Swanmore Race Report
Report by Kay Turner
Portsmouth MX Club
Round 3 Summer Championship
Images courtesy of Click466.co.uk
Those who looked out the window Sunday morning and decided to stay in bed missed out on a great day’s racing at Portsmouth MX Club’s third round of their Summer championship. With heavy rain during the night, there were concerns of a washout, but after the thick fog had cleared by the start of practice, the sun came out and made for a glorious day, with dust even being kicked up by the first block of racing. Another great turnout for the club resulting in some outstanding racing around the Swanmore circuit.
A near-full line-up of Senior riders revved their engines on the start line, with Daniel Maxey powering straight into the lead from the drop of the gate, and remained the leader in the opening motos to claim the first two wins. Liam Garland was hot on his heels and pushed him all the way to the finish line, but put in an extra determined effort in the final moto to move into first place, to secured the win. By just two points, Maxey secured the overall with Garland finishing in second place. A disappointing opening moto for Mit Bligh who struggled with his bike, but still claimed a top six position. By race two, Bligh was back on form and stormed into third place, chasing the leading duo to cross the line in third place, also bagging another third in moto three to secure third overall.
Jordan Carrier was once again rapid at the front of the pack, determined to achieve another overall victory, but it wasn’t to be his day, despite a good effort on the track, he was only able to secure fourth place as his highest position on the day, and finished fourth overall. John Eaton didn’t have the best of starts to his day, but still managed to sure a tenth place, but he pushed hard in the remaining motos, scrapping hard in the top six and finished both motos in fifth place to take home fifth overall. Another good ride from Jonathan Cole saw him have a superb opening moto to finish in fifth place, securing sixth overall on the day.
Some top riders made an appearance in the Inter Open class, but there was no disputing the overall winner. Fraser Viner stormed into the lead from the off, ensuring he kept enough distance between himself and second place to secure all three wins with ease. Jordan Bachelor powered the 150 around the course, comfortably securing three second places, even with a tumble he had the power to remain at the front of the remaining pack, and finished the day in second overall. After a month trekking through rain forests, it was great to see the return of Michael Denton, riding as though he hadn’t been away, a dominating performance in race on saw him cross the line in third place. A tough battle between himself, Schmidt and Ford was entertaining, and his hard work was rewarded with a fourth and fifth to secure third overall.
Heart-stopping action came courtesy of Aaron Gordon and Albie Wilkie in the Inter 85 group. Gordon was straight into the lead in the opening race and cruised to an easy victory. But he didn’t have it all his own way as Wilkie remained constantly on his back mudguard, and with only a lap or so to go, Wilkie moved into the lead in the remaining two races. Gordon however with his win and two second places took the overall victory, with Wilkie finishing runner-up, two great wins leaving him just a few points behind. Ethan Winchester was in the thick of it at the front of the field, just keeping himself behind the battling duo, hoping for a mistake by either rider to move into the lead. A second and two thirds rewarded his efforts with third overall.
Junior rider Charlie Cole was determined to grab all three victories this week after disappointingly crashing out last week, and did so in spectacular style! Not faltering once around the circuit, he dominated the pack from start to finish, securing all the wins to proudly take home first overall. Liam Jones was in hot pursuit of Cole, pushing hard to catch the leader, and pulling away from the remaining riders, he remained in second place in the opening races to secure second overall. Charlie Razzell was once again in contention of a high placing, riding just outside the top three in races one and two, but an amazing effort in race three pushed Razzell into second place, to finish third overall.
The Autos were out next, with Luke Williamson dominating the opening motos, straight into the lead from the drop of the gate, but mechanical problems midway through the final race denied him a straight set of wins. Cain Marsh didn’t let Williamson out of his sight, and chased him hard in race one and two to finish in second place, and in race three had to chase a different leader to secure another second place, but he worked hard enough on the track to secure the overall win. Williamson still battled on despite the gremlins in the bike in the final moto and with his two wins earlier on, scored enough points to finish in second overall. In the final race, Liam Brosnan powered into the lead mid-race to secure the win after battling hard through the day with Ollie Cole. With a third, fourth and first he finished in third overall.
Ollie Cole was flying, pushing hard to get into the top three and by race two he’d achieved it, a brilliant fourth in the opening moto only spurring him on to race faster, and the remaining motos ensured he secured fourth overall with two third places. Harry White was unmistakable in his bright yellow gear, storming around the track, brilliant starts ensuring he would place high up the leader board, and by race three he had moved up a place into fourth to grab fifth overall. Ben White chased White in all races, unable to pass him but stayed consistent enough to finish in the top six all day. Two sixths and a fifth rewarded him with sixth overall.
A slightly reduced AMX field didn’t reduce the amount of entertaining racing, with Mark Young riding out front on his own in all three motos. He pulled away at such a rate, he left the rest of the field standing within a couple of laps, scoring three wins to finish up overall victor. Wildman Willis was on a mission after finishing fourth in moto one, and stormed into second place in the remaining races, just doing enough to keep a rampaging Kurt Freegard off his tail. Two brilliant second places rewarded the Wildman with second overall. A consistent day for Freegard pushing hard at the front of the field, crossing the line in third in all three motos. A brilliant effort to remain high up in the final race after suffering a front wheel puncture within a lap of the race, but he persevered to the wave of the finish flag to stay in third place.
Craig Durston’s Honda was working overtime as little sis Kayleigh was working it just as hard in the Senior class, but Craig certainly had the bike at full speed as the day went on, improving his results as each race passed, an outstanding fourth in the final moto his best result of the day to reward him with fourth overall. Fred Heath made his presence felt in all three motos, especially race two as he barged his way into fourth position, chasing Freegard all the way to the finish line, and with two more top ten results he finished in fifth overall. Sean Lock didn’t have the best of days, although he made a determined effort to right all the wrongs he did out on the track. A fifth in race one was to be his best position of the day but his day just got worse as it wore on, stalling the bike a few times and having to work his way through from the back of the pack, he still managed to secure three top positions. Race three saw him holeshot the race, but Young soon passed him. Lock wasn’t satisfied as runner-up and pushed hard to pass Young on the final downhill of the track. A major crash left him bloodied and bruised, but he still pushed on to work his way through the pack from last into seventh place and secured sixth overall.
The VMX, AMX Novice and EVO riders were the last to the gate, with the VMX riders taking over the front of the field from the off. Unable to secure a win all day, Tony Hale still secured the overall victory with three second places, some brilliant moves on the track ensuring a high finish for him. Darren Noyes was chomping at the bit in race two, successfully attaining the race win after a disappointing opening moto, and with a third in the final race finished second overall. A magnificent serge out of the gate in the last race saw Martin Bradbury power his way into the lead, where he remained a good distance ahead of rivals until the finish line to secure third overall. Three Novice riders took control of their class, but not one managed to secure the overall victory. That was left to Robert Grant who stayed focused, and remained consistent to finish in second, third and third to grab the overall win ahead of third race winner Paul Keet in second and second race winner Bruce Walker in third. EVO rider Louis Reid shot out of the gate to power into the lead, and remained high up the field to win his class overall, missing out on three victories, been pipped by second overall rider Ashley Senior in moto one, but grabbed two firsts in the remaining races. Senior took second overall ahead of William Ell in third.
Results:
EVO/Twinshock: 1 Louis Reid, 2 Ashley Senior, 3 William Ell, 4 Simon Potter, 5 Ian Holdaway, 6 Dick Tett.
VMX: 1 Tony Hale, 2 Darren Noyes, 3 Martin Bradbury, 4 Paul Spacagna, 5 Jamie Winbourne, 6 Tony Noyes.
AMX Novice: 1 Robert Grant, 2 Paul Keet, 3 Bruce Walker, 4 Ricki Hopgood, 5 Brendon Thacker, 6 Chantelle Lawrence.
AMX: 1 Mark Young, 2 Paul “Wildman” Willis, 3 Kurt Freegard, 4 Craig Durston, 5 Fred Heath, 6 Sean Lock.
Seniors: 1 Dan Maxey, 2 Liam Garland, 3 Mit Bligh, 4 Jordan Carrier, 5 John Eaton, 6 Jonathan Cole.
Inter Open: 1 Fraser Viner, 2 Jordan Bachelor, 3 Michael Denton, 4 Camlann MacDonald, 5 Oscar Schmidt, 6 James Ford.
Inter 85s: 1 Aaron Gordon, 2 Albie Wilkie, 3 Ethan Winchester, 4 Jamie-Lee Burges, 5 Charlie Way, 6 Stefan Millward.
Juniors: 1 Charlie Cole, 2 Liam Jones, 3 Charlie Razzell, 4 Lewis Cloud, 5 Brad Foley, 6 George Stock.
Autos: 1 Cain Marsh, 2 Luke Williamson, 3 Liam Brosnan, 4 Ollie Cole, 5 Harry White, 6 Ben White.
Home 
