Words and pictures : Rob McDonnell
BOTHERS Alfie and Harry Walker made it a family double at round nine of the NORA-MX championship at Milton Park in Northamptonshire on Sunday where they secured overall wins in two of the club’s most keenly fought classes.
On a sunny day on a track made near perfect by an overnight thunderstorm, 10-year-old Alfie secured a two-point win in the 100 Youth Group, while 16-year-old Harry bagged an 11 point win in the Clubman class.
However, both needed to go to deciders after entering the final heats tied on points with their nearest rival after sharing a win and second.
In the Clubman class Walker (pictured above) had lost out in the opening race to Jamie Smith, but Walker reversed the result in race two after shadowing Smith for much of the race and nicking a one second win on the final lap.
However, a start-line stall for Smith in the final race made Walker’s task easier as he went on to win by four seconds from his main championship rival, Jack Naylor, with Smith battling back from last to sixth.
Three thirds from James Bevan gave him third overall, while a misfiring and stalling engine in the opening race left Naylor in eighth and pushed him down to fourth overall.
In the 100 Group Alfie Walker had been second best to Marcus Sprason in the first race, with the places reversed in race two.
However in the third neither could beat Josh Birch, though second for Walker ahead of Sprason secured him overall victory.
In the other 100 classes, Reece Swann went unbeaten in the Raptors.
In the other youth group, the 250s, Bailey Edwards was the man on form. With his usual rival, Martin Adamson, missing the event, Edwards won all three races to secure an 11-point victory. However, Lawrence Whyte and Jack Holmes (who each holeshot and led a race before slipping behind Edwards) kept up the pressure, with Whyte nabbing second overall thanks to a third and two seconds.
Dafydd Davies returned to winning ways in the 250 Modified class with three wins, a feat matched by Oliver Martin in the Standards.
In the Expert class, British Championship leader Paul Winrow took victory by two points from an on-form Sheldon Seal, who had won the first race by 14 seconds.
In the second however Winrow redressed the balance with a one second win over Seal, with Oli Sanson, Stefan Murphy and Carl Bunce following them home.
The final race though was the most interesting with the quintet of Winrow, Bunce, Seal, Murphy and Sanson circulating as a group for the first third of the race, before Bunce nipped through and changed the mood by setting the day’s fastest lap by almost two thirds of a second, with only Winrow able to respond.
Winrow shadowed Bunce all the way looking like he was shaping up for a typical last lap move. However, Bunce upped the pace again on the final circuit to hold him off by just two tenths of a second.
Seal’s performance helped him secure the Under 23 class ahead of Luke Davies, and also stretched his championship lead with second placed George Callaway absent through injury.
In the Masters class championship leader Ed Davies was in his usual imperious form taking three fine wins, each time over Ant Barrett and Darren Bridge, The biggest margin was 52 seconds, the smallest 30!
In the Master B class Trevor Humphris’ six-round winning streak came to an end after he crashed in race one before bouncing back with a second and a first. However, Matthew James won the races Humphris didn’t to return to the top spot of the podium for the first time since March.
RESULTS: Experts: 1 Paul Winrow, 2 Sheldon Seal, 3 Carl Bunce, 4 Stefan Murphy, 5 Oli Sansom, 6 Luke Davies.
Under 23: 1 Sheldon Seal, 2 Luke Davies, 3 Jake Smith, 4 Jordan Hickman, 5 Callum Bates, 6 Harry Miller.
Clubman: 1 Harry Walker, 2 Jamie Smith, 3 James Bevan, 4 Jack Naylor, 5 Sam Brown, 6 Joe Ruby.
Rookie: 1 Harry Walker, 2 Jamie Smith, 3 James Bevan, 4 Jack Naylor,5 Joe Ruby, 6 Kieran Heath.
ACU Masters British Championship: 1 Ed Davies, 2 Ant Barrett, 3 Darren Bridge, 4 Clint Eagle, 5 Lee Waring, 6 Robert Swann.
Masters B: 1 Matthew James, 2 Richard Clark, 3 Trevor Humphris, 4 Andrew Willcock, 5 Clyde Thompson, 6 Rick Jones.
EVO Plus: 1 Pat Carr, 2 Doug Lightfoot, 3 Mark Smith. No other finishers.
ACU 250cc Youth British Championship: 1 Bailey Edwards, 2 Lawrence Whyte, 3 jack Holmes, 4 Dafydd Davies, 5 Harry Carmichael, 6 Jack Norris.
250 Open: 1 Bailey Edwards, 2 Lawrence Whtye, 3 Jack Holmes, 4 Josh Waring, 5 Jack Norris, 6 Ryan Spratt-Wyatt.
250 Modified: 1 Dafydd Davies, 2 Harry Carmichael, 3 Thomas Chell, 4 Ayrton Knowles, 5 Bradley Cockrem, 6 George Hill.
250 Standard: 1 Oliver Martin, 2 Daniel Hares, 3 Joseph Jukes, 4 Elysha Crane, 5 Shanice Mott, 6 Miles Mott.
250 Stock: 1 Shanice Mott. No other finishers
100 Group Overall: 1 Alfie Walker, 2 Marcus Sprason, 3 Joshua Birch, 4 Catrin Davies, 5 Shelley Smart, 6 Reece Swann.
100cc Geared: 1 Alfie Walker, 2 Marcus Sprason, 3 Joshua Birch, 4 Catrin Davies, 5 Woody Jackson, 6 Thomas Fitzgerald.
100cc Modified: 1 Shelley Smart. No other finishers.
Yamaha Raptor: 1 Reece Swann, 2 Luke Berlyn, 3 Lewis Humphris, 4 Josh Talent, 5 Vassna Willcock. No other finishers.
50cc: 1 Aled Davies.