Monday June 14, 2010 at 9:46am
TOM PERRY (Wolverhampton) was crowned British Under 21 Champion at Ugley on Sunday after a thrilling afternoon’s racing at which the title lurched one way and then the other.
The racing produced four different heat winners and one of the favourites, Harland Cook (Watford), had three second places during the heats. Charlie Saunders (Swindon) saw his chances of the title slide across the track on the first bend of his third ride, his bike careening into the path of oncoming riders causing the race to be stopped and Saunders excluded - prior to this point in proceedings he was unbeaten.
Meanwhile, Tom Perry had won his first heat by beating Harland Cook, but in his next ride he came up against Rob Mear (Hatfield) and was beaten, but Mear had been beaten by Saunders in his first ride. In leg four the form on the day changed as Perry beat Saunders.
As they went into the Final Mear was ahead of Perry by 2 points with Harland Cook trailing behind in third by seven points.
Mear took the lead in the final and Perry tracked him, but didn’t look close enough to make a challenge unless Mear made a mistake, but alas, Mear skidded to a halt half way up the hill on lap two and was thrown off the bike causing the race to be stopped. The club had kept the dust at bay during the afternoon with a water bowser and everyone avoided the stricken Mear. Mear was excluded and an examination of his machine showed the frame had snapped just 2 laps before he was due to grab the title.
In the re-run Perry knew the title was his if he did not do anything silly, but he won the title in style with a race win, Saunders coming home second and Cook third.
But the title was on overall points so Perry took it with 41 points, Mear hung onto second with 34 points one ahead of Cook on 33 and Saunders made 32 points with just four rides.
In the 250cc support class former British champion Adam Shipp (Diss) was up against Paul Simmons (Ashford) but Shipp had bike problems all afternoon and only finished one race, Simmons taking four wins.
A competitive 350cc class saw Matt Etherington (Whitstable) beat the ex British Champion Richard Smith (Ipswich) by three wins to one.
In the 500cc solos class the heats were dominated by Darren Rolph (Braintree) with three wins before his frame called it a day, stopping in a similar place to Rob Mear. Dave Mears, who had tracked Rolph all afternoon took the re–run and also the class win.
The upright class for all capacities was a tight result with Brian Cornelius (Faversham) hugging the pegs and John Yeldham (Burnham) attacking flat out on a wide line. They both ended up on 45 points but Cornelius took the win overall due to a higher number of race wins.
A small field of 1,000cc right handed sidecars saw Dave Penfold (Kent) and Richard Webb (Kent) swap from their usual left handed chair to take four straight wins.
The 1,000cc Left handed sidecars saw newcomers Charlie Ridley(Ashford) and Steve Bowles (St Leonards) take four straight wins.
A fine, well run day of 33 races came to an end just before 5.00pm with the Under 21 Championship presentation being made promptly, leaving a very happy Tom Perry with a journey home to Wolverhampton, and Dunmow Club Committee members the task of dismantling the track and pondering how to bring the track back to the smooth condition it was in 20 years ago.
Report by
Julian Sayer (Secretary)
Dunmow Motorcycle Club
Full Results
British Under 21 Championship
Tom Perry 41 pts, Rob Mear 34 pts, Harland Cook 33 pts, Charlie Saunders 32 pts, Michael Faulkner 30 pts, Stuart Mears 28 pts, Craig Drury 25 pts, Trevor Heath 21 pts
250cc Paul Simmons 48pts, Graeme Brown 32 pts, Matt Saul 31 pts
350cc Matt Etherington 47 pts Richard Smith 45 points, Karl Rushen 37 pts
500cc Dave Mears 41pts, James Theobald 39 pts, Dean Garrod 37 pts
Upright/Two Valve Final Brian Cornelius 45 pts, John Yeldham 45 pts, Paul Morfey 40 pts
1,000cc Sidecar Right Hand Dave Penfold/Richard Webb 24 pts, John Thorpe/Ian Halle 17pts, John Stafford, Lee Jones 15 pts
1,000cc Sidecar Left Hand Charlie Ridley/Steve Bowles 24 points, Tom Penfold/Dan Batsone 14 points, Tony Penfold/George Vidler 5 points.