Merthyr MXC at Cwms Farm

Written by MIKE WOOD Tuesday, 19 July 2011 00:00

After a week off, the Wessex / South Wales centre roared back into action at the Cwms Farm circuit in Merthyr. Heavy overnight rain meant the track started wet, but the racing dried this out during the day, giving almost perfect racing conditions.

The MX1 Juniors opened the days racing, with James Price making the most of the conditions and taking the first race win by almost 45 seconds from Jonathon Evans, with Nigel Birkett a further 30 seconds back. However, as the track dried during the day, this seemed to suit Evans more, as he took both the remaining race wins to take the overall victory. Price had to settle for second overall, as a shocking start to race two meant he had to fight his way through the whole pack. He had moved up to third, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process, but just ran out of laps. Third overall went to Paul Lambert, who had a steady set of results, with a best score of third in race three.

The Inter Juniors were once again dominated by Zak Watkins, who took all three race wins. Grant Jones was second, finishing behind Watkins each time with Elliot Dowell completing the podium after three third places. Joshua Jones also had a clean sweep of race wins over in the MX2 Juniors under 18 class. The Merthyr rider won a thrilling first race battle, just finishing in front of Chad Prosser who managed to pass Andros Mota-Reed on the last lap for second. Race two saw Prosser again finish second, with Joshua Morris taking third this time. The final race saw the heavens open for 5 minutes just as the riders left the line, turning the track into a skating rink. The conditions didn’t phase Jones, with Morris not too far behind ready to capitalise on any errors Jones made. Mota-Reed was running in third until a slip halfway through the race allowed Prosser through to take third which secured Prosser’s second overall.

The Experts ran a combined group of MX1 and MX2 riders. Races one and two posted the same results, with Shane Carless first, James Lane second and Simon Lane third. Race three saw Christian Dicks set the early pace in the opening laps, before James Lane fought his way past. Carless was recovering from very poor start that saw him eleventh at the end of the first lap, but he managed to storm through the field to second by lap five. He took a further two laps to find a way past James, but was not able to pull clear and had to constantly defend that lead all the way to the flag. MX2 rider Joseph Meachin put in a stunning ride to finish in third, beating MX1 riders Christian Dicks and Simon Lane across the line.

The Seniors also ran a combined group, with Scott Carter mastering the wet conditions in race one for an easy win, followed by Jamie Chandler and Jake Snook. As the conditions improved, the smaller MX2 bikes seemed to get the upper hand over the larger MX1 bikes, as races two and three were both won by Jordan Davies with Paul Bennett in second. Scott Carter was the highest place MX1 rider in race two with a third place finish, whilst race three was Marc Millard all the way back in seventh.

The over 18 MX2 Juniors saw a close battle between Adam Fowler and Chris Power for the win. Race one saw Ben Ridler take victory, with Fowler second and Power recovering to third after being hampered when Martyn Edginton slipped off in front of him on the opening lap. Race two was a win for Power, as he held off Edginton in second and Fowler in third, giving Power a slight lead in the points. Just as race three started, we had another 5 minute downpour which made the track surface very slippery. Power shot into the lead, and was looking good for the win when he picked up a rear puncture which dumped him on the ground, allowing Edginton into the lead with Fowler second. However, Fowler kept the pressure on the leader, and it paid off when he was able to force an error from Edginton which allowed him through into the lead. With less than a lap to go, Fowler was able to hold onto the win and the overall victory. Power was able to secure second overall with a fourth place finish and Edginton finished third overall.

Mark Dicks and the Merthyr MXC put on another fantastic days racing, but it was a shame so many riders stayed away after seeing the weather forecast. The day was dry apart from a couple of showers in the last two races and the track conditions were superb. This was the last meeting of the year for the club, so we look forward to returning to Cwms Farm in 2012.

David Richards (www.mxdave.com)

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