First off, 2009 will see some changes to the 125mx.com reports, Paul Harris aka Pondo of Racer X, MCF, TMX fame (the list is to long, he's good is all you need to know) is also writing for us as we will be sharing the duty to deliver your 'fix' on this site. Pauls style and attention to detail deliver a proffessional, polished look at the race event. Welcome to 2009 from all of us at 125mx.com.
Just walking around the venue early Saturday we could tell there was already an electric atmosphere around the place, and as more trucks and riders arrived it soon became clear, we have all missed our 2 stroke buzz, gladly the 1st round of the British 2st Championship was to blast back into action from the tight technical Mildenhall venue. There were plenty of new faces and machines present along with the normal crew of premix addicts all eager to impress, there definately seemed a bigger buzz around the paddock this year so all the hard work has paid off as the humble 2st is definitley back with a vengeance.
Sit back and ENJOY
Here's Pauls report:
The perfect antidote to a winter of four stroke thunder was served up at Mildenhall on Sunday as the MC Federation’s British Two Stroke Championship barked into life. Basking in glorious late winter sunshine, a decent crowd turned out for round one to see some typically frenetic 2 stroke racing - with the track well packed down, it wasn’t the normal deep Mildenhall sand; the compact dirt broke down choppier than normal, but it didn’t stop the mix of regulars and newcomers from keeping it WFO all day long.
The 125 B group as ever proved a showcase for good racing, with bars being banged all the way down the field from start to finish. Lee Wren fired his KTM out of the gate in moto one and set about building a gap as Archie Knight, Daniel Johnson, Mat Hopkins contested second place. Nicki Banks was putting in a strong charge from further down the top ten until a minor off dropped him back down the field - Craig Polden battled his way into second and set about pulling away from Knight as Joe Golding made his way within sight of the podium, but while it seemed like the pack would fragment into separate melees, as the clock ran down everyone started closing up again - Wren maintained a steady gap at the front as a mass brawl erupted over second place, with Knight taking the flag barely a second ahead of Johnson and Banks, with Golding, Mark McDonnell, Polden and Hopkins within sniffing distance right behind them. Race two looked like being another episode of the Lee Wren Show as he fired out of the gate into a commanding lead after an early pass on the fast-starting Hopkins, but Banks started better this time out, ending the first lap in seventh and storming through the pack into second place. With a clear track in front of him, Banks began closing the gap and it was Wren who stumbled under the pressure, suffering a mishap that dropped him a lap down and way out of contention - Banks brought his 125MX.com KTM home for a comfy win some way ahead of Matthew Watkin, McDonnell, James Jackaman and Golding, second through to fifth close enough to drop a blanket over. Wren came firing out of the blocks like a missile in race three, a mile ahead of the pack into turn one, but Banks was next in line and soon closed the gap, getting the run out of the final turn to jump his way past over the tabletop and even finding time to drop a cheeky little look-back into the manoeuvre. Wren rode solidly to take a comfy second ahead of the consistent Golding, with Rob Wild and Watkin filling out the top five - although Banks and Wren were the class of the field, you never knew what order the pack was going to come round in, some epic racing action.
The combined 250 B and 125 C class rather threw up a misrepresentation as Danny Tollet, fresh from a brace of top eight finishes in the British SX1 and SX2 Supercross championships, found himself in unfamiliar company after bike problems in qualifying prevented him from setting a time. The Garston veteran just shrugged off his misfortune and simply mullered the unsuspecting field, romping to three easy wins with lap times that would have put him firmly into the top ten in the 125 As. Steve Wells on his pristine KX500 romped out of the gate to holeshot moto one, but Tollet was soon by and off into the distance, ahead of Rory Wooten and Anthony McGladdery, with Wells on the potent but less wieldy 500 dropping slowly back. Shane Headon came charging through to pip McGladdery at the post for third, but Tollet was just gone, 56 seconds in front at the flag after nine laps of racing. Moto two started with a power demonstration as Wells got a merely average jump, only to sprint to the head of the field in the length of the start straight - interestingly, he was neck-and-neck with the 125-mounted Tollet heading into turn one, and it was the 250 of Sean Doyle who split the pair of them on the way through the corner to emerge with the lead. Wells was sadly sidelined with an injury just three turns into the race as Tollet ran off and hid, McGladdery this time a comfortable second whilst Carl Hewlett, Sam Beddows and a fast-starting Dan Grove fought a closely-contested third position, ahead of a Jonathan Tapp who was well on the gas after his crash at the DEP round at the same venue last September. Tollet yawned his way to a third win in the final moto - Beddows would take second ahead of Wootton, Thornton and Grove as McGladdery could muster only 6th at the flag.
Jake Page holeshot mote one in the 125 A class, streaking away ahead of Lloyd Morgan and Luke Dean as Dave Willet charged back from a sub top ten start, with Christian Taylor, Jim Davies and Ashley Harland even further back. By the end of lap two the remarkable Willet was up to fifth as Morgan took the lead and tried to escape at the front, but even as Dean managed to make his way past Page into second, Willet was there to close down on third. Willet on the number two Yamaha took his time making his way past Page’s KTM but had no problem running down Dean. Again, he took his time making his way through before ripping great chunks out of Morgan’s lead and sweeping imperiously through for the win, Morgan holding on for second with a gap over his 2008 sparring partner Taylor, as Dean kept a close watching brief. Page grabbed a second holeshot for race two but this time Willet was right there ahead of Harland, Davies and Morgan , Iron Man Willet taking little time to force his way into the lead. Davies on the TM was into second by the end of lap two and spent his race in fruitless pursuit of Willet as Morgan hopped into third and went with him. Davies and Morgan swapped positions several times for second, with Jim making the telling move, carrying about 400mph out of the corner after the tunnel to cut inside Morgan for the position, Harland taking a lonely fourth ahead of Sean Stevens and Luke Kennett. Moto three was just awesome - Harland got the jump out of the gate with Davies right on him as Morgan and Page held a watching brief, but the crucial factor was a massive turn two pile up; Willet was mired up in the tangle but still managed to get free and finish the lap inside the top fifteen. As Davies and Harland engaged in a knock-down brawl for the lead, Willet coldly went to work - eleventh at the end of the second lap, he was seventh by lap three but by the time he made fifth, was the best part of two straights in arrears. But even as the leading duo went back and forth with Morgan dogging their trail, Willet was making massive inroads into their lead - it seemed that the track was none too easy to pass on, but once clear of traffic, the 2008 title runner-up was having no problem knocking great lumps out of the leads of the people ahead of him. Even as Willett passed Morgan for third, it seemed that the message of his imminent arrival was being passed along and Davies got his head down, charging away to try and escape before the Iron Man gatecrashed the party, but the clock ticked down just a smidge too slowly, Willet taking the lead with just a couple of laps to go until the chequers flew. Davies pushed one more time, but Willet had it all in control for the win - it was a enthralling battle. With Jack Brunnel seemingly not contesting the series and Jonathan Pettitt missing round one through injury, it’s hard to see the title going anywhere other than back to 2007 champion Willet - but then, if it was that clear-cut, there’d be no point running the races…
The first Open A moto saw a Service Honda CR500 holeshot in the hands of Luke Hill - with Mark Eastwood right on his shoulder and Carl Nunn in close attendance, it seemed just a matter of seconds before the British Championship frontrunners were past the 500 and scrapping amongst themselves, but no-one told Hill that… Easto found himself under fire as Nunn made a move past him for second and then charged past Hill into the lead - even as he launched his own assault on second place, two-class Willet was through into fourth ahead of Oliver Rusby before Ruzzer’s bike suffered a mechanical failure. Reigning Open champion Eastwood was making hard work of passing Hill as Willet drew ever closer and Nunn pulled away in front, Easto eventually having to use a hint of rudeness to take second. But whilst the gap to Nunny up front stayed the same, Willet managed to take third and close the gap down, passing Eastwood with almost half the race left to run - the three circulated in close company but no-one had enough left to make a move, Nunn taking the win ahead of Willet and Eastwood with fourth place Nathan Rooks almost a minute further down the track ahead of Hill. Moto two was straight out of the X Files - Hill again got a start but Eastwood gave him what for right from the start, shutting the door as the pair rounded turn one ahead of Nunn. Within seconds Nunn was into second and Willet was on Hill’s back mudguard, but even as battle commenced, storm clouds were gathering - Barry Turnbull took a horrific fall further down the field, and while the medics were seeing to him, Eastwood took his own soil sample, a flat-out swap worsening until it spat him all the way off. In considerable pain, the reigning champion struggled to remount and continue, whilst Nunn, with a comfortable lead out front, ran into the ropes and was spat off, losing masses of time trying to free his bike. With Turnbull suffering a bad femur break, the red flags were thrown, giving the win to Willet ahead of Hill and Open class rookie Adam Reynolds - the 2007 125 Junior champion had been straight on the pace aboard his KTM 250. Moto three was far less fraught, Nunn leading straight out of the gate from Hill, Willet and James Cotterell with Eastwood circulating in typically full-bore style a few places back. But although the mind might have been willing, for Eastwood the body was for once unable to deliver, his battered frame as aggressive as ever but unable to recapture his normal blistering pace. Local lad Nunny cruised to an easy win whilst Willet took second place to clinch his second overall victory of the day, with Luke Hill leading Lewis Rose over the line for third and fourth.
The 2 stroke series takes a five week break now before it reconvenes at Cusses Gorse on the 12th of April. If you’re a fan of motocross this is a must-see event, because there is no finer sight or sound than a pack of howling 125s battling for the win…
So there you have it, 1st round completed and the dust has not even settled and we are all looking towards Cusses. This 2st thing might even catch on ! See you there.......
Well after Pauls proffessional report for round 1 comes the sad news that he took a holiday on the weeknd of the 2nd round and I've got to write one up, so any blame for the following can be directed to Paul whos e-mail I can give anyone who wants to complain ;)
Mildenhall seems a long while ago and we’ve missed our premix ‘fix’ The Easter bank holiday weather was fine and the circuit had been prepped to perfection for us, there was the normal buzz in the pits after the wait as these racers were keen to sample Cusses Gorse, which is a fast flowing jump infested circuit, but the racing line is very narrow and the talk in the paddock was how to stay on line and clear all the jumps as the supercross type layout offers big advantages to those riders brave enough to clear the huge jumps and triples.
The 125’s were first out on track and qualifying is always hectic in this group as theses are the mad axe men of the series, everyone eager to make it through to the holy grail know as the ‘A group’. In group1 it was Yamaha
The dust had just settled from the morning qualifying sessions and the B group125’s were called to the line for the first of the encounters! This is a scary group and no place for the fainthearted as these guys just seem to swarm the circuit. 5ec board turned and the blast up the hill to the first corner saw Lee Yates slide his YZ under the TM of Mark Bland to take the holeshot, these were side by side until Joe Golding shoved his front wheel by Bland who then tried to square the third corner and the TM went down losing the front end, Jake Lord, Archie Knight and Danny Alsworth were three wide for most of the 1st lap, just behind these came a barbanging session between Matt Hopkins, Luke Budziszewski and Nathan Wells, these guys were swapping paint from the first corner and the ‘red mist’ had set in hard ! The only guy to take on the big triple section was young Nathan Jacobs who was making his way forward. Unfortunately this race was red flagged as part of the RedBull arch collapsed onto the circuit and riders where sent back to parc ferme. At the re-start it was Archie Knight who took the lead from a charging pack with Mark McDonnell firing his KTM up the hill trying to get under Mark Bland, Lee Yates was again screaming that Yamaha and pushing into the top 5. Craig Polden went missing from the bunch as did Bland losing the front end again on that TM. First race front runner Joe Golding was stuck mid-pack after a terrible start and while trying to pass he went down in a big crash that actually collected 19 riders! Archie Knight settled up front as Lee Yates blasted into second place, McDonnell took a big soil sample as he cartwheeled his KTM through the berm and fencing after casing hard and getting dragged off backwards and opening the throttle even more. Just outside the top ten but racing as fast as the leaders were Bob D’erlanger, Phil Hammersley and Adrian Jessop, these had a race long tussle that entertained the crowd. Charging hard were Bland and Golding always moving to the front but time another red flag saw the win was taken by Knight followed by Yates, and Jacobs.
Race 2 B 125
Blasting out of the gate it was Sam Peedle who edged out Yates for the lead from Alsworth and Delaney with McDonnell and Toby Lightbrown all over them, Bland hit the deck again as Jake Lord made a mistake and left the circuit at speed but saved it and re-joined the track before the next corner, coming through the pack was Knight who was passing with ease as he pushed into the top 10. Peedle looked to be in control of things as Yates could do nothing to close down the leader, Jacobs surged through on the #33 TM giving Yates the hurry up and he responded by passing the leader as the front runners were caught by a freight train of riders, McDonnell had settled down and was intent on making up for a bad first moto as was Golding. Yates had enough left to hold on for the win with Peedle held off a super fast Knight who moved through to 3rd at the flag.
Race 3 B 125
Anyone of 10 riders could take the B group honours today and a good start would be needed to get any advantage, as the pack squashed into the first corner it was the Yamaha of Yates who wheelied out front, closely followed by Jacobs, Bland, Lord and McDonnell, first corner carnage this moto caught Jessop and Holmes who both remounted to continue, Bland’s TM out powered Jacobs to take second, as Lord pushed McDonnell wide after the KTM rider passed him through the tricky whoop section but drifted a little wide and gifted the place back! Peedle was again in the middle of things as he enjoyed a battle with the KTM of Golding, as the #17 machine was trying to break the top 10 again, Yates had the job done as he continued to push lap after lap trying to separate himself from the charging pack behind, now a few seconds back was Bland in second with Jacobs and Knight, last lap action see Golding make the pass on McDonnell for 5th place as Clifton shadowed the pair.
Race 1 A 125
The fastest 125 racers in the country lined up for their first moto, the atmosphere was electric as the sound of those bikes echoed up that hill, Willett seemed to wheelie a bit to much as he caught plenty of traction just out of the gate, as Taylor and Page nailed their bikes into the corner, holeshot award to Taylor as he held the inside line with Page right there, Brunnell dived into third quickly as he knows this is a one line circuit and a start is so important, Willet had held 8th but he was 3 and even 4 wide with riders on the first lap, Davies passed at will as that TM just nailed the triple with ease, Sean Stevens had Darren Redman for company as these two ex-British Schoolboy Championship riders were mixing it again after a 15 year lay-off ! Brunnel was on rails and the supercross style track just begged him to perform, he was 3 seconds in front after just two laps which is un-heard of in this 125 class. Willet shot into 3rd right on
Race 2 A 125
Second moto chaos as the first corner carnage claimed over 15 riders including Page, Davies, Brunnell, Willet and Ranton, as the leaders came back into view it was Redman out front with a borrowed radiator from those nice guys at TeeBee Racing. Stevens slid into 2nd from a fast starting Rowan Hill with Chris Povey, Tim Heasman, Howlett, and Charles Stratt holding 7th as they started their second lap. Brunnell was already up on the pegs and passing where passes had not been made, all the sx experience was paying off as he jumped his way through the field, just on the top ten bubble was Morgan, Peedle and Nick Banks as these guys made ground in the earlier chaotic laps, this race was unfolding as Willet was just wide open and showing the YZ no mercy as the iron-man found lines no-one had even thought about, Out front Redman put it into cruise, a rather fast cruise but it looked like he was walking away with this one, Brunnel was now into 3rd place all over Stevens all the time keeping an eye on the leader as if he could catch him ! Midpack battles included a race long duel with Terry Lloyd, Tom Johnson, Alex Davies and Mark Haigh with each one of these taking the advantage as these swapped position for the entire moto, if they had settled and stopped blocking each other they surely would of moved forward! Nick Banks held of Kev Green and Ashley Crossley who pulled some fantastic whips on the up-hill step to entertainer the crowd. Back up front Brunnell passed Stevens only to get re-passed as the Honda man was having none of it, but in typical sx aggression Brunnell just blasted in to second and nailed a couple of super quick laps to break the tow and surprisingly close in on Redman, Redman was super smooth but Brunnell was faster and with a lap or so to go the unthinkable happened when Brunnell passed for the lead, Redman gave the charger room and happily followed the flying Brunnell to watch a few lines? Willet busted a few quick laps at the end to nail 3rd Davies had worked hard to get back to 5th place after that last place start.
Race 3 A 125
Out of the gate it was clear Lloyd Morgan had this holeshot as he had 5 yards on everyone, Davies slotted the TM into second as the pack crested that hill with Willet like a man possessed dropping into 3rd. Stevens had again got that Honda out the gate with Brunnell and Luke Kennett all over him, race two leader Redman suffered a terrible start and was getting knocked all over the place as he tasted a little ‘midpack mayhem’ Willet spied an approaching Brunnell and pushed hard to get away but Davies’s TM just pulled gaps on the straights as this track was now a very narrow race line, Davies blasted into the lead as Willet was trying to pass Morgan, Brunnell closed in on them and simply squared a corner and nailed the big uphill step from the inside passing Willet and Morgan in one go, Green, Crossley and Banks were again all elbows and it was the #609 KTM that got nudged off the track and to loose a few places re-joining, Stratt had put in a great ride with company from Howlett, Tomkins and Heasman, fast starting Highway Oliver was enjoying himself inside the top ten again as he shows the kids a thing or two as was Danny Tollett. Brunnel passed Davies for the lead as Morgan was still holding off Willet these two were closing on Davies, Kennett was now 5th holding off a super quick Redman, who had Stevens, Oliver and Tollett all over him, as these tried to break away from Leium Morgan, Tommy Bidder, Ady Peedle and Stevie Gesner battle because at one point 5th place down to 17th place were separated by just 5 seconds, as riders pushed for those all important Championship points, Late in the moto Willet moved into second place and just kept nailing lap after lap but it was to late as Brunnell had cleared off, Davies rode the wheels off that TM to hold off a charging Redman at the flag
There you have it, another cracking days racing from the best 125cc racers in the country, Brunnell surprised everyone with his pace around here, Willett tried in vain, as did Davies and an on form Redman, and there were some brilliant races going on down the field, these 125’s always provide some classic barbanging action, well done lads. At this point we would like to say, get well soon series #1 and current Champ TM’s Jon Pettit who suffered some nasty injuries during some pre-season races. Come back soon Jon we’re all missing you.
OPEN CLASS
Qualifying action saw Yamaha’s Dave Willet set the time to beat in group 1 with a nice fast lap of 1:49.1 edging out a fast looking Lewis Rose and a returning Greg Hanson onboard a sweet looking CR500, group 2 riders had to follow the time set by a stylish James Cotterell who just beat Lewis Tombs and yet another CR500 this time in the hands of Luke Hill.
Race 1 A group
There’s a tried and trusted saying from the other side of the pond, in the USA they advise that ‘There’s no replacement for dissplacement’ and its so true as blasting out of the gate the two 500’s just plain hauled, its been a while since we saw 500cc racing and the sound alone was worth the entrance fee, Luke Hill was on fire as he held off Geg Hanson, and these two battled for the lead, Eastwood soon joine in the mix, suddenly Hanson was out with a puncture, Willet was soon to be pestering Easty and forced him to make the move on Hill who was enjoying the BHP effect up those triples, Willet passed Hill in the tight stuff and set about Easty. These two set a blistering pace but did not drop Hill that much as he had company arriving in the shape of Tombs, Trickett and Marc Dean, in comparrision to the 500 roar the open class has a few 144 machines and Ben Milward’s TM sounds awesome and is quick to, offering that light flickabilty of a 125 he rails inside lines for fun. Willet hounded the leader and made the pass to run away for the win, Easty took second and Hill steered the big 500 to a fine 3rd, Marc Dean had blown away the rest with his charge through the field..
Race 2 A group
Eastwood jumped out of the gate into a 5 yard lead before they were evn halfway up the start straight, but Hanson had hooked up that 500 and wheelied past dropping the front right on the inside of the first corner, Hill had his 500 fully stoked to as he past Easty on a big jump, Tombs was fighting Willet for fourth to top Yamaha honours although Willets #2 bike was using far less of the track than young Tombsy ! Hill passed Hanson on the big triple but over jumped it and could not hold the inside as Hanson took the lead back, Eastwood had dropped back behind Tombs and Willet who was having to eat some painfull roost from the 500 of Hill, the top 6 were at warp speed and for a few laps and the pace was unbelievable, Tombs was first to suffer as Willet and Eastwood drove past with the Yamaha man trying everything he knew to pass Hills’ 500, but ever move was countered with a hefty dose of throttle which blasted Hill back past again, Willet conjoured up so lines to pass the 500’s for the lead and Easty followed suit but could not catch the leader and settled for second place, Hanson took third and Hill fourth.
Race 3 A Group
Once again it was a 500cc Honda taking the holeshot, this time Hill wanted to run away for the win as his pace on the opening laps was scorching, Eastwood had to battle with Rooks who fired his KTM into the first corner followed by 3 more KTM’s, and Matt White who gated well at last, Willet though had a poor start and was trying to pass Adam Reynolds just on the top 10 bubble, while Rose was struggling with this early pace, Tomb’s was right at the back so he must have been down, on the opening lap. Willet went into hyperdrive as he forced his way to the front runners, making some classic passes enroute and this was his 6th moto of the day ! Eastwood played a great hand as he allowed Hill to make the pace until he was tiring, quick as a flash Easty was underneath Hill on the tight right hairpin and just took off for the win, Willet had somehow got back to 2nd place and Hill settled for third at the flag.
Race 1 B Group open class
Exploding out of the start gate Shayne Headon took the first race holeshot from Jon Tapp, Nick Phillips and a sideways Sam Beddows, as the rest of the pack hustled for position, as they completed their first lap Phillips had passed Tapp for second and Danny Helyar had pushed into front runners too. It was not long before Phillips had control up front as Headon started to make small mistakes under the pressure, Tapp drove passed for second place a lap later giving a tow an impressive Russ Harland. With the lead group making a small breakaway the entertainment was coming from Sean Doyle, Daryl Hall and Tom Holland who had caught Helyar, and these four battled for suprmecy passing and re-passing countless times, Dan Groves was out on a 125 instead of his normal 250 and looked to be enjoying himself as did Tim Finneron who was having a blast on a 1992 cr125 ! Phillips held off a late charge from Tapp to take the win with Harland nailing third.
Race 2 B Group
Jon Tapp made no mistakes with his start as he rounded the first corner in front, followed by Alan Edminston, Rory Wooton, Headon and Lee Thornton, just behind those there was chaos as a few riders went down. Wooton was on fire as he demoted Edminston for second and was looking to find a way past leader Tapp, Phillips was charging with Thornton and Beddows hanging onto his rear mudguard. Save of the day goes to Daniel Helyar as he got all crossed up in the whoops as he tried a pass, with both feet off and a big handful of gas he was in full rodeo style using the full width of the track but somehow he stayed with it, well done Danny ! Out front Tapp was looking in control and he watched Wooton put in a charge but it was to late and a fast looking Headon claimed third at the flag.
Race 3 B Group
With their final race of the day blasting out of the gate it was Lee Thornton who claimed the holeshot in spectacular style from a speedway style Wooton and that man Tapp again, first lap carnage claimed a bunch of riders as two separate crashes removed a dozen riders from the race. Just behind Tapp was Harland, Headon, Grossman and Beddows, these top seven riders were nose to tail for ages until Tapp was pressured into a mistake and he failed to clear the uphill triple which allowed Harland and Headon blast past, and each lap he refused to jump it a rider passed him. Steve Wright out on a 250 this year tried the triple but came up well short resulting in a mess, but he was soon back on track and on the gas, although he never attempted that again !
The open A class is stacked with talent and is a spectacle, but its enhanced just that bit by the 500’s who are coming and FAST. Eastwood has so much experience and he’s lines and strategies are world class, Willet has the heart of a lion and just keeps coming, both classes and every moto tapped 100%, Hill is getting fitter and he’s learning how to guide the big five O around a moto, as goes the Championship ? Its still to wide open for us to put any money down, so get along to a round this year and watch some classic 2 stroke racing !
Overall top 15 on day
Overalls
125 juniors
Matt Thomas 117
Charles Statt 117
Ryan Tomkins 101
Jason Wells 96
Rowan Hill 88
Stevie Gesner 78
Ady Peedle 72
Ash Crossley 70
Bradley Doyle 68
Chris Povey 68
Mark Haigh 65
Nick Banks 62
Terry Lloyd 58
Alex Davis 54
Tom Johnson 50
125experts
Jak Brunell 135
Davey Willet 123
Jim Davies 111
Sean Stevens 100
Lloyd Morgan 90
Luke Kennet 84
Danny Tollett 84
Darren Redman 78
Tim Heasman 78
Highway Oliver 66
Bradley Howlett 64
Tommy Bidder 56
Kevin Green 53
Leium Morgan 38
Luke Heaver 19
Open juniors
Lewis Trickett 132
Steve Simpson 123
Ben Howard 106
Justin Penty 100
Matt Smith 96
David Ford 87
Anthony Mcgladery 86
Ben Anstie 72
Daniel Ward 70
Jake Shipton 64
Shayne Headon 54
Lee Thornton 53
Jon Tapp 53
Chris Hind 52
Jacob Grossman 48
Open experts
Dave Willet 132
Mark Eastwood 129
Luke Hill 114
Marc Dean 105
Zac Blackwell 83
Lewis Rose 78
Nathan Rooks 74
Adam Reynolds 74
Lewis Tombs 61
Tony Cuddy 59
Jason Palmer 51
Oli Rusby 49
James Cotterell 47
Matt White 46
Michael Deeley 43
Pondo, our roving reporter joined the premix fans for the 3rd round at a sunny Caistor on the East coast, here's his report and pics
The Fuchs-Silkolene British 2 Stroke Championship headed up north for round three on Sunday but, contrary to popular belief, it wasn't grim up north at all - in fact, despite predictions of rain leading up to the event, the racing ran under unexpectedly glorious sunshine. The track looked to be unremitting hardpack on Saturday afternoon, but after the crew had attacked it with harrows and water, it emerged on Sunday morning a far more attractive proposition, still hard-pack, super-fast and to an extent one-lined - it's in the nature of the place - but this mini-Foxhills looked great fun to ride.
Tim Heasman fired his RM125 out to a ridiculous holeshot in the first 125 A moto, but wildcard entrant Elliot Banks-Browne was right on the case, charging through into an early lead. Reigning champion Dave Willet was quickly through into second place, maybe a second in arrears, and the story of the race was the stupendous battle of wills between the two - EBB showed signs of eking out his advantage in the early stages but was never able to gain more than a couple of seconds advantage, but Willet just flat-out refused to be beaten and began to sneak back up to Banks-Browne’s back wheel. The stage was set for a grandstand finish, but Ady Peedle suffered a horrendous crash right after the finish line tabletop - the first aid crew were to him straight away, but it became apparent that he was unable to be safely removed whilst the racing continued and so the red flags were shown. Horribly, Ady had suffered a break to both wrists and an elbow, plus dislocating a shoulder - terrible news to hear, and Ady, if you’re reading this, all the best for a swift recovery. As a knock-on to the incident, both Jim Davies and Lloyd Morgan were penalised one minute each for not sufficiently slowing for the yellow flags, knocking them both out of the top five and down into 29th and 34th respectively, testimony to how close the racing is at the 2 Stroke Championships, and a decision which might prove crucial as the championship reaches its climax. Banks-Browne, entered in both classes on his 125, then DNF’d out of the second 125 moto, leaving the way clear for Willet to charge out for the win, a mile faster than anyone else - behind him Ash Harland charged to an excellent second place ahead of Davies, Heasman, ex-GP veteran Danny Tollet, Morgan and the very quick Dan Arnold. Arnold would charge to victory aboard the LPE Kawasaki in moto three as Willet hit problems with a rough-sounding YZ125 - only able to muster ninth, the Ironman still took the overall to extend his championship lead, but Harland was just two points away from a brilliant first win. The quick and consistent Heasman took third, with Davies in recovery mode, hanging on to fourth after his moto one penalty - Arnold’s final moto win took him to fifth overall, but there was no lack of pace, better starts could well have seen him take the overall. Another get well soon, however, has to go to Brad Doyle, who stacked heavily on lap one, suffering a knee injury in the process.
Suzuki scored another A group holeshot when the Open class left the line, Matt Moffat charging straight into the lead. Kristian Whatley was right there in second place, though, and the current ACU MMX championship leader took a few laps stalking the leader before being able to despatch Moffat for first place - Dave Willet, in his second class of the day, was quickly into third place but the number two Yamaha was unable to close the gap to the leaders and actually began to drop off the pace of the front two as the chance of a win ebbed away. Lewis Rose came out on top of a tussle with an abnormally subdued Mark Eastwood - reigning champion Eastwood got a decent start but lacked the normal sharp edge of pace, conceding fourth to Rose but staying in front of a race-long tussle between Elliot Banks-Browne and Lewis Tombs. Race two saw a rejuvenated Easto sprint out into an early lead but Whatley was right there and soon into a lead he wasn’t to lose - Ironman Willet, however, took a heavy tumble in the first turn and took a long time to straighten out both his bike and himself, eventually finishing a gutsy 27th. Whatley took the win ahead of Eastwood and Moffat, with Luke Hill bringing the Service Honda CR500 home fourth to make up for an early race one mishap. It was Whatley who again looked the likely victor in race three at the death, but the youngster stumbled through the backmarkers and an adrenaline-fired Willet, in his sixth race of the day, somehow found the minerals to charge his way back through into the lead with less than a lap remaining. Eastwood took third ahead of Moffat and Hill, but the championship momentum is still very strongly with Willet - if he hadn’t had his mishap in race two, the Ironman would be a mile away in front by now…
Another big get well soon to Adrian Jessop, who was another victim of the finish line jump after missing a shift on the face of it on his NTG Racing YZ125, suffering a shoulder separation. The super-fast track was an unyielding host, but whilst the next round at the excellent Landrake is barely more than a fortnight, let’s hope the wounded are back as soon as possible for the next of the world’s premier 2 stroke motocross championship
Paul travelled down to the Cornish coast with paper, pencil and umberella in hand, here's our reporters slant on proceedings, and there was plenty going on at round 4 of the 09 series
James Noble and Jim Davies came away victorious from round four of the Fuchs Silkolene British 2 Stroke Championships, but it wasn’t plain sailing even for the overall winners. The weather had been kind during the lead-up to the event and the bowsers were watering the track as of Saturday evening, but a heavy squall bought torrential rain and gales to the Cornish race track at about half three on Sunday morning, the horrendous conditions sticking about throughout the morning before the sun managed to break through and turned the track from barely rideable into almost perfect.
Lloyd Morgan was the fastest man out of the gate in the first 125 A moto, although Luke Dean briefly poked a front wheel ahead of the Welshman through turn one. Tim Heasman paddled his way into second as Jim Davies overcame a rubbish start to end the first lap in an astonishing third after dodging a massive pile-up after the lengthy first turn that saw the fast-starting Mark Bland and his TM buried beneath an avalanche of bikes and riders. This early on, the track was still fairly hard-packed with a layer of slippery brown greasy water over it, which meant that conditions were both treacherous and blinding - with a decent start Morgan was straight past Dean into the lead and immediately had a massive advantage as everyone behind instantly got filled in. Jake Page had Dave Willet for company as they battled for fourth place on the opening lap, but the sloppy condition rendered everyone else more or less unrecognisable further back - by lap two, Morgan was a mile down the road ahead of Davies and Willet as the pack spread out, conditions so bad that there were fallers everywhere and every lap was just a series of mistakes and incidents strung together. But although Morgan was able to extend his gap, so that he entered the final lap with an advantage of around twenty seconds, Willet had been relentlessly sneaking up on Davies, crossing the line maybe two seconds in arrears. As the pair hit backmarkers, it seemed like Davies had enough in hand to take second, but Willet summoned up something special to make an impossible pass somewhere in the final yards before the finish for second place.
Race two was all set for more of the same, with Morgan leading from Ash Harland, Darren Redman, Tim Heasman, Dan Arnold and Davies, but Morgan would early on drop the KTM in a nasty-looking spill after a high-speed downhill drop-off - straight up and back into the fray in seventh, the Welshman seemed a tad dazed and was unable to regain his former speed. Harland took over the lead but within a handful of laps he was heading backwards with a blown shock as
Race three was epic - Sean Stevens led from Morgan, Redman, Davies and Heasman with Arnold down in seventh, but former schoolboy ace Stevens had the closing pack right on his tail with Morgan all over him. Davies made his way through the pack, taking the lead on lap five as he passed Stevens behind the startline, but
The Open A class was a two horse race all day long - right from the start of race one, Luke Hill took holeshots for fun on the mighty Service Honda CR500 but Scott Elderfield and James Noble were always right there and were the class of the field on pure pace. Mark Eastwood was neck and neck with Hill into the first turn for race one, but the reigning champion got pushed wide within a couple of corners, allowing Elderfield and Matthew White through. Dave Willet was sixth behind Noble away from the start but a small off on lap one cost him a few places - another crash a handful of laps later left the Yamaha rider on the sidelines in some discomfort and he was to play no further part in the day’s proceedings, making the day sadly remarkable because the Ironman normally plays a major part in every A race. Noble was quickly into third as Elderfield began to mount a serious challenge for the lead, the British championship front runners moving into the first two places with Hill dropping down into a comfortable third - Noble had the edge on pace though, driving past Elderfield into a lead he held to the flag ahead of Elderfield, Hill, White and Eastwood.
Hill holeshot race two as well but Elderfield and Noble were through into first and second before the end of the lap, Tony Cuddy and White holding fourth and fifth. The leaders were nose and tail for maybe half the race before Noble managed to find a way through, and they pulled a sizeable gap over third, with Hill succumbing to a charge by Lewis Rose, and Noble managed to eke out a small gap over Elderfield by the close, with Rose leading Hill, Eastwood, White and the rest of the pack home a long way down the road behind the front pair. Hill took his third holeshot of the day in race three but Elderfield was again right there and straight into the lead, trying to escape from Noble - Eastwood this time was mired in the pack but a collision halfway round lap one left him on the floor amid a sprinkling of broken Suzuki plastics with the front pipe of his Honda badly crushed and torn. Undeterred, he set off once more from almost dead last, the holed pipe announcing his presence before he came into view, and managed to recover to an excellent 12th place, his rather vocal bike just sneaking in under the sound limit at the close. Up front, Noble took a handful of laps to get into third ahead of Hill and by then Elderfield had a useful lead, but Noble just spat on his hands and went to work whittling down the gap, pulling away from the third placed Hill - as the clock ticked down, Noble caught the youngster and immediately made a move for the lead as they entered the whoop section side by side, but a bobble as they left the whoops allowed Elderfield to get the drive and squirt his Honda back into the lead. The pair were wheel to wheel with Elderfield just refusing to be beaten but as they climbed the start straight for the final time, Noble put in an outside move that put him alongside for the last couple of corners - there was a clash and it looked as thought Noble had made it through but on the brink of defeat Elderfield somehow returned the compliment and barged his way back into the lead for the win, the pair of them again a mile in front of Rose, Hill and Cuddy. It was a truly scintillating battle.
Dean Tucker made the early running in the first combined 125/Open B group as the riders struggled to get round in the atrocious conditions, with Tom Preston and Mark McDonnell in close attendance. The three engaged in an epic battle for the lead as Nick Banks closed in, but mistakes were rife on the slippery surface,
The series takes a five week break now before heading north to
Our very own Paul Harris travelled up to the spectacular Whitby circuit to bring you the latest from round 5 of the series, here's what went down
The British 2 Stroke Championship went up north for round five of the world’s leading two-stroke only series - as always, preparation of the jumpy
In contrast, on the evidence of the result sheets, the one thing that didn’t go perfectly was practice and qualifying for Matt Coles - the Honda mounted Expert missed the 125 A group by less than half a second, consigning himself to an afternoon in the B group. Once racing got underway, however, Coles showed he had pace in hand to lap some five seconds under what he managed in qualifying and, as a consequence, just ran away with all three 125 B motos - Mark Bland fired out of the gate to holeshot moto one ahead of Ben Clark and Adrian Jessop with Coles some distance back, but it was just a handful of laps before Coles was through, efficiently picking his way through the pack. By the time he got there, Clark had a slight gap over Mark Mcdonnell, Tom Preston and Aiden Wharton - Clark was heroic in his efforts to get through the rhythm section, but he just kept coming up short and the silky Coles just gobbled up his lead and ran off into the distance, with Clark ultimately collecting Preston in the midst of the same section, knocking them both out of an increasingly energetic battle for second. Mcdonnell and Wharton went at it for the remainder of their race, with Mac crossing the line to take second behind Coles and ahead of Wharton. Coles made no mistake in race two, leading from the start with Mike Dowson, Anthony Thomson, Wharton and Craig Polden rounding out the top five - Polden went all out early doors and charged through to second, leaving Dowson to fend off the advances of a fast-moving Alex Finnegan. Just as the fight for second warmed up, so battle commenced over fourth place, with Mcdonnell, Tom Lightbrown, Wharton and Steve Whapshott all engaging in a traditionally feisty 125-flavoured battle, with Polden running out a strong second ahead of Finnegan, and the melee behind finishing Lightbrown, Mcdonnell, Wharton and Whapshott. For moto three, Mark Bland again got a killer start, heading the pack as they cleared the Red Bull leap for the first time but Coles wasted no time gliding his way through from sixth to pass Bland for the lead through the rhythm section on lap one. Polden was up into third and looking menacing as the leaders edged a slight gap over Dowson and Lightbrown - Polden managed to find his way into second and set off after Coles, as Dowson fought his way up to and past Bland for third, but Warren Clifton was showing signs of intent further down the field, battling his way into third but by the time he got there, the leading duo were away down the road.
James Dunn was the big news in the 125 A class - the fourteen year old was simply sensational on his 125 debut, stepping up from an 85 and making it all look easy. Dunn led right from the start of moto one with championship leader Jim Davies second, but Davies, in considerable pain after a hefty off at the British Championships a week ago, had Lloyd Morgan right with him from the start. Charging through the rhythm section, Welshman Morgan managed a heroic leap through into second place and immediately set off after Dunn as Davies put up a stern defence against Darren Redman and Jack Plowman - up front Dunn had been edging away but Morgan began to close the slender gap, taking a run out of the rhythm section and attempting to double two of the step-ups on the back straight to jump into the lead. Right alongside leader Dunn, Morgan was absolutely full bore and gave it everything but the gamble failed to pay off - Morgan impacted heavily on the face of the following jump, sadly suffering injuries that would put him out for the rest of the day. With Morgan out, Redman took up the chase, edging his way through after the lower whoop section, but some last lap retaliation by Dunn was enough to secure victory. Jack Plowman took an excellent third ahead of Davies, Danny Tollet, Charles Statt (who came from a long way down the field) and Jamie Smith, mounted on a pristine 1989 KX125.
Dunn holeshot race two ahead of Highway Oliver, Davies, Stephens and Redman - Stephens wasted no time in taking second place, but Redman was carrying even more pace and was rapidly into second. Jamie Smith, now on more contemporary machinery, battled his way into second - a rather optimistic pass attempt into the hairpin left them both on the floor, however. Whilst Redman circulated slowly into retirement, Smith would remount to attempt a serious challenge on Davies, making a far more civilized pass in the same place before setting off after the leader as Davies worked at staying out of the hands of Plowman. Smith would close in on Dunn, but an incident somewhere on the circuit caused him to drop back.
Highway Oliver led them away form the start of moto three but Stevens jumped his way straight through into the lead, Smith following him into second within half a lap. Oliver then headed a freight train of Matthew Thomas, Jake Page, Dunn, Plowman, Lee Holland, Redman, Davies, Tollett and Luke Dean - as the pack squabbled over the final step on podium, Smith closed down Stevens and calmly made his way through before the halfway mark and gradually eked out a gap. The battle behind the lead pair raged but one by one the contenders dropped out until just Dunn, Redman and Davies were left to slug it out - Redman actually made it through into third but Dunn battled back to retake the spot before both Redman and Davies finally made it through into third and fourth, crossing the line barely a second apart. For the valiant Davies, a day that threatened to be a rearguard action in defence of his series lead turned into an unexpected bonanza as he extended the gap at the head of the field.
The Open B class kicked off with Lance Harland leading Danny Page, Tom Holland and Sean Doyle as the pack snaked through and over Whitby’s curves and jumps - Doyle began to pick his way towards the front, taking the lead within a couple of laps as he and Harland began to edge a slight gap over Page, Holland, Ben Anstie and Jacob Grossman. But as the race wore on, Doyle started to edge further away and Harland got sucked back into the chasing pack, even as
There was only one man in it for the Open A class - James Noble made his debut for his new STR Honda team on an old steel-framed CR500 and just annihilated the field. Even getting stuck in the gate leaving him dead last in moto one, plus a minor mid-race tumble, couldn’t stop him from just galloping through the field to win at a canter - by lap three he was into fifth as Lewis Rose, Mark Eastwood and Open class debutante Jack Brunell tried to escape up front, but their efforts were in vain as local lad Noble was just unstoppable. Reigning champion Eastwood took second whilst Brunell survived a brief off for third ahead of Rose and Matt Moffatt. Noble made no mistakes for race two, using the potent motor to fire out of the gate into a lead he wasn’t to lose, as Marc Dean, Christian Taylor and Eastwood headed the chasing pack. Within a couple of laps Eastwood was through into second but he had company in the form of Brunell, until the youngster slid off over the tunnel jump. He was quickly back up and running but had dropped back into the mass brawl over third - Brunell, now racing mostly in Germany, made short work of getting through the pack and was back into third within a lap, Rose leading Moffatt over the line for fourth and fifth after Taylor crashed heavily out of the race. For the final moto of the day Noble was again quickest out of the gate, ahead of Alistair Clarke, an unusually subdued Luke Hill, Adam Reynolds and Zac Blackwell - as Noble ran off and hid from the rest of the pack, Hill made his way swiftly into second, with Reynolds following him through and a Mark Eastwood on the fight back from a comparatively average start. Easto was second by the end of the first lap, but Noble was long gone by then - Rocket Reynolds made his way past Hill and showed signs of going after Eastwood as Rose started to push Hill with Lewis Tombs in close attendance. Rose would drop back after an incident with five minutes left, however, leaving Tombs to take the fight to Hill - the U Tag Yamaha rider would make it past Hill’s Service Honda CR500 as Rose recovered to lead Blackwell and Clark over the line.
Four weeks from now the series reconvenes at the excellent
Davies seals British 125 crown with gutsy Wakes Colne ride
The Fuchs SIlkolene British 2 Stroke Championships headed east to Wakes Colne on Sunday - as at Pontrilas a fortnight ago, the pre-mix crew were combined with the Red Bull Pro Nationals to make one big glorious day of racing. With a lot of water laid down on the Essex circuit, practice was a touch slip-slidey, but once racing got underway, the dirt was just perfect, creating vast arrays of technically-challenging ruts - with an enormous crowd carpeting the hillside, we were ready to go.
The only sour note was the sound of 4 strokes in the B group - this late in the season, low entries meant that there were only 20 two stroke riders outside of the A group. It made sense to put them together, but the addition of five non-qualifiers from the Pro Nationals was an unwelcome aspect to the race. With the 250 and 450 four bangers away out in front, Craig Polden led the charge of the 125 brigade, sprinting off for two stroke glory in the first two motos ahead of the polka-dotted Danny Allsworth and Warren Clifton in moto one, and Allsworth and NTG Racing’s Adrian Jessop in the second moto, but when Polden failed to make the finish of the third and final race, Warren Clifton was there to take the 2 stroke chequers, ahead of the consistent Allsworth and Mat “Maffy” Hopkins.
The Open As ran next, with Luke Hill using mighty Service Honda CR500 power to mug the whole field off the line in moto one, heading the pack into turn one ahead of Mark Eastwood and Scott Elderfield. Eldy made a move early on lap one to make his way past Eastwood, but the reigning Open champion fired back an immediate response and underlined it by passing Hill for the lead, all within lap one. Elderfield immediately followed Easty through into second, making a successful move for the lead inside the first couple of rather exciting minutes - Elderfield immediately began to check out, dropping Easto inch by inch as the pair of them edged away out front. Eastwood was at his WFO best, but Elderfield’s smooth style paid dividends o the technical track as he eked out the gap by inches every lap, and the youngster put not a wheel wrong as he forged ahead for the win. Moto two started out as a repeat of the opener, with Eastwood leading a mass brawl of Elderfield, Hill, Zach Blackwell and Adams Reynolds, but Elderfield was at the head of the pack before the lap was completed, and the PAR Honda youngster was again super-smooth and consistent. This time, however, Eastwood rode like a dervish, firstly checking Eldy’s rate of departure before turning the tide and slowly making his way back up to the race leader, sitting right on Elderfield’s tail with five minutes to go as the pair tore through the lappers and it looked like we were in for a battle to the death, but Elderfield just raised his game, absorbing the pressure and again just easing the gap out for a comfortable win ahead of Eastwood, Hill, Blackwell and Reynolds - Oli Rusby rode an absolute blinder to come back from a turn two crash to grab an excellent ninth. Hill again fired the Service Honda CR500 out to the holeshot in moto three, but Jordan Rose, Elderfield and Rusby were right there - Elderfield completed his hatrick of blinding first laps, leading by the time they crossed the line again, but there was further drama early on as Eastwood took a major digger over one of Wakes’s big tabletops. The reigning champion took a few minutes to get going again and was typically wide open as he tore back through the pack, but the damage was done - Elderfield cruised to victory ahead of Rose, whilst Rusby converted a good start into a great finish, crossing the line literally a tyre’s width ahead of Blackwell for third in the closest finish of the day, both of them risking life and limb going wide-open over the finish jump. Eastwood would eventually come home sixth behind title rival Hill - bloody but unbowed , Easty took the podium for second overall at the end of the day to show his typical fighting spirit.
The 125 A group was as excellent as ever - with the title in reach, Jim Davies took a poor turn one in the opening moto to leave himself a lot to do, circulating outside the top ten. As Jim made his way through the pack, Lloyd Morgan led out of the gate ahead of Luke Dean, James Dunn, Jonathan Pettitt and Charles Statt. - within a lap Pettitt was into third and looking threatening, but the reigning 125 champion took the best part of ten minutes to close down Dean and make a pass for second. From then on, there was a tense chase as Pettitt ran down and passed Morgan through traffic, the youngster desperately trying to stay with Pettitt, but Jon eased inexorably away for a comfortable win ahead of Morgan, Dean, Dunn and championship protagonists Sean Stevens and Davies. Moto two saw the Honda-mounted Stevens exit turn one in first, with precocious youngster Dunn hot on his heels, but Morgan rode a blinding first lap to jump his way straight into the lead. Ominously, Pettitt was right there too, into second as they jumped their way past the old finish line for the first time, with Davies gating well to end the lap fifth behind Stephens and Dunn - Darren Redman, the only other rider still in with a chance of the title was just a couple of spots further back. This time out, however, Pettitt was on the gas from the off, despatching Morgan before the end of the second circuit and again galloping off into the distance - Morgan kept up the chase as a freight train began to build up behind Stephens, with Dunn, Davies, Redman and Dean all going elbow to elbow. Dunn forced his way past Stephens for third as Dean leaped his way past Davies over the vast stepdown - the championship leader’s TM was misfiring, but even worse, the huge jumps were taking their toll and the front wheel began to lose spokes, which had a decidedly adverse effect on the handling. Dean was on fire, pushing past Stephens and Dunn as Stephens began to drop back down the field, Suspecting a puncture, Davies kept pushing, following Dean past Dunn before charging back in front of Dean for third, but by then the gap back to Morgan in second was too big to make up. Dunn was super-quick out of the gate for moto three, leading Pettitt and Morgan as the trio of championship contenders all gated at the sharp end of the field. Davies was in bullish mood and pushed through to third within a lap, although his TM was still missing at peak revs - Dunn also seemed to experience a problem, slowing dramatically. The youngster gamely stuck at it for a few laps, but it became clear that it was a lost cause and he eventually retired the Doodson Suzuki. Up front, Pettitt was edging a gap over Morgan, who was also just edging away from a Davies in title-winning position - for Jim, it was a matter of staying focused as he brought it home for the 2009 British 125 crown with a round left to run, just reward for his efforts over the course of a long hard season.