Head to head!
By TMX Archives on 12th Oct 05
After crashing out at the fourth round of the UKXC series in spectacular style, Team Green Kawasaki LPE rider Ryan Voase claims an important win at the final round of the series when he beats Gas Gas UK's Paul Whibley by just five seconds. After crashing out at the fourth round of the UKXC series in spectacular style, Team Green Kawasaki LPE rider Ryan Voase claims an important win at the final round of the series when he beats Gas Gas UK's Paul Whibley by just five seconds.Seemingly glued together for the entire race, the pair swap the lead on numerous occasions with neither rider able to break clear of the other. Both need to top the race to win the championship and that leads to the pair providing the best racing of the series."We both knew that we had to beat each other to win the championship," explains Voase. "After the last round of the series I decided to change my strategy and although I got the holeshot I decided to follow Paul early on. It turned out to be a great race and I'm made up to have won the championship."With Whibley leading for much of the first half of the race, Voase gets his Kawasaki refuelled in double quick time to emerge from the pits a fraction ahead of his Gas Gas-mounted rival. The pair circulate just seconds apart with Whibley again hitting the front before falling."I made a small mistake and fell which meant that Ryan opened up a bit of a gap on me," says Whibs. "I caught him up again pretty quickly but I just couldn't close the last five-second gap. I was starting to feel tired near the end of the race from having had flu."At the flag and after nearly three hours of bar-to-bar racing Voasey claims his second win of the championship and wraps up the '05 Pro class title. Finishing third on the day and equal to his result at round four of the series is Jason Thomas. Within striking distance of the leading duo during the opening laps of the race, the Honda rider tangles with lapped riders and loses sight of the leaders midway through the race but still manages to claim a fine third.Competing on a 250cc two-stroke for the first time, Si Wakely shows good pace early in the race before dropping back during the later stages to finish fourth. Next up are the four-strokes of Yamaha's Richard Hay and Husqvarna's Chris Hockey while Darren Wheeler, Jack Twentyman, Mark Jackson and Matt Ridgeway round out the top 10.resultsPro Class1Ryan Voase(Kawasaki)15 laps2Paul Whibley(Gas Gas)15 laps3Jason Thomas(Honda)15 laps4Si Wakely(Honda)15 laps5Richard Hay(Yamaha)15 laps6Chris Hockey(Husqvarna)14 laps7Darren Wheeler(Yamaha)14 laps8Jack Twentyman (Honda)14 laps9Mark Jackson(KTM)13 laps10Matt Ridgeway(KTM)11 laps