Showing true desire and determination to succeed, Ledbury MCC spent over three weeks saturating their Sparrington Farm circuit in an attempt to ensure that conditions would be as good as possible for the restaged 2025 Herefordshire Grand Prix. Incredibly, though, even after all that effort and a major watering operation, the ground was still dry! So, with the presence of dust increasing on raceday, the Ledbury MCC again rolled up their sleeves and went to work in their typical, efficient manner. Their reward was to be a completed programme which also produced plenty of close, exciting racing and several finishes which literally went right down to the wire!
The main event at Sparrington Farm was the 1,000cc Right-Hand sidecars, who were competing for the Tony Brown Challenge Cup and some very nice prize money! Although the entry list looked a little different from the initial staging, Robbie Simmons, Clint Blondel, Dale Fish, and Bradley Reynolds-Steer were all missing on the day for various reasons, whilst Tom Cossar was also a non-starter after breaking down en route! The action, though, was still red-hot, and Neal Owen/Jason Farwell started it all off with a great win from the back, snatching the verdict right on the line and denying Will Offen/Ricky Pay. Owen nearly then produced a repeat performance in his second outing when just losing out to Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb before finishing last in his final heat when suffering from ignition problems.
In the qualifying heats, Terry Saunters/Liam Brown had gone through the card in style, and that included a brilliant third outing when he passed both Michael Austin/Wayne Rickard and Whitelam in one frantic lap! Also bagging a heat win in the qualifying stages were Tom Marvell/Henry Rigby. So, it was now all about the final, and it was Saunters all the way, but behind him, it was all going on! Initially, Whitelam held 2nd before the fast Austin produced a sweet inside pass and thus earned a richly deserved podium runners-up spot. In the closing stages of the final, Whitelam then came under intense pressure from the hard-charging Owen, just holding onto 3rd as the flag dropped. Many congratulations to Saunters on what was his third victory of the Tony Brown Challenge Cup.
Having missed nearly three years of racing due to injuries, it was great to see Shaun Hughes/Louis Bennett in such dominant form in the 500cc sidecars. Hughes won the opening three heats before being finally defeated in a thrilling final clash. In that one, Josh Goodwin/Scott Goodwin, who had been testing a new engine throughout proceedings, rode a fast outside line, generating plenty of speed in pursuit of Hughes before storming past after three thrilling laps. That win for Josh just about earned him the overall runners-up spot from Barrie Bennett/Rowan Lucas, who had been the closest challenger to Hughes in the first three clashes.
It was also Herefordshire Grand Prix action for the 500cc solo’s at Sparrington Farm, and there was to be absolutely no disputing the winner! Eddie Kennett was in simply unstoppable form, being first past the chequered flag in all of his heats before then storming the final! Also picking up heat wins were Darryl Ritchings, Ryan Ashcroft and James Wright. For Wright, though, it was not to be a particularly profitable day, falling early on before then going out of the final with mechanical issues. In that final with Kennett in cruise control, Ritchings took 2nd ahead of Jack Roberts, Ashcroft and Jordan Derrick. That was to be a particularly fine effort from Robert,s who was competing on his 350cc machine after not being able to use his 500cc mount due to frame issues.
After getting home 3rd in the 500cc final, Jack Roberts was also totally dominant in the 350cc class at Ledbury. Having bagged maximum points at last week’s Team Tournament, Jack was at it again on Sunday. Also showing great consistency in the 350cc class, Barry Powell went on to earn 2nd overall, never finishing outside the top three placings in any of his heats. Next best in this one was Ben Phillips, Jamie Fenn-Smith and Tim Curnock.
In a very competitive 250cc class, which included Steve Garside making his debut on an ex-Gary Cook YZ Yamaha, the action was always top-notch. It started with an absolute thriller as Austin Riches just edged out Dylan Huthwaite and Garside in a verdict which went right down to the wire. Riches also won his second outing with Graham Thomas (2), Simon Hammersley and Shane Knight joining him in the winner’s circle. In the 250cc final, the very impressive Huthwaite led it all the way as the focus turned to a hard-charging Riches. With a late surge, he passed Hammersley to move into 3rd before keeping the gas on and going for the big outside blast on the final turn. Looking for that extra drive, Austin just failed to snatch 2nd place away from Thomas. Taking 5th in the 250cc final was young Liam Cox, who had simply rode his socks off all day long, producing great starts and displaying plenty of speed!
The Uprights solos saw Tony Atkin in sparkling form, blasting to maximum points as Darren Phillips chased him home in all four clashes. John Cox was denied a 3rd place overall podium finish when slipping off in his final heat. So, with Cox missing out, it was Michael Dowling on the box. After taking that Uprights win on the big one, it was then a total switch of engine power for Atkin as he now jumped aboard his small GT140 bike.
And although he’s a relative newcomer to the GT140 class, Tony Atkin was to go on to claim another overall win at Sparrington Farm. Unfortunately, the GT140 class, though, started with a very unwelcome incident when Kevin Gwillam, after taking the chequered flag and first heat victory of the day, was then involved in a horrible collision with the chasing Mark Chessell. With Kevin taken to the hospital via road ambulance, Mark required a trip in an air ambulance to Birmingham. Thankfully, there was later to be positive news regarding Kevin’s condition, but for Mark, the injuries appeared serious. Get well soon!
Back to the racing, and current British Champion Ian Clark began with a heat victory before, in his third ride, being involved in a classic scrap with Atkin. In that one, Atkin led as Clark worked his way through the traffic. On the final bend, the leading duo approached a couple of backmarkers. Picking different lines, Atkin just edged out Clark to earn a vital win. Also producing strong results and comfortably ensuring their final places in the GT140’s were Darren Sargeant, Mark Scopes and Duncan Burton.
Incredibly, in the GT140 final, it was to produce almost exactly the same story as the earlier heat featuring Atkin and Clark. As before, Atkin led, was then caught by Clark, only for the leaders to be confronted late on by backmarkers on the last turn. On this occasion, though, Clark looked like he had grabbed the vital advantage and right line by passing Atkin, only for the latter to then respond again, find extra drive, and snatch victory as Mark Scopes got home in 3rd, great racing!
Massive well done to Ledbury MCC on not only taking the gamble to rerun the Herefordshire Grand Prix but also to prepare another super track thus enabling the meeting to be completed. Next up at Sparrington Farm it’s the 2025 ACU British International Masters on August 3rd.
Results
GT140’s Final 1 Tony Atkin 2 Ian Clark 3 Mark Scopes 4 Duncan Burton 5 Conner Sargeant 6 Philip Thomas 7 Matthew Klassen 8 Isaac Collins-Bullock 9 William South.
250cc solo Final 1 Dylan Huthwaite 2 Graham Thomas 3 Austin Riches 4 Simon Hammersley 5 Liam Cox 6 Jake Breeze 7 Adam Hawker 8 Shane Knight.
350cc solo 1 Jack Roberts 2 Barry Powell 3 Ben Phillips 4 Jamie Fenn-Smith 5 Tim Curnock 6 Liam Ashcroft 7 Max Derrick 8 Liam Cox 9 George Pardoe 10 Marcus Crutchington.
500cc solo Final 1 Edward Kennett 2 Darryl Ritchings 3 Jack Roberts 4 Ryan Ashcroft 5 Jordan Derrick 6 Simon Hammersley 7 David Hammersley 8 David James 9 Paul Clifton.
Uprights solo 1 Tony Atkin 2 Darren Phillips 3 Michael Dowling 4 John Cox 5 Glyn Drake 6 John Priest 7 Martin Adams 8 Elwyn Beedles 9 Peter Dugdale 10 Colin How.
500cc sidecars 1 Shaun Hughes/Louis Bennett 2 Joshua Goodwin/Scott Goodwin 3 Barrie Bennett/Rowan Lucas 4 Richard Webb/Antony Goodwin 5 Nick Bull/Samuel Hall 6 Michael Skelding/Louis Skleding.
1,000cc RH sidecars Final 1 Terry Saunters/Liam Brown 2 Michael Austin/Wayne Rickards 3 Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb 4 Neal Owen/Jason Farwell 5 William Offen/Ricky Pay 6 Tom Marvell/Henry Rigby.
Race Report and Images by Mike Wood