Grittenham Race Report
By Kay Turner
Portsmouth MX Club
Round 14 Summer Series
Images courtesy of Click466
Portsmouth Motocross Club recently held the penultimate summer round at the awesome Grittenham circuit, with brilliant numbers resulting in packed groups, providing the spectators with some spectacular racing. With so many adult riders, the club managed to fit in eight groups, and with the weather being kind the rain held off to make for a great day.
The AMX Novice had a race of their own due to high numbers, with Jordan Talmage totally dominating the class. Three straight wins rewarded him with the overall victory. A close battle behind between Adam Ford, Lewis Dowell and Jamie Lynam pursued the leader, with Ford pushing hardest to finish in second overall with two second places. Lynam took control of the class in the second race, narrowly missing out on a win on the last lap, but some positive riding rewarded him with third overall.
The VMX joined forces with EVO riders and took to the line next. There was no disputing the overall winner on the day as Matty White blasted around the track with ease to secure all three race wins. A ding-dong battle between Paul Spacagna and Darren Hansford followed, but it was to be Hansford who grabbed second overall following a no-show from Spags in race three, Hansford securing two second places for the runner up spot. With race three catching alot of riders out, Tony Hale took control of third spot as he moved easily into third place in the final moto to secure third overall. Mike Wheeler was the first EVO to make an appearance in the top ten in the combined class, scoring two sixths and an eighth to secure the overall win in his group.
With the gate nearly full in the Senior class, the action was non-stop from the drop of the gate. A brilliant battle between George Clarke and Fraser Viner took place at the front of the pack, but Viner stormed to victory, two wins securing him the overall victory. A great first in the opening moto for Clarke ensured he would place highly, and chasing Viner hard in the remaining races, he added two seconds to secure second overall. A scrap for third place between a handful of riders saw Jonathan Cole bagging the result with consistent scores, two fourths and a third, rewarding him with third overall.
Joe Jefferies was an inspiration to watch in the Inter Open class as he breezed to victory in the windy conditions, not putting a wheel wrong and secured all three wins to take first overall. Tyron Cleaver was set for a comfortable second overall but a DNF in race three denied him the result. A scrap between Cam MacDonald, Gary Dalton and Tallon Aspden followed behind the top two, but MacDonald was to grab second overall as he pushed his way up the leader board throughout the day, finishing on a high in second place in the final moto to secure the runner up spot. Dalton was looking comfortable to take second place, but a horrendous crash in race two saw him drop back, but he bravely remounted the bike and with his two third places bagged third overall.
The Inter 85 class was totally dominated by Michael Ellis who shot straight into the lead and remained comfortable leading the pack in all three motos to secure the overall victory. Christopher Nuttall had a brilliant day on the track, steady and consistent riding rewarding him with second overall with two seconds. Stefan Millward wasn’t too far behind and battled hard to ensure a high finish, a brilliant third in race one resulting in him finishing third overall.
A scrap for the win in the Junior class came courtesy of Charlie Cole and Liam Jones but as usual Cole slotted into first in all three motos to secure the overall win. A bad result in race two denied Jones from finishing higher up, leaving Charlie Razzell to take over the runner up spot. A brilliant finish in race two saw him finish second to secure second overall. Daniel Sultana was riding brilliantly, but with the dust flying, he unfortunately dropped back in race three, but still secured third overall with his two impressive thirds in the opening races.
A great turnout of Autos saw the usual battle for first between Luke Williamson and Liam Brosnan, but Brosnan was on fire to charge into the lead in the opening races, securing the wins to bag first overall. Williamson was the first out of the gate and into the lead but waited until race three to take charge of the group, passing the chequered flag as victor, and secured second overall. Ollie Cole was flying, and moved up a place after race one into third overall, with another in race three rewarding him with third overall.
The action came thick and fast in the final race of the block, the AMX providing some of the most exhilarating action of the day. A nasty crash in the race before in block three unfortunately left the riders with only two races. With some top names in the running, the races proved exciting from the drop of the gate. Rob Muscat took control of race one with Mark Young in hot pursuit, Muscat taking the overall victory. Young was awesome to watch and taking the lead in race two he tried hard to keep a rampaging Padgett of his tail, but with a couple of laps to go he lost the lead and finished in second again to secure second overall. Padgetts rapid pace in race two secured him a race win to finish in third overall.
Results:
EVO: 1 Mike Wheeler, 2 Stuart Jackson, 3 Dick Tett, 4 Keith Berry, 5 Matthew Hillyer.
VMX: 1 Matty White, 2 Darren Hansford, 3 Tony Hale, 4 Tony Noyes, 5 Darren Noyes, 6 Nigel Bachelor.
AMX Novice: 1 Jordan Talmage, 2 Adam Ford, 3 Jamie Lynam, 4 Perry Skeates, 5 Daniel Day, 6 Lewis Dowell.
AMX: 1 Rob Muscat, 2 Mark Young, 3 Gareth Padgett, 4 Kurt Freegard, 5 George Purchase, 6 Wildman Willis.
Seniors: 1 Fraser Viner, 2 George Clarke, 3 Jonathan Cole, 4 Jordan Carrier, 5 Aaron O’Mahony, 6 Keaton Butler.
Inter Open: 1 Joe Jefferies, 2 Cam MacDonald, 3 Gary Dalton, 4 Tallon Aspden, 5 Sam Baggott, 6 Oli Evans.
Inter 85s: 1 Michael Ellis, 2 Chris Nuttall, 3 Stefan Millward, 4 Tom Gathercole, 5 Alex Hoyland, 6 Charlie Way.
Juniors: 1 Charlie Cole, 2 Charlie Razzell, 3 Daniel Sultana, 4 Liam Jones, 5 Jamie Griggs, 6 Ben Richards.
Autos: 1 Liam Brosnan, 2 Luke Williamson, 3 Ollie Cole, 4 Austin Wild, 5 Harry Rowe, 6 Louie Wakefield.
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