Super sport at Sportcity
By TMX Archives on 8th Oct 08
SUPERMOTO moved into a new era at the weekend when Britain's first ever inner-city event was staged at Sportcity, Manchester, home of the Manchester City football club.
As you would expect, all the winning in the S1 and S2 classes was done by Matt Winstanley on his 450 Robinsons KTM and Christian Iddon riding a factory 550 Aprilia. The overall win in the SXV class went to an on-form David Farmer, while Ollie Pope dominated the S3 class and Oliver Harrison was unbeaten in the S4 category.
A massive entry for the Clubman class had to be split into two groups. Lee Williams got the overall when the points where added up for all four races.
This is what supermoto needed. With the use of the main road into the complex, and a handy piece of waste ground next to it, combined with a massive car park, and a lot of hard work, the organisers had an interesting track within walking distance of a major city centre.
The corners were marked out with those red and white movable blocks used to make traffic lanes at road works. The straights in the car park were marked with straw bales and excellent jumps and banked turns were built up on the wasteland.
And there were paying spectators, not a lot, but more then has ever been seen at a Supermoto in this country so far and that's a good start.
Instead of the usual three races, an extra moto for all six classes, with double points, was added at the end of the day with the idea of it being run under floodlights.
However, after careful consideration, it was decided that while there was enough light to park a car by and walk to the football stadium, there wasn't enough to race motorcycles at speed. So in the interests of safety the last block of races was tacked onto the other three and just concluded as the natural light was fading.
At the start of the first combined S1/S2 moto, Winstanley got the holeshot with Ady Smith in second, while Iddon, the leading S2 rider, was in third as the pack of 24 riders all made it round the first turn.
By the end of the first lap, the top three had already opened up a gap on the rest of the pack, headed by James Addy, Keith Farmer, Chris Hodgson and Richard Blakeman.
On lap four, as the leaders came out of the off-road section, Smith made an uncharacteristic mistake and slid off his bike, allowing Iddon and Farmer to move through.
By half-distance, as Winstanley and Iddon, disappeared into the distance only inches apart, Smith had regrouped, caught and passed Farmer for third spot.
Winstanley took his first win of the day, while Iddon crossed the finish line second, but topped the S2 category. Smith was a lonely third, with Hodgson fourth after a race-long tussle with Ricky Higgs and James Addy.
Once again Winstanley got the holeshot in race two, but this time he was followed by Iddon, with Smith just one place behind.
Just as in the opener, the two world championship riders cleared off into the distance from the rest of the pack. After ten laps they crossed the finish line just under one one-hundredth of a second apart that's close!
BRITISH CLUBMAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPS
Rd 9 Sportcity, Manchester
1 Chris Walker (450 KTM) 22 + 22 + 20 = 64
2 Ben Robb (Honda) 25 + 14 + 22 = 61
3 Lee Williams (450 KTM) 5 + 25 + 25 = 55
4 Ben Kirkman (650 MW Honda) 20 + 16 + 18 = 54
5 Alan Bott (Honda) 18 + 20 + 16 = 54
6 Dale O'Connor (450 Honda) 16 + 18 + 15 = 49
7 Conrad Little (450 Honda) 13+15+14=42, 8 Shaun Church (450 Honda) 15+13+10=38, 9 Phil Diggle (560 KTM) 11+12+13=36, 10 Mike Wright (450 Honda) 7+10+6=23, 11 Mick Bertram (450 Jersey Singles KTM) 8+3+11=22, 12 Jack Gow (???) 12+0+9=21, 13 Darren Wilcock (650 Husaberg) 10+7+4=21, 14 Michael Craig (450 KTM) 0+4+12=16, 15 Jack Darbyshire (450 Honda) 14+0+0=14, 16 Andrew Williamson (550 Husaberg) 0+8+5=13, 17 Graeme Wiles (450 Honda) 1+11+1=13, 18 Neil Crayston (???) 0+5+7=12, 19 Dean Wingate (450 Honda) 9+0+3=12, 20 Dave Jolly (550 Husaberg) 3+0+8=11, 21 Paul Kenyon (Honda) 4+6+0=10.
Rd 10 Sportcity, Manchester
OVERALL (Double-points race): 1 Williams 50 points, 2 Kirkman 44, 3 Walker 40, 4 Ben Robb (Honda) 36, 5 Bott 32, 6 O'Connor 30, 7 Church 28, 8 Darbyshire 26, 9 Little 24, 10 Bertram 22, 11 Wright 20, 12 Wilcock 18, 13 Anthony Long (???) 16, 14 Wiles 14, 15 Crayston 12, 16 Dave Blanks (450 KTM) 10, 17 Craig 8, 18 Gow 6, 19 Jolly 4, 20 Wingate 2.
SERIES STANDINGS after 10 rounds: 1 Chris Walker 632 points, 2 Williams 581, 3 Kirkman 500, 4 O'Connor 476, 5 Bertram 362, 6 Craig 282, 7 Metcalfe 240, 8 Field 194, 9 Bourne 192, 10 Robb 162,
BRITISH SXV SUPERMOTO CHAMPS
Rd 9 Sportcity, Manchester (BSMC)
1 David Farmer (450 Aprilia) 22 + 25 + 25 = 72
2 Bruce Dingle (=Aprilia) 25 + 20 + 20 = 65
3 Shane Parkin (450 Aprilia) 20 + 16 + 22 = 58
4 Jack Fay (450 Aprilia) 13 + 22 + 18 = 53
5 Phil Gee (450 Alice Aprillia) 15 + 14 + 16 = 45
6 John Earnshaw (550 Aprilia) 16 + 12 + 15 = 43
7 Peter Bennett (550 Aprilia) 18+11+13=42, 8 Brad Davey (550 Moto Bits Aprilia) 11+13+14=38, 9 Andrew Kenningly (Aprilia) 12+18+7=37, 10 Chris Harrison (450 Alice Aprilia) 14+15+6=35, 11 Darren Lee (550 Supermotodaz Aprilia) 10+7+12=29, 12 Craig McNab (550 Aprilia) 7+9+11=27, 13 Dan Marshall (450 Aprilia) 8+10+2=20, 14 Dave Wood (450 Aprilia) 6+6+5=17, 15 Dean Ellison (450 Aprilia) 9+8+0=17, 16 John Anderson (Aprilia) 2+5+9=16, 17 Scott Richardson (550 Aprilia) 5+3+8=16, 18 Robert Hartley (450 Aprilia) 0+4+10=14, 19 Andrew Sellars (550 Aprilia) 4+0+3=7, 20 Brian Harris (550 Corsa Aprilia) 0+0+4=4, 21 Tim Williams (550 Aprilia) 3+1+0=4.
Rd 10 Sportcity, Manchester
OVERALL (Double-points race): 1 Farmer 50 points, 2 Dingle 44, 3 Parkin 40, 4 Fay 36, 5 Gee 32, 6 Earnshaw 30, 7 Davey 28, 8 Bennett 26, 9 Harrison 24, 10 Lee 22, 11 Hartley 20, 12 Ellison 18, 13 Marshall 16, 14 Anderson 14, 15 Richardson 12, 16 McNab 10, 17 Harris 8, 18 Keith Haycock (450 Aprilia) 6, 19 Ian McCreadie (550 Aprilia) 4, 20 Williams 2.
SERIES STANDINGS after 9 (of 10) rounds: 1 Farmer 700 points, 2 Parkin 621, 3 Dingle 565, 4 Davey 408, 5 Fay 395, 6 Harrison 382, 7 Gee 346, 8 Bennett 341, 9 Marshall 279, 10 Evans 233,
BRITISH S4 SUPERMOTO CHAMPS
Rd 9 Sportcity, Manchester
1 Oliver Harrison (150 SM Honda) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75
2 Jordan Holliday (150 MW Honda) 22 + 14 + 22 = 58
3 Scott Pitchers (85 Yamaha) 15 + 20 + 20 = 55
4 Ben Stafford (Honda) 20 + 18 + 16 = 54
5 Chelsea Gowland (150 Honda) 18 + 16 + 15 = 49
6 Malachai Thomas (150 Honda) 14 + 22 + 12 = 48
7 Brett Sayer (???) 11+15+18=44, 8 Kane Robson (85 Trevor Pope KTM) 16+13+14=43, 9 Scott Wright (150 Honda) 13+11+13=37, 10 Ashley Saunders (85 Honda) 12+12+11=35, 11 Ryan Rudd (???) 10+10+10=30, 12 Zach Hulse (85 Yamaha) 9+9+8=26, 13 Laura Desborough (150 Honda) 8+8+9=25.
Rd 10 Sportcity, Manchester
OVERALL (Double-points race): 1 Harrison 50, 2 Holliday 44, 3 Stafford 40, 4 Sayer 36, 5 Robson 32, 6 Pitchers 30, 7 Wright 28, 8 Saunders 26, 9 Rudd 24, 10 Hulse 22, 11 Gowland 20, 12 Thomas 18, 13 Desborough 18.
SERIES STANDINGS after 9 (of 10) rounds: 1 Harrison 637 points, 2 Wright 533, 3 Stafford 346, 4 Holliday 297, 5 Sayer 192, 6 Dixon 187, 7 Compton 159, 8 Rudd 152, 9 Robson 129, 10 Pitchers 85,
BRITISH S1 SUPERMOTO CHAMPS
Rd 9 Sportcity, Manchester (BSMC)
1 Matt Winstanley (450 Robinson KTM) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75
2 Ady Smith (450 Freestone KTM) 22 + 22 + 20 = 64
3 Chris Hodgson (450 Husqvarna) 20 + 20 + 22 = 62
4 Matthew Pope (450 KTM) 15 + 18 + 14 = 47
5 James Addy (450 Appleyard KTM) 18 + 11 + 16 = 45
6 Andy Mitchell (450 Honda) 16 + 16 + 13 = 45
7 Richard Sharpe (???) 12+15+15=42, 8 Richard Darlington (450 Robinson KTM) 13+13+12=38, 9 George Clements (450 Just Bikes Husqvarna) 14+12+11=37, 10 Lee Jones (450 Aprilia) 11+0+18=29, 11 Rob McNealy (450 Husqvarna UK) 10+14+0=24, 12 Graham Norris (???) 9+0+10=19.
Rd 10 Sportcity, Manchester (BSMC)
OVERALL (Double-points race): 1 Winstanley 50 points, 2 Hodgson 44, 3 Smith 40, 4 Addy 36, 5 Jones 32, 6 Pope 30, 7 Sharpe 28, 8 Clements 26, 9 Darlington 24, 10 Norris 22.
SERIES STANDINGS after 10 rounds: 1 Winstanley 669 points, 2 Smith 596, 3 Addy 544, 4 Hodgson 529, 5 Clements 400, 6 Matthew Pope 363, 7 McNealy 353, 8 Darlington 302, 9 Jones 260, 10 Mitchell 210,
BRITISH S2 SUPERMOTO CHAMPS
Rd 9 Sportcity, Manchester
1 Christian Iddon (550 Aprilia) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75
2 Craig Venske (613 Robinson KTM) 20 + 22 + 22 = 64
3 Ricky Higgs (550 Aprilia) 22 + 20 + 20 = 62
4 Keith Farmer (550 SM Aprilia) 18 + 18 + 15 = 51
5 Richard Blakeman (Robinson KTM) 16 + 15 + 18 = 49
6 David Hartley (Heavy Duty KTM) 15 + 16 + 9 = 40
7 Ryan Dixon (505 KTM) 14+13+10=37, 8 Lee Abbott (540 KTM) 12+11+13=36, 9 Chris Babbitt (650 Husaberg) 11+12+12=35, 10 Will Moore (613 Robinson KTM) 10+10+11=31, 11 Carl Shield (650 Husaberg) 0+14+16=30, 12 Scott Woodacre (550 DCR Husaberg) 13+0+14=27.
Rd10 Sportcity, Manchester (BSMC)
OVERALL (Double-points race): 1 Iddon 50, 2 Higgs 44, 3 Venske 40, 4 Hartley 36, 5 Blakeman 32, 6 Farmer 30, 7 Shield 28, 8 Dixon 26, 9 Babbitt 24, 10 Moore 22, 11 Abbott 20, 12 Woodacre 18.
SERIES STANDINGS after 10 rounds: 1 Iddon 628 points, 2 Farmer 597, 3 Higgs 596, 4 Hartley 487, 5 Blakeman 448, 6 Venske 442, 7 Dixon 357, 8 Babbitt 340, 9 Moore 304, 10 Abbott 298,
BRITISH S3 SUPERMOTO CHAMPS
Rd 9 Sportcity, Manchester
1 Ollie Pope (250 Trevor Pope KTM) 25 + 20 + 25 = 70
2 Lee Rudd (250 TRM Honda) 22 + 18 + 22 = 62
3 Lewis Cornish (Honda) 18 + 22 + 20 = 60
4 Oliver Harrison (250 SM Yamaha) 20 + 16 + 18 = 54
5 Shaun Church (Grays Bike Kawa) 15 + 15 + 15 = 45
6 Graeme Norris (250 Husqvarna) 14 + 14 + 16 = 44
7 Lee Cunliffe (250 DCR KTM) 16+25+0=41, 8 Robert Hartley (250 Honda) 12+13+14=39, 9 Justin Bateman (250 Superbike Honda) 13+11+13=37, 10 Joel Baldwin (250 KTM) 10+12+9=31, 11 Sam Gilbody (250 Honda) 8+9+12=29, 12 Scott Wright (???) 7+8+11=26, 13 Karl Geary (250 KTM) 6+7+10=23, 14 James Compton (???) 11+10+0=21, 15 Danielle Field (250 LMW KTM) 4+6+8=18, 16 James Moore (250 DMR TM) 9+5+0=14, 17 Joe Jones (???) 5+0+7=12.
Rd 10 Sportcity, Manchester
OVERALL (Double-points race): 1 Pope 50, 2 Cornish 44, 3 Harrison 40, 4 Cunliffe 36, 5 Rudd 32, 6 Church 30, 7 Bateman 28, 8 Norris 26, 9 Hartley 24, 10 Wright 22, 11 Compton 20, 12 Geary 18, 13 Baldwin 16, 14 Field 14, 15 Gilbody 12.
SERIES STANDINGS after 10 rounds: 1 Pope 704 points, 2 Rudd 527, 3 Cunliffe 504, 4 Bateman 470, 5 Harrison 435, 6 Church 373, 7 Cornish 367, 8 Baldwin 272, 9 Field 253, 10 Hartley 191,
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2008
Matt Winstanley took his KTM to a hat trick of wins in round nine of the S1 Supermoto Championship and has a commanding lead over second man Ady Smith.