Kinver MXC at Upton Court

Written by MIKE WOOD Tuesday, 09 August 2011 00:00

Basil Lello was at the super Upton Court on Sunday to send us his snaps from the Kinver MXC event whilst Chris Czora kindly provided the report.

The South Shropshire group visted a new circuit on Sunday, with the Kinver Auto Club staging an event at their popular circuit at Upton Court, near Tenbury Wells. With Kinver Auto one of the clubs amalgamed into the South Shropshire group for 2011, many riders were expeirencing the track for the first time, despite it's location in the South Shropshire past grouping meant the venue was traditionally a West Midlands group circuit.

A good turnout of riders competed, with the track in excellent condition. Although the warm weather did lead to dust, conditions remained safe, with Mother Nature lending a hand with a heavy shower at the start of the final block!
Opening race of the day was the Expert MX1 event, however there was controversy after an incident requiring first aid. Whilst the marshal showed the correct flag to request medical assitance, some riders mistook the flag for a red flag, with a number stopping mid-race. Following consultation, the organisers and stewards opted to make the race void, with an additional MX1 Expert race run at the end of the meeting. There was some fast exciting racing in the class, however Ed Reynolds had the advantage, taking a clean sweep of three wins. Stu Hughes recovered from a fall in the aborted opening race to take second overall whilst Sam Callow's best finish of third earned him third overall.
The MX2 Expert action saw Ryan Morris, aboard his recently borrowed Kawasaki, take a clean sweep of wins en route to a comfortable victory. Kieran Mulloy followed him home in each race to take second overall and whilst third placed Steven Owen only managed a best finish of third in the openign race, his consistency earned him a podium spot.
Seniors were split into Unlimited groups, however most riders raced with their normal respective classes, with Group A consisting of MX2 machinery, with the MX1 riders in Group B. Seniors Group A saw Jake Pearce take an early lead, but the Cressage rider was unfortunate as the race was red flagged, with Pearce struggling at the restart, although he took the second race win. Lance Hancox aboard his 125 battled with the four strokes throughout the day, and took the overall with a final race win, narrowly beating first race winner Harley Jones into second. Alan Barber improved throughout the day, with third in the final race giving him third overall.
Seniors Group B saw a spectacular first corner crash in the opening race, with some of the normal frontrunners sidelined afterwards. However Michael Hicken escaped the carnage to take the overall win, two race wins giving him the advantage. Two runner up spots gave home rider Jake Chamberlain second overall whilst two fourth places gave Scott Mullard third overall.
An addition to the programme was a race for South Shropshire Veterans, not the first time the group has incorporated a Veterans race, and once again the riders taking part showed their expeirence, with some great speed and spectacular racing. AMCA Veterans Championship rider Andrew Watkins showed his class, despite a couple of bad starts he battled his way through to take a clean sweep of wins from the fast starting Robert Prosser. David Livesey is a rider who can never be overlooked in Vets competition, and he showed his class again with a second in the final race giving him third overall.
Like the Seniors, Junior riders were split into A and B groups, with the MX2 riders in Group A and MX1 taking Group B. Ben Skellern was the form rider in Group A, taking two wins and a second for the overall win. However he was pushed hard by Matt Reid, with Reid securing his second overall with a final race win. Luke Phillips took third overall, his best result third in the second race. Luke Francis took the final two race wins in Group B to secure his victory, with two thirds giving Steven Birt second overall. Third place Christopher Jukes failed to visit the podium, but his consistency was enough to secure third overall.
Rob Keightley was unstoppable in the Inter Junior category, taking a clean sweep of comfortable wins for overall victory. However Daniel Earle prevented Keightley from getting two complacent, securing his second overall with three second places. Connor Deignan took a safe third overall, with two fourths sandwiching a third in the second race.
With slick organisation the race meeting ran well, with Kinver Auto club gaining much praise from riders and club officials for the largely smooth running of the event.

Report by Chris Czora

Basil Lello (www.druidsmotox.co.uk)

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