Cressage MXC at Bicton

Written by MIKE WOOD Tuesday, 24 May 2011 00:00

Chris Czora reports on round two of the AMCA Ladies Championship held at Bicton on Sunday,22nd May, the meeting promoted by the Cressage MXC,whilst Basil Lello provides the images.

It was 'Ladies Day' at the races on Sunday, as Cressage MXC held their opening meeting of the season, with the AMCA Women’s series visiting their circuit at Bicton, near Shrewsbury.

With a large entry of riders entered, the club encountered a major hiccup leading up to the event, as livestock being kept on the land meant the club could not perform any work on the track until the Thursday prior to the meeting. Despite this, the club pulled together and were still able to build and prepare the circuit in time for the meeting.

Some circuit modifications were made from last season, with new jumps along with a wave section being introduced to provide added challenges for the riders. Sufficient track watering meant the dreaded dust was kept largely at bay, and also meant the circuit cut up well, with some deep ruts in parts of the track providing a further challenge for the riders.

Topping the bill was the second round of the AMCA Women’s championship, and despite there only being a small entry some impressive racing was on display, no more so than from series leader Leonie Smith, who continued her unbeaten run in the championship, taking three wins with a faultless display of riding. Such was Smith's dominance, she lapped the entire field in the final race, with Melissa Griffin taking a distant, but well deserved second with three second place finishes. Keeping griffin honest however was Hannah Spencer, who was unlucky to have to settle for three third place finishes, taking a comfortable third overall. Further down the field, home club rider Emily Jones took sixth overall, whilst the unfortunate Lindsay Hanley had a day to forget, retiring early after a heavy crash in the opening race.

Expert action was once again fast and furious, as taking victory in the MX1 class was Worfield's Jamie Dobson, who took two comfortable victories en route to victory. Cressage rider Shaun Pearce, having recently switched back to his familiar Honda machinery took the final race win and second overall, whilst clubmate Stu Hughes, responsible for much of the track design and preparation, took a strong third overall.

The MX2 class once again saw the local form rider, Wrekin's Brad Tranter take overall victory with a clean sweep of wins. Shrewsbury's Dan Cole improved throughout the day to take second overall, his best result a second in the final race, whilst Druid’s Steven Owen was third overall. The MX2 class also incorporated a 250 2 stroke Expert race, overall winner was Jonathan Hyde, the Worfield rider taking victory from 2 stroke championship runner Paul Jones of Kinver, Andrew Mantle finishing third.

It was an action packed day in the MX1 Seniors as Chris Tompkins took the overall victory, only to see his day end early after a massive first corner crash in the second race, with the Wrekin rider the only casualty as he suffered a dislocated shoulder. Making the most of this was Bridgnorth's Ryan Pugh, fifth in the opening race Pugh made sure of the overall with a brace of wins in the second and third races, as he continued his good run of form. A second place and two third place finishes gave Michael Hicken a strong second overall, whilst home club rider Den Edwards took third, his best result a third in the second race.

The MX2 Senior class saw Liam Jones recover from a seventh in the opening race to snatch victory, after opening race winner Tom Gwilt could only manage tenth in the second race. Two race wins saw Jones, of the Wrekin club take the overall win, with Druid’s Roger Lovatt taking second overall, with two thirds his strongest races. A late charge from Shrewsbury's Will Harrison saw him snatch third in the final race, enough to give him third overall, with Cressage's Jake Pearce narrowly missing out.

Juniors were split into two Unlimited Groups, with Group One being very open, with the top three riders all taking a win each. Kinver's Harry Allport took the opening win, and a 1-2-3 card was enough to give him victory from Worfield's Liam Chilton, who took the second race win. Wrekin's Luke Archer took his first ever Junior race win in the final race, ending the day in style as he took third overall.

Group Two was a little less clear cut, with two riders disputing the class victory. Shrewsbury's Joe Rae took overall victory, with wins in the first and third races, however a win for Kinver's Connor Franklin in the second race meant the two riders were tied on points going into the final race. After a close battle Rae's snatched final race win, by less than two seconds, with Franklin taking second overall. Meanwhile consistency paid off for Matthew Wood, despite not finishing in the top three, his best result of fourth was enough for him to take third overall.

Final race of the day was the Inter Juniors, with the circuit's gnarlier sections providing a test for some of the slower riders. However there were no problems for Kyle Bullivant-Talbot, the Newport rider adding two wins to his opening second place to take the overall victory. At just 10 years old Wrekin's Rory Jones was amongst the youngest riders of the day, however he took the opening race win enroot to second overall, with Kinver's Zachary Hackett third, taking a brace of third place finishes.

Report by Chris Czora and images by Basil Lello

Basil Lello (www.druidsmotox.co.uk)

Results