The Whiteway to go
By TMX Archives on 4th Jun 08
THE West of England MC runs it's long standing Patchquick Motocross on the evening of Wednesday, June 25, at the Whiteway Barton Circuit, at Kingsteignton, Devon, where the fabulous three-foot high solid silver Patchquick Trophy will go to the overall winner of the Expert class once again.
The Patchquick Tyre Company of Tiverton donated the trophy to the club in the early 1930s, when it cost 100 guineas, and is now worth many thousands of pounds and is the biggest trophy in British Motocross.
It was first won in 1934 by Exeter rider Tommy Whitton when it was raced for in the Dartmoor Scramble. In 1955, the great Jeff Smith won it and this event continued until 1957. It then ran as a centre event until 1966 when the club decided to run the first three-leg Patchquick Motocross on a Wednesday evening. On that occasion the winner was Dave Bickers.
In 1973, the event was upgraded to national status and was won by Badger Goss. It ran at the beginning of March each year until the year 2000, with such riders as world champions Neil Hudson, Graham Noyce and Dave Thorpe taking the trophy.
In 2004, the club ran the Patchquick on a very successful Wednesday evening meeting with large crowds, but the following year was hit with the hottest week for years and unfortunately, with the biggest crowd ever, they had to cancel due to dust.
Since that evening, the club has learnt a lot about watering the course, and have now installed a sprinkler system on the big hills to contain the dust in similar conditions.
Phoenix Tools of Kingsteignton and JD Racing of Saltash have agreed to jointly sponsor this year's Patchquick, supported by holeshot sponsors Mike Denison Plumbing with £100 for each of the three Expert races and Springbok Fencing and Welding with £30 for each of the four Junior races.
The event will run three races for Experts on the night and four for Juniors, and the prize fund is nearly £4000.
The top Expert on the night could then win £1600 plus an extra prize of £1000 worth of Teng Tools from Phoenix Tools and most importantly get his name onto the famous Patchquick Trophy.
The event will be run by the West of England MC with a lot of help from the Remedies Bar championship team, which will include electronic timing.
Regs will be in the next Remedies newsletter or you can also obtain them sending an SAE to Vic Ashford, 1 Cleaveland Rise, Ogwell, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 6FF, or calling Vic on 01626-332891.