The 2026 Wimborne Whoppa delivered two days of outstanding grasstrack racing at the Uddens circuit, with the ACU British Championship classes taking centre stage. Saturday showcased the country’s leading youth competitors and the GT140 title contest, while Sunday was headed by the 500cc Sidecar British Masters Championship. Strong crowds, close racing and several first-time champions made it a memorable weekend.
British Youth Championships
E-Bike
Cruz Harris recovered from a tape malfunction in heat three to dominate the remainder of the E-Bike programme and secure his first British title. Harry Wicks, who won the opening two heats, finished runner-up ahead of Reggie Goodwin, Hadlee Jones, Blake Wooley, Maddie Adams, Axel Bowtell and Florence Rickards. Bowtell’s promising day ended with a crash in his fourth ride.
Cadets and Autos
Alfie Shipp was faultless in the Cadet class, winning all five heats to take the championship ahead of Dalton Wright. In the Autos, Levi Collins won his first four races and had already built the platform for the title before Kobi Gutteridge beat him in the final heat. Collins took the crown from Gutteridge, with Kody Pay third after five consistent rides.
Juniors
Rogan Wooley and Brayden Blyth shared the wins and runner-up places across the opening four heats, leaving the title to be decided in the final race. Blyth led on the inside while Wooley pressed around the faster outside line, but Blyth crashed on the final lap and suffered an arm injury. Wooley therefore secured the championship, while Blyth’s earlier points were enough for second overall ahead of Albie South, Harry Little, Dakota Wright and Daisy Torres.
Intermediates
Archie Rolph produced one of the weekend’s standout performances, winning all five heats in commanding style. Finley Theobald finished second, followed by Jack Scully-Syer, Kane Newby, Luton-James McAlinney and Archie Whitelam. Newby had looked the most likely challenger before falls in his final two outings ended his hopes.
125cc
Archie Whitelam completed a perfect five-win campaign to claim the 125cc British Championship. John Cox consistently gated well and secured second, with his sister Jessica third and Lucas Astley fourth.
GT140 British Championship
Ian Clark and Wayne Broadhurst emerged as the leading contenders through the qualifying heats, with Luke Wicks, Mark Scopes and Kevin Gwillam also taking wins. The final qualifying race ended in a serious collision between Scopes and Wicks; Scopes sustained a small bleed on the brain and a broken hand, while Wicks was excluded as the cause of the stoppage.
Wayne Broadhurst, Clark, Tony Atkin, defending champion Max Broadhurst and Gwillam qualified directly for the final, with Wicks and Isaak Collins-Bullock progressing from the last-chance qualifier. Max made a strong start in the decider but ran wide at turn one and was swallowed up by the pack. Wayne controlled the race at the front, resisting sustained pressure from Clark, while Gwillam won a tight four-way fight for third. Wayne Broadhurst was crowned the new GT140 British Champion and was congratulated at the finish by his son Max.
500cc Sidecar British Masters Championship
Sunday’s headline championship produced a high-quality contest between Richard Webb/Ant Goodwin and Mitch Godden/Paul Smith. Both crews won repeatedly in qualifying, but Webb made the clearest statement when the unbeaten pair met in leg four and he held off Godden for victory. Jordan Smith/Joe Page and defending champions Josh and Scott Goodwin also qualified directly, while Barrie Bennett/Rowan Lucas advanced by winning the last-chance qualifier.
Webb made another lightning start in the final. Godden charged from fourth to second on the opening turn and gradually closed the gap, but Webb rode a controlled tactical race to take his first 500cc sidecar crown, adding it to four previous left-hand sidecar championships. Godden was later excluded for going outside the track markings, promoting Josh and Scott Goodwin to second, Bennett/Lucas to third and Smith/Page to fourth. Paul Whitelam/Liam Brown did not finish.
Supporting Whoppa Classes
500cc Solo Whoppa
Zach Wajtknecht won three of his four qualifying heats and was declared the 2026 Whoppa winner after low sun and repeated incidents made it unsafe to rerun the final. Jake Mulford was second and James Shanes third on qualifying scores. Chris Harris had led both aborted attempts at the final but finished outside the podium after an earlier chain failure affected his points total.
1,000cc Right-Hand Sidecar Whoppa
Mark Cossar/Wayne Rickards led the final from the first turn and held off Terry Saunters/Liam Brown to take the Whoppa title. Tom Cossar/Ryan Wharton finished third after passing Will Penfold/Ricky Pay. Gareth Winterburn/Frankie Courtney were forced onto the infield while avoiding a collision and did not finish.
Clubman Sidecars
Luca Whitelam/Ant Goodwin completed a maximum-points Saturday by again passing Mark Courtney/Leon Torres in the final. Frankie Courtney/Conor Measor took third, followed by William Offen/Joe Hand, Matt Tyrell/Shaun Yates and Barry Smith/Ashley Pearce.
British Championship Results
E-Bike Youth: 1 Cruz Harris 38 points; 2 Harry Wicks 36; 3 Reggie Goodwin 31; 4 Hadlee Jones 25; 5 Blake Wooley 16; 6 Maddie Adams 13; 7 Axel Bowtell 12; 8 Florence Rickards 1.
Autos Youth: 1 Levi Collins 39 points; 2 Kobi Gutteridge 36; 3 Kody Pay 30; 4 Harry Worrall 25; 5 Grayson Rickards 20; 6 Isla Gannon 12; 7 Leighton Ponton 11; 8 JJ Falconer 7.
Cadets Youth: 1 Alfie Shipp 40 points; 2 Dalton Wright 35.
Juniors Youth: 1 Rogan Wooley 38 points; 2 Brayden Blyth 30; 3 Albie South 29; 4 Harry Little 28; 5 Dakota Wright 21; 6 Daisy Torres 16.
Intermediates Youth: 1 Archie Rolph 40 points; 2 Finley Theobald 32; 3 Jack Scully-Syer 25; 4 Kane Newby 17; 5 Luton-James McAlinney 16; 6 Archie Whitelam 10.
125cc British Championship: 1 Archie Whitelam 40 points; 2 John Cox 35; 3 Jessica Cox 28; 4 Lucas Astley 27.
GT140 British Championship Final: 1 Wayne Broadhurst; 2 Ian Clark; 3 Kevin Gwillam; 4 Luke Wicks; 5 Tony Atkin; 6 Isaak Collins-Bullock; 7 Max Broadhurst; 8 Mark Scopes DNS. Other positions: 9 Connor Sargeant; 10 Mark Collins; 11 Adam Hawker; 12 Steve Newsham; 13 Darren Sargeant; 14 Shane Knight; 15 Ron Steward; 16 Tom Giles; 17 Kevin Beer; 18 Nickolaj Kennett; 19 Archie Palmer; 20 Kevin Bundock; 21 Glyn Stanton; 22 William South; 23 Oliver Smith.
ACU 500cc Sidecar British Masters Championship Final: 1 Richard Webb/Ant Goodwin; 2 Josh Goodwin/Scott Goodwin; 3 Barrie Bennett/Rowan Lucas; 4 Jordan Smith/Joe Page; 5 Paul Whitelam/Liam Brown DNF; 6 Mitch Godden/Paul Smith EXC. Other finishers: 7 Jason Backshall/Kate Barnes; 8 Shane Freeman/Tobi Vere; 9 Chris Neame/Zoe Pay; 10 Trevor Heath/Sam Heath; 11 Mike Skelding/Louis Skelding.
Supporting-Class Results
500cc Solo Wimborne Whoppa: 1 Zach Wajtknecht 32 points; 2 Jake Mulford 31; 3 James Shanes 29; 4 Darryl Ritchings 27; 5 Jacob Bukhave 26; 6 Charlie Wood 25; 7 Chris Harris 24; 8 Paul Cooper 23; 9 Mickie Simpson 23; 10 Niek Meijerink 22; 11 John Cox 21; 12 Ryan Ashcroft 16; 13 Tim Curnock 14; 14 Jason Prynne 14; 15 Will Thurlby 14; 16 Ollie Binns 14; 17 Liam Ashcroft 13; 18 Max Perry 11; 19 Luke Tuck 10; 20 Jody Hodgson 10; 21 James Laker 7; 22 Ben Ilsley 5; 23 Sanne Meijerink 5; 24 Thomas Vining 3.
1,000cc Right-Hand Sidecar Whoppa Final: 1 Mark Cossar/Wayne Rickards; 2 Terry Saunters/Liam Brown; 3 Tom Cossar/Ryan Wharton; 4 Will Penfold/Ricky Pay; 5 Neal Owen/Jason Farwell; 6 Gareth Winterburn/Frankie Courtney DNF. Other finishers: 7 Will Offen/Conor Measor; 8 Clint Blondel/Lewis Davis; 9 Steve Smith/Gareth Little; equal 10 John Hand/Adrian North and Simon Beaney/Brook Fowler; 12 Stef Blyth/Morgan Blyth; 13 Andrew Minard/Michelle Minard; 14 George Penfold/Carl Pugh; 15 Mick Stace/Terry Madley; 16 Dale Fish/Jordan Fish.
Clubman Sidecar Whoppa Final: 1 Luca Whitelam/Ant Goodwin; 2 Mark Courtney/Leon Torres; 3 Frankie Courtney/Conor Measor; 4 William Offen/Joe Hand; 5 Matt Tyrell/Shaun Yates; 6 Barry Smith/Ashley Pearce. Also competed: Joe Mogg/Jake Cutler.
Race report and images by Mike Wood – DirtHub.com