The Second and third round of the Nora MX Championship was hosted by the Nora MX team at the Brookthorpe track in Gloucestershire, across a two day event. Although rain was forecast the weather was sunny and dry for the first two sets of races but set three was a different story with the rain arriving in the late afternoon and continuing into day 2.
Again, it was a COVID secure event with no spectators, just riders, mechanics and officials with their family bubbles.
There were six quad and one sidecar class, although each of those were further split into sub-classes within each of the races. Three races for each class in round 2 and two races for each class in round 3, so five races each across the two-day event.
The sidecar group was split into two classes, with GP riders racing without collecting any points.
Current British Champions Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain took the hole shot in race one, holding on for a good win. Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper initially held second, but were passed by Brett Wilkinson / Maxime Cuche, George Kinge / Steve Kirwin took third with Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper holding fourth. Jake Brown / Joe Millard had problems on the start but still fought hard to catch their rivals, but it was race two where they really showed what they could do taking the holes shot and blasting ahead for the majority for the race, Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain shadowed them throughout, blasting into the lead in the final few laps. But the final race of the day was the wild card, the skies opened and the rain poured making the course slippery and any racing was difficult. It was Brett Wilkinson with swiss passenger Maxime Cuche who took the hole shot and held the lead throughout, this time Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain were amongst the pack and overtaking was difficult in the conditions, but they picked their way through to take a great second and enough for an overall win.
On Day two the Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain did not race, which left four GP teams, each of the two races saw a holes shots for Jake Brown / Joe Millard, with Brett Wilkinson / Maxime Cuche chasing throughout but settling for second Dan Foden / Nathan Cooper took third with George Kinge / Steve Kirwin fourth in each race.
The main Sidecar class was dominated by Sam Osbaldiston / Harley Lloyd who took another three good wins. In the first race Matt Connor / Jake Grahame, took second ahead of Paul Pelling / Jack Wilkinson, with Tilo Maguire and stand in passenger Chris Pannell fourth. In race two, Jack Etheridge / Nicky Adair put their race one problems behind them and took second with Tilo Maguire/ Chris Pannell third just ahead of Paul Pelling / Jack Wilkinson. The final race was the battle in the rain, the start was slow and slippery and the race was steady and cautious. Sam Osbaldistin/ Harley Lloyd battled passed Paul Pelling / Jack Wilkinson to take the win with Tilo Maguire/ Chris Pannell just behind taking third overall, Jack Etheridge / Nicky Adair were fourth.
On Day two Sam Osbaldiston / Harley Lloyd took two good wins and now hold maximum championship points. Jack Etheridge with a passenger change to Jake Grahame kept the leaders in sight throughout taking second in both races. Third was a battle between Paul Pelling / Jack Wilkinson and Tilo Maguire/ Chris Pannell who fought throughout and took a third place each.
In the quad class there were the usual Six groups Pro / Pro Am, Clubman Elite / Masters A, Clubman / Masters B, Intermediates and Ladies, 250cc Open and Air Cooled, 100cc Geared, and 50cc Auto, 100cc Auto
The Pro races were fast a furious with plenty of action. In race one Mark McLernon took the hole shot but was hunted down by Harry Walker, but disaster struck when Harry’s bike started to smoke, with one lap remaining he continued but dropped back to seventh. Jamie Morgan had a great race fighting through to second ahead of Dafydd Davies and Simon Hammersley. In race 2 Mark McLernon lead from the start ahead of Oli Sansom with Harry Walker third, but he battled forward to take a good win, Mark McLernon held second from Dafydd Davies. The final race of the day saw a large rain cloud soak the track and made the racing difficult. Mark McLernon took the holeshot and stayed ahead to take the win, Harry Walker battled up to second but could not close on the leader, Simon Hammersley and Dean Dillon were close behind. In the Pro Am class Robbie Wood, Alfie Walker, and Ayrton Knowles battled together taking a win each.
On Day two the weather made racing at speed more difficult, but the standard was high with two fast and exciting races. Oli Sansom hole shotted both races, looking great in the muddy conditions, in race one the competition from behind was strong with Mark McLernon taking the lead from lap 2 with Harry Walker taking second ahead of Jamie Morgan, Oli Sansom held fourth. But in race two Oli was more determined, and he held the lead throughout to take a great win, ahead of Dean Dillon with Harry Walker very close in third.
Clubman Elite raced with the Masters A group. They were dominated by Luke Berlyn who took three great wins. In race one Sonney Ward fought through to second just ahead of Danny Smith. Scott Berlyn took second in race 2 with Sonney Ward closed behind in third. In the final race of day 1 Luke Berlyn lead from the start with rain making things difficult from behind with the Masters A riders amongst the leaders, Danny Smith was the second clubman Elite to finish with Sonney Ward again in third. Masters A rider Johnathan Mcknight had a fantastic day to take the overall win in his class.
The Clubman Elite also found conditions tough on the second day with the muddy track making passing very difficult, but that didn’t stop them. It was Michael Hodges who usually races GP sidecars that took the holeshot, he stayed close but the competition for the lead was fast with Sonney Ward and Daniel Scott Evans dicing for the lead, with Sonney taking the win in the final few laps, Michael Hodges held on for third. In race two Luke Berlyn took the lead at the half way point and held on for another great win, Scott Berlyn was second just ahead of Sonney Ward.
The Clubman class raced with the Masters B. This class was dominated by Lewis Painter taking wins in all five races across the weekend. Matthew Kirk did the same in the Masters B Class.
RESULTS: Nora MX ACU Quad & Sidecar Rnd 2, Nora-Mx Quad Racing, United Kingdom - Official Event Results, MYLAPS Speedhive
Nora MX ACU Quad & Sidecar Rnd 3, Nora-Mx Quad Racing, United Kingdom - Official Event Results, MYLAPS Speedhive