HAWKINS WINS PHOENIX TOOLS PREMIER EXPERT OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Words and Photos by Dave Rich

 

Last Saturday the final round of the 2013 Phoenix Tools Premier Motocross Championships took place at the prestigious Landrake Moto Parc in Cornwall and attracted nigh on a full entry with many wildcards including Brad Anderson and Sunny Thompson to name a few. Heavy rain had fallen prior to the meeting which made things a bit tacky to say the least for practice, but as the day progressed with the sun coming out the track was to dry and produced some really good racing.

  In the Phoenix Tools Expert Open Championship class it was the Phoenix Tools Honda of Luke Hawkins who went in to the final round with a fair lead, but with double points on offer he could not afford any bad mistakes. In the opening race it was Kelvin Townsend on the St Blazey Suzuki with the best start, but he ran a bit wide at the first swooping right hander and through on the inside came the Team Green Kawasaki of young 16 year old Todd Kellett to head the pack. Wildcard Anderson onboard the Buildbase Honda was soon in to 2nd and had Hawkins all over him in 3rd with Hawkins getting pass a lap later and was now after Kellett, but the youngster is no chicken on a motocross track and held off Hawkins for several laps until lap 5 when Hawkins left his breaking later down one of the hills and shot through to take the lead. Anderson was now starting to push and was soon to catch and pass Kellett as not to let Hawkins get away and soon closed the gap. Hawkins gave his all to hold on to the lead until 3 laps from the end when Anderson got the better traction out of a right hander and shot through on the inside and from there went on to take the win, Hawkins took 2nd to declare him the 2013 Champion with Kellett coming home a well deserved 3rd.

  In the second moto it was Hawkins from John May on the St Blazey Suzuki and the HPR Honda of Luke Hill with Anderson there in 4^th, but there were a few fallers including last years Champion on the Mx-Zone Suzuki Jamie Skuse and James Dodd. Hawkins was absolutely flying at the front and was powering away, Anderson was to move up into 2nd by the end of the opening lap and was in pursuit of Hawkins and was gaining all the time until lap 4 when Anderson went down hard after his front wheel washed out, however he remounted just ahead of Kellett and May to remain in 2^nd spot, but he had no answer to Hawkins in this one who raced away from what looked a discomforted Anderson who soldiered on to take 2^nd ahead of Kellett a close 3^rd.

  In the last moto there was no Anderson who had been taken to Hospital which was later revealed that he had broken a bone in the back of his hand and will be in plaster for two months. It was Hawkins again with the best start from Hill and May and with a clear track in front of him Hawkins soon pulled away at the front. May was to move up in to 2^nd passing Hill on lap 2 and up in to 3^rd had come Skuse who was on a mission and Skuse was all over May who he passed a lap later and was giving his all to try and catch Hawkins at the front, but on lap 5 Skuse went down at the end of the whoops section which dropped him well down. Up in to 2^nd had now come Townsend, but breathing all over him was Kellett desperate to get pass which he did in mid air over the big table top, but he wasn’t going to catch Hawkins who took the win with Kellett 2^nd with Brad Cavill coming through to take 3^rd.

 

In the Over 35 Championship class Championship leader Mark Wilde was a doubtful starter after picking up a serious foot injury at the last round, but he was there knowing that if he didn’t ride the Championship would be lost. In the opening race it was Jamie Deadman who had a blistering start and looked to be in a hurry as he eased away at the front from Wilde and Gavin Flagg. Flagg was all over Wilde for most of the race looking to get through, but Wilde didn’t give an inch and held strong to take 2^nd behind Deadman who notched up his first race win this year with Flagg finishing 3^rd.

  In the second moto again it was Deadman with the best start from Flagg and these two were to have a good battle in the early stages with Flagg eventually taking the lead on lap 3 and from there eased away to take the win, Jason Fraser came on strong towards the end to take 2^nd just ahead of Wilde who took 3^rd after a mistake from Deadman mid race.

  The last moto saw Wilde with the best start from Flagg and again there was a battle from the off between these two with Flagg eventually finding away pass Wilde on lap 3 to take the lead and literally went away to take the win, Wilde came home in 2^nd to take the M D Racing Over 35 Championship and finishing in 3^rd was Fraser after a long hard battle with Deadman.    

 

In the over 40 Championship class it was Championship leader Steve Locke who dominated the first two races, but the best race was the last one after Locke had dropped it when leading and Justin Hawkins took over, but was pressured all the time by fellow Cornishman Roberts who was determined to get pass which he did after a slight mistake from Hawkins and it was Roberts who went on to take the win from Hawkins with Locke taking a comfortable 3^rd and with it became 2013 M D Racing Over 40’s Champion.

  In the over 50 Championship class Championship leader Keith Hanson was still suffering with a broken had which was still in plaster, but as with Wilde in the Over 35 class he was not going to give up the Championship that easy and was determined to ride. Well it was Hanson who had the early lead in the opening race, but was soon overhauled by his nearest rival in the standings Ian Nott who was to take the win, however the table was turned in the second moto as it was Hanson who took the win from Nott just holding off Simon Goodfellow, but in the last one there was only one winner from start to finish who was to become M D Racing Over 50’s Champion and that was Hanson.

  In the Junior Championship class it was Jay Thomas who led going into the final round, but he knew that a DNF could cost him the Championship, so the pressure was on. In the opening race it was that young Whiz kid just 16 years of age Josh Gilbert who had the best start and was to set a staggering pace from the off. Josh Taylor was a man trying to keep pace with Gilbert early on, but Taylor went down on lap 3 and up in to 2^nd came Ty Kellett who literally had to settle for 2^nd behind Gilbert who was well gone.

  In the second moto it was Ryan Williams with the best start from Gilbert, who wasted no time to get to the front and took Williams over the whoops section on the opening lap. Williams did keep within striking distance of Gilbert for the entire race, but it was Gilbert who took the win with Williams a close 2^nd.

  In the last race Gilbert led from the off and was soon in cruse mode, Williams was there in 2^nd, but a mistake on the opening lap saw him well down and it was Kellett now in 2^nd with Thomas right in his wheel marks pushing for that 2^nd spot which he took mid race. Gilbert went on to make it a hat trick of wins, but all eyes were on Thomas who finished 2^nd and became 2013 Tyremarks Junior Champion.  

 

RESULTS

Phoenix Tools Expert Open Championship Race 1

1^st Brad Anderson (450f Buildbase Honda) 2^nd Luke Hawkins (450f Phoenix Tools Honda) 3^rd Todd Kellett (250 Team Green Kawasaki) 4^th Jamie Skuse (450f Mx-Zone Suzuki) 5^th Brad Cavill (450f St Blazey Honda) 6^th John May (450f St Blazey Suzuki)

Race 2

1^st Hawkins 2^nd Anderson 3^rd Kellett 4^th May 5^th Cavill 6^th James Dodd (450f TwoNineTwo/Burfield Creative/St Blazey Mx Honda)  

Race 3

1^st Hawkins 2^nd Kellett 3^rd Cavill 4^th Kelvin Townsend (450f Gibbs Performance/St Blazey Mx Suzuki) 5^th May 6^th Dodd

Final Championship standings

1^st Luke Hawkins 1577 Points (Champion) 2^nd John May 1280 3^rd James Dodd 1244 4^th Jamie Skuse 1193 5^th Kelvin Townsend 1006 6^th Tom Moore 983 

M D Racing Over 35’s Championship Race 1

1^st Jamie Deadman (450f Compressed Air Systems Honda) 2^nd Mark Wilde (450f S J Hodder/D W Racing Suzuki) 3^rd Gavin Flagg (450f J A S Building Contractors Suzuki) 4^th Jason Fraser (450f Fraser Racing Honda) 5^th Rob Lewis (350f Tony Maunders Racing KTM) 6^th Ben Rose (250f Rocket World Mx Kawasaki)

Race 2

1^st Flagg 2^nd Fraser 3^rd Wilde 4^th Deadman 5^th Lewis 6^th Mark Chamberlain (450f MVRD Honda)

Race 3

1^st Flagg 2^nd Wilde 3^rd Fraser 4^th Deadman 5^th Chamberlain 6^th Lewis

Final Championship standings

1^st Mark Wilde 1549 Points (Champion) 2^nd Gavin Flagg 1483 3^rd Jason Fraser 1430 4^thJamie Deadman 1364 5^th Rob Lewis 1114 6^th Rick Hanson 936

M D Racing Over 40’s Championship Race 1

1^st Steve Locke (450f S J Hodder Honda) 2^nd Justin Hawkins (450f Hawkins Construction Kawasaki) 3^rd David Ford (350f Projuice KTM) 4^th Wayne Gill (250f Suzuki) 5th Paul Ayres (450f Yamaha) 6th Mark Roberts (450f Alan Roberts Garage Honda)

Race 2

1^st Locke 2^nd M Roberts 3^rd D Ford 4^th Hawkins 5^th Jason Roberts (450f Alan Roberts Garage Honda) 6^th Alan Packer (250 Simpsons Yamaha)

Race 3

1^st M Roberts 2^nd Hawkins 3^rd Locke 4^th Ford 5^th Gill 6^th Ayres

Final Championship standings

1^st Steve Locke 1206 Points (Champion) 2^nd David Ford 1050 3^rd Mark Roberts 926 4^th Jason Roberts 816 5^th Alan Packer 800 6^th Wayne Gill 782

M D Racing Over 50’s Championship Race 1

1^st Ian Nott (450f S J Hodder/J R Racing Kawasaki) 2^nd Keith Hanson (450f Hansons Garage Honda) 3^rd Simon Goodfellow (????) 4^th Steve Chugg (450f Honda) 5^th Tim Hawkins (450f DirtbikeXpress Honda) 6^th Paul Huggett (250f Define Lines Husq)

Race 2

1^st Hanson 2^nd Nott 3^rd Goodfellow 4^th Hawkins 5^th Huggett 6^th Chugg

Race 3

1^st Hanson 2^nd Goodfellow 3^rd Nott 4^th Hawkins 5^th Huggett 6^th Non Finisher

Final Championship standings

1^st Keith Hanson 1017 Points (Champion) 2^nd Ian Nott 981 3^rd Tim Hawkins 725 4^th Steve Chugg 641 5^th Paul Huggett552 6^th Tom Lowe 304

Tyremarks Junior Championship Race 1

1^st Josh Gilbert (250f Bikesport Honda) 2^nd Ty Kellett (450f S J Hodder/Rusty PT Kawasaki) 3^rd Mitchell Lewis (????) 4^th Jay Thomas (250f K J Services KTM) 5^th Anthony Milliar (450f A T Motocross Honda) 6^th Darren Toy (????)

Race 2

1^st Gilbert 2^nd Ryan Williams (450f A T Motocross KTM) 3^rd Lewis 4^th Kellett 5^th Thomas 6^th Josh Taylor (250f Gibbs Performance Suzuki)

Race 3

1^st Gilbert 2^nd Thomas 3^rd Kellett 4^th Lewis 5^th Taylor 6^th Williams

Final Championship standings

1^st Jay Thomas 4435 Points (Champion) 2^ndAnthony Milliar 4140 3^rd Lewis Barfoot 4118 4^thToby Harvey 3967 5^th Ryan Williams 3955 6^th Bradley Barfoot 3793

Junior B Race 1

1^st William Ell 2^nd Michael Green 3^rd Brian Hutchings 4^th Adam Ford 5^th Josh Coker 6^th Tom Cunningham

Race 2

1^st Jack Griffiths 2^nd Stuart Barfoot 3^rd Ford 4^th Liam Gooding 5^th Ell 6^th Paul Beale

Race 3

1^st Jay Lewis 2^nd Beale 3^rd Gooding 4^th Ell 5^th Ford 6^th Josh Coker

Junior C Race 1

1^st Mike Macnamara 2^nd Adrian Hatcher 3^rd Julian Slee 4^th Lewis Reeves 5^th Adam Addicott 6^th Mark Tillyer

Race 2

1^st Ryan Hooper 2^nd Macnamara 3^rd Darren Brock 4^th Tim Moran 5^th Reeves 6^th Dan Wood

Race 3

1^st Hooper 2^nd Macnamara 3^rd Brock 4^th Reeves 5^th Moran 6^th Wood