Meet the Bos!

 

 

And in the MX2 class the epic session-long battle between Monster Yamaha's Mel Pocock and Elliott Banks-Brown and his HM Plant KTM continued with luck playing it's hand again as Banks-Brown's bike spluttered to a stop in race one, gifting the win, the overall and the red plate back to the on-form Pocock.

 

The track in this picturesque area of Shropshire was in excellent condition with the hard working members of the Salop MC keeping it almost dust free and as flat as possible for the four classes – the Vet and MXY85 classes joining the usual MX1 and MX2 categories  – though one start line official may have been a little over zealous with his start gate sweeping.

 

Strijbos and Martin Barr lead the pack from the sunlight of the start straight in to the shadows under the trees at turn one, with Dorren Coutts, and Shaun Simpson on their heels.

 

However as they came round to complete the opening lap everyone could already see that Strijbos was in his element and had already opened up a bit of a gap over the chasing pack.

 

Simpson started to make a move on lap three by passing Coutts, while Barr slid off and dropped back to fifth.

 

Wild-card rider, Max Anstie, on a very standard looking 450 Honda, loaned to him by Neil Prince, was making his MX1 debut and considering he hadn't ridden the machine beforehand, started eighth and was through to fourth, just behind Coutts by mid-distance, while Strijbos and Simpson had already checked out.

 

With three laps remaining Coutts dropped off the pace as both Anstie and Barr moved ahead for third and fourth respectively. Kristian Whatley chased Coutts over the line in sixth, with Gert Krestinov and Jamie Law the next two riders across the line.

 

Strijbos again got the holeshot at the start moto two and just cleared off, while Anstie did all he could to stay with the Belgian rider. Anstie ended the race just under 16-seconds adrift.

 

An interesting battle for third between Simpson and Barr captured the crowd's interest and the pair swapped position a number of times before Simpson finally claimed third by just over a second from hard-charging Barr.

 

Another ‘wild-card', Frenchman Milko Potisek had his best result of the day with fifth, just in front of Law and Nathan Parker.

 

Banks-Brown, Greame Irwin, Pocock and Adam Sterry all went into the long turn one side-by-side at the start of the first MX2 moto, but it was Banks-Brown that came out in front.

 

It took two laps for Pocock to find a way to oust Irwin and set off after Banks-Brown. Within another couple of laps the race between the two of the fastest MX2 riders in the country was on, and the lead swapped almost every lap.

 

But just as the excitement reached fever pitch it all went wrong for Banks-Brown as his KTM expired with just three laps remaining, handing the win to a grateful Pocock. Irwin finished second, just under five seconds behind the winner, with Frenchman Nicolas Aubin – 11 on lap one – third at the flag ahead of Neville Bradshaw.

 

James Cottrell was an excellent fifth, while Bryan MacKenzie was sixth on his second ride on the Pendrich KTM, despite a nasty gash in his arm that needed stitches, and after knocking himself out the previous weekend.

 

Things didn't start well for Pocock in race two. After allegedly preparing his chosen position on the start gate and heading back to the waiting zone, Aubin took a liking to the same spot and after the sighting lap went to that position leaving Pocock to find another slot.

 

This seemed to unsettle Pocock as Banks-Brown grabbed the holeshot from Bradshaw and Sterry, with Aubin fourth and Pocock well down in 12th place.

 

By half-distance Banks-Brown had built a six second lead, while Bradshaw was coming under pressure from Aubin. By this stage Pocock was up to fourth at the expense of young Sterry.

 

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 6 – Hawkstone Park, nr 

Shrewsbury, Shrops (Salop MC)

 1 Kevin Strijbos (HM Plant KTM UK) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75

 2 Max Anstie (Honda) 20 + 22 + 22 = 64

 3 Shaun Simpson (Monster BikeIt Yamaha) 22 + 20 + 20 = 62

 4 Martin Barr (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 18 + 18 + 18 = 54

 5 Jamie Law (D3 Racing KTM) 13 + 15 + 16 = 44

 6 Nathan Parker (STR KTM) 12 + 14 + 12 = 38

 7 Gert Krestinov (Route 77 MVRD Honda) 14 + 13 + 11 = 38

 8 Dorren Coutts (PAR Honda) 16 +  7 + 10 = 33

 9 Alex Snow (Oakleaf Kawasaki)  0 + 12 + 15 = 27

10 Milko Potisek (Honda)  5 + 16 +  0 = 21

11 Alfie Smith (JK Rinaldi Yamaha) 9+11+0=20, 12 Ray Rowson (Maxxis Henderson Kaw) 10+10+0=20, 13 Matthew Moffat (Dean Moff Star KTM) 0+9+7=16, 14 Kristian Whatley (PAR Honda) 15+0+0=15, 15 Tony Craig (Mickey Oates Honda) 8+6+0=14, 16 Ashley Wilde (Sandbach SM Kawasaki) 0+8+3=11, 17 Jason Dougan (Route77 MVRD Honda) 11+0+0=11, 18 Luke Benstead (Colchester Kawasaki) 7+1+2=10, 19 Daniel Hutchinson (Bikesport KTM) 4+4+0=8, 20 Aston Bird (Gateway Kawasaki) 6+2+0=8, 21 Ross Rutherford (Bikesport Honda) 3+3+0=6, 22 Gary Gibson (???) 0+5+0=5, 23 Josh Waterman (Dyer & Butler Suzuki) 2+0+0=2, 24 Carlton Husband (Dixon Academy Yamaha) 1+0+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Strijbos, 2 Simpson, 3 Anstie, 4 Barr, 5 Coutts, 6 Whatley, 7 Krestinov, 8 Law, 9 Parker, 10 Dougan, 11 Rowson, 12 Alfie Smith, 13 Craig, 14 Benstead, 15 Bird, 16 Potisek, 17 Hutchinson, 18 Rutherford, 19 Waterman, 20 Husband.

RACE TWO: 1 Strijbos, 2 Anstie, 3 Simpson, 4 Barr, 5 Potisek, 6 Law, 7 Parker, 8 Krestinov, 9 Snow, 10 Alfie Smith, 11 Rowson, 12 Moffat, 13 Wilde, 14 Coutts, 15 Craig, 16 Gibson, 17 Hutchinson, 18 Rutherford, 19 Bird, 20 Benstead.

MIXED MX1/MX2 RACE: 1 Strijbos, 2 Anstie, 3 Simpson, 4 Barr, 5 Law, 6 Snow, 7 Pocock (MX2), 8 Banks-Browne (MX2), 9 Parker, 10 Krestinov, 11 Coutts, 12 Irwin (MX2), 13 Lenoir (MX2), 14 Moffat, 15 Cottrell (MX2), 16 Tombs (MX2), 17 Bradshaw (MX2), 18 Wilde, 19 Benstead, 20 Nathan Watson (MX2).

SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Strijbos 388 points, 2 Simpson 339, 3 Karro 308, 4 Krestinov 264, 5 Barr 243, 6 Whatley 201, 7 Law 200, 8 Sword 198, 9 Snow 186, 10 Coutts 170, 11 Parker 140, 12 De Reuver 136, 13 Alfie Smith 125, 14 Dougan 102, 15 Moffat 97, 16 Wilde 69, 17 Bird 67, 18 Anstie 64, 19 Rowson 60, 20 Coppins 52,...

NEXT ROUND: August 27 – Manor Farm, Langrish, nr Petersfield (Langrish MCRC).

 

Rd 6 – Hawkstone Park, nr Shrewsbury, Shrops (Salop MC)

 1 Mel Pocock (Monster BikeIt Yamaha) 25 + 18 + 14 = 57

 2 Nicolas Aubin (Buildbase Honda) 20 + 25 +  0 = 45

 3 Neville Bradshaw (Evotech Stevens Honda) 18 + 22 +  4 = 44

 4 Graeme Irwin (Emberson RFX Yamaha) 22 +  8 +  9 = 39

 5 Elliott Banks-Browne (HM Plant KTM)  0 + 20 + 13 = 33

 6 Stuart Edmonds (Tyco TAS Suzuki) 14 + 15 +  0 = 29

 7 Lewis Tombs (John Banks Honda) 11 + 11 +  5 = 27

 8 James Cottrell (Pulse DB Honda) 16 +  3 +  6 = 25

 9 Luke Remmer (MX Protech Yamaha) 12 + 12 +  0 = 24

10 James Dunn (HM Plant KTM)  7 + 16 +  0 = 23

11 Adam Sterry (PAR Honda) 8+14+0=22, 12 Steven Lenoir (Emberson RFX Yamaha) 13+0+8=21, 13 Alan Keet (Dyer & Butler Suzuki) 10+10+0=20, 14 Lewis Gregory (Apico Suzuki) 9+7+0=16, 15 Bryan MacKenzie (Rockstar KTM) 15+0+0=15, 16 Nathan Watson (PAR Honda) 0+13+1=14, 17 Connor Walkley (Maxxis Henderson Kawasaki) 0+9+0=9, 18 Ben Watson (PAR Honda) 4+4+0=8, 19 Matt Burrows (SBW Honda) 0+6+0=6, 20 Jordan Booker (Buildbase Honda) 6+0+0=6, 21 Hamish Harwood (DBG Eastwood Honda) 0+5+0=5, 22 Tom Kelly (Rev Racing Honda) 3+2+0=5, 23 Luke Hawkins (Apico Suzuki) 5+0+0=5, 24 Luke Norris (MNE Kawasaki) 2+0+0=2, 25 Damon Strydom (Apico Suzuki) 0+1+0=1, 26 Jake Millward (Oakleaf Kawasaki) 1+0+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Mel Pocock, 2 Irwin, 3 Aubin, 4 Bradshaw, 5 Cottrell, 6 MacKenzie, 7 Stuart Edmonds, 8 Lenoir, 9 Remmer, 10 Tombs, 11 Keet, 12 Gregory, 13 Sterry, 14 Dunn, 15 Booker, 16 Hawkins, 17 Watson, 18 Kelly, 19 Norris, 20 Millward.

RACE TWO: 1 Aubin, 2 Bradshaw, 3 Banks-Browne, 4 Mel Pocock, 5 Dunn, 6 Stuart Edmonds, 7 Sterry, 8 Watson, 9 Remmer, 10 Tombs, 11 Keet, 12 Walkley, 13 Irwin, 14 Gregory, 15 Burrows, 16 Harwood, 17 Watson, 18 Cottrell, 19 Kelly, 20 Strydom.

SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Mel Pocock 343 points, 2 Banks-Browne 327, 3 Bradshaw 271, 4 Lenoir 254, 5 Aubin 239, 6 Irwin 239, 7 MacKenzie 235, 8 Stuart Edmonds 174, 9 Cottrell 152, 10 Tombs 141, 11 Booker 139, 12 Watson 123, 13 Keet 94, 14 Remmer 91, 15 Walkley 89, 16 Sterry 80, 17 Osborne 69, 18 Carless 67, 19 Tonus 50, 20 Harwood 50,... 

NEXT ROUND: August 27 – Manor Farm, Langrish, nr Petersfield (Langrish MCRC).

 

Rd 2 – Hawkstone Park, nr 

Shrewsbury, Shrops (Salop MC)

 1 Gradie Featherstone (DFB KTM) 25 + 16 = 41

 2 Will Keogh (Vampires Rock KTM) 15 + 22 = 37

 3 Josh Gilbert (Buildbase Honda) 22 + 14 = 36

 4 Todd Kellett (Twisted 7 Kawasaki) 20 + 15 = 35

 5 Lewis Houghton (Danger UK KTM) 13 + 18 = 31

 6 Robert Yates (Suzuki) 18 + 12 = 30

 7 Jordan Eccles (KTM)  3 + 25 = 28

 8 Mitchel Lewis (MX World Honda) 16 +  9 = 25

 9 Sam Braithwaite (G Force Suspension KTM) 11 + 13 = 24

10 Ethan Gatenby (QR Plastering KTM) 12 + 11 = 23

11 Scooter Webster (Vampires Rock KTM) 0+20 =20, 12 Greg Hyett (KTM) 10+8 =18, 13 Alfie Mountford (KTM) 5+10 =15, 14 Alfie Bowtell (KTM) 14+0 =14, 15 Matt Lomas (Racx Eng KTM) 6+7 =13, 16 Dexter Douglas (Sandiford KTM) 7+6 =13, 17 James McFayden (Feehily KTM) 4+5 =9, 18 Will Jeonney (KTM) 9+0 =9, 19 Jay Hague (JLP KTM) 8+0 =8, 20 Daniel Shepherd (KTM) 2+4 =6.21 Matthew Pocock (MGP Steel Suzuki) 0+3 =3, 22 Charlie Kent (KTM) 0+2 =2, 23 Josh Gilbert (Buildbase Honda) 1+0 =1.

RACE ONE: 1 Featherstone, 2 Gilbert, 3 Kellett, 4 Yates, 5 Lewis, 6 Keogh, 7 Bowtell, 8 Houghton, 9 Gatenby, 10 Braithwaite, 11 Hyett, 12 Jeonney, 13 Hague, 14 Douglas, 15 Lomas, 16 Mountford, 17 McFayden, 18 Eccles, 19 Shepherd, 20 Gilbert.

RACE TWO: 1 Eccles, 2 Keogh, 3 Webster, 4 Houghton, 5 Featherstone, 6 Kellett, 7 Gilbert, 8 Braithwaite, 9 Yates, 10 Gatenby, 11 Mountford, 12 Lewis, 13 Hyett, 14 Lomas, 15 Douglas, 16 McFayden, 17 Shepherd, 18 Pocock, 19 Kent.

SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 3) rounds: 1 Keogh 81 points, 2 Gilbert 75, 3 Kellett 75, 4 Featherstone 75, 5 Eccles 68, 6 Houghton 61, 7 Yates 59, 8 Braithwaite 42, 9 Gatenby 38, 10 Bowtell 36, 11 Lewis 34, 12 Hague 33, 13 Mountford 27, 14 Jefferies 25, 15 Carpenter 21, 16 Webster 20, 17 Hyett 18, 18 Hughes 14, 19 Lomas 13, 20 Douglas 13,...

NEXT ROUND: October 7 – Little Silver MP, nr Exminster, Devon (Little Silver Off Road Promotions).

 

Rd 2 – Hawkstone Park, nr 

Shrewsbury, Shrops (Salop MC)

 1 Terry House (Poole Yamaha) 22 + 25 = 47

 2 Gary Hoptrough (KTM) 25 + 20 = 45

 3 Phil Mercer (KTM) 20 + 22 = 42

 4 Greg Hanson (Lanes Kawasaki) 18 + 18 = 36

 5 Adrian  Bradley (Benton Haulage Suzuki) 15 + 16 = 31

 6 Paul Coward (Kawasaki) 14 + 15 = 29

 7 Jonathan White (KAIS Suzuki) 16 + 13 = 29

 8 Dave  Thomson (AMS Husaberg) 13 + 11 = 24

 9 David Dunn (Swansea Drydocks KTM) 10 + 12 = 22

10 Darren Scott (Bikesport Honda)  7 + 14 = 21

11 Andrew Watkins (???) 11+10=21, 12 David Hopkins (KTM) 5+9=14, 13 Robert Glynn (Suzuki) 6+7=13, 14 Garry Jones (Honda) 12+0=12, 15 Antony Tunnell (Williams Kawasaki) 9+0=9, 16 Steve Atkins (Herts MX ???) 0+8=8, 17 Steve Elford (1st Choice Honda) 8+0=8, 18 Anthony Houseman (Surf & Turf KTM) 2+5=7, 19 Paul Curtis (KTM) 3+4=7, 20 Richard Brown (KTM) 4+3=7.21 Andrew Little (Melbourne Kawasaki) 0+6=6, 22 Alan Magee (Pirelli Honda) 1+2=3, 23 John McGrath (Suzuki) 0+1=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Hoptrough, 2 House, 3 Mercer, 4 Hanson, 5 White, 6 Bradley, 7 Coward, 8 Thomson, 9 Jones, 10 Watkins, 11 Dunn, 12 Tunnell, 13 Elford, 14 Scott, 15 Glynn, 16 Hopkins, 17 Brown, 18 Curtis, 19 Anthony Houseman, 20 Magee.

RACE TWO: 1 House, 2 Mercer, 3 Hoptrough, 4 Hanson, 5 Bradley, 6 Coward, 7 Scott, 8 White, 9 Dunn, 10 Thomson, 11 Watkins, 12 Hopkins, 13 Atkins, 14 Glynn, 15 Little, 16 Anthony Houseman, 17 Curtis, 18 Brown, 19 Magee, 20 McGrath.

SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 3) rounds: 1 Mercer 92 points, 2 House 82, 3 Hoptrough 81, 4 Hanson 80, 5 Coward 61, 6 Bradley 51, 7 Scott 50, 8 White 48, 9 Thomson 33, 10 Dunn 32, 11 Elford 29, 12 Hayworth 26, 13 Jones 26, 14 Wheeler 24, 15 Watkins 21, 16 Hopkins 21, 17 Peter Taylor 20, 18 Glynn 17, 19 Brown 17, 20 Lewis 13,...

NEXT ROUND: October 7 – Little Silver MP, nr Exminster, Devon (Little Silver Off Road Promotions).