SNOW CLOSES GAP AT FOXHILLS BUT IRWIN TAKES THE OVERALL ON THE DAY

Report and Photos by Dave Rich

Last Sunday the Phoenix Tools Premier Motocross Championship took on a new venue for round 5 in the series and that Foxhill Moto Parc, Swindon which in tall had attracted many wildcards, not just in the Experts which had many British Championship riders in, but also in the other four classes with riders all keen to ride this historic venue.

In the Phoenix Tools Expert Open class it was current Championship leader Luke Hawkins on the 450 Phoenix Tools Rocket Honda who had posted the fastest time in qualifying, yet in the opening race it was wildcard James Harrison on the 250f Putoline Honda who had the holeshot from Alex Snow and another wildcard on the 250f Putoline Honda Neville Bradshaw. Bradshaw was to get the better of Snow dropping in to the valley, but the 450 Phoenix Tools Rocket Honda of Snow was to get back in front of Bradshaw before the end of the opening lap and was soon breathing all over Harrison who he managed to pass on lap 2 over one of the big jumps to take the lead. Jake Shipton on the 350 Strudwicks/Crescent Racing KTM UK machine was soon to be all over Bradshaw and got pass him on lap 3, but all eyes were on yet another wildcard on the 450 Heads & Threads Suzuki Graeme Irwin who hadn’t had the best of starts but was lapping at some rate and was closing in on the leading pack. Shipton got pass Harrison mid race and soon had Irwin right on his tail with Irwin forcing his way in to 2^nd on lap 6 and was now chasing down Snow at the front. Irwin was lapping nigh on 2 seconds quicker than Snow in the closing stages and with just 2 laps to go was to catch and pass Snow after Snow made a slight mistake and from there Irwin went on to take the win.

In the second moto it was the Oakleaf Kawasaki of Shane Carless this time with the best start from the St Blazey Husqvarna of John May with Snow tucked in 3^rd just a head of race 1 winner Irwin. May was in a real hurry in this one and passed Carless within a third of a lap, but this was short lived as Carless regained the lead. Snow was to get the better of May on lap 3 and then took over the lead from Carless a lap later, but following all his moves was Irwin who was soon in 2^nd. Snow looked to have this one in the bag as they entered the last lap, until he stalled his bike down over the drop off and this let Irwin catch and pass him, but there was still more to come from Snow as they went in to the last sharp lefthander they were to touch with Snow going down, Irwin stayed upright and took the win with Carless gifted second and Snow just holding on to take 3^rd.

In the last moto this was all about Snow who had the lead from the minute the gate dropped from Shipton and Hawkins, but not the best of starts again for Irwin and it was to get worse for the Irishman as he went in to a fast lefthander when his front wheel washed out and down he went. Snow was to pull away at the front every lap from Shipton who was being pressured by Hawkins all the time as was Carless in 4^th who had Irwin all over him in the latter stages. Snow was to go on to take the win from Shipton and Hawkins with Irwin getting pass Carless on the last lap to take 3^rd which was to give Irwin the Overall on the day. 

In the Over 35 Championship class the day belonged to Championship leader Nick Life on the Gibbs Performance/St Blazey Yamaha who yet again was to take a hat trick of wins to increase his Championship tally, but he had to fight off wildcard Josh Hinz in the early stages of all 3 races who in the end took a hat trick of 2^nd place finishes.

In the Over 40’s there was some real good tussles with wildcard Brian Wheeler on the 450 GL12 Racing Kawasaki taking the wins in the opening 2 races from fellow wildcard Terry House on the 450 Poole Yamaha who was having his first ride in the Over 40’s, but it was House who dominated the last race leading from start to finish to take the win.

The Over 50’s saw Championship leader Mark Gleadhill take 2 convincing wins in the opening 2 races, but in the last one he was denied a hat trick by wildcard Dave Whitehead who was to hold off Gleadhill for most of the race. 

In the Tyremarks Junior Championship class this was packed with wildcard entries from all over the country including Matthew Thomas who was literally a cut above the rest on the TNT Racing 250 2-stroke Yamaha as he was to holeshot all 3 races and with a clear track in front of him he was to put together a fine display of riding to take a convincing hat trick of wins.

RESULTS

Phoenix Tools Expert Open Championship Race 1

1^st Graeme Irwin (450f Heads & Threads Suzuki) 2^nd Alex Snow (450f Phoenix Tools Rocket Honda) 3^rd Jake Shipton (450f Strudwicks/Crescent Racing/KTM UK) 4^th Neville Bradshaw (250f Putoline Honda) 5^th James Harrison (250f Putoline Honda) 6^th Nez Parker (450f Buildbase Racing Honda)

Race 2

1^st Irwin 2^nd Shane Carless (450f Oakleaf Kawasaki) 3^rd Snow 4^th Luke Hawkins (450f Phoenix Tools Rocket Honda) 5^th Bradshaw 6^th Shipton

Race 3

1^st Snow 2^nd Shipton 3^rd Hawkins 4^th Irwin 5^th Carless 6^th Bradshaw  

M D Racing Over 35’s Championship Race 1

1^st Nick Life (450f Gibbs Performance/St Blazey Yamaha) 2^nd Josh Hinz (????) 3^rd Shane Skeates (????) 4^th Stephen Elford (450f Gabriel Insulations Honda) 5^th Jamie Deadman (450f Gibbs Performance KTM) 6^th Keith Hanson (450f Hansons Garage Honda)

Race 2

1^st Life 2^nd Hinz 3^rd Elford 4^th Martyn Tucker (450f SR75/Molson Suzuki) 5^th Skeates 6^th Hanson

Race 3

1^st Life 2^nd Hinz 3^rd Elford 4^th Tucker 5^th Mark Chamberlain (450f MVRD Honda) 6^th Deadman

M D Racing Over 40’s Championship Race 1

1^st Brian Wheeler (450f GL12 Racing Kawasaki) 2^nd Terry House (450f Poole Yamaha) 3^rd Jason Morris (450f Honda) 4^th Chris Brown (450f TwoNineTwo/Factory Touch Honda) 5^th Steve Locke (450f S J Hodder Honda) 6^th Shaun Brooker (350f KTM)

Race 2

1^st Wheeler 2^nd House 3^rd Morris 4^th Brown 5^th Locke 6^th Brooker

Race 3

1^st House 2^nd Wheeler 3^rd Locke 4^th Brown 5^th Brooker 6^th Tapscott

M D Racing Over 50’s Championship Race 1

1^st Mark Gleadhill (450f Honda) 2^nd Dave Whitehead (450f Honda) 3^rd Kevin Plumley (125 KTM) 4^th Steve Chugg (450f Honda) 5^th Adrian Toy (150 KTM) 6^th Sammy Doble (490 M D Racing Maico)

Race 2

1^st Gledhill 2^nd Whitehead 3^rd Chugg 4^th Toy 5^th Doble 6^th Plumley

Race 3

1^st Whitehead 2^nd Gledhill 3^rd Plumley 4^th Chugg 5^th Doble 6^th Paul Huggett (250f Define Lines Suzuki)  

Tyremarks Junior Championship Race 1

1^st Matthew Thomas (250 TNT Racing Yamaha) 2^nd Joe Jeffries (250f KTM) 3^rd Zac Alsop (????) 4^th Ethan Gatenby (????) 5^th Lewis Barfoot (450f Yamaha) 6^th Josh Turner (450f KTM)

Race 2

1^st Thomas 2^nd Alsop 3^rd Gatenby 4^th Turner 5^th L Barfoot 6^th Joe Clayton (250 Honda)

Race 3

1^st Thomas 2^nd Alsop 3^rd Turner 4^th Jack Stevens (450f D S C Kawasaki) 5^th Toby Harvey (450f Honda) 6^th Gatenby

Junior B Race 1

1^st Daniel Hartley 2^nd Andy Bushin 3^rd Liam Brown 4^th Michael Green 5^th Jay Lewis 6^th Adam Hayward

Race 2

1^st Ben Cryer 2^nd Hayward 3^rd J Lewis 4^th Green 5^th Hartley 6^th Benn Coffin

Race 3

1^st Cryer 2^nd Hartley 3^rd Ed Lewis 4^th Curtis Hunt 5^th Ben Anstie 6^th Bushin

Junior C Race 1

1^st Jamie Smith 2^nd Aiden Newitt 3^rd Guy Langmead 4^th Ryan Williams 5^th Lee Scriven 6^th Luke Wyatt

Race 2

1^st Williams 2^nd Scriven 3^rd Smith 4^th Ben Bowden 5^th Shaun Groves 6^th Newitt

Race 3

1^st Williams 2^nd Newitt 3^rd Sam Cheeseman 4^th Groves 5^th Wyatt 6^th Scott Hooper