The NORA MX Club hosted the third round of the NORA MX championships of 2023 at the West Meon track in Hampshire. It also incorporated the second round of the NORA sidecar Championship. The weather was not great in the morning, and rain in the preceding day left the track very wet and it took a while to dry out, by lunch time the mud was scraped away, and the track was dry with the sun shining all afternoon.
They ran a full seven class format, with the Pro / Pro-am run as a 2-race event, with all other quad classes as a 3-race event. The NORA sidecar Championship was again well attended with a line-up of twenty teams.
Race one got underway with an early lead for John and Tony Murch with Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps just behind and Tilo Maguire with stand-in British champion passenger Dan Chamberlain held third. Behind, Tony and Scott Grahame were pushing hard to take the lead, fighting through the difficult conditions to blast into the lead and take their first win of the day. Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps held second with Tilo Maguire and Dan Chamberlain third just ahead of Jack Roger / Ryan Beavis.
In race two Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps left nothing to chance, blasting into the lead, being chased all the way by Tony and Scott Grahame who fought hard and found a way past, taking a great second win. Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps held second with a battle for third, Jack Roger and Ryan Beavis worked their way forward passing Paul Pelling/ Mike Curnow, who held fourth.
In the final race of the day, Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps were determined leading from the start going on to take the win. Tony and Scott Grahame had a slow start but were going through the field like a train picking off their rivals but didn’t catch the leading duo and settled for second, but enough points to take the overall win on the day. Jack Rogers and Ryan Beavis took another great third, just ahead of Paul Pelling / Mike Curnow in fourth. Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps still hold the championship lead, but the battles are close with Tony and Scott Grahame snapping at their heels.
In the Pro / Pro-am class, racing got underway with Under 21 rider Zak Orchard taking the lead from George Day with Jamie Morgan third but determined, he battled hard to blast into second, George Day took third from Luke Berlyn.
In Race two Dafydd Davies took the holeshot with Tom Day holding second and the Under 21 rider Chad Beevers in third. Behind Harry Walker was fighting forward but picked up a mechanical problem and headed to the pits. Chad Beevers had a great race fighting to take the lead and a brilliant win, Dafydd Davies held second with Zak Orchard taking third.
At the end of round three it is Jamie Morgan who retained the lead of the Pro championship, Marcus Sprason leads the Pro-am class.
The Masters A and B class, they had three races and each one saw great battles for the win. In race one Johnathan Mcknight took the holeshot, holding on for a great win, behind Ed Davies and Paul Winrow fought for the whole race, swapping places several times and just when it looked like Ed Davies had the advantage, Paul Winrow swooped in on the last lap and took second.
In race two it was Ed Davies who led from the start with Paul Winrow holding second throughout, but the arch-rivals were close with Paul Winrow again swooping in on the final lap to take the win. Johnathan Mcknight blasted past Greg Fisher to take third.
In the final day of the day Paul Winrow took the hold shot and lead to the flag. Ed Davies chased but held second just ahead of Johnathan Mcknight and Greg Fisher, but they both had problems in the final lap with Paul McConway swooping in to take third.
After a great day’s racing, Ed Davies still holds the championship lead. In the Masters B class Danny Gilligan had a great weekend with three class wins to secure the lead in that class.
In the 150 / 250 races it was Louie Holt who dominated the 250 open class taking wins in all races with Frank Marston close behind and taking second overall, and Reggie Binskin third. Jay Sams dominated the 250 Air cooled class, with Brodie North heading up the 150 Open class.
The Clubman Elite and Clubman classes raced together and also had three races. Aled Davies and Josh McKnight battled together with Aled taking two wins and moving into the lead of the Clubman Elite championship. There was strong competition in the Clubman class with Charlie Wheatley winning all three races to retain the championship lead.
The Intermediated were dominated by Morgan Junge with Brooke Bunce leading the ladies class, she currently has eight wins from the nine races.
The 50 / 100 class was well supported with Kayla George leading the 100 Auto, and Seth Balaam the 100 geared. Jayden Garrett worked hard to hold the overall win of the 50s class.
At the end of an eventful day there were lots of exhausted riders celebrating a brilliant day’s racing. The club worked tirelessly all weekend to make it a fantastic event, and we look forward to round four and five (round three for sidecars) - May 28th & 29th - Brookethorpe - GL4 0UT
Results
Nora MX Quad Rd3 and Sidecar Rd2, Nora-Mx Quad Racing, United Kingdom - Official Event Results, MYLAPS Speedhive