Veteran Ed Davies retained his ACU British Masters Championship and rising star Bailey Edward secured the 250 British Championship at the final NORA MX championship round of the year Brakehill Farm, Northants on Sunday, where Paul Winrow also secured the club’s keenly fought Expert title.
Davies came into the meeting with only a slender series lead over Ant Barrett, but three second places, each time behind Winrow, who had opted to ride in the Masters class as well for the first time this season, where enough to give him the points he needed.
Barrett though posted three thirds to keep the championship undecided until the very end.
The Masters B class went to Richard Clark, after runaway series leader Trevor Humphris crashed out of the meeting in race two after winning the opener.
For Edwards a three-race maximum meant he kept title rivals, Lawrence Whyte and Estonia’s Martin Adamson, at bay. In the opener a 21 second winning margin made it look like he would dominate. However, Whyte and Adamson kept him honest in the second two races, cutting his margin to less than five seconds.
Within the same race the 250 Modifieds proved a “feisty” affair. Dafydd Davies won the first two encounters, while Ayrton Knowles and Harry Carmichael battled it out behind him, especially in race two when they came a little too close for comfort! Then in the third the trio went at it all race long, with Carmichael winning from Davies then Knowles as less than a second split them at the flag.
In the 250 Standards Harry Ruby picked up his second win of the year in a day of good battles with new champion Oliver Martin and Daniel Hares. The best came in race one when the trio was split by just couple of seconds.
Despite winning the Expert title, Winrow did not win the day, after his Honda suffered a rare mechanical failure as he led the first race.
Victory instead went to the on-form Sheldon Seal. However, Seal was later ruled out of the event after he broke his collarbone in the second race.
Winrow went on to win the remaining two races, with Carl Bunce runner up each time. That was enough to give Bunce overall victory – and second in the championship - with the Stefan Murphy second overall thanks to three second places.
Worth mention in despatches was James Behan in fourth in his first ride of the year following a lengthy injury layoff. Sixth overall and winner of the Under 23 class, Josh Waring, was also having only his second ride of the year after breaking his leg in a mini bike crash.
The Clubman Group and Rookie class went to Harry Walker, who only won one of the three very close races, but still secured overall victory.
In the first James Bevan withstood lengthy pressure to win by less than a second from Walker, while in the second Jack Naylor bounced back from a tough first race following a lap one tangle to win just under two seconds from Walker. However, in the third Walker got the front early and won by just over two seconds from Naylor.
Winner of the Clubman class was Sam Brown, who was fourth overall in the Group. However, he could not overhaul Kyle Hawkes in the championship, despite Hawkes suffering a puncture in race one which out him on backfoot for the rest of the day.
In the 100 Group, previous round winner Catrin Davies shot out the traps in race one to win by five seconds from Marcus Sprason. However, he bounced back to win the remaining two races, overall on the day and tie up the championship.
Davies secured second overall by five points from Alfie Walker, including a second to Walker’s third in the final race. That meant she overtook him for second in the championship by a point!
In the Raptors Luke Berlyn won his eighth round, but having missed two rounds the title went to Lewis Humphris. Shelley Smart won the 100 Modified class to secure an impressive fourth overall in the Group, while Aled Davies won the 50 class and hassled many a rival on bigger and faster machines on the way!
RESULTS: Experts: 1 Carl Bunce, 2 Stefan Murphy, 3 Paul Winrow, 4 James Behan, 5 Oli Sansom, 6 Josh Warning.
Championship:1 Winrow 1155, 2 Bunce 1102, 3 Murphy 1061
Under 23: 1 Josh Waring, 2 Callum Bates, 3 Aaron Pole, 4 Luke Davies, 5 Jordan Hickman, 6 Nick Tucker.
Championship: 1 Sheldon Seal 1116, 2 Davies 999, 3 Harry Miller 981
Clubman: 1 Harry Walker, 2 Jack Naylor, 3 James Bevan, 4 Sam Brown, 5 Alex Bethell, 6 Jamie Smith.
Championship: 1 Walker 1201, 2 Naylor 1142, 3 Bevan 1046
Rookie: 1 Harry Walker, 2 Jack Naylor, 3 James Bevan, 4 Alex Bethell, 5 Jamie Smith, 6 Kieran Heath.
Championship: 1 Walker 1225, 2 Naylor 1178, 3 Bevan 1116.
ACU Masters British Championship: 1 Paul Winrow, 2 Ed Davies, 3 Ant Barrett, 4 Darren Bridge, 5 Clint Eagle, 6 Darren Jukes.
Championship: 1 Davies 1247, 2 Barrett 1215, 3 Bridge 1128
Masters B: 1 Richard Clark, 2 Marcus Knight, 3 Andrew Willcock, 4 Dave Lickfold, 5 Simon Pritchard, 6 Rick Jones.
Championship: 1 Humphris 1191, 2 Clark 1139, 3 Willcock 1080
EVO: 1 Mark Smith, 2 Geoff Otway, 3 Chris Watson, 4 Richard Shaw, 5 Pat Carr, 6 Doug Lightfoot.
ACU 250cc Youth British Championship: 1 Bailey Edwards, 2 Lawrence Whyte, 3 Martin Adamson, 4 Dafydd Davies, 5 Ayrton Knowles, 6 Ryan Spratt-Wyatt.
Championship: 1 Edwards 1175, 2 Whyte 1154, 3 Adamson 1141.
250 Open: 1 Bailey Edwards, 2 Lawrence Whyte, 3 Martin Adamson, 4 Josh Waring (Jnr), 5 Ryan Spratt-Wyatt, 6 Lorne Sinclair.
Championship: 1 Edwards 1194, 2 Whyte 1160, 3 Adamson 1159
250 Modified: 1 Dafydd Davies, 2 Ayrton Knowles, 3 Harry Carmichael, 4 Tom Chell, 5 Bradley Watson, 6 Scott Berlyn.
Championship: 1 Davies 1294, 2 Knowles 1153, 3 Carmichael 1133
250 Standard: 1 Harry Ruby, 2 Oliver Martin, 3 Daniel Hares, 4 Bradley Lightfoot, 5 Elysha Crane, 6 Shanice Mott.
Championship: 1 Martin 1277, 2 Ruby 1196, 3 Hares 1153
100 Group Overall: 1 Marcus Sprason, 2 Catrin Davies, 3 Alfie Walker, 4 Tom Fitzgerald, 5 Dylan McKenna, 6 Shelley Smart.
Championship: 1 Sprason 1228, 2 Davies 1146, 3 Walker 1145
100cc Geared: 1 Marcus Sprason, 2 Catrin Davies, 3 Alfie Walker, 4 Tom Fitzgerald, 5 Dylan McKenna, 6 Robbie Wood.
Championship: 1 Sprason 1228, 2 Walker 1169, 3 Davies 1169.
100cc Modified: 1 Shelley Smart. No other finisher.
Championship: 1 Smart 1285, 2 Mari Humfryes 504, 3 Tom Fitzgerald 389
Yamaha Raptor: 1 Luke Berlyn, 2 Josh Talent, 3 Lewis Humphris, 4 Vassna Willcock, 5 Reece Swann. No other finisher.
Championship: 1 Humphris 1167, 2 Talent 1155, 3 Berlyn
50cc: 1 Aled Davies. No other finisher.
Championship: 1 Aled Davies 1291, 2 Elis Humfyres 678