PRESS RELEASE - FAST EDDY DIRT BIKE SHOW XC SPECIAL |
8th November 2011
Pictured: James Jackman and Ady Smith battle it out in the Pro class
Report and photography: Tim Tighe
The Fast Eddy Dirt Bike Show XC Special at Stoneleigh was promoted as a fun event but it snowballed into a real full-blown cracker with great support from Youth, Quad and Adult riders, making the event a real top-notch affair.
A reduced entry fee plus a free ticket to the Dirt Bike Show for all entrants was an excellent incentive for riders to see the Show and race on the same day.
Set a few hundred metres from the main Stoneleigh Park buildings, the course was set on an open field and went into surrounding woodlands that are normally used as a 4x4 course. Although a little limited on space compared to a normal Fast Eddy XC event, the course proved to be perfect for bikes and quads, juniors and adults.
Straight off the start the course wove around a huge field section before disappearing into the woodland areas that held numerous climbs and tight corners, descents and sweeping bends.
Saturday morning saw the Youth riders take to the line and although there had been no overnight rain on Friday the course was wet in places especially in the woods where 4x4 ruts had filled with water during the preceding week.
The Youth riders rose to the challenge and as the race progressed, the course improved dramatically in the early winter sunshine. As expected, the BW85-150 riders dominated the opening race with Dylan Bayton taking overall victory in addition to his class win. Ryan Phillips never gave up hope of catching the leader and got within 40 seconds as he took second place. Dan Mundell posted the same number of laps as the first two riders, 16, on his way to third place.
The SW85 class saw Brandon Sharples as runaway winner by nearly two minutes over Ben Coleman in second spot with George Saunders taking third, a couple of laps behind.
An on-form Tom Grimshaw headed the 65cc's right from the start and banged in 14 laps on his way to winning his class. Chris Mills and Harry Edmondson battled for the remaining two podium places and Mills managed to stretch a lead to take the runner-up spot with Edmondson third.
As soon as the last youth rider crossed the line, the quads were ready to roll. The riders revelled in the muddy conditions in one section of the woodland and the open field part of the course really gave them the chance to open the throttle wide.
Clubman riders Jack Godfrey and Guy Keenan outstripped everyone, even the Experts as they circulated lap after lap to take first and second places overall, finishing two minutes apart with Ryan Walters third in class. In the overall race positions the Youth riders dominated third to fifth place with Matt Branch leading the charge, followed by Miles Woodward and Brandon Holm. Sean Preson headed the Expert class with Aaron Pole in second place. Kevin Jones had a lonely ride in the 4x4 class as the only entrant and it is interesting to note that even the Novice riders matched the experts on laps. Tom Birch won the Novice class with Ray Morgan second on 19 and 18 laps respectively.
Dry and cold overnight conditions followed by sunshine all day long on Sunday saw the course in perfect shape for the two main races of the day.
The first race held the Vets, Novice and Sportsman riders and the vets lie-up was truly impressive. It proved to be a battle between two Jasons; Crossland and Hope. Jason Hope did himself no favours by being last off the start line but brother Dave Hope in his first Veterans outing upheld the family name by taking the hole-shot just ahead of Jason Crossland and holding his lead for most of the first lap. Crossland battle to the front and Jason Hope followed him, having worked his way through the pack of Vets ahead of him.
These two riders circulated at speed, constantly swapping and changing places at the head of the field. At one point they were literally on top of each other in a crash approaching the timing area with Hope coming out best and grabbing a 30 second lead. Crossland fought back and retook the lead and the win as Hope crashed in the woods, bending his clutch lever into his handguard. As the pair battled, Dave Thomson swiftly and silently took second place with Hope remounting to finish third.
Jon Hunt also remained trouble free on his way to the Sportsman class win and fifth overall, which was an amazing feat! Darren Thorpe rode to second in the Sportsman class with Danny Spencer a minute behind in third.
Darryl Mead had an outstanding ride to post 21 laps, two short of the winning Vet rider, to win the novice class a lap ahead of runner-up Rob Wisehall and Thomas Russell in third place.
As the afternoon race containing the Pro, Expert and Clubman riders began, many spectators made their way from the bike show to watch the spectacle and the top part of the course saw the fence-line packed with bodies.
Fast Eddy regular James Jackman on his Midwest Husaberg was joined by Carl Jones on a Frontrow Gb KTM and KTM Offroad School supreme Ady Smith, old enough for the Vets class but good enough for the Pro's as was veteran campaigner Jack Twentyman.
Jackman and Smith battled for the holeshot but new boy Jones showed he is learning fast and soon took the lead with Jackman in hot pursuit. Try as he might, Jackman could not close the 30-second gap Jones had pulled and uneasily settled for second place as Jones took the win.
The real battle of the race was going on behind the leading pair as Ady Smith, third in the Pros, fended off constant challenges from Expert rider Brad Freeman. The pair raced each other to the death with Smith posting the fastest lap of the day on the final lap as he tried to catch Freeman. He just missed out as Freeman beat him by a second to take third overall and the Expert win ahead of Ryan Staveley and James Paczynski. Staveley and Tom Healy had vied for first place in the Experts for some time but Healy retired and Freeman eventually passed Stavely.
Martin Kohv was overjoyed to take the Clubman class win ahead of fierce competition as Jon Hill chased him to the finish flag just two seconds adrift followed by Charlie Nichols, on the same lap but a minute behind the leading pair.
As the weekend's racing finished in sunshine, Paul Edmondson reflected on what had proved to be a great event. 'I am really heartened by the support we have received over the two days of racing. The youth class was fantastic, as were the quads and both races today have been very well supported. Although I initially thought the course was a little bit on the short side, it turned out much better than my expectations and the riders loved it. I feel this was a great addition to the Dirt Bike Show weekend and have thoroughly enjoyed it, as have the riders.'
The top 16 results from Saturday and the top 20 from Sunday can be found at www.dirtbikeshow.co.uk under SHOW FEATURES > FAST EDDY XC SPECIAL.
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Immediate release: 8th November 2011
For press enquiries, please contact Jenni Foulkes on 01273 616040 or email press@dirtbikeshow.co.uk
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