Reports Wulfsport British Masters R1
Written by MIKE WOOD Monday, 14 March 2011 00:00
With the super 2011 Wulfsport British Masters motocross series now up and running,there can be no doubting who was the major winner following round 1 at Mallory Park.Warming up for his new GP campaign,American star Zac Osborne brilliantly blasted to all four Pro class moto victories,earning himself a very cool £2,000 in the process!!.Whilst the very talented Bike It Cosworth Yamaha pilot deservedly took the headlines and Michelin MX1 rider Darren Fowden also bagged maximum points,there was still plenty of great racing and close finishes throughout the weekend as a 320 strong entry attempted to score vital early season points in the race to claim a part of the tasty Wulfsport Masters prize fund.
Going back to Pro MX1,and two riders,Gert Krestinov and Kristian Whatley, were to suffer early setbacks which was to see them withdraw from the meeting before the racing had even started!!.Gert was forced out with a shoulder injury whilst Kristian’s Yamaha engine expired.However despite there being two spare slots on the starting grid,moto one was to be thriller.Maxxis Henderson LPE Kawasaki pilot Bryan Mackenzie led the early exchanges before being passed on the same lap by both Zac Osborne and Brad Anderson.In determined mood,Brad then rapidly reeled in Osborne only for the two battling riders to collide on the apex of a corner and both bite the dirt!!.Quickly both on their feet,Osbourne was first to fire his machine back to life and still somehow maintain the race leadership whilst Anderson was to lose his 2nd place to Mackenzie.From here onwards the battle continued to rage but Osborne remained cool and thus earn the win from Mackenzie,Anderson,Matthew Moffat,Alfie Smith, Ashley Wilde and Ross Hill who had a great ride to recover back from an early 19th spot.In moto two,Anderson quickly passed Mackenzie and again chased leader Osbourne.Although the American then slipped off in the early laps,thus allowing Brad to dramatically close the gap,he managed to remount and restart with just a fraction of a second to spare. Immediately regaining his rthymn,Zac turned on the gas before racing to a massive victory margin as Mackenzie took 3rd with Hill a great 4th,New Zealander Kieran Scheele 5th and Maarten Cremers 6th.
In the opening Pro MX2 contest,the super Osborne led from gate to flag,taking the win by nearly 14 seconds. Although Osborne dominated proceedings, the action behind him was red-hot as Alan Keet,Luke Hawkins and reigning Masters champion Scott Elderfield locked horns,the verdict eventually going to a very impressive Keet.With Scott Probert in 5th and Matthew Moffat 6th,MacKenzie was to suffer an eventful race.Starting in 9th,Bryan started climbing the leaderboard before then slipping backwards again!!.After producing a very impressive ride in moto one,PAR Honda youngster Hawkins was again right in the thick of the action during the second MX2 clash.Whilst Osborne strolled to another victory and £500,Hawkins took a great runners-up spot with teamate Anthony Reville earning a super 3rd ahead of Keet 4th,MacKenzie 5th and Elderfield 6th.
In the Scott Acerbis MXY2 Youth contest,reigning Masters champion Dan Thornhill got off to a flyer by winning three out of four motos and also the overall verdict.Dan’s only reverse came in the opening clash of the weekend when the eventual runner-up Andrew Smart was first past the post.Also starting their MXY2 title quests strongly was Damon Wales,Cody Ling,Rhys Yates and Jay Thomas whilst only a disastrous moto two prevented Ryan Williams from finishing higher up the leaderboard.
Curtis Blamey and Henry Siddiqui finished as top lads in the combined Moto-Pro Suspension BW/SW85cc class.Blamey(2),Daniel Lanfear and Loui Harris took the BW moto wins with Jordan Moxey also having a great weekend to finish 3rd overall.Over in SW85cc,Siddiqui was in very impressive early season form,winning three out of four races,the last victory going to eventual runner-up Bradley Malin whilst Elliott Heap took the final podium place.
In the new unlimited DK Off-Road Kawasaki Masters class for riders only mounted on the green machines,Chris Neesam was top MX1 pilot whilst MX2 honours went to the super quick Paul Neale.Neesam was defeated just once throughout the weekend in the MX1 group when headed by Peter Wainwright,Jamie Hallett,Dale Brockhurst,John Robson and Ryan Bruce.In MX2,Neale also suffered one reverse after being defeated by Gareth Padgett.Indeed Padgett was to go onto eventually finish as runner-up in the MX2 class with Liam Wright in 3rd.
As per 2010,Michelin were also again supporting an unlimited Masters group and during the Mallory opener it was Darren Fowden(MX1) and Jamie Thompstone(MX2) who was to take the victories.Restricted to just three outings each due to an unfortunate accident in the final race on Saturday,Fowden recorded a superb maximum points score in MX1 chased home on each occasion by Lee Tolan in 2nd and Paul Morgan 3rd.Over in MX2,Jack Jones(2) and Thompstone took the wins.Indeed but for a no-score in the opening race on Sunday,Jones could well have matched Fowden’s unbeaten heroics. Instead,Jack had to settle for 8th overall whilst Aidan Wigger and Ben Lightbown completed the MX2 podium places.
Back in 2010,Jamie Dobson started his Masters Amateur MX1 campaign with victory at Mallory before suffering an unfortunate injury during round three at Whitby.Fast forward one year and Dobson again got off to a flyer at Mallory by taking the overall win.At the weekend,Jamie posted a 1/3/3/1 scorecard in the GSP Race Products supported contest with Darryl Maxwell and Scott Bates not only taking the other moto wins but also the remaining podium places.The 2010 Masters Amateur MX2 class top two of Darren Carter and Daniel Brough were also in action in this group,taking an eventual 5th and 6th overall respectively.
With Carter and Brough moving on into the Amateur MX1 racing,Ricky Lethaby was the top man at Mallory in a very competitive Raceworld.com Amateur MX2 class.Lethaby’s only defeats came in moto’s two and three when headed by the 2010 Kawasaki Masters champion Zac Stealey.In a very busy weekend,Zac also contested the Pro MX2 class which may account for his eventual 6th place overall in this opener behind Aled Bellis,Sam Smith,Tom Neesam and Luke Smith.
Completing the action,Alex Hefferon(2),Scott Rundle and Darryl Lee took the Amateur Non-Qualifiers moto wins with overall victory going to Lee.So with the dust settling on a super Wulfsport British Masters opener,the focus will now quickly turn to round two on Easter weekend at Pontrilas and yet more thrilling race action from the Pro,Youth and Amateur riders in attendance!!.
Mike Wood (www.moto-action.co.uk)
Results
