Tuesday September 13, 2011 at 10:17am
Last Sunday the Penultimate round of the 2011 Phoenix Tools Premier Motocross Championship visited a new venue to the series which was Tiverton Moto Parc, and it was also new to several riders who hadn't ridden there before. Things were a bit doubtful early in the week and towards the end of the week as heavy rain had been forcasted, but the team persevered and waited to make a decision on Friday evening and what a decision it was as rain was to fall on Saturday evening and the track was in prime condition for racing and produced some fast and furious battles during the day.
In the Phoenix Tools MX1 Championship class it was a day to remember for John May on the Meredith Suzuki as he was to take the overall on the day and this was to give him enough points to become 2011 MX1 Champion which has now given him his fourth title, one more than Dave Thorpe who had won it three times before, but it wasn’t plain sailing for May as he had to settle for 2nd in the opening race to wildcard entry Alex Snow on the Lanes Kawasaki. In the second moto it was May who seemed to have the edge on Snow going up the start straight towards the first fast lefthander until May seemed to hit a nasty bump which was to make him lose control and his frontwheel went from under him and he slid right in to the side of Snow with both riders going down along with several others who had piled in to the back of them. May did get away eventually, but Snows race was over as he had a badly damaged radiator and exhaust and it was Luke Hill on the Maunders Racing Honda who was to take advantage of this opportunity and stormed away at the front and was to go on to take a comfortable win with Kelvin Townsend on the Wheeldon Farm Suzuki just holding on to take 2nd from a charging May who had flown up through the field to finish an excellent 3rd. In the last moto it was May who got the best start and kept it upright at the first corner from Hill and Snow and May was soon in to race mode as he was to ease away from Hill and Snow who were battling it out for the first couple of laps which was letting May get even further ahead. Snow was all over Hill like a rash pushing at every opportunity, but it was a bit tomuch on lap 4 as Snow went down on a lefthander which was to give Hill a bit of leeway, but Snow was to pick himself back up and was soon back on the gas and was to catch and pass Hill on lap 7 and did close on May towards the end, but it was May who took the win to much applause as this was to give him the MX1 title for 2011 with a round to spare.
In the St Blazey MX2 Championship class the stage was set for a change in the leadership as Championship leader Jamie Skuse unfortunatley was a non starter after a bad crash at the Ken Hall meeting where he broke his collar bone and has since got ligament problems. Even though Skuse was absent things still had to go right for defending Champion Luke Mellows on the Meredith Suzuki if he was going to take the lead as he had to make up a 74 point deficit. Well it got off to a good start for Mellows as he had the holeshot in the opening race and was to ease away from the rest of the field and cruised away to win the opening race. In the second moto it was Wayne Shimell on the Maunders Racing Honda with the early lead from Mellows, but a mstake from Shimell on lap 4 was to let Mellows and young Harry Snow on the Lanes/P J Couriers Kawasaki through and also the Par Homes Honda of Luke Hawkins, but they weren't going to catch Mellows who notched up his second win. In the last moto it was Hawkins who had a better start in this one with the holeshot just ahead of Mellows, but Hawkins only had one thing on his mind and that was to get away at the front in the early stages which he did to great effect and was to take the win by some considerable margin to give him second overall on the day ahead of Snow who had put together three consistant rides especially in the last one after a second corner spill to finish a well deserved third overall.
In the M D Racing over 35 class entries were a bit lower than usual, but there was some brilliant one on one battles especially between overall winner on the day Chris Brown and Keith Hanson as the lead was to change several times in the opening race with Hanson getting the better of Brown on the last lap to literally take the win by less than half a second. In the second race it was much a carbon copy of the first race after Championship leader Martyn Tucker who had been leading dropped it which left Brown and Hanson again to battle it out and this time it was a win for Brown. In the last race Hanson was to hold the lead for the first couple of laps before Brown got pass and from there on Brown was untroubled and went on to take the win and the overall on the day.
In the Petersen Racing Junior Championship there was some excellent racing especially from 2nd place rider in the standings Harvie Templeton-Banks who was to take the overall after taking two wins and a 2nd with wildcard Steve Holcombe taking the other win, and with Championship leader Bill Farleigh not having the best of days this Championship is still wide open with just 13 points separating Templeton-Banks and Farleigh as they will have to battle it out at the final round next month at Ladram Bay.
In the Junior B class there were two wins for Lewis Barfoot and the other win went to wildcard Maverick Smith but the most consistant rider was yet another wildcard entry in the shape of Mark Ferris who had two 2nd's and a 3rd to take the overall.
In the Junior C class we were to have three different winners in the shape of Joseph Tucker, Thomas Coate and Patrick Searle but it was Coate who took the overall on the day after finishing 2nd in his other two races.
Words and Image by Dave Rich