ROUND 1
The off season just seemed far too long and after many months of waiting it was finally here, the first round of the 2stroke British Championship.
Early Sunday morning unfortunately the snow began to fall, and fall it did. We had around 150mm and it was getting heavier? There were brief periods where it relented and we hoped to get out on time, with so much anticipation around the pits it was decided to send out two riders to ride a sighting lap and check conditions, Mark Eastwood and Dave Willet took responsibility for that and duly set off on a lap that would decided on the running of this 1st round, safety being paramount the organisers wanted a riders decision as well as the clerk of the course, with plenty of riders having their fingers crossed, it was the good news riders wanted ‘were racing’.
The weather was not letting up as the first group of 125’s took to the track, even the blizzard like conditions could not dampen the enthusiasm, soon it was clear that vision was going to be a riders biggest problem here today as goggles were being thrown everywhere, the track seemed to be holding up well as the second group took off, but now the ruts were forming and the 125’s were screaming around the track, the snow was still coming down! As the 3rd group were mid-session there was an unfortunate gremlin attack the electronic timing gear, a small problem that could not be solved, so these riders went to a qualifying race.
But first we had to let the open class have their free practice session, the bigger bikes seemed to deal with the ruts and the mud better as they ripped around the circuit, as normal there’s two groups of riders in the open class and there’s a mix of machines from 144, 250 and 500cc, Oh yes 500’s. It was after the open class machines had finished it was clear the track was getting ‘difficult’ to get around, the open bikes had dug ruts and holes even deeper, the organisers were working hard to deliver a days racing it with what can only be said as atrocious weather, yes the snow was still falling !
As the 125 group arrived at the start for their qualifying race it was near on blizzard conditions and it was going to take a very smooth and clever rider to get to the finish let alone win it, as the gate dropped it was the Yamaha of Greg Hasnon who lead out of the first corner in the lead, with Darren Redman in his wheel tracks,
With riders qualified into their respective groups it was the C group 125’s who took to the line for the first moto of the day, young Daniel Ward holeshot that and went about trying to pull away from the chasing pack, Tom Preston was wide open along with Jason Wells but it was Ben Bennet who forced his way into the lead and pulled a decent gap, that was until the last lap when he got cross rutted an ploughed into the bottomless gloop the surrounded one section in the woods, he battled to get going again only to fry the clutch in his KTM and sadly fail to finish, Preston moved to the front and held a nice gap over Wells and a charging Michael Johnston, with Bob D’erlanger claiming a very nice 4th place followed closely by James King
The track now was deteriorating rapidly and the B group were about to be ‘unleashed’ upon it, Matthew Thomas came around in the lead with Lee Baggs, David Ford, Ryan Matthews and Karl Jaques all over the track, Karl did tangle with David Bevan and came off worse getting sent into the chestnut fencing, Matthew Thomas was building a nice lead but had to keep a close eye on Lee Baggs who had shrugged of the chasing pack and set about hauling the leader in, Dave Hesford was moving forward all the time and bringing Warren Field with him.
Now the A group took to the line with the snow seeming to stop this was going to be a big race for all those guys quick enough to qualify for A. The tension was as high as the rev’s on these bikes as the gate dropped and Jon Pettit launched his TM into the lead, but only just as Brunnel and last years Junior Champ Adam Reynolds all rounded the first corner together, Jon showed his experience and was using every inch of the track, mostly feet up as well, young Jak Brunnel was second with young Adam Reynolds all over him looking for that place to slip by, Adam tried a move on the tricky downhill only to loose the front end and he went down, Jim Scrafton and Greg Hanson blasted past before he could remount. Stevie Gesner was back after a long lay off and was hauling well up in the top 10 but had Dave Willet on his tail, it was not long before Willet was past and he had company from
It has to be said that the whole MC Events crew worked tirelessly to provide a days racing for us, thanks must go to all the staff and marshals who braved the weather without question, cheers guys (and girls) Roll on Landrake ! Click HERE for some great Images from the day
Roll on Landrake 27th April
Round 2 Landrake
The DEP 2stroke Championship travelled down to the Cornish coast for the second round of the 08 series, Landrake moto parc was prepped perfectly and was a joy to see after the horrendous conditions at Canada Heights, Phil Congdon the circuit owner sure knows how to deliver the goods, perfect grading and track prep ensured this was going to be a cracking event. Very light rain in the early hours of Sunday morning helped dampen the surface, but Phil still went out with the bowser to make sure we had a great track all day !
First out as always are the 125’s and how nice to hear these screamers wound out as Landrake is a fast flowing circuit and these bikes are on the stop everywhere, group 1 qualifying saw that man Jon Pettit take the top slot with an extraordinary time of 2:06:75 ! That is a fast lap around here and his TM howled up those hills, that bike is so crisp its worth the entrance fee just to hear that !! Second place was taken by Greg Hanson followed by Jim Scrafton who looked real good today. Second qualifiers had some help as the lines had begun to form and there were nice berms forming to hold bikes on line round the many sweepers, straight out and on his first flying lap James Kensington set a good lap and held the top slot for a while, but that man Willet was winding his Yamaha up getting faster every lap and on lap 5 he put in a 2:07:34 taking top slot from the rapid KTM of Christian Taylor who had a small advantage over
C group
C group arrived at the start for their 1st race of the day and what a start to the days racing, it was tight into the first corner but it looked like the KTM of Steve Wright get there first but it was close and they were 4 and 5 wide through the first few turns, Andrew Holland set a great pace early on as he battled with Dan Johnson, Steve Whapshott and Steve Wright. Marcus Harrison was out here for his 1st ride, and for those that did’nt recognise him Marcus is one of the MC Events crew who is normally the other side of the ropes working hard putting on the event. Nathan Wells had a great battle with Michael Johnson and Simon Collins that lasted most of the race, but it was Dan Johnson who took the win from
B group
As normal this group has a sprinkling of experts and rapid juniors who are always out for a ‘scalp’ or two ! As the gate dropped it was young Daniel Ward who flew off the start with Sean Doyle, Rupert Kimber and Jason Wells all over each other, Lee Holland swapped paint with Mark Bland & Jason Brunell a few times, Craig Duffil made his journey from ‘up norf’ worthwhile as he battled with Lee Rathbone and Barry Farrow. Danny Whitworth moved through the field well pouncing on any mistake to guide his RM into 6th at the flag. Daniel Ward had the lead and a small gap over
A Group
This is no place for the meek, this group are the ‘mad axe men’ of the DEP series, no quarter asked or given as the racing is hard and the passes even harder ! This is what racing is all about and if you have not seen a DEP 125cc event yet you’re missing out on the best racing in the
It was the screaming TM with Pettit onboard who took the first holeshot of the day, just ! Young ChristianTaylor,
Race two saw the Yamaha of Jack Brunell slid into the first corner which sat up Hanson and Craig English, these 3 were hounded by the KTM of Adam Reynolds who had Pettit chewing his rear mudguard. Willet was around the top 10 mark and had to make some interesting moves as he could see the leaders pulling away, Lewis Tombs had made a good start again along with
Race 3 was another battle royal as Brunell again got the jump from Adam Reynolds and the TM duo of Pettit & Davies, Brett Wheeler had a decent start at last and was in 6th place but had Willet for company, Christian Taylor was just in front of these two, Willet parked up young Taylor with a real nice and simple move then he set about passing Reynolds, meanwhile Pettit had passed Brunell for the lead and was checking out as he got faster as the day went on, Willet had the speed to catch Pettit but had to work hard again just to get to the top few. Just on the top ten saw a mega battle with Highway Oliver, Lloyd Morgan, Ricky Leatherby, Jim Scrafton, Darren Redman, Nicky Watts, Lewis Tombs, Oliver Rusby and Jack Plowman all covered by a second or two, and with some brilliant passing and re-passing this bunch entertained for sure, Sean Stevens parked Nicky watts up in the banked corner but the KTM of Watts had more grunt and Nicky seat-bounced over the whole mini whoop section and re-passed him. Redman disappeared along with Ryan Tomkins somewhere out of sight, as this group started to sort themselves out, Pettit controlled from the front as Willet had Brunell in his sights with one lap to go he pulled up with a problem,
Landrake always delivers the goods and thanks to Phil Congdon we are always treated to a great venue and some brilliant racing, Pettit rode like a Champ today, Willet suffered a broken plug tip causing him to dnf the last one,
Results 125 Junior 1 Christian Taylor 2 Lloyd Morgan 3 Jack Plowman 4 Samuel holloway 5 Matthew Thomas 6 Ryan Tomkins
125 Expert 1 Jonathan Pettit 2 Jack Brunell 3 Jim Davies 4 Lewis Tombs 5 Ricky Lethaby 6 Greg Hanson
After a week of glorious sunshine, the
The 125’s hit the track for qualifying and group 1 was a walk in the park for the flying Jack Brunell, he took advantage of a nice flat surface and blasted in a 1:40:73 lap which was just over three and a half seconds faster than second place man Lewis Tombs and in third came Greg Hanson, the track now forming some lines group 2 went out and was a closer group with the top 3 split by just 1.95 seconds. Taking top slot was the TM of Jimmy Davies who’s been a changed man this year and is well on his way back; he put in a
C group Races
This group were first out on a freshly watered track, the crew here doing a great job on the circuit in the blistering heat, first around the corner came young Billy Mitchell from Steve Wright, Jake Humphreys and Alex Degnen, these had Tom Preston looking for a way past as he looked to be on a mission. Mitchell had made a mistake somewhere and we saw Preston hit the front, meanwhile coming through fast was Linford Healy, he was on the gas for sure here today and set about getting to the front, Humphreys went missing during a battle with Ian Wyllie as these two just stayed in front of a typical 125cc battle consisting of Keith Pattison,
B Group Races
With the normal spread of experts and fast juniors this group is not for the faint hearted. The first corner was busy to say the least but it was the Suzuki of Daniel Ward who lead over the table tops but only just as they were 5 wide for at least half a lap, Stevie Gesner, Jason Brunell and
It was Brunell who lead the last race followed by Peedle, Ward, Gesner, Jason Wells,
A Group Races
Well what can be said about these guys, you have the youth, the experience and then there’s treachery, there’s always a battle and that’s what 125 racing is about, riders tapped, bikes screaming and passes made. First race holeshot went to Ryan Mclean, he launched his RM and used all the banking to great effect, behind him Ryan Tomkins and Ryan Turner battled for second, unfortunately halfway through the first lap Ryan Hamblin took a tumble and got trapped in another bike, the race was red flagged for the safety of young Ryan. The restart was a holeshot for Greg Hanson just ! Pettit moved through to take the lead, Shaun Stevens slotted his Honda into third with Jack Brunell and Dave Willet all over him,
Moto two saw the TM of Pettit and the Yamaha of Brunell slide around the first corner close, real close ! Willet parked Davies as Tollet looked for away past, Hanson had another top 10 start and looked so stylish, Reynolds had barged his way into the top ten with some great moves, as behind him Oliver Rusby tried that a touch too hard and went down hard on the first lap, he did remount but lost a lot of time, Shires, Scrafton and Tollet were putting on a show as was Lewis Tombs who just needs a start and he would be a constant front runner, Nicky Watts showed well in this moto too. Ryan Tomkins and Glen Bixby pushed each other around for a few laps, but it was Bixby who washed the front out and went down just after the finish jump, that jump almost claimed Reynolds as his KTM spat him out the seat and he had a great view of his own front number plate, he did save that but we don’t know how ! Pettit inched away as Brunell and Willet had another game of cat and mouse, Willet lined him up a few times but where a pass looked made a backmarker would foil Willets plan, their last lap was mental as Brunell did everything he could to hold second place, Willet got so close a few times the pass looked certain but he just could not find the right line to make it stick, Pettit cruised to the win as Brunell crossed the line just over half a second in front of Willet, Davies had held Hanson at bay while Morgan held Tollet who may have been distracted by the charging trio of Reynolds, Shires & Scrafton.
The last race of the day saw some heavy cloud and the threat of rain, Brunell pulled the holeshot and lead the chasing pack into the woods, Pettit came out in the lead with Hanson and Tollet in the mix, Pettit wanted a clean sheet today and the little TM screaming in protest, as he tried to gap the chasing pack. Brunell again had second early on and this is because of his start’s. He is rarely out of the top 3 ! Davies had Willet scratching at his rear tyre as Scrafton, Tollet and Reynolds locked horns yet again, Willet was not letting up and he passed both Davies and Brunell and was clearly looking forward over the big jumps to see where Pettit was, once he locked onto the TM rider he relentlessly hauled him in and made a great pass, as this gnarly track got worse Willet seemed to get better, whether Pettit rode safe for the overall win or Willet had just rode a great moto we wont know but these two riders entertain us every week and its great to watch some unbelievable racing, further down the field there was another of those mass battles and this time the show consisted of Bradley Howlett, Lewis Tombs, Oliver Rusby,
Overall Results for round 3:
125 Juniors
1 Llyod Morgan 2 Ryan McLean 3
125 Experts
1 Pettit 2 Willet 3 Brunell 4 Hanson 5 Davies 6 Reynolds 7 Shires 8 Scrafton 9 Tollet 10 Tombs
The DEP circus moved to the hillside venue of Pontrilas just over the Welsh border for round 4 of the 2008 Championship, with its steep hills, off camber corners and rutts we were guaranteed some great action. Qualifying began on time and group 1 was dominated by series leader Pettit, Jon is now on a roll and has that TM dialled in, he just plain rip's and others are trying to hang onto him, he set a 2:19.06 and in a fine second place Christian Taylor who was looking good today, second group qualifier honours went to Jack Brunell who put in a scorcher of 2:15.63 and again second place was taken by a rapid junior this time it was Lloyd Morgan. The third and final group was a closer affair with 'iron man' Willet on a 2:16.88 just nicking it from a flying Adam Reynolds by 3/100ths and just 3/100ths behind Adam was the other TM of Davies !
Race one saw Reynolds and Brunell lead the pack as they dropped off the first corner down to the lower section side by side, Brunell just eased Reynolds over the berm and the KTM man was instantly demoted to 7th place, Brunell knew he would have company soon and set some cracking lap times as he tried to put a gap on the chasing pack who were fighting each other tooth and nail, all this time Pettit had sliced through the top 10 group to second place and with Brunell a good 10 seconds ahead he locked onto the Yamaha and began his assault, relentlessly the TM closed in and with a few laps to go Pettit launched off the big downhill in the lead. Hanson had been slogging away putting in real consistant lap times and would pick riders off on his way forward, Christian taylor was inside the top 10 and leading the Junior Championship by a mile, Lewis Tombs was hauling until a mid-race missfire hampered his efforts and he played it safe to finish, at the flag Pettit had a massive 28 second lead ! over Brunell who had Hanson closing in from Taylor and Willet.
Race 2 looked like young Christian Taylor made the holeshot but must of had problems on that downhill sweep as it was Pettit screaming the TM out in front, the track had developed some brilliant lines and these 125's were all over the track trying to find that 1/2 second. Young Lloyd Morgan who crashed out of the first race had pulled a great start and hung onto the top few riders, he looked a little out of shape but was wide open and aiming to prove a point, he had that KTM howling nearly as loud as his pit crew ! Adam Reynolds had again put his KTM into the top 5 around the first corner and quickly moved into a fine third place, Willet had pulled a top ten start but came around after one lap in 6th, Shires had his best start of the day and was locking bars with Wheeler and Nicky Watts. A few laps in and we lost Ady Peedle and Matt Thomas who must of took each other out ! Stevie Gesner and a returning Steve Collins had a great battle that seemed to be the whole race long, good to watch lads ! By now Pettit had the TM on cruise and was probably thinking about the drive home so big was his lead. Its real unusual to see such big gaps at a 125 race but today Pettit had something extra, and I think I know !!! it was the rabbit on his bbq saturday afternoon. Brunell had to keep an eye on Morgan and Reynolds in as the KTM lads was starting to push and they had to stay alert as the battle between Willet and Craig English was getting closer, and on the last lap Reynolds lost about 10 seconds somwhere as the two Yamaha's were on him and on the last lap he must of made the same mistake as he was behind them and by a few seconds as well, Davies held off Taylor but could not make inroads to Reynolds who held 6th at the flag.
Race three blasted off the line as James Potter tangled and was put into the fence, with no damage done a quick prod and the KX fired into life and he rejoined the race, out front the leading group of Brunell, Willet, Pettit, Taylor, Reynolds and Hanson got to work giving the crowd another brilliant show. Young Taylor has stepped up and is giving as good as he gets now making some good passes and showning no mercy to the experts, another junior clawing his way up and earning respect is Lloyd Morgan who has improved with every round, he had his KTM flying around Pontrilas today beating some good names along the way, Lloyd is definitley a rider to watch ! Reynolds went down whilst in the top 5 and Shires and Oliver went on the missing list for a while, Brett Wheeler had got a good start and showed some style as he battled with Davies, Willet, Hanson and Reynolds who was now trying to make up time from that earlier slip, Willet was a little 'safe' today as he had carried with him a shoulder injury from last week, solid is one word to describe the Dover racer and he piloted the Yamaha to around the top 5 postion again. Meanwhile out front Pettit was putting on a show and was demoralising the opposition, this was Pettit at his best and it was a joy to watch and of course hear ! Brunell had no answer today and infact had trouble as the top 2 juniors had amazingly come through some quality riders and had latched onto the EGS Yamaha, Morgan had battled his KTM into third but he too had company as Taylor had clawed his way to fourth, it was close at the flag real close infact as Pettit had finished and had his helmet off , 2nd through to 9th were split by just over 6 seconds !!!!
Overall top 10 on day, Junior 125's
1st Christian Taylor 2nd Jack Plowman 3rd Bradley Howlett 4th Lloyd Morgan 5th Oliver Rusby 6th harlie Statt 7th Stevie Gesner 8th Jasper Uphill 9th Ady Peedle 10th John Butler
Expert Class
1st Jon Pettit 2nd Jack Brunell 3rd Dave Willet 4th Greg Hanson 5th Jim Davies 6th Adam Reynolds 7th Brett Wheeler 8th Luke Kennett 9th Lewis Tombs 10th Ashley Harland
Round 5 Whitby
We can only describe round 5 of the series as "Awesome". The Whitby club along with the Noble clan delivered a perfect circuit, with a good dowsing of midweek rain and excellent track prep they guaranteed a pristine surface. Race day saw glorious sunshine, large crowds and some of the best 2st racing since we started the series.
As always the 125's blasted out onto the circuit for their first qualifying session and on a clear smooth track it was young Jack Brunell who whipped his Yamaha into pole from series leader Jon Pettit, who only did two laps and pulled in ! and in a distant third place came Suzuki GP campaigner Jason Dougan. Top junior honours were taken by the flying Christian 'Turbo' Taylor who was just behind Dougan ! Group two ripped out and it was clear that Dave Willet was on a mission taking pole by 3 seconds from top junior Lloyd Morgan and a charging Jim Scrafton and Craig English. Lines now appearing group three set about their business and it was the rejuvinated Jim Davies screaming the little TM to a fine pole from a very smooth looking Adam Reynolds who pushed his KTM to within 0.7 seconds of the leader, third went to a strong looking Paul Shires who is back on form and flying that 'motoshack' Yamaha high. Top junior in this session went to series regular Bradley Howlett (not sure about that new helmet colour Brad ?)
MOTO 1 With qualifying done and the spectators still coming through the gates the A group arrived at the start line, as the gate hit the dirt it was the tiny figure of Jack Brunell wheelying up that hill to take a fine holeshot from Lloyd Morgan and his rapid KTM, as they blasted through the first set of whoops and hit that massive stepdown four and even five wide series leaderPettit was fighting a midpack start, Reynolds, Dougan and Davies locked horns and battle comenced, 'Ironman' Willet had piloted the Yamaha to a great 4th place on lap one and swiftly moved into second behind Brunnel, fastest man out there was onboard that screaming TM yes it was Pettit carving through the field and he did manage to pass Willet albeit breifly as the front end washed out and the TM man slid off, as quick as he went down Pettit had fired the bike up and a bang of the levers and he took off after the lead duo. Willet had gone into his normal mode of 'lock on and destroy' as he relentlessly reeled Brunell in and although young Jack tried to respond he could not halt the charging Yamaha of Willett and with a lap left Willet took the lead and did actually put a decent size gap into Brunell who looked like he may of settled knowing Pettit was a good few seconds back. Dougan had taken to long battling with Reynolds, Davies and top junior Morgan to even get near the top three but looked happy with a decent 4th, the top juniors were onfire today and they performed well up the sharp end of this A group, Morgan and Taylor had their KTM's wide open all around this jump infested circuit with the former taking this moto. Davies had swapped paint a few times with Shires, Reynolds and English in their 'moto long' duel. Great entertainment lads keep it up !
MOTO 2 No messing around this time as it was Pettit who fired the TM up that hill a good 5 metres ahead of Brunell and this time Davies making it a brace of the light blue bikes up the sharp end, Pettit had one thing on his mind and that was break away from the pack and he set some of the fastest and most consistent lap times of the day to edge away, there was a Kawasaki charging in the hands of the Jamie Smith who had gained a wild card entry for this event and he threw in some of the best whip's over that big downhill step down, he was banging bars with Davies and Taylor, Shaun Stevens went missing on lap three along with English, all the time this was going on Willet was muscling his way through the lead group with some absolute perfect passes as well as the odd 'hard' one. Willet did get to pass Brunell for second but had no time left to 'lock' onto Pettit as the TM star was in cruise mode now and watching the chasing pack, so Willet eased off the gas to take a sound second rather than risk a crash. Dougan had made no mistakes this moto and looked at home on the little Suzuki and had demoted Davies early on and with a couple of laps left he could see Willet had settled, the GP star worked the lappers perfectly and pounced on the Yamaha man to take a fine second place, Willet did claw back but had to follow Dougan over the line and Brunell held off the wild but entertaining Smith. This moto was hectic to say the least and there was many a battle but none as good as the session between Brett Wheeler, Shires and Reynolds, these three riders passed and re-passed each other the whole moto with a strong looking Shires beating Wheeler and Reynolds.
MOTO 3 Two down and one to go to decide the overall for the day between Pettit and Willet as they lay tied going into this moto, out of nowhere came John Butler who sneaked the holeshot from Taylor and James Kensington, as they smashed through the first few turns and that whoop section it was Willet who sailed over that stepdown in front ! Kensington had landed the Maunders KTM in second with a massive 'over jump' and still made the inside and right in his wheeltracks was young Brunell, these 125 races are not for the faint hearted as the first few laps are close ? 4 and 5 wide for ages and there's always chaos, this moto it was young guns Jared Pickford and Olly Rusby who went missing early on, Ashley Crossley had wiped out hard and was a little 'subdued' to say the least, up front Willet had the little Yamaha nailed as he charged around this Whitby track. Pettit had to dispence of team mate Davies who again proved he has the starts sorted at last on that rapid TM, Smith, Brunell and Taylor could not halt the charge of Pettit either as he showed everyone how to find lines around this now knarly track, Pettit seemed desperate to catch Willet as they duelled with lap times, Davies had held off Dougan Smith for most of the race only to slip and gift Smith the pass, then Dougan hounded him and he too managed to get pass, Dougan's charge was halted somewhat by the wild antics of Smith who had that Kawasaki making shapes they're not supposed to ! Smith was often only inches away from the Suzuki man and things looked like they would get 'messy' the cool head of Dougan dropped back a few metres so he could see a gap and then pounce on it, which he did and he nailed a fine fourth place. Pettit had clawed and dragged himself onto the rear mudguard of Willet with a little over a lap to go the TM rider found a super quick line through that rythmn section and passed Willet for the lead, Willet had other ideas and leapt out of the bombhole and cleared the following jump as well to land alongside the TM, Pettit somehow held the inside and control of the whoop section and crossed the line just over 0.5 of a second in front of the Yamaha, fairly quietly Brunell had gone about claiming third at the flag, Reynolds had layed the KTM flat in a corner rutt only to headbutt the inside post nearly knocking him off the back of the bike, Kensington was back on form and claimed 11th, crash of the day went to Bradley Howlett in this moto as he over jumped the step down and was too far left landing in the barrier fence, that crash looked spectacular and he was remarkably up on his feet quickly, he even remounted to get a finish ! top lad.
Overalls on day Juniors: 1st Christian Taylor 2nd Lloyd Morgan 3rd Jack Ploughman 4th Ryan McLean 5th Ryan Turner 6th Matt Thomas 7th Brad Howlett 8th Olly Rusby 9th Steve Gesner 10th Dan Ward
Experts :1st Jon Pettit 2nd Dave Willet 3rd Jak Brunell 4th Jason Dougan 5th Jamie Smith 6th Jim Davies 7th Paul Shires 8th Brett Wheeler 9th Adam Reynolds 10th Jim Scrafton
Whitby has to go down as one of the best events so far and with the series hotting up roll on Wakes Colne !
Round 6 Wakes Colne
With a four week break in events the DEP Championship blasted back on the scene from the Halstead clubs Wakes Colne circuit. The MCF crew had worked overtime at the venue to ensure a perfect days racing and I would say that it is the BEST that track has ever been, well done lads and of course Nick from the host club who put in plenty of hours in those machines, watering was courtesy of the English summer and the track was spot on for Sunday morning, hopefully the track will get this TLC before every event, that will guarantee full grids for any organiser!
The 125s fired up and the first group rolled onto the track for qualifying, there seemed to be plenty of spectators and the atmosphere was electric, the decent break seemed to have rejuvenated everyone and we were buzzing. As qualifying went on it was clear to see that all the riders were enjoying the revamped track with some big airtime to enjoy and a deep loamy surface to hook up in there were some fresh faces emerging, none more so than young Christian Taylor who took group 1 honours with a fine 2:08.16 as he had that KTM wound out all over this circuit, he had managed to beat series leader Jon Petit by 0.86 of a second and there’s not many guys this year can say that! Petit though, cool as ever just seems to let everyone worry about him as he justs puts lap after lap after lap all on the money. 3rd saw last years Champion Dave Willet ride a solid 2:09.38 just under 0.5 second behind Petit. Times were close right through the pack and there were now lines forming and berms building, the second group had a significantly better track and we hoped for a better time, right out of the box Jack Brunell had his Yamaha nailed and did not disappoint us, he put in a mega lap of 2:03.9 ! Its not out of Jacks hands and he had just sent a shockwave through the contenders, was this going to be a Brunell round? Second place went to the flying Lloyd Morgan who pulled some nice whips on route and 3rd went to
Race One
Qualifying done and the stage set for some classic 125cc racing, the sun was shining and the bikes were on the line for the first A group battle of the day, as the gate dropped it was clear to see Brunell had launched the EGS Yamaha and had a bike length lead halfway up the hill, he rounded the first corner with a solid holeshot as the pack were still five wide with the Honda of Shaun Stevens making a flyer, along with Willet, Taylor and the TM duo of Davies and Pettit. Brunell was on a mission and quickly set about clearing off, but the cool head of Petit working out every possible line to pass and catch him Brunell knew he had to go 100% and hope the TM got held up, well it was working as Lloyd Morgan gave as good as he got from both Willet and Petit as these two established stars pushed the youngster, but Morgan was not letting up. It was Willet who nailed second as he railed a Wakes Berm and passed Morgan as he carried more speed, and as ever Petit was there to pounce as Morgan went off line to hold Willet, that’s just how hard and close the DEP 125 is, Morgan re-grouped but had Taylor and Davies all over him now, this type of hectic racing is just what brings these young guys on and its so good to them running up front with the established experts. Brunell had a 3 second lead and the screaming TM of Petit had found its way into second, in an instant Petit locked onto Brunell and started to bridge the gap, Willet just could not get anymore out of the little Yamaha and had a solid 3rd place, Shaun Stevens had started well and was hauling in a bunch of six all inside the top 10, Adam Reynolds had pulled a decent start on the 125mx.com KTM and was riding with a braced hand after breaking bones at the U21’s just 2 weeks ago, he rode well and even passed a few riders but could not let it hang out as normal so his ride through the pack would be hard as there’s no place to hide here at the DEP. Oliver Rusby locked horns with Stevens as these two entertained the crowd, Brett Wheeler was up on the pegs and looking good too. Petit had caught and passed Brunell and then put in some blistering laps to breakaway, and those few laps the TM hit every line perfectly as he pulled effortlessly away, the TM screaming in protest was a joy to hear as Petit set a new lap record of 1:58.95 and that was just over 2 seconds faster than Brunells race times! Willet had worked quietly to take 3rd with Davies fighting his way to 4th.
Race Two
With some scores to settle race two was going to be a belter, again Brunell took the holeshot from Lloyd Morgan and that man Petit, Willet looked like he landed on Stevens on the uphill section but both stayed on, Stevens had another top five start but had Davies, Taylor and Reynolds all over him. James Kensington had another midpack start and was working hard to get through the mêlée,
Race Three
Could anyone stop Petit making a clean sweep as they lined up for race three? Brunell was sure going to try and Willet had a score or two to settle, or would it be one of the young guns? Like a replay of the previous two starts Brunell just leapt out of the gate and must have some sort of launch control as that bike fires him to the first corner, Taylor was with Davies inches behind the leader with Willet and Petit flying high, side by side over the uphill double and tabletop, Willet had looked like he passed Davies on that steep jump and Petit went wide to miss a wayward Davies, Morgan had Stevens and Reynolds chewing lumps out of his bike as they had a super smooth looking Wheeler making another great start, Brett has threatened to ride like this all year and now he’s bang on form, keep it up dude ! Lee Holland, Stevie Gesner and Joshua Scott were separated by no more than a second for most of the race, Daniel Tilly had made A group again and is steadily making his way forward with each event, this newcomer has settled in quickly and should bust into the top 20 real soon, as is Daniel Ward as he adjusts to the new Suzuki. Up front Davies held Petit for a while until Petit could find a ‘safe’ place to pass his team mate as the two TM’s howled around the track line astern, Willet had his Yamaha on full loud as he wanted to pass Brunell for a moto win, suddenly Willet had Petit all over him and he naturally rode a touch defensively only to get baulked by a lapper and Petit struck, once passed he easily made the step up to Brunell and with a sweeping line powered passed the leader and yet again put on a master class of how to decimate the opposition, Brunell gathered himself and concentrated on keeping away from Willet, but Willets attention was on a ballistic Taylor who had his KTM on the limiter everywhere as he sensed a major scalp ! Wheeler had passed Reynolds as these two caught Stevens but they just didn’t have the time to pass him. Pettit took the win for a clean sweep today and with all honesty it looks like Pettit and that TM have raised the bar this year at the DEP and its going to take something special to get up there with him, there’s flashes of brilliance from other riders but no-one can match Pettit’s all out speed, at present Pettit is dominant and it would be a good bet for the title. That said this is 125mx and we know that you never say never. Another fantastic event and with a two week wait for Blaxhall we can only hope this red hot action continues, see you there!
Overalls on day
Juniors 1st Lloyd Morgan 2nd Christian Taylor 3rd Jack Plowman 4th Bradley Howlett 5th Lee Holland 6th Oliver Rusby 7th Ryan Turner 8th Jasper Uphill 9th Joshua Scott 10th Ady Peedle
Experts 1st Jonathon Pettit 2nd Jack Brunell 3rd Dave Willet 4th Jim Davies 5th Sean Stevens 6th Brett Wheeler 7th Paul Shires 8th Luke Kennett 9th James Kensington 10th Jim Scrafton
Round 7 Blaxhall Pits
Blaxhall has always provided fantastic racing and is a favourite venue for many of the DEP racers, its deep sandy surface challenges both man and machine, it’s always prepped to perfection and has plenty of lines and for those who like it rough this is the place to be. With the track receiving a dowsing of overnight rain qualifying was going to be exciting as Blaxhall has a few surprise’s in these tricky conditions and our 125’s have to work real hard in this heavy going, there were a few bikes seize where riders had not jetted up ! First qualifying group hit the track for their session with a smooth surface to blast around on, and straight off the TM pair of Pettit and Davies had their bikes on the stop and shot to the top of the leader board, Pettit calmly pulled in and watched to see if anyone could get near his time of 1:51.03, charging hard was Taylor who had his KTM screaming and just beat Davies for second with a 1:55.08, local guy Howlett had found some great lines and put in his highest ever qualifying place in 4th with a 1:59.26. Group 2 were released and they had some lines to follow now as the track was already forming, right away Morgan posted a 1:56.11 which held top spot for a while until Brunell let rip with a 1:51.60. An ever improving Stevens who has now joined in the fun up front set lap after lap but just missed beating Morgan with a 1:56.72. With the track now having some ruts and big holes group 3 entered the arena, Harland had set a 1:58.30 which held for a while as Willet was winding the Yamaha up for a few laps obviously searching and looking at the track for later in the day, the Yamaha man did take pole with a 1:57.27 third was the KTM of Reynolds who just missed out on second by the closest of margins with a lap of 1:58.31.
Moto 1:
With each lap of qualifying Blaxhall was getting rougher and rougher, deep ruts, whooped out sections and bumps everywhere, it was going to be a great days racing ! The A group is stacked with talent as always and is one great race to watch, there’s action through the field until the flag drops, first corner action saw a KTM trio of Taylor, Morgan and a flying Ryan Turner making it a very orange corner, all over these came the Howling TM’s with Davies just in front to Pettit and Reynolds was already side by side with Willet. Highway Oliver got the wrong end of a 4 rider tangle as he and his Honda got pitched right off the track, Morgan lead for a while as Taylor went missing out back, Pettit took the challenge and passed a few riders in one lap to ask questions of Morgan who in turn went beyond his limit and bailed off midrace, Brunell did not look his normal self in these conditions and was looking to make no mistakes for decent points, Davies had Plowman and Stevens to battle with as these three swapped places racing each other, that let the Yamaha of Willet ease away as he passed Wheeler who was on a mission today and Willet wanted to get some space and lock on to Brunell. Kensington had recovered well after being pushed into the fence on the start sweeper by a wayward Brunell, Kensington was passing well and had found some trick lines as he came through with Scrafton in tow as these had a near moto long battle, Reynolds wend down while trying to pass Stevens and lost a few places, Harland was catching Scrafton fast as he could not get pass Kensington, Willet took a soil sample when he was catching Brunell and that halted his progress as he now settled for third, meanwhile out front Pettit had put the TM on cruise and watched all the commotion behind, with that cushion Pettit could find the perfect lines and keep setting fast laps as that TM just pulled through the Blaxhall sand. Wheeler had put in another good ride as he steadily works his way into the top five, Stevens held Shires as Plowman passed Davies who was closely followed home by Reynolds.
Moto 2:
With a rider sliding off just going into the first tight left hander it was Morgan who crested the hill in front, this young lad has certainly got that KTM firing out of the gate, right on his tail however was Stevens who had his Honda making some weird shapes this early on in the moto ! Third was Davies until Kensington pushed him up a berm and this left space for Coles, Willet and Reynolds, Pettit was down in 10th and stuck in traffic, Morgan was trying to get away as Willet sliced his way to third behind Stevens, Reynolds had barged past Kensington and Pettit was in attack mode, making some great passes on route, Brunell had taken a big off and did well to remount, but was not looking happy stuck in the pack, Scrafton had gone out with a big crash in the woods and a mechanical a little later, Wheeler had again settled and was well inside the top ten again as he passed Plowman, Harland, Potter, Shires and Taylor were having a nightmare as they crashed and were having to eat some roost midpack, up front it was Willet who took control and with that all important clear track simply left everyone behind, pushing the Yamaha hard he gave everyone a lesson on this gnarly track, the rougher it gets the better Willet goes and even the experience of series leader Pettit the TM star could do nothing and he had to let Willet break his run of moto wins, Davies had caught Morgan near the end of the moto but could not get close enough to pass him, Stevens held Reynolds and Wheeler off in a late moto battle which any of them could have won, Brunell had pulled out of this race due to another crash and some weird noises from his Yamaha, a hard moto for the young lad as this was now a battleground ! Big respect goes to Dan Tilley who has been making A on a regular basis, and had his best ever moto with a fine 21st, well done mate, keep pushing.
Moto 3:
This last race of the day was on what can only be describe as the roughest track of any DEP event, there were ruts up to side panels and bumps and holes you could lose a bike in ! Again out of the gate Morgan leapt into the lead from a regrouped Brunell, Reynolds had the 125mx.com KTM in third and Wheeler slid into 4th pushing the TM pair wide on a corner and nearly letting Willet through, Kensington had pulled another great start as he was side by side with Willet for a 6th place battle, Scrafton had repaired that bike and was wide open behind these two pushing Oliver wide and off the track, but allowing Stevens a gap. Brunell took charge up front as both Pettit and Willet went to work, Petit passed Wheeler and then Reynolds who made a mistake in the mêlée and Willet slid by, these two then hounded Morgan, it was inevitable that these two experienced chargers would overhaul the young lad and they did, hopefully Morgan could follow and learn from these two ? Stevens was on a mission and joined the fun up front as he charged past Davies and Wheeler. Davies must have crashed as he dropped 5 places as did Scrafton. Brunell had started to make mistakes as he looked back and could see his two main rivals catching fast, Pettit and Willet were stuck together as they hunted the leader down, a great sight this moto was these three separated by a whisker as the battle heated Brunell covered a corner and Petit sensed what was going to happen and he passed with a wide fast line and took the lead, now Willet wanted past as he could see Pettit inching away, Brunnel was not going to give it up easy and as these two slugged it out Pettit was screaming that TM trying to get a gap, that he did and that forced Willet to find his way past but was it too late ? Holeshot king Morgan was sticking to his task as he hung in there and kept a pace that would keep him insight of this battle royal up front and keep him from the clutches of the chasing pack headed by the duo of Stevens and Taylor. With three laps left Willet locked onto the Leader and set about bridging the gap, the Yamaha man was riding the wheels off his bike as he had halved the difference in one lap, Brunell had dropped back quite a bit as he could not follow Willet, Petit was on full loud anyway and could go no faster as Willet was charging, the gap was visibly closing as Petit stumbled in backmarkers, Willet was 110% and was setting qualifying times this late in the day on this near un-ridable surface, this pace was more than enough to go for the win as the red-mist or just a mistake halted his progress as he laid the little Yamaha into a corner so fast and low his exhaust caught on the ground and this lifted the bike up and he washed out , he kept it running but Pettit had now gone, it took a few seconds to get out from under it and up again as Brunell crested the hill right on Willets back mudguard to the flag.
B Group
This group entertained the crowd as there’s always great action from this mad axe man’s class, holeshot king Mark Bland proved its not only the lead TM riders that get starts as he holeshot every moto by a good margin and with proof like that we’re sure to get a few more riders turning to the light blue bikes for next year ! Glen Bixby shone through as he piloted his Honda to the front in the first race, but it was not plain sailing as he had to pass Rice and Doyle who both looked like they would take the win, Crossley was having to fight hard as he normally makes A and these guys wanted his scalp, McDonnell had barged his way through to a great 6th place chasing another 125mx.com KTM of Banks, who was having his first race back after an injury, Bland had crashed a couple of times and dropped back as Holland was going forward, up front Bixby took control as Rice had second but had to keep Doyle behind him. Pattison and Gesner went out early on with big crashes as did Hamblin.
Race two saw another holeshot from Bland, with Dixon and Doyle swapping paint, Gesner was back on form and pulling Matthews through with him, McDonnell had a great start in 4th just ahead of Rice, but Bixby cut through well and by mid-race took the lead followed by Rice, Holland and Doyle, Bland had again took to the woods as he struggled to tame that TM, Banks had gone down a couple of times and was cruising, Jessop was not so lucky as he dnf’d this moto, Doyle was riding well and was unlucky not to pass a tiring Holland at the flag.
Race three saw Dixon get a huge holeshot from Gesner, Doyle and Okeefe, while Bixby was outside the top 10, Blanford went missing early on as it was hectic to say the least as riders pushed to the max, Banks had looked like he was in there until a lap 3 crash, that put and end to his hopes of a top finish, the KTM of McDonnel was on fire as he passed at every opportunity and found some interesting lines? Bixby had charged as hard has ever but could not catch the leader Doyle, who had proved that if he gets away he’s a match for anyone. Kendrick had rode tough and held off the Rice, Matthews battle, holeshotter Dixon had a moto to forget dropping down to 12th as a few mistakes took there toll. Today was a hard test for these guys and a couple stood out in this gnarly going and they were Bradley Doyle and Mark McDonnel, great racing today guys and here’s to plenty more like it, well done.
Top 10 on day
Juniors: 1st Jack Plowman 2nd Lloyd Morgan 3rd Oli Rusby 4th Christian Taylor 5th Jasper Uphill 6th Ady Peedle 7th Brad Howlett 8th Josh Scott 9th Lee Holland 10th Luke Dowsing
Experts: 1st Jon Pettit 2nd Dave Willet 3rd Sean Stevens 4th Brett Wheeler 5th Jim Davies 6th Adam reynolds 7th Jak Brunell 8th James Kensington 9th Paul Shires 10th Ashley Harland.
DEP Report round 8 Mildenhall
With some midweek rain and then a couple of glorious summer days together with the normal DEP track ‘prep’ Mildehall was in perfect condition for round 8 of the series. As normal the 125’s get out on track first for their qualifying and what a glorious sound that is as 40 125 blast away, fastest in group 1 was series leader Jonathon Pettit on that super quick TM followed by KTM mounted Christian Taylor and another of the TM squad Jim Davies taking third. Group 2 honours went to Yamaha’s Dave Willet who just edged out Sean Stevens and 125mx.com’s Adam Reynolds taking 3rd with just 0.23 between then. The final group was dominated by Jak Brunell who set the fastest qualifying time of all followed by wild card KTM rider Jake Preston and then young Jack Ploughman. With riders qualified into their respective groups and a very good size crowd it was time for the first Championship race.
125A
44 of the fastest 125 racers in the country prepare to blast down the start straight into that all so tight lefthander here at Mildenhall, out of the gate like a rocket was the KTM of Taylor and just inches away it was the Yamaha of Brunell, in the meele it was James Potters turn to suffer the injustice of a first corner crash caused by a few wayward machines ! Pettit jumped his way into third, Willet had wheelied past a few riders and within half a lap was all over Pettit and 4 corners later the TM pushed the front end and Pettit went down, taking avoiding action was James Kensington and Highway Oliver, Willet wanted to catch Brunell as young Jak is only a handful of points in front of him in the series, Brunell responded with some super quick laps to try a break away, Willet was held by Taylor for a few laps and it looked as if Brunell was long gone, Sean Stevens had a great opening lap and was in the top 5 banging bars with Davies and Reynolds while Pettit regrouped and was on fire on his way through the pack as he put the TM to work, Willet was looking good too as he closed in on Brunell but had a few seconds to make before he could challenge him, Plowman was having a great ride today sitting just inside the top 10, however Lloyd Morgan was not enjoying the black sand of Mildehall, the KTM youngster had cashed in qualifying and again early in this race, he stuck to his task but was eating plenty of roost on his charge forward, Ady Peedle had again made A group and looks real good on that 09SX, Dan Whitworth was unlucky when a bar banging session lead to him snapping the gear lever on his Suzuki. Pettit in attack mode is a joy to watch as he fought all the way back into the top 5 and he was following team mate Davies, Brunell lost control of the Yamaha and Willet was close enough to pounce taking the lead and the moto win from Taylor and Brunell who managed to remount early enough to halt the charge of Pettit who came all the way through to a well deserved 4th sliding past Davies with a lap or so left, Stevens was solid holding off Reynolds in their moto long duel !
Race 2
Taylor launched off the line in the second moto and took a fine holeshot from Brunell, Pettit and Reynolds while midpack there was a cartwheeling Honda of Matt Coles who got hooked up with Charlie Statt and these two bit the dust hard ! Another victim of the circuit was Jimmy Scrafton who retired early on with the Kawasaki looking decidedly secondhand. Willet had tucked in behind a rejuevenated Highway Oliver and had Craig English for company on a real busy first lap, out front Taylor had his KTM nailed followed by Brunell and hounding these two was Pettit, Willet had made his way through to 5th place as Reynolds dropped to 10th after some early pushing and shoving, Pettit dived past Brunell and onto Taylors rear mudguard as Willet muscled his way into 4th Jack Plowman was on a mission holding of Stevens and Davies for a few laps, Joshua Scott, Ryan Turner and a returning Jamie Wilson were locked into a great battle swapping places at every corner, as were Kensington and Morgan. Finally the top four closed up and the fun began, just 2 seconds split these and anyone of them could take the win, Pettit hounded young Taylor putting that TM inside and then outside of the leader and quick as a flash Petitt dived in and took the lead from a somewhat flustered Taylor who now had Brunell and Willet all over him, as these landed the big tabletop it was only Willet who took the wide fast line and that allowed him to jump the step-up and he flew alongside Brunell, who then jumped back past Willet on the finish jump but Willet had the inside line into the tight corner by the tunnel jump, that was pass made and Willet could now attack Taylor who began to defend and missed a few lines and Willet sneaked through followed by Brunell. Now in lapped traffic Willet could see he was catching Pettit and fast, one of Willets passing places was an outside line which was wide, fast and very soft ! one attempt allowed the Yamaha to pull alongside the TM but Petitt had control of the next righthander, on the final lap and Willets second attempt the Yamaha slammed the small berm he had made in the laps previous only for that berm to breakaway and the Yamaha washed out and was stuck under the ropes, Brunell took advantage and slid into second place while Willet remounted in third, Davies had passed Stevens as he could see Reynolds coming through fast, he too was pursued by Harland and English in a hectic battle with Reynolds eventually passing a tiring Stevens.
Race 3
With the circuit now like a battlefield with holes, ruts and bumps everywhere a good start is essential if a rider has plans of finishing up front, it would be the howling TM of Pettit to take the holeshot followed by Stevens, English and Taylor. Willet was around the top tem mark with Reynolds and Oliver, Lee Holland took a soil sample early on along with English who dnf’d this moto as did Whitworth and Preston, the track was claiming plenty of riders and there were incidents everywhere you looked, Reynolds put in some scorching laps and was into 4th place only to suffer a rear wheel puncture, but such was his early pace it took a lap or so before anyone could pass him, then he set about getting to the finish with some decent points riding a very careful line as he wheel had begun to break up as well ! Out front Pettit was awesome, every line hit perfectly every hole skipped over as he screwed every last rev out of the TM, Willet was charging as always dragging Oliver along with him, the other TM of Davies had been blocked in for a couple of laps and he was fighting hard to break into the top ten, midpack is a scary place as theres just no room to move, Taylor could not pass Stevens which allowed the ‘ironman’ Willet to close right in on them, Taylor went missing for while but did rejoin the race but well down, Brett Wheeler had a round to forget as he seemed to have problems every moto, Harland had agreat start to thos moto but the last few laps he dropped of the pace with a mechanical. Pettit took the win but did have to pick up the pace with a couple of laps to go as Willet had closed to within the 2 seconds and threatened to sneak the win with lap times 4 seconds faster than his qualifying time ? Third was Brunell with Stevens taking a fine 4th at the flag from Davies and Oliver, Reynolds did well to hold onto 10th with that broken wheel and finish just in front of standings challenger Wheeler.
B group summary
The mad axe men of the DEP always perform and today at Mildenhall would be no exception, Dan Ward had three real good starts and ran up front most of the time piloting the Suzuki into top positions, Alex Finnigan was having an up and down day with a DNF and a moto win to his name,
TOP 10 Overall on day
Juniors
1st Morgan 2nd Taylor 3rd Plowman 4th Peedle 5th Howlett 6th McLean 7th Rusby 8th Scott 9thWells 10th Turner
Experts
1st Pettit 2nd Willet 3rd Brunell 4th Davies 5th Stevens 6th Reynolds 7th Oliver 8th Harland 9th Shires 10th Kensington
Round 9
This was to be the final round of the series for 2008 due to extreme weather conditions, the planned double header over this weekend would not go ahead due to safety reasons that said there were no complaints from the riders as the hillside venue here at
The sound of some very crisp 125 motors warming up broke the morning silence and what a morning chorus that was, a joy to experience. The 125’s blasted out on track for group 1 qualifying, the track was seriously fast as its smooth surface encouraged everyone to go flat out everywhere. Typically it was series leader Jon Pettit who smoked everyone with a rather special lap of 1:52.78 second went to wild card rider John May who nailed a 1:58.44 closely followed by the second of the TMUK team,
With the qualifying done it was time for the serious fun to begin, the weather had now started to change and there were some very heavy clouds racing across the sky and some very, very strong winds tearing across the venue pulling down flags and hoardings. The fastest riders on the day took to the start line for their first A group encounter, and as the gate dropped it was the Suzuki of John May and the KTM of Adam Reynolds vying for the holeshot with May going wide and Reynolds tucking up the inside and as he swept round to blast down that hillside it was the wheelying KTM of Reynolds out front followed by May with Pettit and Willet in very close attendance as these were being pushed by Brunell and Davies, as Willet passed Reynolds on this hectic first lap the KTM rider lost the front end and went down hard, but remounted in around 10th place. Craig English was pushing hard and challenged Davies for 5th, Pettit had the TM on ‘full loud’ as he blasted past May for the lead, Willet had locked onto May and out drove the Suzuki up the long hill, Brunell was watching this all go on just behind as Davies had dropped back a second or so as he had to fend off English, Shaun Stevens and a flying Ashley Harland. Luke Kennet fell foul to the steep off-camber section behind the start has he and his Honda lay in a heap for a while. Pettit was on a mission for sure as he had that TM screaming for mercy as he tried to break away from the pack, Willet had other ideas as he knew if Pettit gapped them he would be gone, thus started a game of chess, Pettit’s TM was clearly faster on the straights and uphill sections but Willet had the Yamaha slicing through the turns and off cambers, these two have battled all year and each knows the others strengths, this duel was to last until the flag and what a duel it was, just behind these saw a super smooth looking Brunell slide his Yamaha past May for third and then he tried to drive away and actually set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:56.53 this did help to break free from the clutches of the Suzuki, just back of this action saw Harland, Davies, English and Wheeler having a titanic battle that entertained the crowd, Reynolds had crashed again while breaking into the top 6 and was down in the high teens. Christian Taylor was on fire and was pushing a top ten place in these experts, he had towed series rival Lloyd Morgan with him, Dan Tilley had again made ‘A’ and was fighting with Crossley and Pickford for junior honours along with DEP regular Stevie Harris who made ‘A’ at last (Well done dude) However Tilley lost his front brake and went down hard in a spectacular fashion cartwheeling the Suzuki.
Race 2
Saw local boy Church take the holeshot on a rather ‘deep’ sounding KX from Willet and Harland with Brunell in forth. Pettit and Reynolds had locked horns on the start causing Pettit to crash the TM and he restarted last, Reynolds was luckier and emerged just in the top 20, Davies had his TM protesting as he slammed these berms and rutts trying to break free from May and Harland only to lose traction and get kicked sideways approaching a small tabletop jump, quick thinking saw him abort the jump but he had to exit right through the Marshal’s post and disintegrate the pallets, but all the time ‘wide open’ and as the MCF crew where rebuilding it along came Anthony Misslebrook in ‘full stealth mode’ to scatter everything over the valley again !! Up front Willet had the little YZ on the stop and was stretching cable all the way as Church struggled to get away, Pettit was on fire as he sliced through the pack and just on the top 10 he came across Reynolds who was in a determined mood today as he fired that KTM up those long uphills, but fate dealt a blow as he slid off again at ½ distance, May was giving as good as he got on his first visit this year to the DEP as he and Brunell swapped places for a few laps, meanwhile Pettit had the TM on the edge as he just tore through the field, Young Taylor had again battled his way to the top 10 as he and Lloyd Morgan have dominated the junior class this year, today it looked like Morgan had no answer and he cleverly rode for points all the time waiting for a slip from Taylor, Bradley Howlett had some fantastic laps in this moto and was quite happy to bang bars with the experts, with the ever hard charging Plowman keeping him honest the whole moto. An unlucky Jamie Wilson took a visit to the medical staff after taking a rock in the face which took out some front teeth, Jamie was washed down and back ready for the 3rd race though ! .
Race 3
The rain had now started and the hardpack surface around here had turned to glass and it was an ice-rink, clever riders would be searching for grip on that all important loose outside edge ! Craig English had the lead from Pettit and flying Taylor and Willet all covered by the proverbial blanket, out of the blue Willet flicked the YZ inside and took the lead passing all 3 riders in one corner, Pettit was stunned and barged into second, Stevens had a decent start this moto and was up in 5th swapping paint with Davies, Harland and Brunell. Midpack carnage saw the normally fast starting Reynolds with Kensington and Plowman bashing each other up, Stevens slid out and allowed a mental Davies to get by and lock onto the lead pack, Jim has been unlucky at times this year and he has showed some great speed on that TM, May was down in 9th place and getting a taste of 125 action ! Church had powered past riders on the uphill section to get to 3rd place as Pettit see him coming and he set about passing Willet who was far too polite and had given to much room to some backmarkers and Pettit dived through, Luke Kennett was having a blast too this moto and he was hauling, as was Brett Wheeler on that Poole Yamaha. Church had passed Willet, again on the uphill by the start and he locked onto the 125 of Pettit, it was here and now that Pettit was having none of it as he held off the KX, they swapped the lead a few times with Pettit simply out riding Church then he was simply out powered on the uphill sections, try as he did Pettit’s screaming TM could not match the deep sounding KX and with the series title in mind Pettit chose to take the finish rather than battle with a wildcard for one moto, and in true Champion fashion he followed Church over the line to seal this years expert Championship. Willet had no answer in this moto as he had to save ‘some’ energy as he was due out in the open expert class right after this moto, Dave has continued to ride both classes as he did last year, that’s why he is called the ‘iron man’ after all. Brunell suffered a disaster as a trackside banner blew across the circuit and got wrapped around the rear wheel and front sprocket bring the rapid EGS Yamaha to a halt, Taylor had again found his way into the top ten but this time he was shadowed by Morgan who just needed better starts today as these two have real similar lap times, Jack Plowman had to fight for his points as fellow junior Ady Peedle tried to slide past at every opportunity, Davies did close on Willet but could not pass him, Harland had, had is best round of the season showing just how good he can ride when luck is with him, and Kennet had held off Stevens and Wheeler in their moto long battle.
B Group Race 1
As always this group gave us some super quick racing and its not called the ‘mad axe mans’ class for nothing, these guys never fail to provide some great action, and out of the traps like a flash was Steve Dixon who pulled a massive holeshot in this 125 group, hot on his heel’s came Karim Bourious after avoiding a 5 rider pile up on the first lap, Scott Webb and Mark McDonell rounded the first lap in 3rd and 4th respectively. Bob D’erlanger and
Race 2
It was Adrian Price who lead from the start but first race winner Dixon was hot on his heel’s with Dan Johnson and Steve Wright clawing at his rear mudguard too, Banks again took an early ‘soil sample’ while inside the top ten and remounted mid-pack, Webb, Parry and
Race 3
Their last race of the day was on a very slick track indeed as the rain had now turned the hardpack into ice! surprise leader Michael Johnson was flying early on and was indeed holding off a charge from Dixon and Nick Grey, McDonnell had fired his KTM to the edge of the top ten and was trying to pass riders everywhere and making some very, very interesting shape enroute. Young Jake Hamblin was one of the first to suffer from the conditions when he washed out behind the start area, he had to wait a while to retrieve his Yamaha as bike were flying past him, Dowsing on the other hand had made great progress and was up to third place, then we had a terrific battle between Jason Kendrick, D’erlanger, Webb, Wright and Shaw as these riders barged and block for the whole moto. McDonnell’s move to the front was halted with a crash which had an adverse effect on five, yes five following riders as they were all collected by the ongoing melee, this moto saw Banks on a mission and he moved through the field with ease, as was Jessop and these two would break into the top ten, up front Dixon had again took the lead and was on for another great win from Kendrick and Shaw, who just held off the flying Banks who could of possibly taken the win with another lap ! Dowsing recovered to take fifth at the flag.
As stated earlier the weather dealt us a blow and Sundays event was cancelled, so this was our final round and what a round it was, right up until the final laps these guys where racing for those all important series points and the 2008 class Championships are as follows:-
TOP 10 Full results are HERE
125 Experts
1st Jon Pettit 2nd Dave Willet 3rd Jack Brunell 4th Jim Davies 5th Adam Reynolds 6th Brett Wheeler 7th Paul Shires 8th Sean Stevens 9th James Kensington 10th Luke Kennet
125 Juniors
1st Christian Taylor 2nd Lloyd Morgan 3rd Jak Plowman 4th Brad Howlett 5th Oly Rusby 6th Ady Peedle 7th Lee Holland 8th Jasper Uphill 9th Steve Gesner 10th Matt Thomas
Thanks Lads
My thoughts and recollections on the 2008 season
Firstly team 125mx.com provided us with some great action and we shall keep many happy memories from this year, Adam stepped up to the experts and finished the year off with 5th overall which is right where we hoped to be, and Nick made great progress in the junior class and often making the infamous A group. They were the perfect pair to help as they proved to be two of the nicest lads in the paddock, they where honest and trustworthy and no hassle what so ever, how many teams can say that! Adam had an upset midseason when a crash at a British under 21’s event left him with broken bones in his hand and fingers, this was just before Wakes Colne and he bravely raced at that event for us, unfortunately luck had turned its back on us as he suffered our only mechanical DNF all season, likewise Nick took a tumble practicing for Whitby and a trip to the hospital proved he had suffered serious internal bleeding and was out of action for a while and would miss two of his favourite circuits.
Other riders I would like to mention included, Dave Willet. Dave has made the DEP his very own hunting ground, he’s been called the series ‘iron man’ due to his efforts in both classes which has never been duplicated, he races the wheels off those stock YZ’s and gives 110%, he’s a very motivated, professional and genuine guy who has helped our season no-end and I hope he’s around next year too. Also thanks go to Jon Pettit for racing every single lap of every single moto of every single event, he has bundles of talent, style and most of all speed, he simply flows on that TM and the sound of that bike makes you quiver, that makes it 2 titles Jonny how about a third?? Another TM racer is Jimmy D. the funny guy around the paddock and we mean ‘funny’. Jim has put in some brilliant moto’s this year and has stepped it up on that TM after switching from a Suzuki, with some better luck he is a front runner for sure. Now Christian Taylor blew every other junior into the weeds, this young lad just grew in stature as the season progressed and he is sure fire bet for the experts next year as he gets upgraded over the winter, his main rival was Lloyd Morgan who came from nowhere to keep Christian honest and the seesaw battles they had where fantastic, Lloyd just did not gate as consistent and that’s where he suffered as he had to pass just to get near the flying KTM of Taylor. These two will stir up the expert class in 09 and don’t bet against either of them?
Other personal thanks go to James Kensington for all he has done over the years and the support through some tough times, Pondo for his continued support of images and reports right from the start even when hid did it just for fun, he would keep pushing the 125DEP on websites all the time helping make this monster it is right now. BIG thanks go to all of the ‘original’ riders who helped me get this ball rolling and especially to all those guys who still race with us; you are the ‘nutts’! The Watts family for all their support and kindness, The Tombs family for being fun to be around,
Special thanks go to all of the team 125mx.com sponsors and supporters including KTMUK, Darren from MOTUL, BERIK & LAZER, what a top job dude, Craig at DEP pipes for the support with more than just pipes, Woody from SMITH GOGGLES clearly the best mate, cheers. Simon at ‘Surf& Turf Shelters, all the guys at Answer UK for some quality kit, Zeronine decals, KYOTO Tyres, Del at stuff4mx for tonnes of stuff, Talon for wheels and sprockets. Bike stuff done I need to thank Chris and Gill Fitch for being such awesome people for obvious reasons,