At the weekend the Winchester MCC hosted round 2 of the MSU Championship within the Southern Centre at Owslebury in Hampshire, with three Championship Classes of Open Solo, MXY (Youth) & Sidecars, and support classes for Solo Evos / twin shock, and 85s (Big and Small Wheel).
The weather was brilliant, and the track in great condition but it was dusty. Watering did help but the club decided to only run two of the three planned races for all groups.
In the sidecar class there were a mixture of abilities, with a large entry. In race one it was GP riders George Kinge / Dan Phelps who took an early lead from Michael Hodges / Jack Wilkinson, the pair battled throughout but George Kinge / Dan Phelps held the advantage going on to take a great win. Back in third Tony Graeme / Ryan Henderson stayed close finishing just a one bend behind the leaders. Back in fourth Lee Foyle / Kevin Foyle defended their position from Rob Oldfield / Faye Barnes who almost passed a few times, but difficult track conditions and being amongst the back markers did not help them. Behind Ashley Williams / Brian Grey were determined and worked hard to take sixth place just ahead of Rob Foden / Luke Peters and Adam Field with stand in passenger Chris Pannell.
In race two, Tony Graeme / Ryan Henderson held the lead from Michael Hodges / Jack Wilkinson, this time George Kinge / Dan Phelps had problems and started mid-field but pulled out of the race before the halfway point. Luke Banks / Liam Hodges were in third and chasing but went straight on at the bottom of the slippery hill, and they were trying to get going they were joined by two other teams having the same slippery problem. The battle for the lead continued with Michael Hodges / Jack Wilkinson blasting pasted Tony Graeme / Ryan Henderson to take the lead and going on to get the win, only to have the position demoted to second for “course cutting” – as there was a limited number of ropes to mark the track on the main hills, drifting onto the grass to get some grip was seen a few times during the racing, especially on dusty bends, but clearly this time it was not deemed acceptable. Behind, Lee Foyle / Kevin Foyle tucked into third once again followed closely by Rob Oldfield / Faye Barnes. Paul Pelling / Mike Curnow put their race one problems behind them taking a good fifth just ahead of James Whitt / Scott Lloyd, with Adam Field / Chris Pannell close behind.
At the end of round two of the championship, Lee and Kevin Foyle drop to second in the championship just two points behind Tony Graeme / Ryan Henderson. Rob Oldfield/Faye Barnes hold third with consistency winning through. Michael Hodges/ Jack Wilkinson where in great form in this round and storm into fourth place. Despite mechanical issue at this round, John Rutherford/Elliot Browne still hold fifth.
The Southern Centre Open championship was dominated by Liam Garland who took two great wins, ahead of Josh Coleman in each of the race with Luke Kennett taking third. Liam hold a full house in the championship with maximum points across the two first rounds.
Southern Centre MXY (Youth championship) saw Harrison Jepson battle with Max Agar throughout the day to take one win each. George Clarke fought with Curtis Roberts for third, with George Clarke fighting hard to hold the championship lead, but he now ties on points with Max as we go into round three.
Round three is later this month on 22 May at West Meon.
Results: WINCHESTER 8TH. MAY - Google Drive
Dates & venues are as follows:
Round 1: 10th April - Swanmore
Round 2: 8th May - Owslebury
Round 3: 22 May - West Meon
Round 4: 14th August - Cusses Gorse