Toughsheet National Twinshock Championship

Well the good news is that Doug and John Mercer from Toughsheet Building Products have agreed to continue with their headline sponsorship of the series for 2014, something we are all very pleased about. The AGM took place at Stoke last month where a provisional events calendar was drafted, with nine rounds including two double headers at Warmingham Lane and Pontrilas.

The dates are as follows;

March 30 Stipers Hill, Polesworth.

April 20 Allfields, Condover, Shrewsbury.

May 3 (Saturday) Hawkstone Park.

May 25 Bassenthwaite, Cumbria.

June 15 Charnock Richard, Lancashire.

July 19/20 Warmingham Lane, Sandbach, Cheshire.

August 3 Upton Court, Tenbury Wells.

August 24 Gale Common, Selbey, Yorkshire.

September 6/7 Howton Court, Pontrilas, Hereford.

The other great news is that the Matt Murphy Memorial Meeting at Hawkstone Park, will incorporate a round of the Toughsheet series on the Saturday, and it will also include a classic class once again for the Brian Nadin Memorial Trophy.

The AGM also passed the proposal to increase the numbers in the 125 class, by including any 125 machine up to and including 1989 Evo bikes. They will all race together, but be scored separately.

It also looks like transponders will be in use for 2014, with more details to follow.

Jem Parker is also hoping to have a four round four stroke class up and running with a single race at each event.

Registration for the series is still the cheapest on the planet at £17-50, and an IOPD Annual Licence is pegged at £15 or you can buy a day licence at £5. Something else that was agreed at the AGM was that a track feedback form will be attached to the registration form, so that clubs can see what they are, or are not doing quite right.

Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships – Final Round

Cumbria Twinshock Club

Howton Court, Pontrilas

Report Geoff Shuttleworth

Pictures Louises MX Pictures

The final round of the 2013 Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships took place at Howton Court, Pontrilas last weekend, hosted by the Cumbria Twinshock Club. The track had been graded and watered prior to practice, and the start straight change to the adjacent field, seemed to go down well with the riders. There were good line ups in all classes which were swelled by late entries, as riders realised there was very few other events to choose from.

Matt Stephenson knew that two good finishes in the first two races would secure him the number one plate for 2014, in the Wulfsport Experts class, and that is just what he did, as he blasted the Ken Sourbutts prepared Maico out of the gate in both, to take two excellent wins. His only challenger was Alex Butler, who followed him home in both on the John Marsh HPF Honda. Rick Du-Feu was the only rider who could have threatened Stephenson in the points table, and got better with each race, taking fourth, third and finally finished runner up in race three on the Maico Only. Simon Gower had his best ride of the season with two thirds and a fourth, and Matt Hopkinson on another Maico took fifth overall.

Alan Eaves had already secured the MD Racing Over 50’s title, but had a surprise challenger as evergreen Pete Mathia turned up. In race one Eaves took the lead, chased by Chris Woodward, Norman Emery and Mathia. By half distance Mathia made his move, but could not close down Eaves by the flag. But in race two Mathia holeshot and checked out, although Eaves did catch him, but could not make the pass, as Mathia celebrated when taking the flag. In race three Eaves took a determined lead, which he held to the flag, from Mathia, Paul Woolf and Emery. There were six over 60 riders, and Geoff Stokes won the first two races to take the title, after travelling from France for each round to do the series. Brian Hayes won race three after Stokes was involved in a second corner pile up, and with it won the CNR Burrows Transport Rider of the Meeting award. Rob Alderton riding the series for the first time took third overall.

There was some frenetic racing in the Falcon Shocks 250 class, as the first five battled for supremecy, but it was Joel Hughes who took first blood, just finishing ahead of Sean Dodders, Tom Marsh and John Bennett. But in race two Dodders managed to hold off Hughes, out on a borrowed bike, from Marsh and Steve Denton. This was enough to secure the title for Hughes, and with the pressure off rode to the race three victory again from Dodders and Denton.

Chris Cannon was another who needed one good result to take the CI Sport Intermediate title, and in the opening encounter he took the lead, but James Curtis was on a mission and overhauled him to take the first win, with Paul Croxon third. Cannon made no mistake in the second and held on for the win from Croxon and Curtis to take a deserved title. Coxon took the third race and the overall as all three riders ended tied on points with the last race result deciding it.

In the Maico Only supported 125 class Sean McCrea went into the final round with a slender lead from Lee Holland, who needed to finish in front of McCrea in each race to take the title. And that is just what he did, as he stormed to three uncontested wins, to snatch the title from three times champion McCrea. Local rider Chris Rowlands guaranteed third in the standings with third overall.

The LPE Clubman class was dominated by Mark Burrows on the big four stroke Husky, who took all three victories to take his first twinshock title. Reece Winsor and Matt Fry followed him home in race one, and Daran Williams and Alan Mozley completed the podium in the second and third legs. It remains to be seen how these riders go in 2014 when upgraded to the Inters class.

The Herts MX Veterans class has seen some titanic battles in 2013 between Jonno White and Dave Campbell, and Sunday was no different, but this time Campbell had more power as he turned out on a 1985 500 Honda. He took the first race from White, who knew second would be more than enough, and Jason Turner who took a good third place. Race two was won by guest rider Shaun Copeman, but Whites second combined with Campbells third place meant that White took the title, much to his delight. Campbell will be back though, and showed he meant business in race three by taking the win from Turner and Rob Prosser.

The final class of the day was the Motolink Yamaha Evolution class, and Glen Phillips warmed up for Farleigh with three straight victories, and another title to his name. Next best was Michael Smith who battled all day with Andy Watkins, with both riders having a second place. Richard Chinn took fourth overall on the 250 with three top six finishes, in front of Kieron Mulloy and Rick Du-Feu.

So ends another season of Twinshock racing with the awards presentation next up on Saturday October 26 at the Moat House, Stoke.

MD Racing Over 50’s

1 Alan Eaves, 2 Pete Mathia, 3 Norman Emery, 4 Chris Woodward, 5 Paul Woolf, 6 Alan Bott.

MD Racing Over 60’s

1 Geoff Stokes, 2 Brian Hayes, 3 Rob Alderton, 4 Michael May, 5 Bill Brown, 6 Geoff Churchill.

Wulfsport Experts

1 Matt Stephenson, 2 Alex Butler, 3 Rick Du-Feu, 4 Simon Gower, 5 Matt Hopkinson, 6 Jon Rowlands.

Falcon Shocks 250’s

1 Joel Hughes, 2 Sean Dodders, 3 Tom Marsh, 4 Steve Denton, 5 Carl Trout, 6 Matt Rowlands.

CI Sport Inters

1 Paul Croxon, 2 James Curtis, 3 Chris Cannon, 4 Richard Stiby, Dom Bratt, 6 Andy Cleaver.

Maico Only 125’s

1 Lee Holland, 2 Sean McCrea, 3 Chris Rowlands, 4 Dave Rowsell, 5 John Davies, 6 Brendan Mayne.

LPE Clubman

1 Mark Burrows, 2 Daran Williams, 3 Matt Fry, 4 Alan Mozley, 5 Charlie Evans, 6 Sean Burrows.

Herts MX Veterans

1 Dave Campbell, 2 Jonno White, 3 Jason Turner, 4 Andrew Little, 5 Anthony Mapp, 6 Rob Prosser.

Motolink Yamaha Evolution

1 Glen Phillips, 2 Michael Smith, 3 Andy Watkins, 4 Richard Chinn, 5 Kieron Mulloy, 6 Rick Du-Feu. Best Pre-85 – Jim Shand.

CNR Burrows Transport Rider of the Meeting – Brian Hayes

Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships

Round 7

Cumbria Twinshock Club Supported by Phil Denton Engineering.

Upton Court, Tenbury Wells.

Report Geoff Shuttleworth

Pictures Louises MX Pictures

Every thing that could have gone wrong, did go wrong at the seventh and penultimate round of the Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships at Upton Court last Sunday. All the hard work by Jim Shand and his crew, and Cumbria Twinshock club members on the track, which looked in absolute tip top condition early on Sunday morning, was undone by the worst that the British summer weather could throw at them.

The morning started off with a one minute tribute to Dave Livesey, the Evo and Vets rider, who was so tragically taken from us earlier in the week. The whole paddock assembled to pay respect prior to start of practice, which was a nice touch. Then the first aid crew broke down, only to get going, but to a different post code, which meant practice never commenced until after 12-30, by which time the heavens had opened, and the track turned into a sticky mess. But after struggling through the first block of racing the organisers met with the riders and the plug was pulled.

A lot of riders understandably packed up after practice, but a few brave souls took to the line for the MD Racing Over 50’s and over 60’s race. The conditions did not slow Alan Eaves down as he took a fine win from Chris Woodward who battled through to second in front of Alan Bott, Phil Ryan, Dave Fisher and Davy Robb, who had his best finish of the season.

Geoff Stokes was the only Over 60 finisher, and now takes a commanding lead into the final round.

The Wulfsport Experts race started dramatically as Alex Rach led Matt Stephenson on the first lap, until Stephensons bike stalled leaving him dead last when he had restarted it. Rach led for three laps until his bike cried enough. Meanwhile Matt was on a mission and by lap four had taken the lead and went on to win from Rick Du-Feu, who had managed to stay trouble frre. Craig Reynolds was impressive in third from Andy Hinchliffe and Simon Gower. Stephenson now holds a 25 point lead over Rach going into the final round.

Joel Hughes turned on the style in the Falcon Shocks 250 class, beating all but the top three experts, to take the win, and Sean Dodders just made it home in second before burning out a clutch, from Steve Denton who only just made it over the line in front of John Bennett and Tom Marsh.

The CI Sport Inters and Maico Only 125’s raced together, and it was Lee Holland who beat them all to take the 125 win from championship leader Sean McCrea in second and Chris Rowlands in third. But it really took it out of the 125 screamers. Vince Larcombe was the only Inter to complete full race distance to take the win, with Andy Cleaver a lap down in second, in front of father and son Kev and Dom Bratt. Chris Anderton was another who bravely made a finish in fifth.

The Herts MX Vets front runners made it look easy, but by this stage very few riders made it to the line, and even less finished, but Dave Campbell went flat out to take the win from championship leader Jonno White. Steve Rowlands, Shaun Copeman and Lee Davies were the only other finishers.

The LPE Clubman riders found the conditions worsening and Daran Williams eventually disposed of Alan Mozley to take first place, with Mozley just behind. Only Graham Challis and Ben Hughes, who took his best ever result finished the race.

In the Partridge Ventilation Pre-83 125’s championship, Paul Baldwin led the first lap, until a slip left Sean McCrea at the front for two laps, but Baldwin persevered to come back and overhaul Sean on the last lap to take a deserved win. McCrea took second, and Jim Shands third, meant he was the leading Over 40 rider. Tom Holland scored points in fourth, in front of Dad Andy in fifth. Colby Walker just got the better of Callum Walker at the flag.

Glen Phillips led from start to finish in the Motolink Yamaha Evolution race, and strengthened his position at the top of the charts. Craig Reynolds took second, in front of Andy Hinchliffe, Paul Coward and Tom Marsh.

The final round of the championship with double points on offer is Sunday September 1 at Howton Court, Pontrilas.

MD Racing Over 50’s

1 Alan Eaves 2 Chris Woodward 3 Alan Bott 4 Phil Ryan 5 Dave Fisher 6 Davy Robb.

MD Racing Over 60’s

1 Geoff Stokes.

Wulfsport Elite Experts (Supported by CNR Burrows Transport & Marsh Freight)

1 Matt Stephenson 2 Rick Du-Feu 3 Craig Reynolds 4 Andy Hinchliffe 5 Simon Gower.

Maico Only 125’s

1 Lee Holland 2 Sean McCrea 3 Chris Rowlands.

Falcon Shocks 250’s

1 Joel Hughes 2 Sean Dodders 3 Steve Denton 4 John Bennett 5 Tom Marsh.

CI Sport / DEP Pipes Intermediates

1 Vince Larcombe 2 Andy Cleaver 3 Kev Bratt 4 Dom Bratt 5 Chris Anderton.

HertsMX Veterans

1 Dave Campbell 2 Jonno White 3 Steve Rowlands 4 Shaun Copeman 5 Lee Davies.

LPE Clubman

1 Daran Williams 2 Alan Mozley 3 Graham Challis 4 Ben Hughes.

Partridge Ventilation Pre-83 125’s

1 Paul Baldwin 2 Sean McCrea 3 Jim Shand 4 Tom Holland 5 Andy Holland 6 Colby Walker.

Motolink Yamaha Evolution

1 Glen Phillips 2 Craig Reynolds 3 Andy Hinchliffe 4 Paul Coward 5 Tom Marsh 6 Andy Watkins.

The Best Western Moat House Hotel, Stoke on Trent has once more been booked for this years bash on Saturday October 26, 2013 and for those who have not been before, this is a 4 star modern hotel built within the grounds of the magnificent Etruria Hall, near Stoke-On-Trent.

The Hotel also has full leisure facilities, including heated pool and air conditioned gym / spa, is close to the Potteries Shopping Centre and adjacent to Waterworld, one of Europes largest waterparks.

We need to be seated for 7-30pm for the meal, so that the presentation can start at approx 8-30pm. As at last years presentation, we will be inviting all six winners in each class up for their trophies at once instead of individually, so that the kids (and adults) don’t get restless. Hopefully this will give everyone more time to enjoy the evening whether it be dancing or just socialising.

Please complete  a form and send S.A.E to ‘Geoff Shuttleworth’ to reserve your tickets and order your preferred menu before the end of September. Cheques should be made payable to ‘National Twinshock Association’. Forms can be found at our regular ‘Entry Forms’ download page

Note! Tickets can only be reserved with payment, as several people booked last year and never showed, costing us dearly. If it helps cheques will not be cashed until the end of September. Rooms to be booked through the hotel and are not usually charged until leaving.

For accommodation at the hotel call 01782-609988, and Quote ‘Twinshock’ for discounted twin room rate of £74 (Normally £135) for Bed & Breakfast, but this deal only lasts until the end of September, after which the price goes up. We have again been allocated 80 rooms but as usual it is on a first come first served basis, so please don’t leave it until the last minute as you will probably be disappointed.

The Best Western Moat House Hotel, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffs. ST1 5BQ.

Off Jnc.15 or 16, M6.

Saturday October 26th, 7-00pm for 7-30pm.

Tickets £20 each including dinner and disco.

Childrens Menu £10-00 each (Fruit juice, Burger/chips, Chocolate cake)

Menu

Starter Selection

Choice of Fresh Home-made Soups

Choice of Fresh Home-made Soups

or

Warm Staffordshire Oatcake filled with Mature

Cheddar Cheese, Spiced Fruit Chutney

Main Courses

Oven Baked Breast of Chicken

With a Red Wine and Thyme Jus

or

Roast Loin of Pork

Sage and Onion Stuffing and Cider Gravy

Apple Sauce

Vegetarian Option

Vegetable Tart Topped with Melted Brie

Desserts

Lemon Tart with sweetened berries

Or

Meringue Nest Filled with Chantilly Cream and Wild Berries

Freshly Brewed Coffee and Mint Chocolates are included with your meal

Due to the loss of the Long Lane, Telford venue, the final round of the Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships will now be at Howton Court, Pontrilas on Sunday September 1.

There are double points on offer for each race and entry forms can be found on the website.