SHIPTON TAKES HONOURS AT PREMIER

Report and Photos by Dave Rich

Last Sunday the Phoenix Tools Premier Motocross Championship resumed after a lapse of 5 weeks with round 3 taking place at Crediton Raceway. The track had a bit of everything with some soggy patches to begin with and some really dry bits which had to be watered during the day, but never the less there was some excellent racing to be witnessed.

In the Phoenix Tools Expert Open class it was Alex Snow on the Phoenix Tools Rocket Honda who had set the fastest time in qualifying, but only by a whisker from team mate Luke Hawkins, but 3^rd fastest was Jake Shipton on the Crescent Racing KTM who looked like he meant business. In the opening race it was Hawkins who led in to the first corner closely followed by Shipton and wildcard Aaron Poolman, but things were soon to change as Shipton got the better of Hawkins on the opening lap and was starting to get away. Snow hadn’t had the best of starts, but was soon breathing all over Hawkins after getting the better of Poolman. Shipton had pulled out a 3 second lead by the end of the second lap, but all eyes were on Snow and Hawkins who were having a real tussle with Snow eventually getting pass Hawkins on lap 5. Jamie Skuse on the Tony Maunders Racing Suzuki was now moving up through the field and was soon up in to 4^th after a long battle with James Dodd and Sunny Thompson, but he wasn’t going to catch the three in front of him as they were well gone with Shipton taking the win from Snow by some 13 seconds.

In the second moto Shipton led from the off from Snow and John May on the St Blazey Husqvarna with Shipton again soon in to cruise mode as he started to get away, but it wasn’t long before Snow started to reel him in, then on lap 3 Snow was to take the lead after Shipton went down on a right hander. Hawkins had made up for not the best of starts and had got the better of Skuse and was now up in to 3^rd but well back from the leading two. Shipton did his upmost to try and close the deficit on Snow especially on the last lap, but in the end it was Snow who took the win from Shipton a close 2^nd and Hawkins a distant 3^rd.

Going in to the last moto Snow and Shipton had a win a piece so the overall was still up for grabs and there was no messing from Shipton in this one as he hit the front straight away and with a clear track used it to great advantage and was getting away from Hawkins all the time, but Hawkins had other things on his mind as Snow was all over him like a rash early on desperate to get pass as not to let Shipton get too much of a lead. Well it wasn’t until lap 3 that Snow got through in to 2^nd after a mistake from Hawkins and had now set his sights on Shipton. Snow was lapping nigh on a second quicker than Shipton mid race and was soon in striking distance until on lap 8 of the ten lap race where Snow stalled his bike exiting a lefthander which was to let Shipton get away again and from there he was to go on to take the chequered flag with Snow 2^nd and Hawkins again having to settle for 3^rd.

In the Over 35 Championship class everybody was asking could anyone beat Championship leader Nick Life on the Gibbs Performance St Blazey Yamaha, well the answer would be no as Nick holeshot all three races and dominated the proceedings from the Front. Keith Hanson was going well in the opening moto, but a last lap mistake cost him dearly as Jamie Deadman, Stephen Elford and Martyn Tucker all went past him and he was relegated back down in 5th. In the second moto Elford played 2^nd best to Life as did Deadman in the last moto with Life winning by over a minute in both races.

In the over 40 Championship class there was no stopping Championship leader Chris Brown on the TwoNineTwo Factory Touch Honda who notched up a fine hat trick of wins and in the Over 50’s it was Championship leader Mark Gleadhill who won the first two motos, but a spill on the opening lap in the last race was to put pay to him making it 9 race wins out of 9 which in the end saw Adrian Toy take the win.

In the Tyremarks Junior Championship class there again was some really good battles, especially in the opening race where there was a good battle between Ross Churchill and Jordan King with King passing Churchill on the last lap only momentarily though as Churchill came back in the closing stages and regained the lead, then King gave his all at the last corner, but went down and Churchill took it. The second moto saw Churchill take a tumble which saw the Red flag come out which was to end Churchill’s day as he had put his shoulder out. Cameron Packer had the holeshot in the restart, but this was short lived as Olly Jones took over on the opening lap and was followed by Championship leader Jack Stevens and Josh Turner. Stevens and Turner both passed Jones early on and were to have a real ding dong for several laps with Turner eventually taking the win with Stevens a close 2^nd. The last race again saw a good battle early on between Turner and Stevens with Turner eventually easing away, but not all was lost for Stevens as Turner was to stall his bike on the last lap which was to gift Stevens the win that has now increased his Championship lead to 52 points.   

RESULTS

Phoenix Tools Expert Open Championship Race 1

1^st Jake Shipton (450f Crescent Racing KTM) 2^nd Alex Snow (450f Phoenix Tools Rocket Honda) 3^rd Luke Hawkins (450f Phoenix Tools Rocket Honda) 3^rd Jamie Skuse (450f Tony Maunders Racing Suzuki) 5^th James Dodd (450f TwoNineTwo/A T Mx/Factory Touch/St Blazey Honda) 6^th Sunny Thompson (450f D S C Kawasaki)

Race 2

1^st Snow 2^nd Shipton 3^rd Hawkins 4^th Skuse 5^th Dodd 6^th Thompson

Race 3

1^st Shipton 2^nd Snow 3^rd Hawkins 4^th Tommy Alba (250 D S C Kawasaki) 5^th Kelvin Townsend (450f Phoenix Tools Rocket Honda) 6^th Brad Cavill (450f St Blazey Honda)

M D Racing Over 35’s Championship Race 1

1^st Nick Life (450f Gibbs Performance/St Blazey Yamaha) 2^nd Jamie Deadman (450f Gibbs Performance KTM) 3^rd Stephen Elford (450f Gabriel Insulations Honda) 4^th Martyn Tucker (450f SR75/Molson Suzuki) 5^th Keith Hanson (450f Hansons Garage Honda) 6^th James Knatchbull (????)

Race 2

1^st Life 2^nd Elford 3^rd Hanson 4^th Deadman 5^th Rob Lewis (350f Tony Maunders Racing KTM) 6^th Jesse Say (????)

Race 3

1^st Life 2^nd Deadman 3^rd Elford 4^th Tucker 5^th Hanson 6^th Say

M D Racing Over 40’s Championship Race 1

1^st Chris Brown (450f TwoNineTwo/Factory Touch Honda) 2^nd Johnny Hawkins (450f Hawkins Motors Kawasaki) 3^rd David Ford (350f Projuice KTM) 4^th Richard Tapscott (250f Honda) 5^th Justin Hawkins (250 Hawkins Construction Kawasaki) 6^th Steve Locke (450f S J Hodder Honda)

Race 2

1^st Brown 2^nd Justin Hawkins 3^rd Johnny Hawkins 4^th Locke 5^th Tapscott 6^th D Ford

Race 3

1^st Brown 2^nd Justin Hawkins 3^rd Johnny Hawkins 4^th Tapscott 5^th D Ford 6^th Locke

M D Racing Over 50’s Championship Race 1

1^st Mark Gleadhill (450f Honda) 2^nd David Lidbetter ((350f Ilumina Husqvarna) 3^rd Steve Chugg (450f Honda) 4^th Adrian Toy (150 KTM) 5^th Paul Huggett (250f Define Lines Suzuki)

Race 2

1^st Gleadhill 2^nd Toy 3^rd Lidbetter 4^th Chugg 5^th Huggett

Race 3

1^st Toy 2^nd Lidbetter 3^rd Chugg 4^th Huggett 5^th Gleadhill

Tyremarks Junior Championship Race 1

1^st Ross Churchill (450f Topline Glass Honda) 2^nd Jordan King (250 Apico Yamaha) 3^rd Jack Stevens (450f D S C Kawasaki) 4^th Olly Jones (450f Bob Jones Heating KTM) 5^th Gareth Artus (????) 6^th Toby Harvey (450f Honda)

Race 2

1^st Josh Turner (????) 2^nd Stevens 3^rd Jones 4^th Bradley Barfoot (450f Honda) 5^th Jason Brooke (250f Buildbase Racing Honda) 6^th Carl Dezis (350f KTM)

Race 3

1^st Stevens 2^nd Turner 3^rd Lewis Barfoot (450f Yamaha) 4^th Jones 5^th B Barfoot 6^th Oliver Foord (450f Phoenix Tools Honda)

Junior B Race 1

1^st Jack Roberts 2^nd Brian Hutchings 3^rd Doug Wynne 4^th Aiden Newitt 5^th Joel Worthington 6^th Ryan Poolman

Race 2

1^st Roberts 2^nd Newitt 3^rd Daniel Griffin 4^th Clinton Townsend 5^th Wynne 6^th Worthington

Race 3

1^st Roberts 2^nd Worthington 3^rd Robin Wilkins 4^th Townsend 5^th Wynne 6^th Richard Grills

Junior C Race 1

1^st Liam Wright 2^nd Graham Beale 3^rd Jack Smith 4^th Luke Tucker 5^th Josh Coker 6^th Lee Scriven

Race 2

1^st Wright 2^nd Beale 3^rd Smith 4^th Lewis Hunt 5^th Scriven 6^th Megan Butler

Race 3