Words and pictures: Rob McDonnell
A DAY after spraining his ankle in a heavy fall Welshman Luke Cooper bounced back to win a thrilling second round of the Cromwell Trucks British Quad Championship at Foxhill, Wiltshire on Bank Holiday Monday – which was part of a two-day meeting also featuring NORA championship rounds five and six.
KTM-mounted Cooper had crashed during Sunday’s sunny fifth round of the NORA club championship, and was left limping gingerly. However, despite the pain, especially if he misjudged any of Foxhill’s many mega-jumps, Cooper gritted his teeth to beat Northern Ireland’s Mark McLernon in a hard battle that saw the pair clash in race two.
In the opening race, held moments after one of Monday’s many short showers that left the track slippery and testing, Cooper had held off a late run by McLernon to win by six seconds. McLernon, who was fastest in qualifying, had been forced to come up the field after he arrived late for the start and missed his gate pick!
The pair were almost 20 seconds ahead of the chasing pack, headed by former British champion Justin Reid, who looked to be enjoying the tricky going.
In race two however, McLernon mounted a determined drive in the closing laps to catch Cooper on the final lap, before the pair collided in a turn at the bottom of a steep slippery hill giving McLernon victory by 16 seconds ahead of Cooper, who was two seconds ahead of Paul Winrow.
McLernon’s view was “we touched”, Cooper’s was “he T-boned me”, but the view of the Clerk of the Course was “racing incident” and ultimately no formal protest was lodged.
The tension before the final race decider, with the pair locked on 97 points a-piece, was evident though. However, the much anticipated showdown never materialised after McLernon’s seat came off on the start straight and he was forced to stop at turn one and refit it, putting him dead last by some distance.
Despite another spirited charge, which eventually hauled him up to sixth, McLernon had no chance of catching Cooper and finished 37 seconds behind him.
Cooper, who led throughout, was chased hard by a trio of ‘vets’ for much of the race in the form of Reid, Winrow and Lindsey Duke, but only Winrow had the staying power to take the challenge to the flag, ending just half a second behind and setting the day’s fastest race lap. Duke just pipped Reid for third.
McLernon (256 points) now leads the championship by just four points from Cooper with wily old Winrow, waiting in the wings for them to slip-up, a further ten points behind in third.
Cooper and McLernon’s battle at the front also ensured they finished one and two in the Connor Smith Six-Sixty Under 21 Championship. George Callaway was third overall with fourth in race two his best result.
In the Nations Cup the Irish (513 points) extended their lead over England (481) to 32 points, but in the Manufacturers Championship it was all change when Honda (498 points) leapt from third to first, with KTM (488) holding on to second and Yamaha (462) slipping to third.
The British championship races also doubled up as the sixth round of the Nora Expert Championship. The previous day most of the British championship contenders had also competed in round five of the Nora Expert championship, though it was clear many of the non-regulars were just using it as practice for the following day. Winrow won that encounter, thanks to two wins and a second.
The closest finish came in race two, when he beat Stefan Murphy by just two tenths of a second. Murphy’s hopes in the British round the next day though ended when he injured his hand in race two ruling him out.
The Riverside Under 23 class went to Sheldon Seal, despite not winning a race, with Dean Colhoun taking the first and Cooper the next two.
With six races over two days the Nora championship classes produced some great racing and a few shocks. The biggest turn up came in the 250 Youth ACU British championship class were Estonia’s Martin Adamson was introduced to the British concept of “having a mare”. From winning the four previous rounds Adamson failed to finish on the podium either day after technical failures.
Victory on Sunday went to Bailey Edwards, but the drama began even before the first race. Adamson’s usual hybrid Honda broke an axle carrier in practice, yet only the day before his father had purchased last year’s championship winning machine – Connor Fitzgerald’s - as a spare. (After five years racing quads and a problematic start to this year Fitzgerald has decided to switch to solos).
On the unfamiliar machine Adamson could not match the pace of his main championship rival Bailey Edwards and finished second to him by 11 seconds.
In the second race Adamson was back his usual mount only for the rear shock to collapse over one of Foxhill's big jumps, which gifted Edwards another race win.
Then in the third Adamson won from Bailey, whose second place secured him a comfortable overall win ahead of the ever-consistent Lawrence Whyte, whose best finish was second in race two.
On Monday however, Whyte secured his first overall victory of the year, thanks to two seconds and a fourth as first Edwards DNF’d in race one (before winning race two). Then Adamson in turn DNF’d in race two but won the first and third races.
After seemingly being odds-on to win the title Adamson’s lead has now been cut to just 22 points over Edwards. Game on!
In the 250 Modified class Dafydd Davies was in fine form taking a straight six wins, and second overall in the 250 group on Monday. Davies has been in superb form all year and has won 18 out of 18 heats so far.
Oliver Martin in the 250 Standards was also notched up six wins over the weekend, each time from Harry Ruby. In the dry on Sunday Bradley Lightfoot was third in each race and third overall, but in Monday’s wetter going Daniel Hares took over third spot.
In the Clubman class Harry Walker returned to form after a couple of recent crashes and took six race wins, rarely being seriously challenged, apart from the opening race on Monday when James Bevan and James Naylor gave him a proper race-long scrap with the trio finishing in that order.
Naylor finished second overall both days, with his strongest day being Sunday when he secured three seconds.
With Walker, Naylor and Bevan all qualifying as Rookies the leading Clubman rider on each day was Connor McKenna on Sunday and Kyle Hawkes on Monday.
Unluckiest man in the class was Clubman Tom Yates, who came into the weekend with a slender lead in the overall championship and who topped qualifying, only for his swing arm to break in the very first race ruling him out for the weekend!
In the Masters class normal service was resumed when Ed Davies returned to winning ways with a vengeance after a mechanical DNF at the previous round prevented him from winning. He out qualified the rest of the group by 11 seconds, then won every race by big margins, each time from Ant Barrett. Barrett however has just held onto the championship lead at the half way stage of the series!
Trevor Humphris, eighth overall in the Masters class, secured overall victory in the Masters B class and now leads that series with a 100 plus points margin.
The youngest riders, in the100 Group, again produced some of the best racing of the weekend. On Sunday it was Marcus Sprason who dominated affairs bolting out of the gate in each race and winning all three, but never being able to relax with his rivals offering spirited chases throughout. In the first and third races Alfie Walker finished behind while in the second Catrin Davies was runner up. To outline the competitiveness of the class Walker, Sprason and Davies each took a fastest lap!
Elsewhere in the 100 Group Shelley Smart and Tom Fitzgerald shared the spoils in the 100 Modified class, while Luke Berlyn won both days of the 125 Raptors and was on course for a straight six wins until lost out to Lewis Humphris in the final race.
RESULTS:
Cromwell Trucks British Championship: 1 Luke Cooper, 2 Mark McLernon, 3 Paul Winrow, 4 Justin Reid, 5 George Callaway, 6 Carl Bunce.
Connor Smith Six-Sixty Under 21 British Championship: 1 Luke Cooper, 2 Mark McLernon, 3 George Callaway, 4 Dean Colhoun, 5 Harry Miller, 6 Luke Davies.
Experts Round 5: 1 Paul Winrow, 2 Stefan Murphy, 3 Carl Bunce, 4 Sheldon Seal, 5 Luke Cooper, 6 Oli Sansom.
Under 23 Round 5: 1 Sheldon Seal, 2 Luke Cooper, 3 Jordan Hickman, 4 George Miles, 5 Luke Davies, 6 Callum Bates.
Clubman Round 5: 1 Harry Walker, 2 Jack Naylor, 3 Connor McKenna, 4 Jamie Smith, 5 Ameelie Miller, 6 Jack Price-Draper
Clubman Round 6: 1 Harry Walker, 2 Jack Naylor, 3 Kyle Hawkes, 4 James Bevan, 5 Jamie Smith, 6 Sam Brown
Rookie Round 5: 1 Harry Walker, 2 Jack Naylor, 3 Jamie Smith, 4 Alex Bethell, 5 Joe Hurley, 6 James Bevan.
Rookie Round 6: 1 Harry Walker, 2 Jack Naylor, 3 James Bevan, 4 Jamie Smith, 5 Alex Bethell, 6 Ashley Brase
Masters British Championship Round 5: 1 Ed Davies, 2 Ant Barrett, 3 Darren Bridge, 4 Clint Eagle, 5 Mark Stepney, 6 Darren Jukes.
Masters British Championship Round 6: 1 Ed Davies, 2 Ant Barrett, 3 Clint Eagle, 4 Darren Bridge, 5 Darren Jukes, 6 Chris Murphy.
Masters B Round 5: 1 Trevor Humphris, 2 Simon Jackson, 3 Andrew Willcock, 4 Marcus West, 5 Rick Jones, 6 Simon Brace.
Masters B Round 6: 1 Trevor Humphris, 2 Richard Clark, 3 Marcus West, 4 Andrew Willcock, 5 Clyde Thomson, 6 Simon Brace.
Zip Fun Cup: 1 Chris Watson. No other finishers
250cc British Championship Round 5: 1 Bailey Edwards, 2 Lawrence Whyte, 3 Dafydd Davies, 4 Jack Holmes, 5 Joshua Crane, 6 Ayrton Knowles.
250cc British Championship Round 6: 1 Lawrence Whyte, 2 Dafydd Davies, 3 Joshua Crane, 4 Jack Holmes, 5 Thomas Chell, 6 Martin Adamson.
250 Open Round 5: 1 Bailey Edwards, 2 Lawrence Whyte, 3 Martin Adamson, 4 Jack Holmes, 5 Joshua Crane, 6 Ryan Spratt-Wyatt.
250 Open Round 6: 1 Lawrence Whyte, 2 Joshua Crane, 3 Jack Holmes, 4 Jack Norris, 5 Josh Waring, 6 Martin Adamson.
250 Modified Round 5: 1 Dafydd Davies, 2 Ayrton Knowles, 3 Harry Carmichael, 4 Tom Chell, 5 Dean Porter, 6 George Hill.
250 Modified Round 6: 1 Dafydd Davies, 2 Tom Chell, 3 Harry Carmichael, 4 Dean Porter, 5 Bradley Cockrem, 6 William Booth.
250 Standard Round 5: 1 Oliver Martin, 2 Harry Ruby, 3 Bradley Lightfoot, 4 Elysha Crane, 5 Joseph Jukes, 6 Declan McKenna.
250 Standard Round 6: 1 Oliver Martin, 2 Harry Ruby, 3 Daniel Hares, 4 Elysha Crane, 5 Joseph Jukes, 6 Declan McKenna.
250 Stock Round 5: 1 Shanice Mott. No other finishers
250 Stock Round 6: 1 Shanice Mott. No other finishers
100 Group Overall Round 5: 1 Marcus Sprason, 2 Alfie Walker, 3 Catrin Davies, 4 Joshua Birch, 5 Shelley Smart, 6 Luke Berlyn
100 Group Overall Round 6: 1 Joshua Birch, 2 Catrin Davies, 3 Alfie Walker, 4 Shelley Smart, 5 Tom Fitzgerald, 6 Luke Berlyn.
100cc Geared Round 5: 1 Marcus Sprason, 2 Alfie Walker, 3 Catrin Davies, 4 Joshua Birch, 5 Dylan Mckenna, 6 Woody Jackson.
100cc Geared Round 6: 1 Joshua Birch, 2 Catrin Davies, 3 Alfie Walker, 4 Woody Jackson, 5 Dylan McKenna, 6 Marcus Sprason.
100 Modified Round 5: 1 Shelley Smart, 2 Mari Humphryes, 3 Tom Fitzgerald. No other finishers
100 Modified Round 6: 1 Tom Fitzgerald, 2 Shelley Smart, 3 Mari Humfryes. No other finishers.
100cc Standard Round 5: 1 Dillon Stepney. No other finishers.
100cc Standard Round 6: 1 Dillon Stepney. No other finishers.
Yamaha Raptor Round 5: 1 Luke Berlyn, 2 Lewis Humphris, 3 Josh Talent, 4 Vassna Willcock. No other finishers
Yamaha Raptor Round 6: 1. Luke Berlyn, 2 Lewis Humphris, 3 Josh Talent, 4 Vassna Willcock. No other finishers
50cc Round 5: 1 Aled Davies, 2 Elis Humfryes. No other finishers.
50cc Round 6: 1 Aled Davies, 2 Elis Humfryes. No other finishers.
NEXT ROUND:
British Championship, Dean Moor, June 15
NEXT ROUND:
NORA Championship, Grittenham, June 22