The Sporting
MOTORCYCLIST News for social and sporting motorcycling
..published monthly
May 2022
Enduro, Grasstrack, Motocross, Road Racing, Speedway, Sprinting and Trials news CONTAINS OFFICIAL EVENT ENTRY FORMS
The Sporting
MOTORCYCLIST
is published monthly and is available through your Clubs or by direct subscription
Editor
(ACU Southern Centre) John Bramall
16 Gifford Close, Fareham, Hampshire, PO15 6PJ T: 01329 823282 E: johnbramall246@btinternet.com
Editor
(ACU South Midland Centre)
Editor & Advertising and Distribution
(ACU South Eastern Centre) Andy Wood 30 Westways, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6AA Tel/Fax 01732 865380
E: anmarprintingservices@gmail.com
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MAY 2022 VOL. 22 ISSUE 5 PUBLISHED ON THE 1ST OF EACH MONTH
FROM THE EDITOR'S CHAIR n By Andy Wood
Good Spring weather brought with it a promising start to the racing season. Revitalising motocross Waterlooville MCC ran the first of four rounds of the MSU Championship within the Southern Centre. Championship classes will be Solo, MXY Youth, with meetings having additional classes which vary between Evo solo, Twinshock sidecars & Quads. Two more rounds take place this month on 8th May at Owslebury, then on 22nd May at West Meon. The final round is on 14th August at Cusses Gorse. In the South East the Sidcup club launched round one of SEMX last month and have a busy schedule ahead of them over the next five weeks. This includes a club trial on the 15th May followed by the 4th round of the Revo British Motocross Championship on the 22nd then just two weeks later on 5th June the open Hare and Hounds which is part of the SEEC series. In all the club have nine events taking place over the next three months. Grass track racing also made a successful start in the south with the Bantasia event attracting a great deal of interest. Moving to the South East, the popular Battle of Britain event run by the Frittenden club later this month promises a great deal for race fans as always, attracting the best in all classes from all over the country. The club also have two further events planned in July and September. NMCC have already run two events in March and April of the eight meetings planned for this year. The next event at the Long Buckby track will be on May 22nd which has invited riders from the NGR series. In June there will be a further visit to the same track on the 19th which will be a round of the SM Championship with invited riders from the South Eastern EVO.
ACU Southern Centre Board Meeting Date Change
As a result of Local Elections taking place on Thursday 5th May the next Centre Board will now be held on Tuesday 3rd May, commencing at 8.00pm, at the Southampton and District MCC HQ, The Cranbury Centre, Cranbury Road, Eastleigh, SO50 5HT. Representatives from all Centre Clubs are very welcome to attend. If you have any items that you would like to add to the agenda, and are not able to attend, please send to: acusoutherncetre@gmail.com. Cover Photo: Simon Tucker & Brad Willis Photo by: Chris Valentine www.motoxphotos.co.uk
Contributions in this issue: Alan Turner, Neil Emmott, John Bramall, Mike Wiseman, John Sapsard, Ken O'Brien, John Eckhart Would you like to contribute? Please send to the editor, contact details on page 3.
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'To boldly go where no one…' Jake Mulford goes round the outside of Zach Wajtknecht!
A Hampshire Happening (Bantasia 2 - 10th April) Q By Alan Turner Last year, the inaugural running of Bantasia, when the Grasstrack Banter Facebook group became race organisers, was in the midst of Covid restrictions. Spectators were not permitted. This year, things were almost normal, but the scourge was still in evidence with Covid cited for the absence of a number of riders. The track used to be the province of the long-defunct SCGTRA at Owslebury, near Bishops Waltham in Hampshire. A 40-race programme included events for 250 solos; 500 Open Solos, Elite 500 Solos and right hand sidecars in two categories: Old and New and 1,000cc. The programme had an impressive roster of names. The heats threw up some surprises and the inevitable warning that this was now 2022 and so a whole new season. Race one was 6
for the big chairs and saw Trevor and Sam Heath put one over on Mark Cossar/Gareth Williams. The number 37 crew had problems, for sure, but try as they might, they could not get past. Two races later, it was the recent pairing of long-time passenger, now driver, Terry Saunters with Liam Brown, going even quicker to hold at bay Neil Owen and Jason Farwell, always a sight to behold on the Godden V-twin. The solos were not to be out-done. First up,
Unbeaten all day, Mark Courtney and Leon Torres in the Old & New Sidecars
Chad Wirtzfeld dominated his heat leaving luminaries such as Paul Cooper, Tony Atkin and Dan Winterton in his wake. Next race saw old adversaries and British Masters Zach Wajtknecht and James Shanes in fast and furious combat, with the latter in charge by half distance. The Open 500 class went to Jason Prynne, with his unusual upright GM and leg-trailing style keeping him clear of Ryan Ashcroft and Graeme Brown. The other heat winner in this leg was Wayne Broadhurst, although experienced Tim Curnock impressively worked his way through the field to runner up. In a later Elite heat, Jake Mulford inflicted another surprise when he went round the outside of Zach Wajtknecht to take the lead, although he could not maintain the pace and eventually faded to third. The impressive times of the 250 races were starting to embarrass the 500s as, on occasion, they were quicker! Cameron Taylor notched three heat wins, Chris Still two and Luke Harris one. Impressive here was young Dutchman Ace Pijper, his father Theo has raced British speedway for some years. It was also good to see Sam Norris back on track. A young talent whose promising career almost finished after a very serious speedway accident. The meeting had been conducted at a brisk pace until Race 25, a third leg heat for the Elite solos. This started another fast and furious chase until Dan Winterton and Theo Pijper tangled on the back straight. Dan ended up in the local hospital somewhat knocked about. Unfortunately, in view of his injuries, the medical team needed assistance from the county medical services. It meant a long delay before racing could resume and complete the last six qualifying heats. The first of the finals was the C Final for the 1000cc sidecars, but attrition meant only the outfits of Anthony Sales/Michael Tottman and Dale/Jordan Fish came to the tapes. The Fish outfit broke immediately, stranding the outfit on the racing line as Sales/Tottman came round to complete their first lap at race speed. Frantic marshalling prevented a potential coming together. Having been awarded that race, Team Sales was invited to fill a vacant gate position in the B Final, but this time the outfit rolled soon after the start, the crew trapped
beneath their machine. Rider and passenger got away with a shaking. The eventual rerun race was a cracker, with Will Penfold/ Bradley Reynolds being harried right to the line by Robbie Simmonds/Bradley Atkinson. Kenzie Cossey had been in the lower points places through the heats, but it all came good for a controlled ride to take the 250 Solo B Final as he kept plenty of space between himself and Austin Riches. The A Final was an opportunity for Cameron Taylor to make it four wins out of four rides, followed home, yet again, by Luke Harris, with Tim Greig annexing third. The 500 Open B Final was a victory for Dean Cutler with Luke Tuck in second. Just four riders made the Elite B Final, but that was an Alfie Bowtell benefit with Arran Butcher unable The day's first sensation as Trevor/Sam Heath hold off Mark Cossar/Gareth Williams
to make any further impression. They were followed home by German rider Finn Loheider and Denmark's Morten Qvistgaard, from a few continental riders who came to add even more flavour to the Bantasia cocktail. The A Final was another thriller. Wayne Broadhurst led the pack, but Jason Prynne was in determined mood, he tried inside, outside but seemingly settled for second-best until Wayne Broadhurst came to earth exiting the last bend! A grateful Jason Prynne secured the coveted place, as Broadhurst pushed over the line to become tenth finisher. The Old & New sidecars were run over four points-scoring heats and Mark Courtney/ Leon Torres notched four victories. On their first time out Brian Hatch/Lew Wharton managed a second, but sadly they took no further part in the meeting. On three occasions Continued overleaf 7
Bill Beeson Trial Charity Trial - 24th April
Darren Haines Q By John Eckhart Photos by Gary Dowzall Wycombe and District Motorcycle Club held their Bill Beeson Memorial Trial near Stokenchurch this year in aid of the Physically Handicapped Able-Bodied Club, (PHAB Club) and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance Charities. No awards will be given and the Club is delighted to be able to pass on £430 to be shared between the charities. The woodland was very dry after a period of low rainfall so the sections were set with cambered turns and climbs on banks and roots. Although it was dry the loose surface made some turns and climbs quite slippery. An entry of 59 riders competed in the trial comprised 4 laps of ten sections marked out with four routes of varying severity. The expert contest for the Bill Beeson Memorial Cup was won by Daniel Greeves who lost 6 marks and finished ahead of William Clark (17 marks) and Ryan Tomkins (21 marks). 30
Daniel lost all his marks at the beginning of the trial with a 5 on section 3 and a dab immediately after on section 4. Section 3 which included a log crossing at the top of a bank took the most marks from the experts. Young George Clark riding the Youth A class had an extremely good ride to lose only 26 marks on the expert route. The Intermediate riders had a dedicated (Orange) route and Darren Haines came out on top after a most cleans tie breaker with Martin Greeves. Both riders lost 16 marks just ahead of Wycombe's Jason Clifford who lost 17. Most marks were lost at section ten with it's twisty route between trees on the side of a small bank. On the middle (yellow) route Wycombe's Kai Morris was best Novice losing 33 marks comfortably ahead of Roger Thornton on 48 and Dad Jim Morris on 65. The best Clubman on this route was Russ Olivant who lost 12 marks just ahead of Brian Tomkins on 15. Dave Fisher was third after losing 19 marks. Marcus Haynes won the Twin-shock class losing 12 marks well ahead of Kevin Fossey and Paul Meader who lost 45 & 46 respectively. The best ride on the middle route was by Alex
Marcus Haines
Russ Olivant
Hard route Bill Beeson Memorial Cup: Daniel Greeves William Clark Youth A: George Clark Hard middle route Best Intermediate Darren Haines Martin Greeves Middle route Novice Kai Morris (250 Sherco)
Buckle who lost 7 marks to take the Youth B class ahead of Kai Fisher and Jack Cox-Wootton. Pete Haines won the Sportsman Hard class losing 14 marks over 5 middle route sections and 5 easy sections. Howard Cureton-Taylor was the only other finisher and he lost 59 marks Section 1 with it's tight turns was the biggest mark stealer for the riders on the easy route. The British Bike Easy Class was won by Nick James on his DOT Villiers who lost 7 on section 1 and 15 in total. Wayne Hutton was second on his Tiger Cub losing 25 and Chris Pickup, also Cub mounted, was third on 45. The Sportsman Easy class was won by Robert Ray (20 marks) followed by Brett Buckle (30 marks) and Jerry Pack on 40. The club extends its thanks to all the riders, observers and helpers who supported this charity event.
Roger Thornton Clubman 6 Russ Olivant 17 Brian Tomkins Twin Shock 26 Marcus Haynes Kevin Fossey
Youth B 16 (ST) Alex Buckle 16 (ST) Kai Fisher 50/50 Easy route Sportsman Hard 33 Pete Haines
48 Howard Cureton-Taylor
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Easy route 12 British Bike Easy 15 Nick James Wayne Hutton
15 25
12 Sportsman Easy 45 Robert Ray Brett Buckle
20 30
7 32
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FOR SALE Buying some new trials boots for the new season? I bought some new Wulfsport trials boots. Brown size 8/42. They are still in the box new unused as I won't be needing them anytime soon. Could possibly be delivered to a local trial. £150. Contact Joan pre65plonkers@msn.com Spectated at a motorsport event recently? Post a report for publication.
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