The NORA MX Club hosted the sixth round of the NORA MX championships of 2022 at Grittenham in Wiltshire. The event also incorporated the fifth round of the NORA sidecar Championship.
The recent rainstorms left the track wet in places and was initially quite stickly in places too, but that soon dried up and with a few alterations to the track layout, any issues were soon resolved.
In the sidecar class, it was great to see British Champion Stuart Brown supporting the event with stand in passenger Nathan Cooper, regular sidekick Josh Chamberlain off celebrating his birthday. As a GP teams both Stuart and Michael Hodges/ Jack Wilkinson couldn’t win NORA championship points but joined the regular teams in three great races.
In race one Stuart Brown / Nathan Cooper took an early lead, holding the advantage and going on to take their first win of the day. Michael Hodges / Jack Wilkinson kept them close and blasted into a great second just ahead of Lee Foyle with stand in passenger GP Ryan Humphrey. Sam Osbaldiston / Harley Lloyd were back from injury earlier in the season and held a safe fourth with Tony Grahame / Ryan Henderson fifth.
In race two it was Lee Foyle / Ryan Humphrey who took the holeshot, looking very determined to stay ahead until disaster struck and they were left track side with a broken exhaust. This left Stuart Brown / Nathan Cooper to battle with Michael Hodges / Jack Wilkinson for second, swooping in on the final lap to take a second win. Behind Tony Grahame/ Ryan Henderson took third after battling with Sam Osbaldiston/ Harley Lloyd, with John Murch/ Tony Murch in fifth.
In the final sidecar race of the day the leading sidecar touched together going into the first bend, this resulted in Stuart Brown / Nathan Cooper going wide and stalling the bike, they quickly got going but had to chase from the back of the pack. Michael Hodges / Jack Wilkinson took advantage and blasted into the lead and taking the win. Tony Grahame / Ryan Henderson had a great start holding second with a very close battle behind for third with Sam Osbaldiston / Harley Lloyd and Lee Foyle / Ryan Humphrey touching together on many of the bends, until Lee Foyle / Ryan Humphrey moved through to third. Stuart Brown / Nathan Cooper came from the back to take fifth.
Taylor Whitt/ Sam Marshall hold the championship lead with Tony Grahame/ Ryan Henderson working hard to close the gap, it will be a battle to the end.
In the Pro / Pro-am / Rookie class, there were just two longer championship races. George Day really dominated the racing, with the racing condition suiting him, he qualified second during the morning session, and this gave a good pick of the line which he used to his advantage to take two great wins.
In Race one George Day took the holeshot, Zak Orchard held second battling with Tom Day until he went missing, with Dafydd Davies just behind. The challenge for second was strong with Jamie Morgan fighting through to pass Zak Orchard and take second at the flag. Zak Orchard held third with Dafydd Davies right behind. Harry Walker battled to the flag for fifth place, but Simon Hammersley just held the position. With consistent finishes, Jamie Morgan holds the championship lead from Harry Walker.