Tuesday September 11, 2012 at 12:21pm
Last Sunday the Premier MX team hosted the penultimate round of the 2012 Phoenix Tools Premier Motocross Championship at Little Silver Moto Parc, Nr Exeter which will host the final round of the Maxxis British Championship in four weeks’ time. Water had been put down Saturday evening and early Sunday morning to put the track in good stead and it was to produce some excellent racing in front of a bumper crowd.
In the Expert Open Championship there were many wildcard entries all keen to try the track before the final round of the Maxxis British Championship in October. One of the wildcard entries was young 18 year old Luke Hawkins who had recently switched camps from Suzuki to Rockstar KTM and it was Luke who had notched up the fastest time in qualifying. Before the first Expert Open race got underway there was great drama as the Apico Suzuki rider and Championship leader Jamie Skuse’s bike cut out and he had to borrow another bike. Hawkins was to get the best start from Kelvin Townsend and Luke Blanchard, but Skuse was well back. Hawkins was soon in to his rhythm and was easing away at the front; Luke Hill who lies 2nd in the Championship standings had got the better of Blanchard and Townsend on the opening lap and was now up in to 2nd. Hawkins was flying at the front and by the end of lap 3 he had a 4 second lead over Hill, but a man on a mission was Jordan Booker on the Buildbase Honda after not the best of starts who was up in to 4th on lap 5 and was all over Blanchard and soon to be joining in the battle was Lewis Gregory which was thrilling the spectators. Eventually both Booker and Gregory went pass and Booker was closing in on Hill at some rate and as the last lap flag was shown the battle was on until they were side by side over one of the small jumps and were to touch handlebars which resulted in Hill going down. Hawkins took the win from Booker with Gregory taking 3rd with Hill eventually finishing in 5th, but with Skuse well down, Hill had cut into what was a 36 point deficit. In the second moto again it was Hawkins with the best start and just as with the opening race he was soon to ease away. Skuse was back on his own bike, but again was well down the field as was his nearest rival Hill, but they were soon on the gas and were clawing their way up through. Hawkins was to pull away at the front and Townsend was soon to come under pressure from Ross Keyworth and Gregory who were in a real hurry, but Keyworth was to try a bit too hard on lap 5 and went down and through came Gregory who was soon breathing all over Townsend until lap 8 when he eventually got pass, but he wasn’t going to catch Hawkins who took the win, Gregory 2nd and taking 3rd after passing Townsend on the last lap was Hill who again took more points of Skuse’s Championship lead who finished in 6th. In the last moto there was no stopping Hawkins who had the start yet again off to a tee and with it had a clear track in front of him and used it to great advantage and was to go on untroubled to make it a hat trick of wins with Booker taking 2nd and 3rd went to Skuse who this time added a few points back to give him a 10 points lead in the Championship going in to the final round.
In the Over 35 Championship class there was some really fast and furious racing which included last years British Veteran Champion Greg Hanson on the Goldentyre Kawasaki who was out to test the track before the final round of the Veterans in October. Well Greg was in fine form and totally dominated all three races with Brother Rick Hanson also showing his class taking 2nd overall on the day just piping Mark Wilde who now trails Championship leader Jason Fraser who ended up 5th overall on the day by 13 points going in to the last round.
In the over 40’s class there was no stopping wildcard entry Dave Thomson who notched up three good wins with Dave Ford, Wayne Gill and Paul Ayres battling it out behind him which was thrilling to watch.
In the Over 50’s class again it was Championship leader Tom Lowe who took the honours with a hattrick of wins.
In the Junior Championship class there was some really fast racing, especially in the opening race as it was Ryan Allen who stormed away at the front and looked like he was going to run away with it, but on lap 3 his lead was coming down as Ben Butler was absolutely flying and was to catch and pass Allen on the next lap and went on to take the win with Allen 2nd and visitor to the country from South Africa Dima Fircks taking 3rd. In race 2 it was Championship leader Ryan Blee who had the early lead from Fircks who got past Blee on the 2nd lap. Blee try his up most to stay with the South African, but was to take a nasty kick dropping down one of the hills and was thrown from his bike. Lougas Maggio was now up in to 2nd and within no time was to catch and pass Fircks to take the lead, but Fircks was to stay with him and hit the front again later in the race and went on to take the win, Maggio 2nd with Rob Holyoake taking 3rd. In the last moto it was Josh Taylor who led for most of the race, but was followed by Fircks all the time until 2 laps from the end when Fircks made his move and took the lead and went on to take the win with Taylor 2nd with Butler a close 3rd.
OVERALL RESULTS
Phoenix Tools Expert Open Championship
1st Luke Hawkins (350f Rockstar KTM) 2nd Lewis Gregory (250f Apico Suzuki) 3rd Luke Hill (450f HPR/DirtbikeXpress Honda) 4th Dan Thornhill (250f Grittenham/Meredith Suzuki) 5th Kelvin Townsend (450f Gibbs Performance Suzuki) 6th Sam Simmons (????)
M D Racing Over 35’s Championship
1st Greg Hanson (450f Hansons Garage/Goldentyre Kawasaki) 2nd Rick Hanson (450f Hanson Garage Yamaha) 3rd Mark Wilde (450f S J Hodder Kawasaki) 4th Jon Lock (450f Albion Kawasaki) 5th Jason Fraser (250 Gibbs Performance KTM) 6th Keith Hanson (450f Hanson Garage Honda)
M D Racing Over 40’s Championship
1st Dave Thomson (350f KTM) 2nd David Ford (200 Projuice KTM) 3rd Paul Ayres (450f Yamaha) 4th Kevin Edwards (450f Albion Honda) 5th Paul Gaylard (????) 6th Wayne Gill (250f Suzuki)
M D Racing Over 50’s Championship
1st Tom Lowe (250f Honda) 2nd Tim Hawkins (450f Honda)
Tyremarks Junior A
1st Dima Fircks (450f Yamaha) 2nd Ben Butler (350f Maunders/Fusion KTM) 3rd Rob Holyoake (125 Suzuki) 4th Gary Norman (450f Honda) 5th Josh Taylor (250f Suzuki) 6th Ryan Blee (250f Gilletts Spar/Albion Kawasaki)
Tyremarks Junior B
1st Cameron Packer (250f Honda) 2nd Harry Mitchell (125 Yamaha) 3rd Bradley Barfoot (250f Honda) 4th Luke Stephens (450f Kawasaki) 5th Lewis Johnson (????) 6th Richard Grills (450f Yamaha)
Tyremarks Junior C
1st Stefan Little (????) 2nd Paul Hussey (????) 3rd Josh Bishop (????) 4th Dannielle Hipgrave (250f Danger UK KTM) 5th Gavin Lindsey (????) 6th Ben Bowden (????)
Words and Image by Dave Rich