Mar
Round 1 Round-up
RDH Motorhome Centre National Twinshock Championships
North Of England MX Club
Gale Common, Whitley, Yorkshire
Report Geoff Shuttleworth
Pictures Andrew Boardman
The opening round of this years RDH Motorhomes sponsored National Twinshock Championships took place on Sunday at Gale Common Moto Park, near Selby, hosted by the North of England MX Club. The club had put in a tremendous amount of work to get the track up to National standard, and as riders arrived on the Saturday, it soon became evident that the venue was aptly named, as a northerly wind blew strong well into the night. How different Sunday was though, as it was bathed in glorious sunshine throughout the proceedings, and although conditions started perfect, it did dry out and became very dusty as the day wore on.
First to the line this year was the MD Racing Over 50’s and Over 60’s, with the sprightly Jack McEwan taking the lead, and holding onto it until late in the race, when the Cheshire Charger Pete Mathia hit the front, with Pete Lightfoot coming through the pack to take third. Mathia proceeded to take the next two wins and the overall in the Over 50’s, from Lightfoot, and Martin Snape just pipping Alan Hardy for third. Jack McEwan took the overall in the Over 60’s from Michael May and Bill Brown.
Next up was the Wulfsport Masters, and it was Matt Stephenson first out of the blocks, pursued by Roy Wells on his new ‘Monda’. Those two stayed close until the end, in front of Carl Lillywhite and Alan Eaves coming from a tenth place start to finish fourth. With Matt Stephenson missing from the third leg, Roy Wells took the overall with the final two wins. Alan Eaves took second with Paul Baldwin riding consistently for third overall.
The CI Sport / DEP Pipes Intermediates class threw up some new names this year with Carl Hodgson showing everyone a clean set of heels, although Mark Jackson did take the third race. But it was Fatcats Martin Craven who took the runner up spot from ex Clubman Champion Gavin Baldwin.
It was all happening in the first Toughsheet Recycling 125 race as a first corner pile up took out no less than six riders, and it was Sean McCrea who benefited leading from start to finish in front of fellow Suzuki pilot Graham Appleton, and Mark Hobbs third after picking himself up dead last at the start. The second leg was taken by RDH Teamster John Davis, but failed to score in the third leg leaving McCrea with two wins and a second to take the overall. Appleton took second staying in the top three all day with Marc Silveton third.
In the Falcon Shocks 250 class Richard Wood took two faultless wins to look certain of victory, but failed to score in race three, leaving Chris Whittle to pip Andy Holland for the overall. Aaron Jordans race three victory gave him the final podium place.
The Cheshire County Crossers Veterans class was full to bursting, and Gary Parker on his 89 Kwacker gave a master class in smooth riding with three excellent victories. Alan Eaves had some great tussles with new boy Steve Ward, and it really was good to watch, with Eaves just edging the runner up spot.
There was 36 eager riders in the LPE Clubman class, and it was Barrows Bryn Largue who took the overall, winning two and coming second to Mark Jordan in the final encounter. This was enough to give Jordan second overall ahead of a delighted Derrick Chegwyn in third. Special mention must go to Lucy Bratt who competed in her first ever event, and was applauded off the track on finishing.
The final class to the line was the Motolink Yamaha Evolutions, with Gary Parker once more out on his Kawasaki, taking the honours and the Burrows Haulage Rider of The Meeting award with a win and two seconds. There was drama in the third leg as Matt Stephenson crashed heavily whilst leading, suffering a badly broken arm. The calibre of riders in this class just gets better each season, with reigning champion Roy Wells having to settle for second, although he did win the third leg from Parker and Richard Chinn in third. All in all a great days racing, and the second round is at Polesworth on April 12.
MD Racing Over 50’s
1 Pete Mathia 2 Pete Lightfoot 3 Martin Snape 4 Alan Hardy 5 Stuart Miller 6 Rob Waddington
MD Racing Over 60’s
1 Jack McEwan 2 Michael May 3 Bill Brown 4 Dick Clayton
Wulfsport Masters
1 Roy Wells 2 Alan Eaves 3 Paul Baldwin 4 Keiron Jackson 5 Matt Stephenson 6 Carl Lillywhite
CI Sport / DEP Pipes Intermediates
1 Carl Hodgson 2 Martin Craven 3 Gav Baldwin 4 Mark Jackson 5 Ivor Gilford 6 Robin Cowgill
Toughsheet Recycling 125’s
1 Sean McCrae 2 Graham Appleton 3 Marc Silveton 4 Mark Hobbs 5 Andrew Robinson 6 Adrian Hoskins
Falcon Shocks 250’s
1 Chris Whittle 2 Andy Holland 3 Aaron Jordan 4 Steve Shambrook 5 Chris Pritchett 6 Steve Kitching
Cheshire County Crossers Veterans
1 Gary Parker 2 Alan Eaves 3 Steve Ward 4 Mark Jackson 5 Paul Baldwin 6 Martin Craven
LPE Clubman
1 Bryn Largue 2 Mark Jordan 3 Derrick Chegwyn 4 Chris Anderton 5 Scott Curtis 6 Rob Paine
Motolink Yamaha Evolution
1 Gary Parker 2 Roy Wells 3 Richard Chinn 4 Graham Lightfoot 5 Lee Holland 6 Ian Pycock
Burrows Haulage Rider of The Meeting
Gary Parker
