Sunday saw the opening round of the Bickers Lifting / Stebbings Car Superstore ACU Eastern Motocross Championship take place at the Blaxhall Circuit near Woodbridge. An entry of just over 190 riders were all looking to start their championship campaigns in fine style.
The Blaxhall circuit was perfectly prepared prior to an overcast start which was followed by heavy hail and rain showers at the end of the practice sessions made for a challenging racing surface until the rain cleared and sunshine appeared in the early afternoon.
In the Expert class it was Lewis Tombs who dominated the class across all three races. In the opening race Tombs took the lead on the opening lap and took victory by nearly 40 seconds ahead of Luke Benstead in second, the battle for third was close with Jake Edey taking the advantage over reigning Champion Shaun Southgate and Declan Whittle in fifth.
The second Expert race again saw Tombs take the lead in the second corner and raced away for another win over Benstead with reigning MX2 champion Ben Clark in third. Fourth and fifth places went to Charles Cole and Steve Bixby.
The final Expert class race of the day was held in the best conditions of the day and again Tombs dominated the race and took another win to make it a hat trick on the day and secure the overall. Second place went to Benstead once again to secure second overall on the day. Whittle took the third place with Southgate fourth and Connor Hughes in fifth. In the overall it was Tombs, Benstead, Southgate, Clark and Edey.
With nearly 160 Junior riders competing in the event, they were separated across four different groups with the fastest 40 going into the Junior Championship class. In the opening race Jack Youngs made the start and held the early race lead until being passed by eventual race win Ryan Powley. Youngs finished second with Perry Galloway in third and James Barker fourth and Mark Hunt fifth.
The second of the Junior Championship race saw former Expert Kane Fisher take the lead with another former Expert Mark Hunt battle for the race win but it was Fisher who took the victory. Third place went to Tommy Clark with Kyle Wilby in fourth and Jack Youngs fifth.
The third and final Junior Championship race saw Kane Fisher take his second race win of the day ahead of race one winner Ryan Powley in second, third place went to the consistent Jack Youngs. Fourth and fifth places went to Max Bickers and Adam Johnson. With two wins Kane Fisher took the overall victory ahead of Jack Youngs and Ryan Powley with Mark Hunt and Joe Golding rounding out the top 5.
In the Junior B Group in was young Will Farrow who took the overall victory with a second place and two race wins over Travis Frost in second place who took one win and two second places. Third overall went to Paul Hubbard with Billy Middleton in fourth and Gareth Cushion in fifth.
The Junior C Group would see Thomas Fazah take three race wins and claim the overall ahead of Tyrone Tugwell and Shane Brown, with Steve Atkins and Thomas Mustard rounding out the top 5.
In the final group for Junior D riders it was Sam Cheeseman who took the overall ahead of Tristan Hales, Henry Utting, Ryan Bailey and Thomas Clarkson.
Report by Richard Blyth
Photos by ImageRich Media
Full results can be found here
https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/1642433