Reports Wulfsport Masters R2
Written by MIKE WOOD Tuesday, 26 April 2011 00:00
Just a week after winning the Maxxis British Championship round at Lyng,Brad Anderson continued his recent run of superb form by taking both Pro MX1 race wins during the latest Wulfsport British Masters action at Pontrilas on Easter weekend.
In Pro MX2,Matthew Moffat and Bryan MacKenzie finished level on 97 points apiece at the top of the scorecharts,the verdict going to Moffat,courtesy of his moto two victory.This was though a great effort by Bryan Mac, for after competing in his native Scotland on Saturday,he then made the long dash South to race at Pontrilas.That’s total commitment for you and a lesson to be learned by some of his fellow riders!!.
Back to the racing,and not only did MacKenzie make that long journey to Pontrilas,but he also ‘double’ entered.His opening ride of the day in MX1 did not start to well though,down in 23rd position in the early stages,Bryan had to work very hard to get back to 6th.At the front,Alex Snow had grabbed the holeshot to lead the opening lap before Brad Anderson flew past him on lap two.From here onwards,Brad controlled proceedings although a very gallant Snow was always hot on his heels to finish just four seconds in arrears.Such was the pace of the top two in this clash that Ross Hill was left to earn a rather distant 3rd place ahead of Stuart Edmonds and Dorran Coutts.
It was to be a rather disastrous start for the AMCA riders in Pro MX1 moto two as Lee Dunham,Glen Phillips and Brad Turner all fell on what was to prove to be a very tricky new redesigned opening turn at Pontrilas.Once again ‘Ando’ was quickly in control at the front,blasting to a comfortable win from Snow,Coutts,Hill,MacKenzie and Jim Davies having a great ride on the TM.Of the early fallers,both Dunham and Phillips were forced to retire although Turner did go on to finish 14th overall,one place behind Joe Barry.
James Dodd led the charge to turn one of the opening Pro MX2 clash as both Connor Walkley and top AMCA rider Jack Taylor bit the dust.From here onwards though and leading this contest all the way to the flag was Bryan MacKenzie with Matthew Moffat in tow.Just behind the top two,a very entertaining tussle for 3rd spot was developing which featured Dodd,Josh Waterman,Stuart Edmonds and New Zealander John Phillips.Eventually that four became two as 2T pilots Waterman and Edmonds locked horns with the verdict going to Irishman Edmonds.After their earlier problems,Taylor blasted back to earn a great 9th whilst Walkley was 17th.
Buoyed by that great comeback,Taylor then claimed the Pro MX2 moto two holeshot although after a problematic opening lap he had already slipped back to 15th,eventually retiring.Taking control at the front was Moffat with Walkley on this occasion starting strongly and holding 2nd,only to again crash and drop back to 8th.Following Walkley’s fall, Waterman took up the chance to chase a rapid Moffat although all eyes were now firmly focussed on a hard charging MacKenzie.Gating in 7th,Bryan moved through to eventually rapidly reel in Moffat,missing out on snatching a super victory by just a narrow two seconds.Edmonds also had another great ride in this moto,moving from 9th to slot into an eventual 3rd ahead of Waterman,Scott Probert,Matt Burrows and Steven Clarke with Carl Benjamin the top AMCA rider home in 14th.
In a super Scott Acerbis MXY2 contest,Jay Thomas(2),Lloyd Pettett and Dan Thornhill all won races.Saving the best until last,moto four,the final race of the weekend was an absolute cracker!.Ryan Williams,James Yates,Thornhill and Tommy Alba hotly disputed the lead with Thornhill eventually taking control on lap six for the win.That final moto victory for Dan got him home first in the overall standings,five points clear of Alba with Thomas in 3rd.
Both Danny Lanfear and Jay Hague suffered just one defeat on their way to respective overall victories in the Moto Pro Suspension BW85cc and SW85cc classes.Lanfear’s one reverse occurred in moto three when Alistair Evans was first past the post ahead of Curtis Blamey,Lanfear,Jordan Moxey and Rob Holyoake.Hague’s one slight blot on an otherwise immaculate weekend came in the very first moto.In that clash,it was victory to Henry Siddiqui with Harry Linton 2nd,Hague 3rd,Declan Ryan 4th,Howard Wainwright 5th and Louis Hurst 6th.
In the Unlimited DK Off-Road Kawasaki Masters,Peter Wainwright(2),Ben Sweeney and Chris Neesam took the MX1 honours.After finishing runner-up in the overall standings at Mallory Park during round one,Wainwright was to go one place better at Pontrilas,taking the glory ahead of Jamie Hallett and Neesam.Over in MX2,that man Paul Neale was again the victor,his only reverse coming in moto two when he had to settle for 2nd place behind Gareth Padgett. Indeed Padgett was to go onto earn the MX2 overall runners-up slot with Patrick Collins in 3rd.
The other Unlimited class,Michelin Masters,resulted in overall wins for Paul Morgan and Jamie Thompstone.After being first past the chequered flag in the opening two MX1 motos,first round victor Darren Fowden looked set for more success at Pontrilas.However a disastrous no-score in moto three was to instead restrict Darren to 7th overall behind Morgan,Ben Thompson,Tom Davies,Lee Tolan,Ian McCartney and Aaron Collins.In Michelin MX2,Thompstone and Emerson Jones won two races apiece although they were to be sandwiched on the podium by the consistent Jack Jones.
After finishing on the GSP Race Products Amateur MX1 podium at Mallory Park back in March,both Jamie Dobson and Darryl Maxwell missed out during round two at Pontrilas.Taking the win instead was Scott Bates with a super performance.Third at Mallory,Bates reeled off an hat-trick of moto wins on the weekend before chasing Stephen Tillotson home in the last clash.So whilst Bates deservedly took the overall victors spoils ahead of Daniel Brough and George Purchase,Dobson and Maxwell had to settle for 4th and 6th places respectively.
The Raceworld.com Amateur MX2 contest at Pontrilas provided an abundance of great racing and four different moto winners in Martin Jones,Sam Smith,Zac Stealey and Charles Statt.Indeed Statt’s final race which was to see him aboard his two-stroke TM battle and outgun Ricky Lethaby’s four-stroke Yamaha was typical of the great Masters action throughout the weekend.Eventual overall victory in this class went to Stealey,just four points ahead of Statt with Lethaby in 3rd.
With Thomas Card heading home Christopher Rose and Liam Noden in the Amateur Non-Qualifiers contest to thus wrap up round two,there is just a short three week break until the super Wulfsport British Masters again fires into life at Whitby.Don’t forget riders,this series carries the largest overall prize fund in European motocross so to avoid any disappointment get your entries in fast!!,the closing date is May 4th.
Mike Wood (www.moto-action.co.uk)
Results
