2nd placed Cumbrian rider (now bigger than his dad!!) James Dent. Third went to Simon Jones on his KTM 85. Simon's dad, Neil is one of the very hard working WOR team that provides these quality events and venues. Always the juniors give their all and in the up to 16's it was like watching pro riders do battle. Michael Briggs last years GBHS champion (in class) had a stormer, his bike seized on the start line so a spare was brought to him with rest of the pack gone. Briggs slowly but surely closed in on them and took a fantastic win. Joe Deakin on his little KTM however was another star of the day and in act passed Briggs to regain the lead on the last lap only to have a nightmare front puncture take him back a place. The final podium position going to Gary Daniels, well deserved for the talented KX mounted rider. The quad brothers Emberton had a great day with both brothers taking home trophies in their respective classes. The 2-hour format of the juniors is a real test for them and pushes the stamina levels to a maximum and along with very testing circuits it's no wonder that all the young riders around WOR at the moment are shining. I cover all the WOR events and can see these youngster just getting better and better with each event. So the rains came again for a MOTUL GBHS just like last year when the wet stuff ruined the 1st two rounds, but the WOR team took on the challenge as did the riders and a great start to the championship was had by all. A smashing track with a quality turn out ensured high spirits throughout. Get well soon Mr Knoakley, have a rest Mr Sagar, and well done to the master Paul Edmondson …next round of the MOTUL GBHS is 7/8th July in Denbighshire. Paul Edmondson: " It was awesome and for me was really challenging. Although the conditions were extreme it's great for me and makes a change to have events like this were I had to concentrate everywhere for the whole time on the bike. It's been a long time since I had a challenge like this and it made for an enjoyable change for once. The Suzuki 250 was awesome out there and with my big tank now I only have to stop once. The track was amazing and I feel I earned my prize money today." Paul's next event is the PUTOLINE XC championship at Welshpool next weekend 19/20th May. (Contact 01543370070) Steve Ireland: "I'm sick about the weather but what can you do ? Other than that it was a brill weekend and once again I'm very proud of what we have achieved here at WOR. The track was one of our best I think and it's such a shame when the unpredictable British weather kicks in like this. Paul Edmondson was unbelievable today in this event and so to were all of the riders over the weekend especially the kids. My own WOR rider Rowland Morris did me proud today and I'd also like to thank Tom Sagar for fitting the 1st round into his busy calendar with a crazy couple of weeks just under his belt. Big thanks to the sponsors Motul and as always to the hard working team I have here that just never let the conditions phase them. I hope Andrew Knoakley gets well soon as he has took a bad one today." WOR's next event is next weekend 26/27th May at the awesome Robins Mountain track near Abergele. (A55). The event is round 3 of the hugely popular GAS GAS MOTOS UK XC champs and also a rider packed Race Experience Day on the Saturday. More details at www.worevents.com or 07944378432
Working with the leading brand in the competitive UK oil market, MOTUL, will see the prestigious GB HARE SCRAMBLE series return with the fluid giants as the title sponsor. This is MOTUL's fourth year involved with this ground breaking series that has set the scene for many of the other multi lap championships taking place in the UK. To keep this years championship at the cutting edge is the fact that it is now a 3 round series with all to count. Aimed at being the most professional series, The 2007 MOTUL GBHS will commit to second to none press/web advertising along with a £3000 prize fund for the Pro class. (PRO'S MUST PRE ENTER SERIES). With a grand up for grabs at the 3 rounds for the Pro's…the Experts, Clubmen, Veterans, Sportsman, Ladies, and Multiple Junior class's will all receive product and silverware awards to go with their titles of course. The overall winner however in the respective classes will receive a "racer pack bonus" including…a set of Tyres/ Chain + Sprocket set/ brake pads/ full set of oils/complete set of plastics and 3 free entries for the rest of the season ahead. A truly worthwhile prize I'm sure you would agree. With the best tracks and organisation in the UK, WOR events are confident of a Brilliant 2007 GBHS with the classes having some small changes (s1+s2 replaced by 4t +2t) in the adult races and a return in the juniors for age related classes and also junior quads. Pictured above: Nick Turner of Motul & Steve Ireland of WOR Events The dates for the championship are: ROUND 1 POWYS…SAT/SUN 12/13 MAY 2007 ROUND 2 DEVON…SAT/SUN 7/8 JULY 2007 ROUND 3 SHROPSHIRE SAT SUN 22/23 SEPT 2007 The classes are: SUNDAYS…. 3 Adult Classes in 2 hour race series.. start 9.30am JUNIOR: ALL RACES ON SATURDAY'S 6 class's min age 8 yrs old max
age 16 yrs old. (16 yrs and over old ride adult) QUAD UPTO 11YRS 2hrs 9.30AM With race commentary and up to the minute result reports at all of the MOTUL GBHS championship rounds it really stands out as THE CHAMPIONSHIP and will be a series not to be missed….with an easy to enter system (no regs or pre payment req) all details can be obtained from entries@worevents.com or if you wish to speak to the series organiser call Steve on 07929902692 Add into the huge calendar that the WOR Events team already impressively organise, The popular stepping stone into the sport, Race Experience Days, a few classic Time Card Enduros (tba very shortly) , some Wednesday night events and The current Trail Tech Dark One series and it's obvious to see why The WOR team have the backing and support of Britain's best ……RIDERS and INDUSTRY movers. Every rider in any championship with WOR this year will need to be affiliated and registered with WOR to obtain their race number and licence for the year. All details can be found at www.worevents.com
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