ACU Goldspeed British Quadcross Championships Round Four, Dean Moor, July 24th 2011
Words and Photography by Alistair Plant
Round four of the ACU Goldspeed British QX Championship saw John Mitchell extend his unbeaten lead, taking the overall win at the beautifully scenic Dean Moor Motocross Park in Cumbria. Hosted by the NETT Iveston & Satley MCC, it was also round three of the youth championship. Spectators were gripped by an action packed day of 24 races, as well as some outstanding individual performances throughout the different racing classes.
There was a mere two second difference between the fastest rider Paul Holmes and tenth place in qualifying showing just how close the competition would be for racing. KTM’s Mark Watson racing at his local track stormed out of the dust and took the holeshot for race one. Looking comfortable he quickly began to curve a gap in front of Dutchman Davey Decuyper who was making an immediate impact at his first British Championship. Behind him was current champion Paul Winrow, battling to keep John Mitchell from passing. “I wasn’t too pleased about gating fourth. I was behind Winrow and could see Watson was pulling away. I think it was lap five when I passed him and then chased down and overtook Decuyper but Watson had pulled too much of a gap.” explained Mitchell.
With an 11.45 second lead, Watson took the chequered flag saying “I’ve no complaints with that!” It was an impressive display from the local man who also took the fastest lap time. Mitchell finished in second and a fine performance from Holmes saw him fight his way back from a 14th place start, all the way up to third! “I worked as hard as I could to get up to third but the two leaders had got away and it was really hard to catch” Holmes said as he commented on the race outcome.
With the track watered during the break, the QMX1 riders prepared for race two with ATV World Yamaha’s John Mitchell taking the holeshot and leading from Watson, Giles Davis, Holmes and Jason Macbeth. Watson passed Mitchell on lap three to take the lead only to suffer a broken axle as he landed from the biggest dropdown on the track. “I started to pull away but smashed the axle and that was game over. Just one of those things and you’ve got to move on” Watson reflected as he was put out of contention.
Mitchell then found himself with a big gap from Holmes who had been battling to take the second position. Meanwhile David Wray had been busy overtaking his way from sixth into third place, making up for his unfortunate DNF in race one. That’s how it stayed with Mitchell taking the win and overall round, followed by Paul Holmes and David Wray.
Finding his rhythm and getting back on the podium after two years, SMR Nora-MX rider Stef Murphy had an excellent day finishing fifth and fourth. Not only did that give him third overall but a decisive victory in the under 21 British Championship, ahead of Luke Cooper and Connor Smith. “I got some OK starts today and benefited a bit from other things going on during the race. It’s been a good steady round with consistent results” commented a very pleased Murphy.
In the British Masters, the action as ever was fast and furious with Paul Harkness taking first place in race one ahead of an on-form Antony Barrett only for Barrett to take first in race two ahead of Harkness and take the overall win. Darren Bridge finished third overall with a fourth and third finish.
There were 22 riders competing in the supports with Josh Waring riding in superb form in his first year in the adult class, taking the overall victory ahead of David Coatsworth and Emma McQuaid.
It was round three in the youth classes of the British Championship and everyone was eager to pick up more points with the 250cc standards and stock first out. In the 250cc standards, Bradley Swinbank dominated with maximum points, as did Alexander Thompson in the 250cc hybrid class. The one and only Anna Dawson bagged all the points in the 250cc stock class, while Josh Coombs had an excellent day taking the overall win and finishing first place in race two.
In the 100cc geared, modified and standard classes there was wheel to wheel action with Bailey Edwards most notably taking maximum points from the 100cc geared class with Jonty Wright doing the same in the 50cc standard class. Shelly Smart took the overall win in the 50cc modified.
The next round of the championship will be at Langrish MCC in Hampshire on the 28th August. Adult classes only. For more details, please visit www.acuquadracing.co.uk
RESULTS:
British championship: 1 John Mitchell (Yamaha) 22 + 25 = 47, 2 Paul Holmes (Yamaha) 20 + 22 = 42, 3 Stefan Murphy (Honda) 16 + 18 = 34, 4 Davey Decuyper (KTM) 18 + 14 = 32, 5 Carl Bunce (Suzuki) 14 + 16 = 30, 6 Justin Reid (Can-Am) 11 + 15 =26.
British U21 Championship:1 Stefan Murphy (Honda) 25 + 25 =50, 2 Luke Cooper (KTM) 22 + 20 =42, 3 Conner Smith (KTM) 20 + 18 =38, 4 George Calaway (Yamaha) 15 + 22 =37, 5 David Cowan (Yamaha) 18 + 16 =34, 6 Cian Rogers (Kawasaki) 14 + 15 =29.
Masters (+35): 1 Antony Barrett (Suzuki) 22 + 25 = 47, 2 Paul Harkness (Honda) 25 + 22 = 47, 3 Darren Bridge (Yamaha) 18 + 20 = 38, 4 Robert Graham (Yamaha) 16 + 18 =34, 5 Mark Smith (Honda) 15 + 15 =30, 6 Steve Bean (Suzuki) 14 + 13 =27.
Support: 1 Josh Waring (Yamaha) 25 + 22 =47, 2 David Coatsworth 20 + 25 =45, 3 Emma
McQuaid (Honda) 22 + 20=42, 4 Andy Cole (KTM) 15 + 18 =33, 5 Richard Telford (Honda) 18 + 14 =32, 6 Jonny Harper (Suzuki) 14 + 16 =30.
250cc Open:1 Alexander Thompson (Honda) 25 + 25 = 50, 2 Leon Rogers (Kawasaki) 22 + 22 = 44, 3 Scott Sinclair (Yamaha) 20 + 20 = 40, 4 Scott Pounder (Honda) 18 + 18 =36, 5 Harry Johnson (Suzuki) 16 + 16 = 32, 6 James Swinbank (Honda) 15 + 15 = 30.
250cc Modified: 1 Josh Coombs (Yamaha) 22 + 25 =47, 2 Frazer McFadden (Yamaha) 20 + 22 =42, 3 Warren Allan (Yamaha) 25 + 14 =39, 4 Jamie Morgan (Yamaha) 18 + 18 =36, 5 Adam James (Yamaha) 14 + 20 =34, 6 Nathan Rae (Yamaha) 15 +16 =31 .
250cc Standard: 1 Brad Swinbank (Yamaha) 25 + 25 =50, 2 Luke Davies (Yamaha) 22 + 18 =40, 3 Jordan Harris (?) 16 + 22 =38, 4 Tommy Pitttaway (Yamaha) 20 + 15 =35, 5 Leon Patmore (?) 18 + 16 =34, 6 Jack Naylor (?) 14 + 14 =28.
250cc Stock:1 Anna Dawson (Yamaha) 25 + 25 = 50.
100cc Geared:1 Bailey Edwards (Honda) 25 + 25 = 50, 2 Harry Walker (Cobra) 22 + 22 =44, 3 Connor Paxton (?) 20 + 20 =40, 4 Jacob Atkinson (?) 16 + 18 =34, 5 Ryan Spratt-Wyatt (Cobra) 18 + 16 =34, 6 Harry Carmichael (Suzuki) 0.
100cc Standard:1 Luke Penrose (?) 25 + 22 =47, 2 Josh Birch (Apache) 20 + 18 = 38, 3 James Rawlins (Pro Shark) 22 + 16 =38, 4 Nathan Penrose (?) 18 + 15 =33, 5 Joe Jukes (?) 15 + 14 =29, 6 Vassna Willcock (Apache) 16 + 12 =28,
50cc Modified: 1 Shelley Smart (Pro-Shark) 22 + 22 =44, 2 JJ Readman (?) 20 + 20 =40, 3 George Oliver (Cobra) 14 + 25 =39, 4 Marcus Sprason (Pro Shark) 25 + 14 =39, 5 Dylan McKenna (Cobra) 18 + 18 =36, 6 Bobby Carmichael (Cobra) 16 + 16 =32.
50cc Standard: 1 Jonty Wright (?) 25 + 25 =50, 2 Brad Hopps (Lawn Flight) 20 + 22 =42, 3 Joshua Talent (Apache) 22 + 20 =42, 4 Ewan Williams (?) 18 + 18 =36.