Following the successful running of events in the previous two seasons, the Waterlooville MCC agreed to host more events 2022. There will be four rounds of the MSU Championship within the Southern Centre. Championship classes will be Solo, MXY Youth, Sidecar and guest classes which vary between Evo solo, Twinshock sidecars & Quads.
Dates & venues are as follows:
Round 1: 10th April - Swanmore
Round 2: 8th May - Owslebury
Round 3: 22 May - West Meon
Round 4: 14th August - Cusses Gorse
At the weekend they hosted round 1 of the Championship at Swanmore in Hampshire, with the three Championship Classes of Open Solo, MXY & Sidecars (Modern & Twinshock). With a support class of South Eastern Evo.
The weather was brilliant for the time of year, and the track in great condition after lots of preparation.
In the sidecar class there were a mixture of abilities and machines, but it was good to see everyone together with a large sidecar entry. In race one it was Lee Foyle / Kevin Foyle who took an early lead followed by Matthew Connor / Jake Grahame who were pushing for the lead, but disaster struck when their rear brake seized on and they nose dived off the jump and were left track side. This left Ashley Williams/ Brian Grey in third, despite challenges from behind. Tony Grahame / Ryan Henderson recovered well from a slow start to take third just ahead of Jon Rutherford / Elliott Browne.
The second race was a bit more eventful, with drama in bend one with a crash involving several teams, Grahame / Henderson had an altercation just before the bend which pushed them in front of the front of the leading teams, the main drama was Tony Grahame practicing his superman flying and managed to get to the holeshot before his bike, and both the Foyle brothers, and Paul Pelling / Mike Curnow tumbled into the chaos. Amazingly all the teams grabbed their bikes and were soon chasing the leaders, with only Pelling / Curnow left track side. This left Sam Osbaldiston / Harley Lloyd taking the lead from Rutherford / Browne. Rob Oldfield / Faye Barnes held third but were challenged from behind when Connor / Grahame fought past, going on to take second. The first twinshock of Shaun Mallows / Colin Dunkley took a great fifth place.
In the final race of the day it was Lee Foyle / Kevin Foyle who took an early lead, Tony Graeme / Ryan Henderson were a few bikes behind but had them in their sights fighting forward and finally blasting into the lead but it was the Foyle brothers who took the overall win on the day. Back in third, Matthew Connor / Jake Grahame had another great race, passing Jon Rutherford / Elliott Browne who were also on top form.
At the end of round one, Lee and Kevin Foyle hold a five point championship advantage from Tony Graeme / Ryan Henderson, with Jon Rutherford / Elliott Browne in third.
The Southern Centre Open championship was dominated by Liam Garland who took three great wins, ahead of Josh Coleman in each of the race with Paul Burn holding third.
Southern Centre MXY (Youth championship) saw George Clarke fighting hard to take maximum points and lead the championship into round two. Max Agar holds second with Max Hoare fighting hard to take three third places.
In the South Eastern Evo Races Brett Fisher and Brad Tomlin battled hard taking a win each in the first two heats, then Brett Fisher managed to stay ahead in the final race of the day. Behind, Jordan Cutting had a great day taking third, staying just ahead of John Barfoot.
Results: Southern Centre RND1 Swanmore, Waterlooville Motorcycle Club, United Kingdom - Official Event Results, MYLAPS Speedhive
Report and Photos by Tracy Thacker