Bunce and Murphy's law
By TMX Archives on 3rd Sep 09
The MKM Rocketman Suzuki pairing of Carl Bunce and riding partner Stef Murphy took the QRA's Great 8 Endurance Race by storm at the weekend, after completing 40 laps of the varied track in the eight hour time allowance in the Hampshire countryside near Basingstoke.
However, sensation of the event was Beverley Barnes on her Team Can Am as she completed in the Ironman/ Ironlady class and won, beating the rest of her class by a lap and in so doing finished in 22nd place overall and showing a lot of her mail counterparts the way home.
The weather wasn't the best for the weekend with a strong wind blowing across the hill-top paddock making it feel like the sandy deserts of Iraq instead of a sleepy part of the English countryside, but at least the breeze kept the dust from hanging over the track and made racing a little safer.
A total of 95 teams lined up for the Le Mans' type start of their eight hours of torture at 9.45am and in a cloud they were off round the eight-kilometre track with sections on open fields, tight wooded sections and farm tracks.
GREAT 8 QUAD ENDURANCE RACE
Hannington, nr Basingstoke, Hampshire (QRA)
Top 6 overall: 1 Carl Bunce/ Stef Murphy (MKM Rocketman Suzuki) 40 laps, 2 Clint Eagle/ Chris Cooper (Team Can Am) 39, 3 Sam Barrett/ Liam Ryland (MKM Rocketman Suzuki) 38, 4 Paul Hannam/ Charles Blanchard (Northfork Honda) 38 5 Ryan Griffin/ Darren Bridge (Ace ATV Yamaha) 38, 6 Chris Keitch/ Brendon Retter (Suzuki) 38
Two Man/ Two Quad Class: 1 Carl Bunce/ Stef Murphy, 2 Clint Eagle/ Chris Cooper, 3 Sam Barrett/ Liam Ryland, 4 Paul Hannam/ Charles Blanchard, 5 Ryan Griffin/ Darran Bridge, 6 Anthony Smith/ Brett Freeston.
Iron Quad (Two Man/ One Quad): 1 Chris Keitch/ Brendon Retter, 2 Edd Giddings/ Nick Wright, 3 Liam Garbett/ Tim Morgan, 4 Andy Downes/ Josh Langford, 5 Ant Deacon/ Nick Deacon, 6 Nick Selwyn/ Tony Porter.
Ironman/ Ironlady: 1 Beverley Barnes, 2 Daniel Goodall, 3 Ashley McConnell, 4 Andrew Vernon, 5 Iain Johnston, 6 Buffy Price.
Utility 4x4: 1 Craig McCormick/ Simon Lang, 2 Robert Gee/ Neil Martin, 3 Andy Heitman/ Mark Smith.
Youth Two Rider, Two Quad: 1 Danny Lloyd/ Billy Langford, 2 Sam Bailey/ Jack Godfrey, 3 Harry Timbrell/ Craig Hurford, 4 Josh Coombs/ Daniel Lewis, 5 Jamie Morgan/ Thomas Downes.
Youth Ironman/ Lady: 1 Ameelie Miller, 2 Sophie Bosworth, 3. Liam Glover, 4 Jack Pierce, 5 Ella Jo Middleton.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
