GOLD BARRS

By Mike Wood on 17th Aug 12

After having the season badly disrupted by some very wet weather, the 2012 AMCA MX Championships fired back into life last weekend with Cheltenham Spa SC.

With the Brookthorpe venue again immaculately prepared, the scene was set for an exciting day of racing.

But before qualifying could even be completed heavy rain started to fall, turning the Gloucestershire venue into a skating rink.

Although that rain did eventually stop and the sun decided to put in an appearance, the going was extremely treacherous for the opening block of action and skill, stamina and mental strength were pushed to the limits.

In MX1 Clinton Barrs finished top of the pile ahead of reigning Champ Lee Dunham and Lewis Belfield, while in MX2 Jack Cox – in just his second MX2 Championship appearance – took a great overall win from Ben Saunders and Paul Neale.

So with conditions at their very worst, the MX1 class were first out on track with young Luke Dean again the fastest rider in qualification.

That time had been achieved in the dry and when the gate dropped, Scott Bates led the charge ahead of Lee Dunham, Lewis Belfield, Aran Agius, Kristofer Ayres and Rich Meakin.

After bagging a maximum points haul in round one, Lee Payne was looking for another big result at Brookthorpe.

But his day began disastrously as he fell on turn two, with

Clinton Barrs another notable rider in trouble.

Up front, despite starting outside the top ten, Dean had moved through to take control whilst Michael Smith had moved smartly from ninth up to fifth.

Stretching his advantage, Dean looked a nailed-on winner of this opening MX1 mud fest – until he slipped off with just two laps remaining.

That error allowed Dunham to take the win after a cool, calculated race, with

two-stroke mounted Belfield a great second.

The ride of this extremely difficult and enduring contest though belonged to Clinton Barrs, somehow picking off his rivals to get home an incredible third with Smith an impressive fourth.

Next best were Tim Burrows and Chad Yarranton who both gated outside the top ten then displayed great determination to get to the flag.

With the rain having stopped and the track beginning to form a dry racing line, Payne was desperate to make amends for his moto one disappointment, grabbing the second race holeshot.

His joy was to be short-lived though as he collided with Clinton Barrs on the opening lap and fell, restarting a

distant last.

FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX AUGUST 17

AMCA MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 2 – Brookthorpe, Glos (Cheltenham Spa SC)

1 Clinton Barrs (DK Off-Road Kawasaki) 50 + 60 + 60 = 170

2 Lee Dunham (450F Kawasaki) 60 + 54 + 47 = 161

3 Lewis Belfield (Hazport Kawasaki) 54 + 45 + 33 = 132

4 Tim Burrows (450F KTM) 45 + 33 + 35 = 113

5 Chad Yarranton (Passion Kawasaki) 43 + 39 + 31 = 113

6 Michael Smith (Auto Repairs Honda) 47 + 43 + 22 = 112

7 Scott Bates (450F KTM) 35 + 26 + 45 = 106

8 Shaun Pearce (Peter Jones Honda) 24 + 41 + 39 = 104

9 Luke Dean (Transporterland Honda) 31 + 22 + 50 = 103

10 Aran Agius (450F Kawasaki) 19 + 37 + 41 = 97

11 Lee Payne (Malin Floors KTM) 22+19+54=95, 12 Jamie Smith (450F Suzuki) 39+27+26=92, 13 Michael Reynolds (450F Suzuki) 15+29+43=87, 14 Robert Lewis (Transporterland Honda) 33+47+7=87, 15 Gary Brown (450F Honda) 26+31+24=81, 16 Sean Bond (450F Honda) 37+24+20=81, 17 Kristofer Ayres (250 KTM) 0+50+29=79, 18 Elliot Barrs (LRT Honda) 25+25+27=77, 19 Jamie Dobson (450F KTM) 0+35+37=72, 20 Adam Castledine (450F Suzuki) 29+23+18=70, 21 Stephen Tillotson (450F Honda) 41+0+23=64, 22 Darren Marklove (450F Kawasaki) 27+18+19=64, 23 Marc Popperwell (450F Kawasaki) 18+21+21=60, 24 James Price (450F Honda) 20+17+16=53, 25 Joshua Scott (???) 14+16+17=47,...

RACE ONE: 1 Dunham, 2 Belfield, 3 Clinton Barrs, 4 Michael Smith, 5 Burrows, 6 Yarranton, 7 Tillotson, 8 Jamie Smith, 9 Bond, 10 Bates, 11 Lewis, 12 Dean, 13 Castledine, 14 Marklove, 15 Brown, 16 Elliot Barrs, 17 Pearce, 18 Meakin, 19 Payne, 20 Nicholls.

RACE TWO: 1 Clinton Barrs, 2 Dunham, 3 Ayres, 4 Lewis, 5 Belfield, 6 Michael Smith, 7 Pearce, 8 Yarranton, 9 Agius, 10 Dobson, 11 Burrows, 12 Brown, 13 Reynolds, 14 Jamie Smith, 15 Bates, 16 Elliot Barrs, 17 Bond, 18 Castledine, 19 Dean, 20 Popperwell.

RACE THREE: 1 Clinton Barrs, 2 Payne, 3 Dean, 4 Dunham, 5 Bates, 6 Reynolds, 7 Agius, 8 Pearce, 9 Dobson, 10 Burrows, 11 Belfield, 12 Yarranton, 13 Ayres, 14 Elliot Barrs, 15 Jamie Smith, 16 Elliot Barrs, 17 Bond, 18 Castledine, 19 Dean, 20 Popperwell.

SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 5) rounds: 1 Clinton Barrs 317 points, 2 Dunham 308, 3 Payne 275, 4 Pearce 246, 5 Belfield 220, 6 Burrows 209, 7 Yarranton 208, 8 Elliot Barrs 207, 9 Dean 191, 10 Michael Smith 188, 11 Bates 187, 12 Tillotson 187, 13 Reynolds 177, 14 Tye Barrs 152, 15 Dobson 150, 16 Agius 149, 17 Lewis 149, 18 Jamie Smith 143, 19 Bond 118, 20 Popperwell 109,...

NEXT ROUND: August 26 – Howton Court, Pontrilas, Herefordshire (Club TBA).

AMCA MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 2 – Brookthorpe, Glos (Cheltenham Spa SC)