A Little goes a long way...
By TMX Archives on 21st May 08
OVER the past two years the Yeovil Twin-shock club's annual Cancer Research meeting has raised over 21,500 for Cancer Research UK and with another great entry for the 2008 event, all were looking forward to a great weekend's racing and adding to the charity pot.
Unfortunately, the weather intervened for Saturday's racing, soaking the circuit and rendering the club with no choice but to abandon proceedings and wait for the weather and track to improve for Sunday.
First on the line on Saturday was the ever popular Classic Pre-74 class. As the rider blasted from the gate it was Classic class winner, Andy Roberton, who looked to have things sewn up as his pulled out a substantial lead ahead of Rupert Copping.
However, on lap two Roberton made a rare error giving Copping a half-chance, which was all he needed as he powered away to take the opening victory as Roberton rejoined the race and fought back to fourth by the flag.
The Roberton show was back on track in races two and three as the Welshman went on to take two commanding start to finish victories, ahead of Bob Stringer, in race two, and Matt Holcombe, in race three.
The 125/250cc class was full to bursting with eager riders and the resulting racing was fast and furious.
Stuart George was the initial leader in race one, but by lap two Midlander Lee Hartill had moved to the front and went on to take the win.
Second time out, Richard Wood blasted into an early lead, but a mistake on lap two gave Hartill the half-chance he needed to claim victory.
Wood was determined to get a race win and he was looking well on course until the lap four of race three when bike problems caused him to DNF. His exit handed a third victory to Hartill and a well deserved overall, with Stephen Rowlands taking the runners-up spot with three consistent rides.
In previous years, the Four-stroke class has produced some excellent racing that kept the crowd on their toes – and this year was no exception.
In race one the battle for the top stops was between Bryan Withers, Tim Carter and Wayne Partington, with Withers eventually powering to the opening victory. In race two it was Partington this time who rocketed his Husqvarna from the gate and looked good for the race victory until Withers found a way past on lap three and went on to take his second race victory of the day. In the final encounter of the day Withers was looking for three wins out of three but Partington aboard his second machine had other ideas and over the opening two laps Partington hounded Withers and by lap three slipped past and went on to take the final race victory. A second position in this final encounter was enough to giver Withers the overall victory for the day.
The Over 40 class was dominated by the close racing between, John Iddon, Richard Carter, Stephen Clarke, Andy Holland and Nigel Parker.
Iddon took a convincing start to finish victory in race one but a mistake on the opening lap in race two landed him down the pack with much work to do. This gave Cornish-man Richard Carter a prime opportunity and he took it with both hands, securing the second race of the day.
Carter was again to the fore in the final encounter and claimed an excellent victory ahead of Richard Peaster who challenged him all the way to the line. Iddon battled in the pack in races two and three and with a fifth and a third, he piped Carter to the overall by just one point.
The Roberton show was again in evidence in the Over 50 class, as he raced to two start-to-finish victories. However, in the final encounter, Yeovil Twin-shock man, Sammy Doble, got the better of Roberton out of the gate. A mistake by Doble as the jumped the table-top half way around the track, put him on the deck, and Roberton through the ropes which then to tangled around the latter's back wheel.
This left the way open for local man Steve Adams to battle with former world champion, Graham Noyce, for the final race victory. By lap four, Noyce had made his way to the front and all was looking good, but Roberton was coming fast and as they crossed the finish line, Roberton was just a bike length behind Noyce.
Cornwall's Tony Dinham nailed the opening Clubman race victory ahead of Jon Rutherford.
In race two Rutherford was determined to make amends and after passing Matt Milson on lap three, he went on to take the win. In the final encounter, Rutherford lead throughout to claim the overall for the day.
The Evolution races were dominated by the battles between Terry House and Ben Griffith. After three excellent scraps where House and Griffiths repeatedly swapped the top spot, House was at the front on the lap that matters most to post three wins and the overall.
Some of the closest racing came in the International Expert class between enduro ace Jason Fraser, Matt Stevenson, Pete Mathia, Russell Hartill and Kristian Marshall.
The battle for top spot in race one was between Mathia and Fraser, with Fraser eventually getting the better of Mathia on lap three. Race two and Hartill to a commanding lead but Fraser was on his tail and on lap two powered passed and went on to take the race victory.
There was an excellent battle at the front between Stephenson and Marshall in the final encounter. Fraser happy to watch the fight back in third. Stephenson eventually took the race win, but Fraser's third place was good enough to give him the overall on the day.
INTERNATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH
TWIN-SHOCK MX
Little Silver Moto Park, Exeter (Yeovil TSC)
Classic Pre-74: 1 Andy Roberton, 2 Matt Holcombe, 3 Paul Leyland, 4 Bob Stringer, 5 Shane Butler, 6 Mike Hill.
125/ 250cc: 1 Lee Hartill, 2 Stephen Rowlands, 3 Ryan Newbury, 4 Kelvin Vincent, 5 Jean Yves Oligo, 6 Steve Shambrook.
Four-stroke: 1 Bryan Withers, 2 Wayne Partington, 3 Tim Carter, 4 Paul Feltham, 5 Ed Spear, 6 Paul Webb.
Over 40: 1 John Iddon, 2 Richard Carter, 3 Stephen Clarke, 4 Andy Holland, 5 Nigel Parker, 6 Dom Durkan.
Over 50: 1 Andy Roberton, 2 Steve Adams, 3 Graham Noyce, 4 Peter Lightfoot, 5 Stuart Miller, 6 Mike Popperwell.
Clubman: 1 Jon Rutherford, 2 Tony Dinham, 3 Matthew Milson, 4 Scott Adams, 5 Ashley Wainwright, 6 Carl Ford.
Evolution: 1 Terry House, 2 Ben Griffiths, 3 Richard Chinn, 4 Jason Fraser, 5 Steve Liddington, 6 Lee Jackson.
International Expert: 1 Jason Fraser, 2 Matt Stephenson, 3 Pete Mathia, 4 Russell Hartill, 5 Kristian Marshall, 6 Carl Lilly-White.