Round 9 – DEP British Two-Stroke Championship
Round 9 Marshfield
This was to be the final round of the series for 2008 due to extreme weather conditions, the planned double header over this weekend would not go ahead due to safety reasons that said there were no complaints from the riders as the hillside venue here at Marshfield was treacherous. However Saturday’s event went on with minimal fuss as we had only just started to see the weather front roll in, the venue was looking very well prepared and the riders were eager to get out on track, Marshfield is a very technical venue and it offers some varied lines all over its sweeping hillside.
The sound of some very crisp 125 motors warming up broke the morning silence and what a morning chorus that was, a joy to experience. The 125’s blasted out on track for group 1 qualifying, the track was seriously fast as its smooth surface encouraged everyone to go flat out everywhere. Typically it was series leader Jon Pettit who smoked everyone with a rather special lap of 1:52.78 second went to wild card rider John May who nailed a 1:58.44 closely followed by the second of the TMUK team, Jim Davies on 1:59.33. Group 2 had some heavy hitters on the gas and it was a very smooth looking Christian Taylor setting a 1:54.61 to take pole followed by cruising Dave Willett on 1:56.06 and then came team 125mx.com’s Adam Reynolds with a fine 1:58.49.
The last group had a somewhat better track to attack as the muck was blown away and there were some dry lines to follow, Tom Church took that group on his home track with his best lap being 1:53.20 closely followed by Jack Brunell 1:54.86 and third went to a flying Ashley Harland who has shown flashes of brilliance only to crash and burn, still’ Ashley looked on it today and set a decent lap of 1:58.05.
With the qualifying done it was time for the serious fun to begin, the weather had now started to change and there were some very heavy clouds racing across the sky and some very, very strong winds tearing across the venue pulling down flags and hoardings. The fastest riders on the day took to the start line for their first A group encounter, and as the gate dropped it was the Suzuki of John May and the KTM of Adam Reynolds vying for the holeshot with May going wide and Reynolds tucking up the inside and as he swept round to blast down that hillside it was the wheelying KTM of Reynolds out front followed by May with Pettit and Willet in very close attendance as these were being pushed by Brunell and Davies, as Willet passed Reynolds on this hectic first lap the KTM rider lost the front end and went down hard, but remounted in around 10th place.
Craig English was pushing hard and challenged Davies for 5th, Pettit had the TM on ‘full loud’ as he blasted past May for the lead, Willet had locked onto May and out drove the Suzuki up the long hill, Brunell was watching this all go on just behind as Davies had dropped back a second or so as he had to fend off English, Shaun Stevens and a flying Ashley Harland. Luke Kennet fell foul to the steep off-camber section behind the start has he and his Honda lay in a heap for a while.
Pettit was on a mission for sure as he had that TM screaming for mercy as he tried to break away from the pack, Willet had other ideas as he knew if Pettit gapped them he would be gone, thus started a game of chess, Pettit’s TM was clearly faster on the straights and uphill sections but Willet had the Yamaha slicing through the turns and off cambers, these two have battled all year and each knows the others strengths, this duel was to last until the flag and what a duel it was, just behind these saw a super smooth looking Brunell slide his Yamaha past May for third and then he tried to drive away and actually set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:56.53 this did help to break free from the clutches of the Suzuki, just back of this action saw Harland, Davies, English and Wheeler having a titanic battle that entertained the crowd, Reynolds had crashed again while breaking into the top 6 and was down in the high teens.
Christian Taylor was on fire and was pushing a top ten place in these experts, he had towed series rival Lloyd Morgan with him, Dan Tilley had again made ‘A’ and was fighting with Crossley and Pickford for junior honours along with DEP regular Stevie Harris who made ‘A’ at last (Well done dude) However Tilley lost his front brake and went down hard in a spectacular fashion cartwheeling the Suzuki.
Race 2
Saw local boy Church take the holeshot on a rather ‘deep’ sounding KX from Willet and Harland with Brunell in forth. Pettit and Reynolds had locked horns on the start causing Pettit to crash the TM and he restarted last, Reynolds was luckier and emerged just in the top 20, Davies had his TM protesting as he slammed these berms and rutts trying to break free from May and Harland only to lose traction and get kicked sideways approaching a small tabletop jump, quick thinking saw him abort the jump but he had to exit right through the Marshal’s post and disintegrate the pallets, but all the time ‘wide open’ and as the MCF crew where rebuilding it along came Anthony Misslebrook in ‘full stealth mode’ to scatter everything over the valley again !!
Up front Willet had the little YZ on the stop and was stretching cable all the way as Church struggled to get away, Pettit was on fire as he sliced through the pack and just on the top 10 he came across Reynolds who was in a determined mood today as he fired that KTM up those long uphills, but fate dealt a blow as he slid off again at ½ distance, May was giving as good as he got on his first visit this year to the DEP as he and Brunell swapped places for a few laps, meanwhile Pettit had the TM on the edge as he just tore through the field, Young Taylor had again battled his way to the top 10 as he and Lloyd Morgan have dominated the junior class this year, today it looked like Morgan had no answer and he cleverly rode for points all the time waiting for a slip from Taylor, Bradley Howlett had some fantastic laps in this moto and was quite happy to bang bars with the experts, with the ever hard charging Plowman keeping him honest the whole moto. An unlucky Jamie Wilson took a visit to the medical staff after taking a rock in the face which took out some front teeth, Jamie was washed down and back ready for the 3rd race though ! .
Race 3
The rain had now started and the hardpack surface around here had turned to glass and it was an ice-rink, clever riders would be searching for grip on that all important loose outside edge ! Craig English had the lead from Pettit and flying Taylor and Willet all covered by the proverbial blanket, out of the blue Willet flicked the YZ inside and took the lead passing all 3 riders in one corner, Pettit was stunned and barged into second, Stevens had a decent start this moto and was up in 5th swapping paint with Davies, Harland and Brunell. Midpack carnage saw the normally fast starting Reynolds with Kensington and Plowman bashing each other up, Stevens slid out and allowed a mental Davies to get by and lock onto the lead pack, Jim has been unlucky at times this year and he has showed some great speed on that TM, May was down in 9th place and getting a taste of 125 action !
Church had powered past riders on the uphill section to get to 3rd place as Pettit see him coming and he set about passing Willet who was far too polite and had given to much room to some backmarkers and Pettit dived through, Luke Kennett was having a blast too this moto and he was hauling, as was Brett Wheeler on that Poole Yamaha. Church had passed Willet, again on the uphill by the start and he locked onto the 125 of Pettit, it was here and now that Pettit was having none of it as he held off the KX, they swapped the lead a few times with Pettit simply out riding Church then he was simply out powered on the uphill sections, try as he did Pettit’s screaming TM could not match the deep sounding KX and with the series title in mind Pettit chose to take the finish rather than battle with a wildcard for one moto, and in true Champion fashion he followed Church over the line to seal this years expert Championship.
Willet had no answer in this moto as he had to save ‘some’ energy as he was due out in the open expert class right after this moto, Dave has continued to ride both classes as he did last year, that’s why he is called the ‘iron man’ after all. Brunell suffered a disaster as a trackside banner blew across the circuit and got wrapped around the rear wheel and front sprocket bring the rapid EGS Yamaha to a halt, Taylor had again found his way into the top ten but this time he was shadowed by Morgan who just needed better starts today as these two have real similar lap times, Jack Plowman had to fight for his points as fellow junior Ady Peedle tried to slide past at every opportunity, Davies did close on Willet but could not pass him, Harland had, had is best round of the season showing just how good he can ride when luck is with him, and Kennet had held off Stevens and Wheeler in their moto long battle.
B Group Race 1
As always this group gave us some super quick racing and its not called the ‘mad axe mans’ class for nothing, these guys never fail to provide some great action, and out of the traps like a flash was Steve Dixon who pulled a massive holeshot in this 125 group, hot on his heel’s came Karim Bourious after avoiding a 5 rider pile up on the first lap, Scott Webb and Mark McDonell rounded the first lap in 3rd and 4th respectively. Bob D’erlanger and Luke Dowsing were closing in on these fast as was slow starting Nick Banks who was well down due to the chaos earlier in the race, Dixon however had his sights set on the win as he powered away from the chasing pack which was now headed by Webb and a rapid looking Alan Scott who was coming through the field with Billy Parry, Bourious made a mistake and dropped from the lead pack just as Scott passed Webb for second place, and that’s how it finished up front with Dixon taking a fine win from Scott, Webb and Dowsing.
Race 2
It was Adrian Price who lead from the start but first race winner Dixon was hot on his heel’s with Dan Johnson and Steve Wright clawing at his rear mudguard too, Banks again took an early ‘soil sample’ while inside the top ten and remounted mid-pack, Webb, Parry and Adrian Jessop where having a battle just inside the top ten and they looked to be catching the lead group, D’erlanger was mixing it with Nicholas Shaw who was having one of his best rides this season and looked real comfortable around this slick hillside track. Dowsing had held off a charging Banks until the up hill blast where he got sideways and lost that all important drive and then a few corners later with the ‘red mist’ in full effect he went down whilst trying a move to re-pass Banks, up front it has settled with Dixon in control from Price, Scott and Parry. Steve Wright ruined a top five place when his machine spluttered to a halt as it ran out of fuel, and it was at the furthest point from the pits, a walk he didn’t enjoy!
Race 3
Their last race of the day was on a very slick track indeed as the rain had now turned the hardpack into ice! surprise leader Michael Johnson was flying early on and was indeed holding off a charge from Dixon and Nick Grey, McDonnell had fired his KTM to the edge of the top ten and was trying to pass riders everywhere and making some very, very interesting shape enroute. Young Jake Hamblin was one of the first to suffer from the conditions when he washed out behind the start area, he had to wait a while to retrieve his Yamaha as bike were flying past him, Dowsing on the other hand had made great progress and was up to third place, then we had a terrific battle between Jason Kendrick, D’erlanger, Webb, Wright and Shaw as these riders barged and block for the whole moto. McDonnell’s move to the front was halted with a crash which had an adverse effect on five, yes five following riders as they were all collected by the ongoing melee, this moto saw Banks on a mission and he moved through the field with ease, as was Jessop and these two would break into the top ten, up front Dixon had again took the lead and was on for another great win from Kendrick and Shaw, who just held off the flying Banks who could of possibly taken the win with another lap ! Dowsing recovered to take fifth at the flag.
As stated earlier the weather dealt us a blow and Sundays event was cancelled, so this was our final round and what a round it was, right up until the final laps these guys where racing for those all important series points and the class Champions are as follows:-
2008 DEP Junior 125 Overall
1st Christian Taylor 2nd Lloyd Morgan 3rd Jack Plowman
2008 DEP Expert 125 Overall
1st Jon Pettit 2nd Davey Willet 3rd Jack Brunell
The overall will be posted asap
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