Report: Nene Valley - Kia Twin-shock Series
By Colin Bullock on 26th Apr 17
NENE Valley hosted the latest event in the Kia Twin-shock series and kept up the tradition of varying the going faced by riders at each round.
This time the 140 competitors in the Expert and Clubman classes had plenty of climbs, cambers and drops to tackle.
The ground at Glendon and Geddingdon Quarry was baked and bone dry for the 20 sections which had to be ridden twice.
With such a large entry, the organisers had the riders starting at different hazards around the course and they appeared to get the event going quickly with no noticeable queues.
The Class One Experts and Clubman class started at section one and there was plenty of discussion before it was ridden, but the climbs and drops caused few problems.
In the Expert class Dean Devereux set the early pace with a good lap but he opened his account at the tenth.
John Cowley on a 260 Honda TLM – there were plenty of those about – dropped a two at section ten but that was the only time his feet left the pegs as he went on to take the class win.
Cowley was the only rider to post a clean here on lap two as he went on to take the class win from Devereux with Dan Sanders third.
Martin Goodall topped the Clubman section losing eight marks on his winning ride.
A clean lap-one was slightly spoiled by a ‘five' a few sections from home but he was clear of James York, who was having his own battle with Paul Davies.
Both finished on ten marks lost but York took it on a tie breaker.
The Class Two Experts did not have a large entry, but it was no less interesting with Dave Wood and Stephen Bisby tied on losses of 21 apiece. Dave had started a little more consistently but he dropped a couple of dabs at the rocks of section five, one on each lap, but like most people marks went at ten.
He fell foul of section three on lap two but Stephen was unable to get the better of things when a few marks went midway through his final circuit.
The Clubman side of the class saw a clear win for Eiran Davies, who got his Yamaha TY175 around the hazards for just six marks.
Four on lap one and then two saw him clear by a good margin from Steve Fletcher, with Gary Dakin third.
In the Twin-shock Experts Richard Allen had the best opening lap but when he had a five on lap two at sub 12, Nic Draper saw an opportunity and his clean here saw him take the class win.
It was all pretty tight in the Clubman side of things with the top podium places all within three marks of each other.
In the battle of the Fantics Stephen Robson got the verdict over Ali Haigh, with Oli Foulke third.
The Pre-65 battle of Class Four went to Martin Wilmore aboard his 350 BSA but Roy Palmer, this time out on a Velocette, was just two marks behind after a superb first lap.
Jonathan Souch was best in the Clubman category taking his Cub to victory from Peter Edwards with Paul Howells third.
