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2010 Putoline XC Championship - Organised by Fast Eddy Racing |
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Nestling beside the brooding, pine clad Red Lion, Saint's Well has a mystical quality - particularly when a full moon is shrouded in low cloud & light rain as it was on Saturday night but on a warm Summer's evening the arrival of a gentle shower was a welcome balm to the Suzuki team after a tough day running training classes for 60+ riders & putting the finishing touches to the course of their 5th round of the Putoline XC Championship.
On the first lap the riders missed out the woodland stage to give the field a chance to stretch out. By the state of their number plates the bogs had also worked their magic as the leaders returned to the MX track with Jason Thomas in the lead followed by James Jackman, Derek Bawn & Lincoln Brewster. The Extreme section had a fast & a slower line. Jason selected the fastest option & launched his KTM off the tyres & over a log 10 feet away. He cleared the log with ease - the only rider to even attempt the jump.
After the event Jason Thomas said "I had a good start. The course was really flowing. Nothing too technical. I had fun. It was good day out". For the Fast Eddy team it was hard work but it really paid off with fine weather, a superb course & a lot of happy riders. PS If you thought jumping the log off the tyres was tricky, Paul Eddy jumped the tyres off the log on the training day.
The winners
Amazingly, for the second weekend running, the country was bathed in sunshine and XC riders came out to play in great numbers. The third round of the Putoline XC Championship, organised by Fasteddyracing.com, saw a full entry in the adult race and nearly fifty riders in the Youth race at Butts Quarry near Ashover in Derbyshire. This long-standing venue presented riders with a huge variety of challenges. Butts Quarry has its own MX track plus a handful of rocky sections around the quarry base linking into several woodland sections with steep off-camber climbs and descents, which suited the more technical riders perfectly. Winner of the two previous 2010 Putoline XC events Tom Sagar was absent, the FIM Enduro Championship kicked off in Spain on the same weekend. The 2009 Putoline XC Pro Champion James Jackman took full advantage of Sagar's absence by taking the lead on his Poole Motorcycles Yamaha 300 at the first corner and never looking back until the finish flag was waved. Ben Wootton followed Jackman for much of the race but slipped back to fourth place over the last two laps, allowing Steve Holcombe to move into second spot and Martin Sandiford to take third place. Wootton clung to fourth as fifth placed Sean O'Neil narrowed the gap throughout the final lap. Clubman Liam Ward rode well and headed the XC-2 class with Chris Pryce
in hot pursuit. Ward managed to sneak in an extra lap before the finish
flag was waved just as Pryce approached lap scoring. Lee Hattersley was
just over a minute behind Pryce and took a well-deserved third place,
beating Gareth Delahay into fourth by two seconds. These two riders
rounded the final turn together and Hattersley just sneaked a wheel ahead
of Dellas. Alex West was a minute behind in fifth place. Gav Tatchell nailed the XC-4 Novice class by a clear lap over Dave Simpkin in second place, who also had a lap advantage over third placed Dan Kerry. Kerry was chased to the line by a closing Sean Murphy, who managed to get within nine seconds of the third placed rider. Tom Grainger completed the top five finishing on fifteen laps but over two minutes behind Grainger. As usual the XC-5 Vets class was a close run thing. Richard Main
stamped his authority on proceedings early in the race and took the win a
minute clear of second placed Colin Blunt. Blunt only just managed to keep
ahead of third placed Dennis Harrison who had Paul Sagar breathing down
his neck for most of the race. Peter Clark rode well and took fifth place
in what proved to be a very competitive class. The earlier race of the day saw Brad Freeman dominate proceedings by taking the overall win and the XC85-150 class win. Charlie Nichols followed Freeman home to take second in class as Adam James took third, a lap adrift of the leading two riders. Oli Benton had an outstanding ride to take third overall in the race along with a win in the XC-SW85's. Antoine Criq matched Benton lap for lap as Jack Edmondson took third place, a lap down on the leading two. Katie Walker pulled two laps clear of Amy Rudd to win the XC-Girls with Mollie Law completing the top three. Ted Bailey and Ryan Rowlands tied on laps but Bailey's three minute
lead saw him win the XC-65 class by a clear margin with Rowlands second
and Ben Clark third. Great weather prompted an excellent turnout. The course ran extremely well for both races, the earlier race running over a slightly shorter distance for 90 minutes, with a great mixture of terrain in dry conditions. Results Youth
Tom Sagar and the new Suzuki RMX450Z sent out a clear message to their 2010 season rivals at the weekend, as the pair dominated the first round of the Putoline XC Championship, held near Ashby de la Zouche in Leicestershire. Debuting the new enduro-specific Suzuki, Sagar overcame the difficult conditions, that saw many of the 170-strong field struggle with overheating issues, to take the win with ease, one lap ahead of reigning champion James Jackman. Sagar commented, "It was a pretty tough event, but the bike ran perfectly and we were able to keep up a fast pace despite the boggy conditions. Whether I contest the whole championship or not is still to be decided, but it was fun today and the RMX proved that it's more than capable in tricky conditions." Results: 1st Tom Sagar (Putoline Suzuki by www.fasteddyracing.com), 2nd James Jackman, 3rd Ashley Lock (further results and championship standings unavailable at time of issue). Putoline Fast Eddy XC Championship 2010 – Press release The Fast Eddy team are pleased to announce yet again its continued association with Putoline who are now on board for the sixth year as title sponsor. The crew are getting ready for the 2010 season with things getting underway on February 7th at the popular Old Parks Farm venue, Ashby de la Zouche. This was the venue used for the final round of the 2009 championship and all who rode were very impressed with the newly designed circuit. Parking is on firm flat ground with some hard standing available for the bigger trucks. At this first round for the new season we have made a few final
changes to the classes we will be running. For the Youths we will have:
XC Girls, XC 85 & 150 Big wheel, XC 85 Small wheel, XC 65 and new
for 2010 XC Autos. For the Adults we will have: XC Pro, XC1 (Experts),
XC2 (Clubman), XC Vets, XC3 (Sportsman) and new for XC4 (Hobby and Fun
Riders) and XC Youth (14 to 16 Year olds). For the first two events the Fast Eddy crew have already decided to use transponders for the timing of the races just in case the early season weather decides to be cruel. We have also decided to stick to a one day format for these events; however, plans are already underway to go to a two day format when the summer part of the championship kicks in. As in previous years we have decided that there will be NO charge for club membership or any license fees. Entry fees for the events will also remain the same as last season at £30 for Youth riders and £40 for Adults which, we feel is great value for money in these stretching times. The usual dad’s “n” lad’s rates will also once again be available for 2010. Entries are available by calling Mandy on 01543 370070 or emailing mandy.edmondson@virgin.net . For further and up to date info check out www.fasteddyracing.com. Yours in Sport Paul (Fast Eddy) Edmondson |
On Sunday morning the weather was perfect - warm, dry & slightly
overcast. The Youths race started at 10.00am. Adam James & Luke Rudd
led off the BW85-150 class. Jack Edmondson took the holeshot in the SW85s
from Oliver Benton & Ryan Rowland was the quickest of the 65cc class. Adam James crashed heavily on the first lap as he rounded last
corner of the MX track but he picked himself up & finished 2nd. Charlie Nichols
(left) won the
overall. Jack
Edmondson was 3rd & Katie Walker was 4th. Harry Edmondson won the
Autos ahead of Cole Cookland & Storm Stacey to clinch the class
championship. The timing was by transponder & a full set of printed
results were available within minutes of the last rider crossing the line.
Youth Results 
The adults race started at 12.30am. The sun had burnt off the low cloud to
reveal a glorious Summer's day. The course was extended to include a
couple of bogs, a cambered woodland stage & an Extreme section. Paul
Edmondson dropped the flag & James
Jackman (right) on the black Poole MCC Yamaha took the holeshot from Jason Thomas on
his VC Racing KTM but on the 2nd corner Jason went down. He took a pounding from
the following pack but shrugged them off & gave chase. George Bayliss was
the quickest of the Clubman off the line followed closely by Rhys Davies. Mark
Binbing stalled on the 2nd corner & his KTM took some encouragement to
fire up again. In the Vets Rob Morris took the holeshot from Colin Blunt.
Richard Cutts was a bit too quick into the 3rd corner & he checked out the
soft going in detail.
The woodland stage was new going. The loamy soil gave the riders plenty of
grip but there was a sting in the tail. A thick branch lay across the track on
a camber. It looked firm but acted like a springboard. Bill McLean & Alex
Trawford were two of many who got caught out. They both needed to fit new
plugs before carrying on. After 2 hours Jason
Thomas led from Lincoln Brewster by over 3 minutes & he had lapped every
other rider up to 5th place. Jason won the overall. Lincoln Brewster was the runner up
& Derek Bawn was 3rd James Jackman was 4th, George Bayliss 5th &
Shaun Buchan 6th. Dennis Harrison won the Vets for the first time ahead of Rob
Morris & Colin Blunt was 3rd. George Bayliss was the best Clubman.
Rhys Davies was 2nd & Gareth Delahay was 3rd. Gareth Jones clocked up 9 laps in his first competition.
Scott Tatchell from Measteg pulled out with a leg injury whilst running
2nd in the Novice class but after some TLC from his mum in the pits he carried
on to finish. Tom McKinnie injured his back when another rider clipped his
exhaust but he soldiered on. Mark Bradbury flattened his exhaust but he
still managed to push his KTM to the line for a finish.
