Almost 200 riders made the trip to Cadders Hill, Lyng, organised by the Norwich Vikings club, on Sunday. Held in hot, humid conditions, the 15-race programme included a round of the Eastern Evo's and NGR over 30's championships.
Local National star, Jake Nicholls, surprised the crowd by riding a Honda twostroke in the Evo's group, and won all three moto's, although Jason Morland gave him some spirited challenge. Morland led all three races, outdragging everyone on the start straight with his powerful 500cc KTM, but was soon caught by Nicholls, who was enjoying himself on the tough gnarly circuit. In race two, Morland held onto the lead for four laps until Nicholls made an audacious pass on the steep descent of Cadders Hill to take the lead. Brett Fisher was his usual consistent self with three third places, and Alex Hornsby, Glen Bixby and Matt Coles battled all day for fourth place honours.
Series leader in the NGR championship, Will Kerry, led at the start of race one, but was soon caught by invited rider, former National star, Gary Hoptrough, who was having a one off ride. Mark Hunt also passed Kerry and chased Hoptrough hard throughout. Kerry held onto third place from former champ, Liam Walker. Race two saw Kerry leading with Hoptrough, Hunt, Mark Goodson and Aaron Smith scrapping over second place. Kerry led for three laps until Hoptrough took over, chased by Hunt, leaving Kerry to fend off Goodson and Steve Atkins. On lap seven, a small mistake by Hoptrough allowed Hunt to take over at the front, and despite Hoptrough's efforts, victory went to Hunt. Kerry was a lonely third from Goodson, Atkins and veteran Paul Aldridge.
In the last NGR race, Kerry led the 40 rider pack for a couple of laps, with Hoptrough and Smith chasing hard. Hoptrough was soon in charge and took the win, although as an invited rider, his results did not count in the overall standings. Hunt, who had fought through from 8th place on lap one, was second, and Kerry maintained his lead in the series by finishing third again, with Atkins getting the better of Goodson for fourth place.
Following timed practise, the experts and fastest junior grade riders made up the A group of allcomers, and Nicholls, riding his 450cc Buildbase Honda, was soon in charge of race one, with Luke Benstead chasing hard. Steve Bixby was riding well in third place, until local hotshot, Declan Whittle, charged by. Josh Keeble on the MX2 class Yamaha finished fifth from a hard charging Harry Clark.
Benstead stormed to the front in race two, and led the first lap, but a mistake on the next lap by the Cambridgeshire rider, saw Nicholls in front, hotly chased by Whittle, with Benstead regrouping in third place. Nicholls increased his lead to take the win, with Whittle holding off a charging Benstead, and behind them, Harry Clark got the better of Bixby on lap eight to claim fourth place.
In the final moto, Nicholls led the first lap from Benstead, Whittle, Ben Cole and Sam Mitchell, but in his sixth race of the day, Nicholls lost his chain, putting him out of the race, leaving Benstead in charge. Whittle tried hard to catch him,putting in some fast laps, but had to settle for the runner up position. Bixby managed to pass Ben Cole for third place, with the consistent Clark finishing ahead of Mitchell.
The junior grade lads battled well with the experts in group A, and Ollie Brader was the top junior with 7th overall, with young Daniel Sultana second best, with 12th on the day.
The allcomers B group saw Kyle Wilby in great form, taking all three wins. Wilby was most impressive in his first moto when he came from midfield to lead after five laps. Luke Clifton rode well in all three races for second overall, with Diss club rider, Jack Whitlam third on the day.
Tom Sutton took overall victory in the C group despite not winning a race. Lee Scott failed to finish race one, but then had two wins to claim second overall, and local rider, Scott Goodson, won the first moto, but crashed out at the start of race two. However, his second place in the third race ensured him of third overall.
Results.
Eastern Evo's overall. 1st Jake Nicholls Honda, 2nd Jason Morland KTM,3rd Brett Fisher Honda, 4th Alex Hornsby Honda, 5th Glen Bixby Honda, 6th Matthew Coles Honda.
NGR over 30's overall. 1st Mark Hunt Husqvarna, 2nd Will Kerry Husqvarna, 3rd Steve Atkins Honda, 4th Mark Goodson KTM, 5th Paul Aldridge Husqvarna, 6th Phillip Waldron Yamaha
Allcomers group A overall. 1st Luke Benstead Husqvarna, 2nd Declan Whittle Husqvarna, 3rd Steve Bixby KTM, 4th Jake Nicholls Honda, 5th Harry Clark KTM,6th George Ellis Husqvarna.
Allcomers group B overall, 1st Kyle Wilby Husqvarna, 2nd Luke Clifton Honda, 3rd Jack Whitlam KTM,4th Joshua Fullalove KTM, 5th Connor Cramp KTM, 6th Ryan Bailey KTM.
Allcomers group C overall. 1st Tom Sutton Yamaha, 2nd Lee Scott Honda, 3rd Scott Goodson Husqvarna, 4th James Gadd Kawasaki, 5th James Collier KTM, Lewis Abel Honda.
Report from Charlie Ralph
Pics from Sophie Brinkley.