No bull at Southport
By TMX Archives on 21st May 08
THE WP Elite Youth Cup series burst into 2008 with a fast and frantic first round at the Leisure Lakes facility, near Southport, Merseyside. Now in its second year, the series is attracting even more riders who wish to have a blast in what is becoming the best Youth series in the country.
After a prolonged qualification session, due to technical difficulties, the weekend's racing began in earnest as the Red Bull supported WP Elite Youth Cup took centre stage. The racing was manic most of the time as some of the field struggled to get to grips with the fast, tough and gnarly sand circuit.
First up were the Junior 65cc boys, who battled their way around the Leisure Lakes track, which is new to most competitors this year. Nearly all the riders had problems at one point or another, although Ben Green looked all set for the overall as he scorched to the opening three race wins. After that, it was bad luck all the way for the Cumbrian who had to race without a seat in heat four and incurred a time penalty in heat five after losing his silencer. This dropped Green to second as Ryan Snaith pounced with a race four victory to grab the win and the points lead. Three fourths and two sixth places meant Danny Lanfear stormed to third overall and 168 points. The ever-colourful Joe Jeffries took the final race of the event to finish an agonising six points off the podium.
The two stand-out riders in the Small-wheel 85cc class were Liam Garland and James Dunn as the pair fought each other, and the track, lap after lap across their five races. ‘Dunny' grabbed the holeshot every race but tenacious terrier, Garland, hounded Dunn down in the first three races to take the chequered flag each time.
James got his revenge on Sunday, hot-footing to two sterling race wins but that was not enough to stop Garland whose sensible second place finishes nailed him the overall by a clear six
points.
Third overall was the excellent Oliver Osmaston. Oli Oz, back after a horrible broken leg exactly 12 months ago, rode quickly but cleverly in the deep sand to follow the front two home on three occasions while picking up good points elsewhere. He was very happy with his weekend's work.
Last year's Elite Youth Cup 65cc champ, Ben Watson, was a stuttering fourth after suffering bike problems – no doubt his time will come. A single point behind Watson was Rickie Roderick whose highlight was a sterling ride to fourth in the first race on Saturday. Sixth place went to Connor Clark whose non-stop battling rewarded him with 136 points. Special mention must go to Adam Sterry who was back on the schoolboy scene after a year out but had some terrible luck despite being right on the leaders' pace.
As predicted, the Big-wheel 85cc competition was dominated by the monstrous Bradley Pocock who took four wins from five races and a huge 222-point haul. Pre-race favourite, Luke Hawkins, wasn't allowed to settle by any of his rivals and had to be content with one heat win and 207 points. Jake Page produced the stand-out performance of the class as qualifying technical problems meant he had 40th pick on the gate. Using more of a balls-out technique than usual, Jake managed to scrap his way to four fourth places and a superb second behind Pocock in heat three to nail third overall.
Fourth was secured by Manxman Jamie McCanney who didn't look his usual self at times but still achieved good points. Fifth was Bryn Clarke who is normally the holeshot king but his starts didn't always go to plan this time out, while sixth place man, Ryan Houghton, will be ruing his race four DNF.
The Elite Seniors had to work hard for their points as the top 125cc two-stroke boys were mixed in the thunderous 250F class. Top dog was Christian ‘Turbo' Taylor who was running extremely well and nailed maximum points for the weekend. Jamie Houghton scrapped his way around the rutty track to finish second, 18 points behind Taylor. Third was the ever-improving Ryan Turner while fourth, fifth and sixth were Jasper Uphill, Jordan Richards and Joe Goggins who were closely matched all weekend.
Everybody had their eyes on the electric and unmistakable style of Scott Elderfield in Elite Open. Scott gated fast in every moto and won all five of his races but that does not reflect well on his rivals. Second overall was James Hutchinson who was the fastest rider on track at the end of the races but he just couldn't gate with the front-runners.
Lewis Trickett was a fantastic third as he continues to punch above his weight in this frighteningly talented group. Fourth was the desperately unlucky Josh Waterman who had his race-two points stripped for changing bikes on the start line. But for that he would have been second overall!
Fifth went to determined southerner Will Worden who worked hard for his 138- point haul. Consistency was the key for the sixth placed rider Nathan Rooks who rarely fails to make the top ten in any race he contests.
Another incredibly well organised event by the MC Events team, and no doubt with the full force of Red Bull behind them as the year unfolds, they'll be plenty of action both on and off the track.
WP ELITE YOUTH CUP MX SERIES
Rd 1 – Leisure Lakes, nr Southport (MC Federation)
Elite Junior 65cc: 1 Ryan Snaith 201 points, 2 Ben Green 179, 3 Danny Lanfear 168, 4 Joe Jefferies 162, 5 Alfie Bowtell 160, 6 Gregg Hyett 146, 7 Dan Whitehead 146, 8 Todd Kellett 120, 9 Joshua Gilbert 119, 10 Jack Seaborne 114.
Elite Small-wheel 85cc: 1 Liam Garland 219, 2 James Dunn 213, 3 Oliver Osmaston 166, 4 Ben Watson 145, 5 Rickie Roderick 144, 6 Conner Clark 136, 7 Liam Knight 121, 8 Joe Collier 109, 9 Adam Sterry 107, 10 Daniel Clark 105.
Elite Big-wheel 85cc: 1 Bradley Pocock 222, 2 Luke Hawkins 207, 3 Jake Page 186, 4 Jamie McCanney 177, 5 Bryn Clarke 134, 6 Ryan Houghton 126, 7 Jamie Rayner 122, 8 Ty Kellett 116, 9 Chambers Whittle 114, 10 Anthony Mark Reville 112.
Elite Senior: 1 Christian Taylor 225, 2 Jamie Houghton 207, 3 Ryan Turner 192, 4 Jasper Uphill 186, 5 Jordan Richards 153, 6 Joe Goggins 142, 7 Daniel Parry 132, 8 Linford Healey 106, 9 Liam Gill 106, 10 Alex Degnan 96.
Elite Open: 1 Scott Elderfield 225, 2 James Hutchinson 173, 3 Lewis Trickett 159, 4 Josh Waterman 151, 5 Will Worden 138, 6 Nathan Rooks 128, 7 Lewis Tombs 127, 8 Lewis Abbott 124, 9 Josh Spinks 121, 10 Marc Dean 103.
NEXT ROUND: Jun 8 – Cusses Gorse, nr Winterbourne Gunner.