Report: Rock Oil XC Championship
By TMX Archives on 24th Aug 16
The penultimate round of the Fast Eddy Rock Oil XC Championship saw a new name at the top of the results sheet. Jack Cadwallader nailed the overall win in what proved to be a tough, uncompromising, muddy and testing race on Sunday.
Green Hall Farm, Llanfillin, is on the large side with terrain to match its size. Everything is big, especially the climbs, so following several downpours on Saturday night the venue was on the slippery side.
In an effort to try and get some lines created the adult racers went first for once to give the youth racers a slightly easier time later on in the day. That decision worked a treat.
Just after 11am the Experts left the start line into a short U-turn before heading into the great outdoors and almost immediately disappeared into the woods.
The first section was tough but it did little to prepare riders for the large climb in the second section where only a dozen riders made the summit at their first attempt.
With some riders turning around a coming back down the hill as others powered up it the course became sketchy, so organoser Paul Edmondson sensibly cut the section, much to the relief of most competitors.
As the race progressed the course improved, despite the odd few spots of rain, and a proper old school battle developed between the leading pack.
Expert rider Cadwallader had made his way to the front and was determined not to give up his spot while rival Jack Ditchfield tried his hardest to close the gap on the leader whilst fending off Ash and Jacob Bowden, Aled Price and Ted Bailey, even Youth class rider Harry Edmondson who was up amongst the front runners within a few laps, alongside Clubman Max Ditchfield for a while.
Gaps opened up and Cadwallader took the win after two-hours with Jack Ditchfield second and Ash Bowden third.
All three knew they had been in a tough old race.
Jacob Bowden suffered a puncture and dropped down the ranks, but Aled Price pushed hard for third spot, just missing out as time ran out.
Eventually finishing fifth overall, Harry Edmondson topped the Youth class and posted the fastest lap of the race into the bargain as he circulated with a snapped spoke clicking constantly, much to the concern of his pit crew.
His close friend and rival Henry Yardley managed to take second in the class, matching young Edmondson on laps, but was some 3.5-minutes adrift by the finish. Jacob James took a solid third while James Palmer had a terrific race and looked extremely comfortable in the tricky conditions, but he was unable to catch Palmer.
Max Ditchfield nailed the Clubman class victory and finished just behing Harry ‘Eddy' in the overall standings.
Young ‘Ditch' always talks a good race before the event. but recently he has backed up his predictions with solid results and topped the class four minutes ahead of Andy Myers, which was quite a feat.
Lee Hattersley and Ryan Armitage swapped third position throughout the race and it was only decided on the final lap when Armitage reckoned Hattersley had the edge on him out of the corners. Hattersley third, Armitage fourth.
Chris Wagstaff felt at home in the slippy conditions and dominated the Clubman Veteran class almost from the start.
He was the first of the riders to post ten laps (everyone ahead of him posted 11 laps) and he built up an unassailable lead to take the class win by some seven minutes over David Wright who maintained second spot 90 seconds clear of Kev Sandand.
Scott Mead kept his title hopes alive with a win in the Sportsman class. Mead was a lap up on his closest rival, Dave Simpkin, in second as Ant Trawford nailed third just under five minutes adrift.
It was tough going for the Novice class riders but one stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Ben Martindale posted eight hard-earned laps to win the class as his nearest rival, Richard Lewis, completed just five. Even five laps was good going in comparison to the rest of the class who all DNF'd after the first lap.
Pro rider James Jackman asked to be omitted from the report but everyone has a bad day occasionally and Green Hall Farm was Jackman's.
Over the years he has battled with the best and received the glory when earned. Today wasn't a glory day, but he will put it behind him and charge onwards.
By 1.15pm the Youth race was underway and Charlie Chater stamped his authority on it within a couple of laps.
The course had been changed considerably and most of the woodland sections were omitted, but even what was left still presented a real challenge for the younger riders.
Luckily, the sun began to break through and the course dried to perfection, much to the envy of the adults from the opening race.
While the morning riders were covered in mud, the youth racers were spotless for the whole of the 90-minutes of their race.
Charlie Chater was untouchable and took the overall and BW85/150F class win ahead of Sam Davies and Matthew Harries, while George Yardley grabbed third overall and topped the SW85cc class ahead of William Farrow and Adam James.
Respect must go to the Junior 65cc riders, who tackled the big hills with ease. Sion Evans took to 65 spot followed by Cory Cookland and Jack Sandland.
Results
Pro: 1 James Jackman.
Expert: 1 Jack Cadwallader, 2 Jack Ditchfield, 3 Ash Bowden.
Youth: 1 Harry Edmondson, 2 Henry Yardley, 3 Jacob James.
Clubman: 1 Max Ditchfield, 2 Andy Myers, 3 Lee Hattersley.
Clubman Vet: 1 Chris Wagstaff, 2 David Wright, 3 Kev Sandland.
Sportsman: 1 Scott Mead, 2 Dave Simpkin, 3 Ant Trawford.
Novice: 1 Ben Martindale, 2 Richard Lewis.
BW85/150F: 1 Charlie Chater, 2 Sam Davies, 3 Matthew Harries.
SW85cc: 1 George Yardley, William Farrow, 3 Adam James.
