Toughsheet National Twinshock Championship

Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships Round 4

Lancashire Twinshock Club

Eskham House Farm, Garstang

Report Geoff Shuttleworth

Pictures Louises MX Pictures

 

The fourth round of the Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships hosted by the Lancashire Twinshock Club nearly bit the dust as the original venue at Astbury was found to be too wet with a week to go, so the club had to search the North West for a suitable alternative. Well they landed at Eskham House Farm, near Garstang just south of Lancaster, and it proved to be a really good choice as it was just right for the twinshocks. Once going, everything went to plan, and although a little low on numbers they did a fantastic job, supported by the Cumbria Club, and event support from Jonno White at KAIS Suspension.

In all three Wulfsport Expert races Irelands Willie Burgess burst into the lead, and although he was eventually caught by the younger riders he managed to take the overall win by a single point from Gary Parker, and with it the CNR Burrows Transport Rider of the day award. In race one he was chased by Aaron Holmes and Alex Butler, but both riders had mishaps, which left Gary Parker to take up the charge, and he eventually got past Willie on lap four to take the first win, from Willie, Danny Hiorns and Andy Hinchliffe. Race two saw Burgess hit the front only to be passed by Matt Stephenson, who was guesting on Ken Sourbutts Maico. Stephenson went onto win, but hurt his ankle in the process and had to miss the final moto. Butler chased him home in front of Hiorns, Burgess and Parker. Burgess led race three until half distance when Butler stormed past to make it three different winners, Burgess took a great runner up from Parker and Hinchliffe.

The Falcon Shock 250 riders raced alongside the experts, and Steve Rowlands took three excellent wins, after passing early leader Steve Denton, who managed a good second overall. Jamie Biddulph had his beat result to date with third overall from John Bennett and Chad Sait.

A full LPE Clubman line up were next to the line, and there was some tight racing at the front with the lead changing hands almost every lap. Andy Steel reigned supreme though, taking the overall with two wins and a second. Carl Nissen took the runner up berth, helped by two fine second places, and Phil Oxley completed the podium, guesting on Jon Hollands Suzuki, from Gary Craddock and Irelands John Allen.

In the MD Racing Over 50 class, hard working club member Alan Eaves for once had his work cut out to keep the others at bay. Alan took the first race from hard charging Phil Martindale, with Alan Bott taking third from Chris Woodward and Phil Ryan. But the second race belonged to Martindale, who took it from Woodward and Eaves, who had an indifferent start. It was winner takes all for the overall in race three, and Eaves just edged it with a close finish from Martindale, Bott and Craig Holmes.

The MD Racing Over 60’s was won by Toughsheets John Mercer who had three good wins. Geoff Stokes took second, after problems in race one. And Tony Aldridge completed the podium on his trusty CZ from Alan Deer on another CZ.

The Yorkshire VMX 125 Twinshock and Evos raced together, and in the Twinshocks it was business as usual for Sean McCrea who took three easy wins, mixing it with some of the newer bikes. Young Matt Rowlands took second from Andrew Robinson.

In the 125 Evos, Lee Holland seemed to be on for three superb wins until the last lap of the final outing when he had a big off, and limped back to the paddock bruised and battered. This opened the door for James Clarke, who was out on one of Lee Hollands spare bikes, who took full advantage to take the overall win from Richard Wood on the Kawasaki, from Anthony Hartley in third.

The Herts MX Vets class were next up, and there was some real blood and thunder racing as eventual overall winner Danny Blakeley was made to work ever so hard for the win. He took race one and two from Garry Jones and Rick De-Feu, but in race three had to settle for second to De-Feu, in front of Jones and Barry Marshall and Ewan Johnston.

The CI Sport Inters saw another fast starting Irishman as George Porter got the drop in all three races. He won race one from Daran Williams, Steve Goddard and Dan Hardy. Race two saw Goddard win from Williams, Porter and Chris Anderton. The third race decider saw Williams improve to take a fine win and overall from Goddard and James Curtis.

The final championship class was the Motolink Yamaha Evolution class, and it was a very fast Danny Hiorns who took all three wins on the big Kawasaki to claim the overall. Jonno White was his nearest challenger in the first two races, but Andy Hinchliffe pipped him to the runner up spot on last race result. Jon Cowgill was next best in fourth from Daniel Jones.

An extra Modern class was added to the programme and there was nobody going to get near the ultra smooth Gav Houson, who took all three wins with ease. James Goodall rode consistently to take second from James Clarke, Aaron Holmes and Dave Bennett.

The next round is the double header at Warmingham Lane, Sandbach on July 19/20.

 

 

Wulfsport Experts

1 Willie Burgess, 2 Gary Parker, 3 Danny Hiorns, 4 Alex Butler, 5 Andy Hinchliffe, 6 Matt Stephenson.

Falcon Shocks 250’s

1 Steve Rowlands, 2 Steve Denton, 3 Jamie Biddulph, 4 John Bennett, 5 Chad Sait, 6 Chris Rowlands.

LPE Clubman

1 Andy Steel, 2 Carl Nissen, 3 Phil Oxley, 4 Gary Craddock, 5 John Allen, 6 Mark Russell.

MD Racing Over 50’s

1 Alan Eaves, 2 Phil Martindale, 3 Alan Bott, 4 Chris Woodward, 5 Craig Holmes, 6 Phil Ryan.

MD Racing Over 60’s

1 John Mercer, 2 Geoff Stokes, 3 Tony Aldridge, 4 Alan Deer, 5 Dave Mozley, 6 Brian Hayes.

Yorkshire VMX 125 Twinshock

1 Sean McCrea, 2 Mathew Rowlands, 3 Andrew Robinson.

Yorkshire VMX 125 Evolution

1 James Clarke, 2 Richard Wood, 3 Anthony Hartley, 4 Lee Holland, 5 Phil Oxley, 6 Mark Burrows.

Herts MX Veterans

1 Danny Blakeley, 2 Rick Du-Feu, 3 Garry Jones, 4 Barry Marshall, 5 Ewan Johnston, 6 Lee Buck.

CI Sport Inters

1 Daran Williams, 2 Steve Goddard, 3 George Porter, 4 Chris Anderton, 5 Martin Speak,

6 Dan Hardy.

Motolink Yamaha Evolution

1 Danny Hiorns, 2 Andy Hinchliffe, 3 Jonno White, 4 Jon Cowgill, 5 Daniel Jones, 6 Matt Rudd. Best Pre-85 – Lee Buck.

Modern class

1 Gav Houson, 2 James Goodall, 3 James Clarke, 4 Aaron Holmes, 5 Dave Bennett, 6 Jack Craggs.

CNR Burrows Transport Rider of the Meeting – Willie Burgess.

Matt Murphy Memorial
Meeting

Toughsheet National
Twinshock Championships Round 3

 

Cumbria Twinshock  Club

 

Hawkstone Park,
Shrewsbury

 

Report Geoff
Shuttleworth

 

 

 

Thorpey Rolls Back The Years

 

 

The Matt Murphy Memorial Meeting at Hawkstone Park last Saturday had a bit of everything that is good about the Vintage scene. This year it incorporated round three of the Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships supported by Central Motors Salvage of Derby, there was also the only opportunity to throw a classic bike around the famous circuit, and to top it all three times World Champion Dave Thorpe agreed to ride in the Evolution class on a specially prepped 1989 Honda 500 from Andy Cleaver at Yorkshire VMX.

 

Although the Hawkstone Hill was out of bounds due to some much needed renovation work, riders instead had to use the newly formed short cut which goes about half way up the hillside, but everyone agreed it had been graded to perfection and the event, run by the Cumbria Twinshock Club, was enjoyed by all that came to ride or watch.

 

Following practice there was a minutes silence in memory of Matt Murphy, whilst brother Shaun rode a lap on his old Maico, and then the family led by father Gary, unveiled a new bench which will be sited next to the track.

 

The Classic bikes and the MD Racing Over 60’s raced together and were first onto the track before it got too rough for the older bikes and riders, although there was more than one in need of oxygen before the end. In the classic class Gareth Challinor roared to victory in race one, but never appeared for the next two. Jim Shand out on a big four stroke won the next two but only came second overall as he had a DNF in race one. The overall win though went to a delighted Phil Roberts on the CZ, with two seconds and a fourth, which meant he went away with the Brian Nadin Memorial Trophy. Irelands John Allen made the journey worthwhile taking third on the podium. Toughsheet sponsor John Mercer had some great starts and took the Over 60’s class with two wins and a third, and earned himself the CNR Burrows Haulage Rider of the Meeting award.

 

Stuart Miller had a good meeting, winning the third race and took second overall from reigning champion Geoff Stokes.

 

Tony Sprowson on another CZ took the LPE Clubman class beating all before him, winning two out of the three legs. Andy Steel won race two and got himself second overall, and now leads the championship. Ben Price had his best ride of the season in third, from Mark Russell and Graham Challis. Best wishes go to Jon Holland who sustained a broken ankle in race two.

 

Although qualifying for the Over 60’s class, it was agreed that the Cheshire Charger Pete Mathia would ride the MD Racing Over 50’s class to give him some competition. But just to prove class never leaves you, he stormed to three smooth wins, with only Alan Eaves in second getting anywhere near him. Another welcome event sponsor Phil Martindale, had three great rides to take third from Chris Woodward and Alan Bott.

 

The crowd came out in numbers for the Wulfsport Experts class as it was littered with British Championship runners and former AMCA Champions. The first race was won at a canter by Alex Rach on the Dick Do Maico, but second went to Maxxis runner Ashley Wilde on another Maico which he had only practiced on once. Third place went to Alex Butler on the Marsh HPF in front of Danny Hiorns and Michael Smith. Race two saw Rach lead, but he was having gear selection problems, and Wilde made his move to the front on lap three, but the bike blew on lap five, and Rach nursed the bike home to take his second win from Hiorns, Butler, Smith and Irelands Willie Burgess. Rach again holeshot race three and led until lap four when his bike expired. Butler took over the lead from a fast charging Hiorns, until there was some last lap flag confusion, due to a crash just next to the finish line, and with Butler thinking it was the end of the race he pulled over, but Hiorns continued and took the win from a very disappointed Alex in second. It turned out to be crucial as Hiorns won the overall by three points.

 

There were some new names at the front of the Falcon Shocks 250 class as Richard Mason recorded two race wins to take the overall from Jake Mason, with regular Steve Denton in third. Laurence Wiltshire took race two but failed to finish the third race.

 

The Yorkshire VMX 125 Twinshock and Evo riders raced together, and in the twinshocks there were three different winners with Paul Lippitt, Sean McCrea and Jim Shand all tasting victory, but it was Sean McCrea who once again took the overall from Mathew Rowlands and Andrew Robinson. Lee Holland took the 125 Evos and with it was awarded the Matt Murphy Memorial trophy for his efforts, although he was beaten by second overall James Shand in race one. Anthony Hartley on the Kawasaki took the final podium place.

 

The Herts MX Vets class was a real cracker with the top five swapping places throughout, but it was Danny Blakeley who reigned supreme with two wins and a third. Rick De-Feu got better with each race and took the last leg to finish second overall from Cumbrian Paul Coward, Garry Jones and Ewan Johnston.

 

The CI Sport Inters class was won convincingly by Will Bayman with three more wins, but Daran Williams on the four stroke Honda was equally pleased with second from last years clubman champion Mark Burrows, Steve Morgan and George Porter.

 

Last but certainly not least was the Motolink Yamaha Evolution class, and all eyes were on number four Dave Thorpe as the gate dropped. At the end of the lap, Glen Phillips was in the lead from Andy Thomson and Thorpe was third. And although he was passed by Danny Hiorns and Andy Hinchliffe, he finished a magnificent fifth against riders half his age. Races two and three were also won by a very smooth Phillips, with Hiorns and Michael Smith next up. Thorpe took fourth in both his other races to round off a great days racing, and agreed to carry out the presentation of the awards to some very excited winners. The next round of the championship run by the Lancashire Twinshock club is at Astbury, Congleton on Sunday June 15.

 

 

 

Brian Nadin Memorial Trophy Classics

 

1 Phil Roberts, 2 Jin Shand, 3 John Allen, 4 Karl Newman, 5 Andy Storey, 6 Nick Payton.

 

MD Racing Over 60’s

 

1 John Mercer, 2 Stuart Miller, 3 Geoff Stokes, 4 Dave Mozley, 5 Rob Alderton, 6 Brian Hayes.

 

LPE Clubman

 

1 Tony Sprowson, 2 Andy Steel, 3 Ben Price, 4 Mark Russell, 5 Graham Challis, 6 William Curtis.

 

MD Racing Over 50’s

 

1 Pete Mathia, 2 Alan Eaves, 3 Phil Martindale, 4 Chris Woodward, 5 Alan Bott, 6 Dave Fisher.

 

Wulfsport Experts

 

1 Danny Hiorns, 2 Alex Butler, 3 Alex Rach, 4 Michael Smith, 5 Andy Hinchliffe, 6 Willie Burgess.

 

Falcon Shocks 250’s

 

1 Richard Mason, 2 Jake Mason, 3 Steve Denton, 4 Steve Rowlands, 5 Chad Sait, 6 Laurence Wiltshire.

 

Yorkshire VMX 125 Twinshock

 

1 Sean McCrea, 2 Mathew Rowlands, 3 Andrew Robinson, 4 Jim Shand, 5 Steve Askin, 6 Paul Lippitt.

 

Yorkshire VMX 125 Evolution

 

1 Lee Holland, 2 James Shand, 3 Anthony Hartley, 4 Michael Weir, 5 Richard Wood, 6 Phil Oxley.

 

Herts MX Veterans

 

1 Danny Blakeley, 2 Rick Du-Feu, 3 Paul Coward, 4 Garry Jones, 5 Ewan Johnston, 6 John Littler.

 

CI Sport Inters

 

1 Will Bayman, 2 Daran Williams, 3 Mark Burrows, 4 Steve Morgan, 5 George Porter, 6 Steve Goddard.

 

Motolink Yamaha Evolution

 

1 Glen Phillips, 2 Danny Hiorns, 3 Michael Smith, 4 Dave Thorpe, 5 Craig Reynolds, 6 Tom Marsh. Best Pre-85 – Lee Buck.

 

CNR Burrows Transport Rider of the Meeting – John Mercer.

 

Matt Murphy Memorial Trophy – Lee Holland

 

 

Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships Round 1

 

Cumbria Twinshock Club

 

Stipers Hill, Polesworth

 

Report Geoff Shuttleworth

 

Pictures Louises MX Pictures

 

 

The opening round of the Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships took place on Sunday at Stipers Hill, Polesworth, hosted by the Cumbria Twinshock Club with help from the Polesworth crew and supported by Yorkshire VMX. Over 200 riders made the journey, and after the awfully wet winter the weather gods were with them as it was a bright sunny weekend, and the track, although a little rough towards the end, held up really well during the mammoth 24 race programme.

 

First to the line this year were the LPE Clubman class with some new names to the series. And first blood went to Mark Russell, who managed to wrestle the overall from Andy Steel by a margin of two victories to Steels one. Young Reece Winsor on the Husky took third, with three top four rides from Martyn Williams on the big four stroke, and Duncan Judd was chuffed to bits with his fifth place at the end of play.

 

The line was full to bursting for the MD Racing Over 50’s class, and Alan Eaves started as he finished last year, by taking the first two race wins, from Richard Allen both times, but in the third Eaves was involved in a first lap melee, and had to fight his way back. This left Allen to take the third race and with it a well deserved overall from Eaves, with Phil Ryan starting well taking third after leading for a long time in the final race. Alan Bott was up there with them and took fourth from Phil Martindale.

 

The Over 60’s was eventually won by Geoff Stokes, but John Mercer took the second and third race wins, but a lowly fourth in the first meant he missed out by a single point. Birthday boy Dave Mozley rounded off the podium.

 

There was some cracking action in the Wulfsport Experts, and new to the series Bryn Clarke on the Husky took the first and third race victories after some good dices at the sharp end. But it was Marsh HPF Honda man Alex Butler who pipped him for the overall by carding a 3-1-2 to take the red plate after round one. There were a whole host of machine problems for the top stars, and consistency was the order of the day, with Jon Rowlands getting his best ever result taking third overall, from Danny Hiorns in fifth. It was also good to see Honda mounted ex Champion Gary Parker back with the series in sixth.

 

The Falcon Shocks 250’s were a bit thin on the ground, but they mixed it with some of the experts with Chad Sait winning the class with a first and two seconds, from Steve Denton, Steve Rowlands, and Chris Rowlands.

 

The CI Sport Intermediate Class was won convincingly by Lawrence Wiltshire on the red rocket, with three back to back victories, and afterwards agreed to be upgraded into the experts. Young Jack Goddard got the better of his Dad Steve by taking the runner up berth, with James Curtis fourth and Daran Williams, just up from the clubman in fifth.

 

The new Yorkshire VMX Twinshock and Evo 125 class was pretty well supported, and they all raced together with the results split, and the twinshock 125’s was won by Sean McCrea, but not without some great tussles with runner up Paul Lippitt, and Mathew Rowlands in third.

 

The Evo 125’s were grateful of a race against similar sized machinery, and it was Lee Holland who prevailed and won the overall with two wins to runner up James Shands first race victory. Richard Wood did all he could but had to settle for third overall.

 

The Herts MX Vets class saw a return to form for Paul Coward, who beat off the challenge of Garry Jones to take the overall with two fine wins and a second. Jones won the first to take the runner up spot. Lee Buck was third from guest rider Mark Owens and Lee Jackson.

 

The Partridge Ventilation Pre-83 125’s were next up, and reigning champion Lee Holland stormed to three classy wins, although James Shand kept him honest, not too far behind in second. Paul Baldwin improved with each race and took third, and Paul Lippitt rounded off a good day in fourth from Olly Partridge.

 

The final class of the day was the Motolink Yamaha Evolution class, and it did not go to plan for reigning champion Glen Phillips who had bike problems all day. This left the door open for new to the class Danny Hiorns on another big Kwacker, who eventually showed his class by taking all three wins. Andy Hinchliffe on the 250 Honda took the runner up spot, and Jonno White also new to the class taking third. Paul Coward wasn’t too far behind in fourth in front of last years 250 champion Joel Hughes.

 

 

LPE Clubman

 

1 Mark Russell, 2 Andy Steel, 3 Reece Winsor, 4 Martyn Williams, 5 Gary Craddock, 6 Sean Burrows.

 

MD Racing Over 50’s

 

1 Richard Allen, 2 Alan Eaves, 3 Phil Ryan, 4 Alan Bott. 5 Phil Martindale, 6 Chris Woodward.

 

MD Racing Over 60’s

 

1 Geoff Stokes, 2 John Mercer, 3 Dave Mozley, 4 Michael May, 5 Bill Brown, 6 Brian Hayes.

 

Wulfsport Experts

 

1 Alex Butler, 2 Bryn Clarke, 3 Jon Rowlands, 4 Willie Burgess, 5 Danny Hiorns, 6 Gary Parker. .

 

Falcon Shocks 250’s

 

1 Chad Sait, 2 Steve Denton, 3 Steve Rowlands, 4 Chris Rowlands, 5 John Bennett, 6 Jamie Biddulph.

 

CI Sport Inters

 

1 Lawrence Wiltshire, 2 Jack Goddard, 3 Steve Goddard, 4 James Curtis, 5 Daran Williams,

 

6 Will Bayman.

 

Yorkshire VMX 125 Twinshock

 

1 Sean McCrea, 2 Paul Lippitt, 3 Mathew Rowlands, 4 Dave Ellis, 5 Andrew Robinson, 6 Dave Rowsell.

 

Yorkshire VMX 125 Evolution

 

1 Lee Holland, 2 James Shand, 3 Richard Wood, 4 Luke Wade, 5 Phil Oxley, 6 Jon Cowgill.

 

Herts MX Veterans

 

1 Paul Coward, 2 Garry Jones, 3 Lee Buck, 4 Mark Owens, 5 Lee Jackson, 6 Jason Turner.

 

Partridge Ventilation Pre-83 125’s

 

1 Lee Holland, 2 James Shand, 3 Paul Baldwin, 4 Paul Lippitt, 5 Olly Partridge, 6 Anthony Twidle.

 

Motolink Yamaha Evolution

 

1 Danny Hiorns, 2 Andy Hinchliffe, 3 Jonno White, 4 Paul Coward, 5 Joel Hughes, 6 Michael Smith. Best Pre-85 – Kevin Hall.

 

CNR Burrows Transport Rider of the Meeting – James Shand

 

 

Well we have been inundated with riders registering for the 2014 Toughsheet National Twinshock Championships, with over 200 by the beginning of February, which is a series record. The first four entry forms are now posted, and entries are looking very healthy already. Please do not leave registration until Telford if you wish to guarantee a ride at the first three events at Polesworth, Condover and Hawkstone, as some of the classes have more registrations than we have places on the line. If you require any info on the series please contact me by using the e mail on the contact tab.

We have a number of events available for individual sponsorship, where you get a full page ad in each programme, and your logos on the programme front of your chosen event. This all goes to help the clubs with their costs. Pop around to our stand at the Telford Show on February 22/23 for a brew and a chat.

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.