Northampton MCC hosted the third round of the 2016 SMC Championships at Long Buckby, a rescheduled date after the original from March proved too wet to run. This time the weather was considerably drier as the track once again ran in the reverse direction.
In the Expert class James Russell showed once again his desire to regain the SMC title. James took the overall win after some close battles with current Expert Champion Michael McClurg. Going into the final race they had taken one race each. Michael led from the start of race three and looked to have the overall sewn up, while James followed in second. Towards the halfway point however James started to close, gaining the lead soon after and holding it to the flag.
Tom Grimshaw took overall victory in the Junior A class, relishing the chance to mix it up with the Expert riders on his screaming 125. Kristian Hutchings took second both times, leading Tom for the first 3 laps of race two. Rob Hollis also rode extremely well to clinch third overall. Guy Marchant proved too good for the Junior B’s as he took two clear wins from Max Nethaway and Aaron Wills.
Simon Wyse continued to dominate the Premier Class winning all three legs despite some fast riding from Tony Leishman, runner-up each time. Cliff Lester took third. Fraser Law won the Elite class after some good battles with the fast starting Greg Cox. Bruce Garside just edged out Barry Burbidge for third.
Nigel Miller took yet another win in the Super class, though Reg Willis was able to capitalise on a goggle malfunction to take the last race win. Tom Grimshaw dominated the combined U40 and 2 Stroke races winning all three. Guy Marchant used a string of consistent finishes to put himself second overall.
With the crowd focussing on last meeting’s runaway winner of the Workers race, Ian Thompson was unable to recreate his dramatic victory on this occasion. He does promise to do so next time though.
Report: Fraser Law
Photos: www.motoxphotos.co.uk
Results: Expert: 1 James Russell, 2 Michael McClurg, 3 Joe Wyse, 4 Kyle Creevy
Junior A: 1 Tom Grimshaw, 2 Kristian Hutchings, 3 Rob Hollis, 4 Callum McClurg, 5 George Cox, 6 Connor Dickens
Junior B: 1 Guy Marchant, 2 Max Nethaway, 3 Aaron Wills, 4 Jason Mills, 5 Aaron Read, 6 Jacob Wills
Premier O40: 1 Simon Wyse, 2 Tony Leishman, 3 Cliff Lester, 4 Rupert Fairclough, 5 Simon Collins, 6 Tony Fricker
Elite O50: 1 Fraser Law, 2 Greg Cox, 3 Bruce Garside, 4 Barry Burbidge, 5 Kevin Cole, 6 Trevor Sheppard
Super O60: 1 Nigel Miller, 2 Reg Willis, 3 Richard Jochacy, 4 Trevor Roberts
U40: 1 Tom Grimshaw, 2 Guy Marchant, 3 Max Nethaway, 4 Jacob Wills, 5 Ian Tindle, 6 James Lewis