Reports Weymouth Beach Moto-Cross
Written by MIKE WOOD Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:00
Pleasant October sunshine brought out another massive crowd to watch the 27th annual staging of the AMCA Weymouth Beach moto-cross on Sunday.
Promoted as usual by the Purbeck Club in conjunction with the local Weymouth and Portland Lions Club,spectators were treated to an exciting,short and sharp six race programme all for FREE!!.Starting at 1pm,the super action was completed by 4pm with Jake Shipton,Lee Wren and Brett Moore taking home the eventual overall victories in their respective Experts,Seniors and Juniors classes.
Although being one of the smallest clubs affiliated to the AMCA,the Purbeck Motocross Club pulled together to again work wonders and transform the Weymouth beach into a race circuit,with the jumps only created on the morning of the event!!.So with preparation complete and practice for the riders wrapped up,it was time to go racing. First out on track to entertain the appreciative and captivated audience was the keen and eager Juniors class.
From a dead engine start,councillor and mayor Margaret Leicester dropped the flag to signal the start of the 2012 action.As Mark Teggin led the thundering drag race down the main straight to tackle the first turn and the Weymouth sand heaven,the unfortunate Jeremy Vaughan was left stranded as his machine refused to immediately fire into life!!.At the front,Teggin put in a storming opening lap only for his clutch to expire,thus handing the advantage to Liam Williams.As 2nd placed Phil Duckett dropped down to eventually get home in 12th,Williams expertly maintained his race leadership and thus take the first win of the day,nearly 25 seconds ahead of Brett Moore.Weymouth regular Karl Dudman took 3rd spot in Juniors moto one with Liam Annetts,Luke O’Brian,Oliver Macey,Kevin Downer,Gary Daniel,Sean Renvoize and Mark Woodfine all finishing on the same lap total as the winner.After his disastrous start to the event,Vaughan completed four laps!!.
In a super second and final Juniors contest,Dudman,much to the delight of the local supporters led the charge before Williams and Moore took over.In an incredible encounter,Moore swooped into pole position,dropped back to 4th,then recovered to snatch a dramatic victory on the final lap from Williams.That win also was crucial,also handing Moore the overall verdict after finishing level on points with rival Williams.Early pace-setter Dudman eventually dropped to 5th behind Annetts and Jodie Bovey.
Ryan Butler was the fastest rider away in the first Seniors blast along Weymouth beach and led the charge for five,all-action,bar-banging laps.Despite then being overhauled by eventual overall winner Lee Wren,Butler looked strong until eventually disappearing just two laps from home.Setting a red-hot pace at the front,only Edward Mountjoy and Jesse Say finished on the same lap total as the winner.Also having a good ride in this opener was Neil Hawker,Sam Woods,David Bowen,Lewis Scard,Mark Morris,Brett Revell and 2011 Juniors winner Leonard Paget.
Making amends for that first race disappointment ,Butler again proved that he had the sand racing speed by leading moto two from start to finish.Critically though,Wren produced another very solid performance to get home in 2nd and thus bag the overall verdict with Revell and Mountjoy the only other riders on the same lap total.Hawker and Say also proved their consistency for the second occasion by finishing inside the top ten placings.
Grandson of the regular and very popular Weymouth starter,Alf Shipton,teenage Poole Yamaha rider Jake Shipton made his intentions perfectly clear by posting a qualifying time over five seconds faster than any of his rivals. However when Experts moto one blasted off it was ACU Youth star James Harrison who led the pack ahead of AMCA King Lee Dunham,Martin Jessop and Veteran Terry House whilst Shipton was down in 10th.Four laps in though,and the rapid Shipton was already up to 2nd and reeling in Harrison.Unfortunately then and just as the battle was about to rage,young Harrison crashed heavily injuring his leg so it was Shipton who now controlled and that’s the way it remained.Such was the pace of the South coast based youngster that only Dunham and 3rd placed Matt Porter could finish on the same lap total.After gating in 21st position,ACU rider Jamie Skuse got right back to 4th place only to be forced out with just three laps remaining.
Moto two and Dunham led the early couple of laps before that man Shipton took control.Using his Maxxis ACU British Championship expierence,Jake put the hammer down to storm to a massive victory with Dunham the only rider not to be lapped!!.With another fine performance,Porter got home in 3rd ahead of Kevin Gomm,Brad Cavill, House,Jessop and Benjamin Harmon.So the action and a memorable AMCA Weymouth Beach moto-cross was over for another year ,well done again to the very hard working and friendly Purbeck Motocross club,here’s to the 20th October 2013!!.
Mike Wood (e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
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