Jan
Round 2 Supported by DLE Construction
RDH Auctions National Twinshock Championships
Round 2 Supported by DLE Construction
North of England MX Club
Gale Common, Whitley
Report Geoff Shuttleworth
Pictures Andrew Boardman
The North of England MX Club hosted the second round of the RDH Auctions National Twinshock Championships on Sunday at a sunny Gale Common. The track was run in the opposite direction this year, and although there were some problems with the dust, it was kept at bay by the clubs watering system. The track held up well which produced some excellent racing throughout the programme.
As usual the MD Racing Over 50’s were first to the line, and Pete Mathia stamped his authority on the race from the outset, easing to victory, with Phil Ryan and Martin Snape following him home after starting sixth and seventh on the opening lap. Mathia took the second leg as expected, but it was Andy Holland who took second, with Snape charging through to third from twelfth on the first lap. In the final encounter Mathia missed the start but flew through the field to complete his hat trick, passing Snape on lap four. This gave Snape the runner up overall from Ryan in third.
Jack McEwan continued his winning ways and took the honours and a clean sweep of wins in the MD Racing Over 60’s, from Maurice Wharton with three seconds and Bill Findley in third.
Roy Wells was the man to beat in the Wulfsport Experts, and took the first two legs leading from start to finish. Gary Parker on the Marsh C&J Honda finished runner up in race one, from Simon Gower and Howard Standfield. Runner up in race two went to Standfield complete with broken finger, Parker took third from Wayne Butt in fourth. In the final race Standfield went one better, claiming victory after demoting Wells on lap four. Parker again finished second, with Butt third and Wells fourth. Come the final reckoning and it was Wells who took the overall by three points from Standfield and Parker.
In the Toughsheet Recycling 125’s it was series leader Sean McCrea who took the first two race victories and the overall from a determined RDH rider John Davis following him home. Davis got the better of McCrea in race three, but it was too little too late, as he was left trailing by three points. Gary Turner rode really well and took third overall with a trio of third places. Unluckiest rider of the day was Graham Appleton who was left nursing a broken arm after an off in race one, and may now miss the rest of the season.
The Falcon Shocks 250’s was probably the closest class on the day with the top four riders swapping places all day. First to show was series sponsor RDH’S Richard Wood who took the first leg from early leader John Littler with Mick Armstrong third. Race two went to Armstrong, who held off the late charging Tom Holland with Littler third, but Wood hit the deck at the first corner and suffered facial cuts. It was all to play for in race three and Holland managed to squeeze past Armstrong on lap two taking the victory from Littler in second. At the end of the day Armstrong took the overall by a solitary point from Littler and Holland, and with it took the CNR Burrows Rider of the Day award.
Guest rider Ben Lightbown took all three victories on his Dads’s bike in the CI Sport Inters class, but he didn’t have it all his own way as for a time Dan Hardy managed to keep him honest. Mark Connole took runner up in race one from Hardy, and Graeme Clegg did the same in races two and three from Hardy each time. Hardy had the last laugh though pipping Clegg by one point for second overall.
Nobody seems to be able to get close to Gary Parker in the Cheshire County Crossers Veterans class this year, and as usual Gary led every lap of every race to take a comfortable overall victory. Steve Ward, back on his four stroke Honda after his two stroke outing at Polesworth took runner up in race one from Alan Eaves and Phil Daley. But Eaves got the better of Ward in the next two encounters to take second overall from Ward.
The LPE Clubman class threw up three different winners with Roy Stantham taking the first from Charlie and Paul Kelly. Trevor Guy excelled in race two and won from Lloyd Griffiths and Paul Kelly, before Paul Kelly took the final leg from Guy and young Kyle Hobson, and it was this win that separated him from Guy as they finished on equal points, but Kelly’s better last race finish settling it.
The final class to the line was the Motolink Yamaha Evolution class, which is always hotly contested by the first six or so riders. As at Polesworth it was Michael Smith who took the overall honours, winning the first leg from Roy Wells, Richard Chinn, Derek Read and Aaron Jordan. Wells took the second leading from start to finish from Smith, Chinn, Jordan and Carl Pope, who was making his debut in this class. Smith was out on his Dad’s Kwacker in race three and went even faster taking the win from Chinn, Wells and Jordan.
The third round run by the South West Twinshock Club is on May 2 ay Wrangway, Somerset.
MD Racing Over 50’s
1 Pete Mathia 2 Martin Snape 3 Phil Ryan 4 Brian Littler 5 Andy Holland 6 Chris Smejkal
MD Racing Over 60’s
1 Jack McEwan 2 Maurice Wharton 3 Bill Findley
Wulfsport Experts Top 20
1 Roy Wells 2 Howard Standfield 3 Gary Parker 4 Russ Watson 5 Wayne Butt 6 Matt Murphy 7 Phil Martindale 8 Sean Dodders 9 Alan Eaves 10 Robin Cowgill
Toughsheet Recycling 125’s
1 Sean McCrae 2 John Davis 3 Gary Turner 4 Dave Ellis 5 Chris Rowlands 6 Lewis Spademan
Falcon Shocks 250’s
1 Mick Armstrong 2 John Littler 3 Tom Holland 4 Richard Wood 5 Chris Pritchett 6 Chris Hewgill
CI Sport / DEP Pipes Intermediates
1 Ben Lightbown 2 Dan Hardy 3 Graeme Clegg 4 Ian Rowley 5 Steve Ryan 6 Mike Murphy
Cheshire County Crossers Veterans
1 Gary Parker 2 Alan Eaves 3 Steve Ward 4 Phil Daley 5 Lee Davies 6 Andy Morris
LPE Clubman
1 Paul Kelly 2 Trevor Guy 3 Kyle Hobson 4 Dave Lightbown 5 Lloyd Griffiths 6 Darren Wilcock
Motolink Yamaha Evolution
1 Michael Smith 2 Roy Wells 3 Richard Chinn 4 Aaron Jordan 5 Carl Pope 6 Andy Hinchcliffe
CNR Burrows Transport Rider of The Meeting
Mick Armstrong
