Friday July 29, 2011 at 11:46am
Alex Snow on the Lanes Kawasaki was to lift the famous Patchquick Trophy last Wednesday evening as some of the countries top motocross riders ascended to Phoenix Moto Parc, Nr Kingsteignton in Devon for the 65th running of this prestigious event. Defending Trophy winner from 2010 Brad Anderson had returned along with many others including several of the local Premier Championship riders John May, Luke Hill, Belgium star Maarten Cremers plus many others, but unfortunately there were several of the countries finest riders who were hoping to compete were missing after they had picked up injuries at the British Championship the previous weekend, but never the less there was still plenty of other talent on hand on what was a well prepared track and with a thousand plus spectators in attendance it proved to be a brilliant evening of racing.
In the opening Patchquick race it didn’t take Anderson long to hit the front and with a clear track in front of him he was to set the pace, but there was a good tussle for 2nd on the opening couple of laps between May and Snow with Snow eventually passing May on a tight lefthander towards the end of lap 2. Snow did close on Anderson mid race but the Par Homes rider kept Snow a safe distance back and went on to take the win, Snow 2nd with May taking 3rd. In the second moto it was Snow who had the best start from Luke Mellows and May with Anderson well back, but he was soon flying through the field. May got the better of Mellows on the opening lap and was starting to pressure Snow at the front and it seemed to work as Snow went down just after a right hander when his back wheel washed out and through went May. Snow was to get up quick and was soon back in to his rhythm and was to catch and pass May to regain the lead on lap 3, but where was Anderson he was still back in 6th but within a couple of laps he was breathing all over May looking to move in to 2nd, but May who is no slouch was to keep Anderson at bay until lap 8 when Anderson cut back inside of him and he now had his sights set on Snow who was a full 5 seconds ahead. Anderson was to close at a rapid speed and by lap 11 he was all over Snow and he took the lead on lap 12, but Snow didn’t let him get to far away. Anderson seemed to have some kind of a problem with his bike on the penultimate lap as he was lacking power a bit on the hills which was letting Snow close up again, then as then went in to the last lap Anderson was to lay his bike down as it had seized much to his disgust but not to the spectators who were all behind local Devon rider Snow urging him on and he was to take the win with May taking 2nd just holding off Stuart Edmonds who took 3rd. As they came to the line for race 3 there was just 5 points between Snow and May and it was May who had the hole shot with Snow tucked in 2nd being pushed hard by Mellows. Anderson again who was on his spare bike didn’t have the best of starts and had it all to do in this one if he was going to get on the podium. May was looking good at the front and was starting to ease away from Snow who just couldn’t shake off Mellows and this went on for the first couple of laps until May who had to be the unluckiest rider there picked up a rear wheel puncture and was forced to slow which let Snow to the front. By the end of lap 4 Anderson was up challenging Mellows desperate to get pass before Snow had a cushion and it wasn’t long before Anderson moved up after passing Mellows in mid air. Snow was to sense Anderson wasn’t far away as the crowd were urging him on, but on lap 7 Anderson hit the front and from there went on to take the win, but Snow knew he had it in the bag finishing in 2nd to great applause that he was going to get his name inscribed on that Trophy with Mellows taking 3rd.
In the Junior cup class the night belonged to young 15 year old Tommy Alba who is one of the up and coming young talents in the country. Harvie Templeton-Banks was the initial leader in the opening race from 17 year old Bill Farleigh who was put under immense pressure from Alba from the off and it was to make Farleigh drop it on a fast right hander on lap 2. Alba did catch Templeton-banks a lap later, but it wasn’t until lap 5 that he was to take the lead and a lap later he was to take the win with the race being red flagged due to an incident, Templeton-Banks finished a close 2nd with Anthony Milliar 3rd. In the second moto again it was Templeton-Banks with the early lead, but this was short lived as a mistake on lap 2 was to let Alba through in to the lead with Farleigh there in 3rd. These two were to power away at the front and had there own ding dong with the lead swapping and changing, but in the end it was Alba who got the better of Farleigh and was to take the win, Farleigh 2nd with Milliar again in the frame taking 3rd which was to give him second overall behind Alba.
PATCHQUICK TROPHY OVERALL
(Sponsored by Phoenix Tools)
1st Alex Snow (450f Lanes Kawasaki) 27 30 27 = 84
2nd Stuart Edmonds (450f TM UK) 23 25 23 = 71
3rd Brad Anderson (450f Par Homes Honda) 30 8 30 = 68
4th Maarten Cremers (450f Phoenix Tools CCM) 21 21 19 = 61
5th John May (450f Meredith MX Suzuki) 25 27 0 = 52
6th Luke Mellows (250f Meredith MX Suzuki) 0 23 25 = 48
JUNIOR CUP OVERALL
(Sponsored by St Blazey M/c)
1st Tommy Alba (250f Oakleaf Kawasaki) 30 30 = 60
2nd Anthony Milliar (450f A T Motocross Honda) 25 25 = 50
3rd Bill Farleigh (250f Phoenix Tools Kawasaki) 21 27 = 48
4th Michael Rowe (450f Tyremarks KTM) 23 21 = 44
5th Conner Campbell (????) 19 23 = 42
6th Curtis Hunt (450f Scoot N Commute Kawasaki) 17 19 = 36
JUNIOR B OVERALL
1st Tom Brown (450f Suzuki) 30 30 = 60
2nd Daniel griffin (250f Kawasaki) 27 27 = 54
3rd Dean Warren (250 Kawasaki) 23 23 = 46
4th Scott Sunderland (????) 25 21 = 46
5th George Pool (????) 17 25 = 42
6th Chris Jerwood (250 Yamaha) 8 19 = 27