Tuesday July 5, 2011 at 8:56am
Goldspeed ACU British Quadcross Championships Round Three, July 2nd 2011
Words and Photography by Alistair Plant
John Mitchell made it three out of three wins as he extended his lead in the Goldspeed ACU British Quadcross Championships this weekend. Paul Holmes certainly had the pace but unfortunately not the luck, finishing second overall with Mark Watson taking another consistent third place finish.
Held at the extensively modified Tinker Hill motocross track, Quadracing Ireland had clearly put a lot of effort into making the track more exciting, with many changes including the removal of 400 tonnes of rock to widen the track. This allowed for an action packed day’s racing with an excellent turnout from the clubman riders and spectators.
Paul Holmes took the fastest time in free practice, followed closely by John Mitchell and Mark Watson in a lineup of 25 riders. On board his Holmes Racing Yamaha 450, Holmes gave a show of blistering pace to take the holeshot in race one and began to pull away from the chasing Watson, Winrow and Mitchell. Riding hard, Holmes had given himself an impressive 10 second lead, that was until he suffered a flat tyre with only six laps remaining. Meanwhile, Mitchell had passed Winrow but wasn’t able to get close enough to KTM UK rider Mark Watson.
“It was the penultimate lap and Paul Holmes was battling to keep Watson from passing him. Watson went round the outside of Holmesy and I managed to nip in on the inside and take the lead.” A delighted Mitchell reflected as he snatched an unexpected first win victory. Watson, feeling frustrated after a very close finish took second place and Holmes was happy to settle for third with a flat tyre.
The gates dropped for race two and the holeshot was taken by a flying John Mitchell on board his ATV World Yamaha 450. However, it wasn’t to be quite the perfect start he had hoped for as he hit a burn in turn three and was passed by the on-form Holmes. They instantly made a break, leaving a big gap between themselves and Watson in third place.
“I didn’t get a good start, Holmes and Mitchell were gone. I tried to close them in but was making no headway and settled for third.” said Watson. That’s how the positions remained - with Holmes taking the win six seconds ahead of Mitchell and Watson a further 30 seconds behind.
“I was fastest in qualifying and in both races, also got the holeshot in race one. It’s been a nice weekend for me except for the puncture.” commented Holmes as he summed up his day’s racing.
It was also a good day for Watson’s fellow KTM UK team mate James Hellewell, as he took ninth and a well fought fourth place, giving him maximum points in the Under 21 Championship ahead of SMR/Nora MX’s Stef Murphy and Cian Rodgers on board his Kawasaki 450.
In the British Quad Masters, a superb performance from Paul Harkness gave him the overall win after a second and first place finish which saw both Harkness and McConway in a tense race one battle. Anthony Barrett took second overall while McConway took third overall with the win in race one.
In the Grade A Quads, Reece Boal took the overall win ahead of Emma McQuaid and Andrew Walsh, while Chris McLaughlin won the Clubman Class six points ahead of Sean Maguire and Shane Hunter.
The next round of the championship will be at Dean Moor, Cumbria on the 24th July and will be organised by N.E.T.T’s, including all classes. For more details, please visit www.acuquadracing.co.uk
RESULTS:
British championship: 1 John Mitchell (Yamaha) 25 + 22 = 47, 2 Paul Holmes (Yamaha) 20 + 25 = 45, 3 Mark Watson (KTM) 22 + 20 = 42, 4 David Wray (Honda) 16 + 18 = 34, 5 James Hellewell (KTM) 12 + 18 = 30, 6 Carl Bunce (Suzuki) 14 + 16 = 30.
British U21 Championship: 1 James Hellewell (KTM) 25 + 25 = 50, 2 Stefan Murphy (Honda) 22 + 22 = 44, 3 Cain Rodgers (Kawasaki) 18 + 20 = 38, 4 Sam Bryan (Honda) 20 + 16 = 36, 5 Connor Smith (KTM) 16 + 18 = 34, 6 Mark Mclernon (Kawasaki) 15 + -- = 15.
Masters (+35): 1 Paul Harkness (Honda) 22 + 25 = 47, 2 Antony Barrett (Suzuki) 20 + 22 = 42, 3 Paul McConway (Honda) 25 + 16 = 41, 4 Darren Bridge (Yamaha) 18 + 20 = 38, 5 Steve Bean (Suzuki) 16 + 18 = 34, 6 Chris Murphy (Honda) 15 + 15 = 30.
Quad A: 1 Reece Boal (Honda) 25 + 22 = 47, 2 Emma McQuaid (Honda) 22 + 20 = 42, 3 Andrew Walsh (Honda) 16 + 18 = 34, 4 Michael McCullagh (KTM) 18 + 16 = 34, 5 Richard Carey (Yamaha) 14 + 15 = 29, 6 Martin Bole (Laeger 450) -- + 25 = 25.
Clubman: 1 Chris McLaughlin (KTM) 22 + 22 = 44, 2 Sean Maguire (Honda) 18 + 20 = 38, 3 Shane Hunter (Yamaha) 20 + 18 = 38, 4 Pat Whelan (Suzuki) 13 + 16 = 29, 5 Ryan Gibson (Honda) 16 + 12 = 28, 6 Dean Colhoun (CanAm) 0 + 25 = 25.