WEM the going gets tough...
By Mike Wood on 13th May 11
What a difference a week in motocross can make, going from dry, hard and very slick tracks to soft, heavy energy-sapping conditions. However, despite a serious intervention from the big watering can in the sky...
The organising WEM MXC should take a massive pat on the back for the manner in which it promoted its debut Championship event. Taking top honours out on track were Delkevic Kawasaki rider Clinton Barrs and 19-year-old BCMX Suzuki pilot Ryan Morris.
While Barrs blasted to his first ever maximum points score in the MX1 Championship class, Morris recorded both his maiden MX2 Championship moto win and overall success.
On the tough, technical but spectacular circuit, careful selection of lines was required in the early stages with the going still wet following overnight rain.
There was early drama in the opening MX1 moto. Shaun Pearce lost control on the first downhill section and Lee Dunham was forced to take evasive action, colliding with the track marking.
As Dunham restarted dead last, quick gater Luke Meredith led the charge, chased by Barrs, Glen Phillips, James Lane and Matthew Williamson.
By lap two, Meredith had dropped back to fourth as Barrs took control of proceedings. Meanwhile, slicing his way through the pack, a determined Dunham was already up into 13th only to suffer a massive crash which again relegated the Kawasaki pilot all the way to last place.
Up front Barrs stretched his advantage to eventually take moto one victory with Phillips in second and James Lane third following a tight four-rider battle with Meredith, Wesley Egan and Williamson. Further back Pearce recovered to 19th with Dunham 27th.
Displaying character and despite having a big headache, Dunham passed experienced Lancastrian Aaron Crowder to lead the early stages of moto two. However, Barrs was on a mission and by lap two had already soared past Dunham.
After that opening race disaster, Dunham was desperate to reclaim some vital Championship points and he pushed Barrs all the way to the chequered flag, but denied the win by just two-seconds – a sterling effort! Third in this clash was Brad Turner, recovering from a disappointing 12th spot in the opener.
Brad did though suffer a heart-stopping moment on the final lap of moto two when he stalled in a deep rutted corner. Frantically pushing his electric start, the motor eventually fired back to life enabling him to restart just yards infront of fourth placed Meredith.
After gating 20th, Phillips displayed tremendous strength to recover back to snatch fifth on the final lap from James Lane.
‘Laner' did attempt to reclaim fifth with a determined challenge as the riders raced towards the chequered flag, failing in his quest by the narrowest of margins!
Jamie Dobson and Joe Barry were the fastest riders away at the start of the final MX1 moto but by the end of the opening lap, Barrs had already found a way through, followed by Dunham and Meredith.
Once again the battle of Barrs v Dunham was on but though the latter closed the gap dramatically in the last few laps in heavy backmarkers traffic, it was another important victory for a delighted Barrs.
The circuit featured a testing rhtymn section which enabled the braver riders to certainly gain ground on their rivals. Not only brave but exceedingly fast on this part of the track, Turner blasted back from 11th to take another third place, with Meredith fourth.
Following an indifferent start, Phillips moved from ninth up to fifth, but was certainly not pleased as he crossed the finishing line shaking his head in disgust!
In this final moto, both Lee Payne (sixth) and Joe Barry (seventh) posted their best results of the day.
What a contest MX2 proved with drama, excitement and great racing in all three clashes.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX NEWS, MAY 13.
AMCA MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 2 – Tunstall Hall Farm (Wem MXC)
1 Clinton Barrs (Delkevic Kawasaki) 60 + 60 + 60 = 180
2 Glen Phillips (KTM) 54 + 45 + 45 = 144
3 Luke Meredith (KTM) 47 + 47 + 47 = 141
4 Brad Turner (IDS Transport KTM) 31 + 50 + 50 = 131
5 James Lane (LRT Honda) 50 + 43 + 37 = 130
6 Lee Dunham (Maxxis Henderson Kawa) 14 + 54 + 54 = 122
7 Stephen Tillotson (Suzuki) 41 + 39 + 39 = 119
8 Matthew Williamson (KTM) 43 + 41 + 35 = 119
9 Lee Payne (Malin Floors Honda) 33 + 27 + 43 = 103
10 Aaron Crowder (Sandiford Honda) 39 + 37 + 27 = 103
11 Michael Reynolds (Suzuki) 37+31+31=99, 12 Simon Lane (LRT Honda) 29+33+36=98, 13 Joseph Barry (Kawasaki) 23+25+41=89, 14 Richard Meakin (Honda) 24+29+24=77, 15 Aran Agius (Kawasaki) 35+21+20=76, 16 Jamie Dobson (350 MTR KTM) 17+24+33=74, 17 Shaun Pearce (Husqvarna) 22+22+29=73, 18 Dexter Marks (Suzuki) 16+35+21=72, 19 Chris Neesam (Kawasaki) 25+20+23=68, 20 Sean Eckersley (250 Suzuki) 27+17+22=66, 21 Michael Smith (Honda) 13+26+25=64, 22 Wesley Egan (Honda) 45+0+18=63, 23 Christian Dicks (KTM) 26+19+16=61, 24 Peter Wainwright (Kawasaki) 20+23+14=57, 25 James Shand (250 KTM) 18+18+19=55,...
RACE ONE: 1 Barrs, 2 Phillips, 3 James Lane, 4 Meredith, 5 Egan, 6 Williamson, 7 Tillotson, 8 Crowder, 9 Michael Reynolds, 10 Agius, 11 Payne, 12 Turner, 13 Simon Lane, 14 Eckersley, 15 Dicks, 16 Neesam, 17 Meakin, 18 Barry, 19 Pearce, 20 Hyde.
RACE TWO: 1 Barrs, 2 Dunham, 3 Turner, 4 Meredith, 5 Phillips, 6 James Lane, 7 Williamson, 8 Tillotson, 9 Crowder, 10 Marks, 11 Simon Lane, 12 Michael Reynolds, 13 Meakin, 14 Payne, 15 Smith, 16 Barry, 17 Dobson, 18 Wainwright, 19 Pearce, 20 Agius.
RACE THREE: 1 Barrs, 2 Dunham, 3 Turner, 4 Meredith, 5 Phillips, 6 Payne, 7 Barry, 8 Tillotson, 9 James Lane, 10 Simon Lane, 11 Williamson, 12 Dobson, 13 Michael Reynolds, 14 Pearce, 15 Crowder, 16 Barry, 17 Dobson, 18 Wainwright, 19 Pearce, 20 Agius.
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 8) rounds: 1 Barrs 335 points, 2 Phillips 298, 3 Dunham 276, 4 Meredith 256, 5 Turner 251, 6 James Lane 242, 7 Tillotson 218, 8 Payne 204, 9 Barry 200, 10 Crowder 196, 11 Simon Lane 188, 12 Meakin 178, 13 Williamson 176, 14 Dobson 174, 15 Marks 150,... 16 Michael Reynolds 149, 17 Neesam 145, 18 Smith 130, 19 Eckersley 130, 20 Egan 123,...
NEXT ROUND: May 29 – Hawkstone Park, nr Shrewsbury (North Shrops/ Wales Group).
SUPPORT RACE RESULTS
CHAMPIONSHIP NON-QUALIFIERS: 1 Steven Gardham, 2 Joshua Williams, 3 Steven Owen, 4 Jack Weston, 5 Steven Bailey, 6 Stephen Elford.
EXPERT: 1 Zac Stealey, 2 Tom Smith, 3 Duncan Morris, 4 Wayne Williams, 5 Graham Nicklin, 6 Richard Egan.
SENIOR: 1 Timothy Gardham, 2 Jacob Pearce, 3 Ryan Stevens, 4 Ryan Pugh, 5 Michael Dunn, 6 Chris Ritchings.
JUNIOR: 1 James Hockenhull, 2 Billy Gallimore, 3 Ben Hodgkins, 4 Connor Franklin, 5 James Porter, 6 Andy Williamson.
INTER JUNIOR: 1 Frazer Martin, 2 Howard Wainwright, 3 Kyle Talbot, 4 Ben Bullough, 5 Zachary Hackett, 6 Fabio Rizzi.
