Words and pictures : Rob McDonnell The epic scrap developing for the ACU British 250 Quad championship got even closer at the seventh round of the NORA MX championship at Grittenham, Wilts on Sunday, when teenagers Bailey Edwards and Martin Adamson again served up another thrilling battle.
Victory went to England’s Edwards, thanks to two wins and a second, but Estonia’s Adamson won the third (after two seconds) to just hold on to his championship lead by 19 points.
The pair battled tooth and nail throughout all three races, with Edwards only able to get ahead on the final lap in the first two races. And, the hard but fair battles, and the lad’s public handshakes after each race were also a fine example to all.
In each race the leaders were harried hard by Jack Holmes and Lawrence Whyte, who are both still very much in the title fight too. Holmes was less than a second back in third place in both the first two races.
In fifth overall in the 250 Group was Dafydd Davies, the leading Modified rider. He remains unbeaten in the class this year with 21 heat wins and was again in dominant form heading by some distance the next Modified rider, Ayrton Knowles, in the first two races, then Harry Carmichael in the third.
In the 250 Standard class Oliver Martin and Harry Ruby had to go to a last heat decider after a win and second apiece, with Martin getting the verdict in the last race thanks to a fine 11th in the Group, the best finish by a Standard rider of the day.
In the combined 100 and 50 Group, Alfie Walker was in fine form winning all three races and setting the fastest lap in each, though in the first race Joshua Birch gave him a run for his money finishing just 1.5 seconds in arrears.
Shelley Smart won the small Modified class, but her fourth overall in the group was particularly impressive as she put several 100 Geared machines behind her. Her best result was a third in the third race.
In the adult groups the best racing of the day came in the packed Clubman and Rookie Group, with Jamie Morgan winning both, despite surviving the mother of all near misses when he got one of tabletops wrong!
Championship leader Harry Walker (Morgan has not contested all the rounds) won the first race, despite struggling with two fingers he broke playing football a fortnight earlier.
However in the next two races he slipped down the order after a bad start in the second and a crash in the third. Morgan though stayed consistent winning race two before trailing home Jack Naylor in the third.
Naylor’s win, plus second in the second race, secured him runner up overall, ahead of James Bevan who finished strongly with two thirds. The best finishing non-Rookie in the Group was Sam Brown with two seconds and a win.
In the ACU British Masters, reigning champion Ed Davies took three comfortable wins. In the first two it was from Ant Barrett, but in the third Barrett stalled in a turn and dropped back to fourth. That allowed Darren Bridge in to steal second, which ensured he secured third overall.
In the Masters B class, Trevor Humphris enjoyed three wins to stretch his series lead and keep him on course to be the first rider crowned a champion this year.
Finally, the Expert Group was won by 12 points by Paul Winrow, from Carl Bunce with Sheldon Seal third. Winrow had lost race one to Luke Cooper, after a tight battle, and then in the second he had narrowly won from George Callaway, with Cooper third.
However Winrow, who finished race three in second behind Stefan Murphy, easily won victory overall after a series of incidents between Cooper and Callaway in the final heat saw Cooper excluded from the meeting and Callaway the race.
RESULTS:
Experts: 1 Paul Winrow, 2 Carl Bunce, 3 Sheldon Seal, 4 Jake Smith, 5 Harry Miller, 6 Stefan Murphy
Under 23: 1 Sheldon Seal, 2 Jake Smith, 3 Harry Miller, 4 George Day, 5 George Miles, 6 Aaron Pole
Clubman: 1 Jamie Morgan, 2 Jack Naylor, 3 James Bevan, 4 Jamie Smith, 5 Alex Bethell, 6 Sam Brown
Rookie: 1 Jamie Morgan, 2 Jack Naylor, 3 James Bevan, 4 Jamie Smith, 5 Alex Bethell, 6 Harry Walker.
ACU Masters British Championship: 1 Ed Davies, 2 Ant Barrett, 3 Darren Bridge, 4 Gary Aldington, 5 Clint Eagle, 6 Darren Jukes.
Masters B: 1 Trevor Humphris, 2 Matthew James, 3 Simon Jackson, 4 Clyde Thomson, 5 Andrew Willcock, 6 Richard Clark.
EVO: 1 Mark Smith, 2 Pat Carr. No other finishers
Fun Cup: 1 Christopher Sage, 2 Chris Watson. No other finishers
ACU 250cc Youth British Championship: 1 Bailey Edwards, 2 Martin Adamson, 3 Jack Holmes, 4 Lawrence Whyte, 5 Dafydd Davies, 6 Jack Norris.
250 Open: 1 Bailey Edwards, 2 Martin Adamson, 3 Jack Holmes, 4 Lawrence Whyte, 5 Jack Norris, 6 Joshua Crane.
250 Modified: 1 Dafydd Davies, 2 Harry Carmichael, 3 Ayrton Knowles, 4 Matty Morris, 5 Thomas Chell, 6 Bradley Cockrem
250 Standard: 1 Oliver Martin, 2 Harry Ruby, 3 Daniel Hares, 4 Elysha Crane, 5 Joseph Jukes, 6 Declan McKenna
250 Stock: 1 Shanice Mott. No other finishers
100 Group Overall: 1 Alfie Walker, 2 Joshua Birch, 3 Marcus Sprason,4 Shelley Smart, 5 Woody Jackson, 6 Bobby Carmichael.
100cc Geared: 1 Alfie Walker, 2 Joshua Birch, 3 Marcus Sprason, 4 Woody Jackson, 5 Bobby Carmichael, 6 Catrin Davies.
100cc Modified: 1 Shelley Smart, 2 Mari Humfryes. No other finishers.
Yamaha Raptor: 1. Josh Talent, 2 Reece Swann, 3 Vassna Willcock, 4 Lewis Humphris, 5 Luke Berlyn. No other finishers.
50cc: 1 Aled Davies, 2 Elis Humfyes. No other finishers