Richard Avis dominated round three of the ACU British SXS Championships taking the win in all three races. Held at the superb PAR Moto Park in Llandrindod Wells and hosted by PAR HOMES, rain made for challenging track conditions throughout the day. Newly formed NORA SXS ran the event with a new SXS class to accommodate the increase in Polaris RZR XP900’s which featured an all star lineup including Monster Energy’s X Games and Rallycross champion Liam Doran.
Track conditions for practice were slippy and gave advantage to those on the bigger tyres. Technical issues with the timing equipment resulted in the races being manually timed so drivers grid positions were determined by their current championship standings overall. That put Richard Avis, Fletcher Racing and Paul Rowlands on the front row of the grid.
The first race was met with rain and mud but that didn’t deter the enthusiasm of drivers and spectators alike as the green lights lit up and a full line up of SXS machines roared through the opening lap. Avis immediately took the lead and began to carve out a gap for himself. Fletcher and Rowlands battled for for second and third while positions were changing up and down the field. The action was intense as the slippy conditions gave for some exciting battles and gave drivers an opportunity to show off their best sideways driving to great effect!
Avis commanded the race from start to finish and comfortably took the chequered flag. An excellent race from Rowlands gave him an impressive second with Dean Hyde the first of the two Hyde brothers to finish in third. A solid drive from Oli Beswick made him the first of the teams to finish with Alfie Hyde and super consistent Sam Berry in fifth and sixth. It was also the first race back in the championship for James Chorlton who had missed the start of the season with major surgery. Braving the tough conditions he had to fight his way from the back of the grid and despite little ride time this year, made it to an impressive eighth place finish.
Avis led the way in race two, again creating a big gap between the rest of the battling pack. The Hyde brothers battled it out for second and third place with Chris Walker having an excellent drive to take fourth. Beswick was also in the mix, taking a solid fifth with Sean Haran having repaired his SXS from a DNF in race one, taking sixth.
In the final race, Avis made yet another perfect gate followed by Dean Hyde with his brother Alfie in hot pursuit. Beswick was having a fantastic drive having battled with Haran he had now got into third place by the midway mark. Haran, Rowlands, Charlie Simpson and Simon Deaton were all battling hard through the second stage of the race. Simpson was looking good for a top 10 finish but unfortunately suffered technical difficulties and had to pull out.
Avis made it three out of three to take maximum points and extend his lead in the championship by 49 points. Dean Hyde again took second giving him overall second and Beswick took third with an overall third to give him the first place in the team class. Haran took fourth, Rowlands fifth and Alfie Hyde sixth.
PAR Homes Challenge Cup
Consisting of three races, the PAR Homes Challenge Cup featured Liam Doran making his first appearance in a competitive race driving the Polaris RZR XP900. Also racing was the championships first female driver Andrea Scanlan who usually competes in desert races in California. Veteran MX rider Scott Hughes was also making his debut and brought with him the film crew from Sky’s Blood,Sweat and Tears who were filming the event as part of a special documentary into the SXS championship. The team even took to the driving seat and joined in the action.
Pete Martin drove superbly in the first race, taking the lead from Darren Peel halfway through the race. Peel had to then battle with Paul Severn who had come from the back of the grid and got himself into second place - an incredible achievement!
Race two started with Severn leading from the first lap but a damaged rear wheel forced early retirement and the lead was taken up by Lewis Fletcher who went on to win. Peel was having a consistent day and finished in second with Doran in third.
In the third race, Fletcher led from start to finish, giving him the overall win. Doran drove smoothly to take second and Peel finished race three in third. The overall result for the PAR Homes Challenge Cup was 1st Lewis Fletcher, 2nd Darren Peel, 3rd Liam Doran, 4th Gary Kowalczyk, 5th Pete Martin, 6th Paul Severn.
Having completed the first event run under NORA SXS ltd, thanks needs to be given to those whose support has made it all possible. Thanks to Paul Rowlands of PAR Homes and all his team for their immense work, the officials and marshals, the sponsors Caged Steel, Park Lane Group, Hyde Racing and Polaris Britain.
Round four of the championship will be announced in the next few days with membership and entry forms will be available from www.rzrracing.co.uk. Again, there will be a Challenge Cup which will consist of three races and trophies awarded at the podium.
For more details about the British SXS Championship, please visit www.rzrracing.co.uk.
Full results from round 3 and championship standing are also available.