Portsmouth MX Club - Winterbourne Gunner - Round 6 Summer Series - 24/04/11

"Gunner be a warm one!"
Report by Kay Turner
Cusses Gorse, 24th April 2011
Portsmouth MX Club
Rd 6 Summer Series
Images courtesy of click466.co.uk

An outstanding turnout for Portsmouth MX Clubs sixth round of their summer series at Cusses Gorse. Despite consistent watering the day before dust was inevitable especially with the temperatures rising throughout the day, and with almost 200 riders battling it out on the circuit, the ground dried up quickly and the dust became too much, cutting the day short. But the racing in all groups was awesome from start to finish.

The Autos were out first with Luke Williamson continuing his superb run of results, consistently at the front of the pack in each race to secure two perfect wins to take home the overall victory. Liam Brosnan wasn’t far behind, keeping his cool in the soaring heat, charging home in both motos to finish in second overall. Ollie Cole was on a charge too, pushing hard to get closer to Brosnan, finishing third in each moto to secure third overall.

A full line-up of VMX and AMX Novice riders certainly got the dust flying with spectators struggling to see anyone until they headed over the first tabletop. Holeshotting the first race, Darren Hansford stayed out front to win the opening moto, and a second in the next race gave him enough points to secure the overall win. Riding a safe couple of races, staying out of trouble, Tony Hale once again finished consistently, two third places rewarding him with second overall. A welcome return by Steve Lyons saw him straight back into the thick of it at the front of the pack, a great second place in the opening moto a good comeback for him, and he ended the day in third overall.

In the Novice class, another Lyons appeared high up, son Dale dominating at the front, two clear wins to award him the overall victory. A brilliant day for Mark Groves who rode superbly, and was desperately disappointed not to have another race, after securing two second places to finish the day in second overall. A good performance from Robert Grant ensured he would place highly, a third in the opening race a great way to start his day, followed by a fourth to secure third overall.

With the gate at bursting point in the Senior class the action was going to be non-stop with Dan Maxey leading from the off, but a puncture saw him leave the track mid-race. Liam Garland was breathing down Maxey’s neck in both races, but mechanical gremlins denied him from taking the lead, but still managed to secure the overall victory with a second place and a third. Alex Meadows powered into the lead in the second race and rode hard to remain out front, securing the win and finishing in second overall. A brilliant performance from Ryan Monckton saw him charging his way through the front-runners to cross the line in third place in the opening race, followed by a fourth to finish the day in third overall.

The AMX class was close to a maximum line-up with some rapid boys involved in the chase for the lead. With many crashing on the first corner, it was a battle on for the lead, but Sam Simmons stormed straight to the front, but after a heavy crash he had to retire. Dexter Marks pushed hard and looked impressive and although he narrowly missed out on a win, two seconds secured him the overall. After crashing out on the first corner in moto one, Jake Hassell had his work cut out but battled through the field to finish in fourth. Race two saw him take the lead on the first lap staying out front for half of the race. Mark Young took over but due to a puncture on the last lap Hassell grabbed the lead back taking the win and finished the day in second overall. A good performance from Paul Watts saw him charging hard at the front of the pack, edging his way closer to the top of the group, finishing race one in third. Just missing out on another in race two, he finished fourth to secure third overall.

A great turnout of big wheeled 85 riders crowded the start gate with a two-way battle for supremacy between Liam Knight and Jordan Bachelor. A welcome sight to see Knight return to his former club and he dominated race one holeshotting the moto and staying out front to the wave of the chequered flag, with Bachelor closing him down to finish in second. In race two Knight once again took the lead but Bachelor closed in with each lap that passed and with Knight colliding with another rider he took over the lead and stormed ahead to finish up in first place. Michael Denton had a perfect day on the track, a faultless performance pushing him to the front of the pack, edging his way into third place in the second moto to secure third overall.

The smaller wheeled 85s were next to the line, and like the group before, two riders battled it out for top spot. In race one Taylor Hammal sped straight into the lead and remained out front for the entire race. In race two Aaron Gordon took over at the front, staying on the gas until the chequered flag waved, securing the race win. Hammal chased him hard skidding out mid-race but picked himself up quickly to keep his position. Charlie Way had an outstanding day on the track, remaining focused and improving his results with each race, a brilliant third in the second race ended his day perfectly, rewarding his efforts with third overall.

A good group of Junior riders waited patiently for their race, some rapid riders all vying for the top spot, but once again Charlie Cole was unbeatable, miles ahead of everyone else in each race to secure two race wins and the overall victory. After dominating the Autos Tyler Rowe made his first appearance in the Junior class, and made an instant impact on the group. Prominent at the front, he pushed hard in race two to finish in runner-up spot, a brilliant debut, and he ended the day in second overall. Callum Gasson rode hard in both motos, narrowly missing out on a top three spot, but two fourths were enough to secure him third overall.

Results:
VMX: 1 Darren Hansford, 2 Tony Hale, 3 Steve Lyons, 4 Martin Bradbury, 5 Paul Spacagna, 6 Darren Noyes.
AMX Novice: 1 Dale Lyons, 2 Mark Groves, 3 Robert Grant, 4 Bruce Walker, 5 James Kirby, 6 Paul Keet.
AMX: 1 Dexter Marks, 2 Jake Hassell, 3 Paul Watts, 4 Mark Young, 5 Sam Gabriel, 6 Paul “Wildman” Willis.
Seniors: 1 Liam Garland, 2 Alex Meadows, 3 Ryan Monckton, 4 Chae Jenkinson, 5 George Clarke, 6 Ross Churchill.
Inter Open: 1 Jordan Bachelor/Liam Knight, 3 Michael Denton, 4 Camlann MacDonald, 5 Dan Griggs, 6 Liam Taylor.
Inter 85s: 1 Aaron Gordon/Taylor Hammal, 3 Charlie Way, 4 Stefan Millward, 5 Daniel Knight, 6 Jamie-Lee Burges.
Juniors: 1 Charlie Cole, 2 Tyler Rowe, 3 Callum Gasson, 4 Lewis Cloud, 5 Charlie Razzell, 6 Liam Jones.
Autos: 1 Luke Williamson, 2 Liam Brosnan, 3 Ollie Cole, 4 Louie Wakefield, 5 Austin Wild, 6 Scott Somerville.

Barnarby Nolan flying high in the Inter Open class!

A great top ten finish in the opening race for Junior rider Ben Richards

Yet another clean sweep of wins for Junior rider Charlie Cole

Inter 85 rider Charlie Way just seems to improve with every race! 2nd overall on the day for him!

Never failing to pocket a holeshot or two at each meeting, Darren Hansford once again found himself winning the VMX class

Former Pompey rider Liam Garland returned to battle it out in the Senior class, narrowly missing out on a race win but secured the overall victory

Harry Hinson (26) and Jack Bachelor (17) put on a great show for the spectators in the Senior class, with Bachelor beating Hinson at the end of the day by just one point!

An awesome head-to-head battle between Jordan Bachelor (pictured) and former Pompey rider Liam Knight, both riders grabbing a win each in the Inter Open group

An amazing opening race for Junior rider Lewis Cloud who grabbed the runner up spot

In his best performance of the season so far, Auto rider Louie Wakefield secured 4th overall

Disappointed with only having two races, AMX Novice Mark Groves' disappointment turned to joy when he realised he'd finished the day in second overall!!!!

After totally fluffing up his first race whilst leading , VMX rider Martin Bradbury redeemed himself by charging to the win in the second moto

It was good to see AMX rider Paul Watts back after injuring himself at Foxholes at the start of the season, heading straight into the top three

Sean Lock in the AMX had his work cut out for him this weekend, fighting hard in the top ten

Even with a spill on the dusty circuit, Taylor Hammal still managed secure 2nd overall in the Inter 85 class

In his first meeting in the Junior class, Tyler Rowe made an instant impact, storming into 2nd overall on the day! a brilliant ride from him!

The small wheeled 85 class led by Aaron Gordon (60) squeeze around the first corner of the Gunner circuit, with Charlie Way (77), Tom Gathercole (9) & Stefan Millward (2) pushing hard to fight their way into the lead

Great stuff.