Edmondson was Relentless
By TMX Archives on 21st May 08
DEEP in the heart of WOR country, the long-awaited third round of the Putoline XC Championship, organised by fasteddyracing.com, ran at the weekend with a somewhat depleted field, mainly due to the horrendous weather during the previous week.
Despite rain throughout Saturday, when the Youth race ran, Sunday was completely different – cloudy with plenty of sunshine and ideal for XC racing. Although the main event took place on Sunday, Saturday saw a decent entry in the Youth race following a Saturday morning training session.
The 5.5-mile course at Llandrillo, North Wales, had a mixture of fast fire-roads turning into technical wooded areas, with quite a few steep climbs and descents thrown in for good measure, and rolling field sections where riders could relax for a short while.
The main event of the weekend was the Pro, Expert and Super Clubman race on Sunday afternoon. With two wins already under his belt from events earlier in the week, Paul Edmondson was the man on form and he didn't disappoint in the Pro class.
A last minute change of plan saw him riding the new Relentless Suzuki RMZ450 instead of his usual 250cc two-stroke machine. Edmondson reckoned that the power delivery on the 450 is very smooth, rather like riding a 350, and ideally suited to the Llandrillo terrain.
True to form he powered to victory, a lap up on closest rival, Lincoln Brewster, who eventually took second. This event saw the return of Dutchman Mike Kock, who lead the race initially, as Edmondson started from the back of the field, and was going well until a front wheel puncture saw him lose places as he pitted to replace the damaged wheel. He scrambled back to third as the 2-5-hour race concluded.
Jon Hinam's form improves with every outing and he was really going well as he managed to hold on to fourth spot and keep a good 30-second gap between himself and fifth placed James Jackman.
Expert Ben Wootton was another rider on-form. He was the only contender to match the Pros lap-for-lap and took his class win on 15 laps, ahead of second placed Jack Twentyman, who suffered a huge spill in the final few minutes of the race, but, in his usual fashion, picked himself up and got to the chequered flag to hold the runners-up spot. Craig Reynolds narrowed the gap on Twentyman to just over two-minutes as he took third in class just six-seconds ahead of Drew Harvey.
Gareth Hopkins made the top five and had the honour of posting the fastest lap in the Expert ranks – the only Expert to break the ten-minute barrier.
The top five Super Clubman riders all clocked 14 laps around this fast and demanding course. Joe Deakin and Lewis Belfield battled for supremacy all race long. Deakin pulled a 30-second advantage in the closing stages for the class win. Jamie Robinson took third although he was less than a minute behind the leaders. He had a clear three-minutes over fourth-placed Gary Daniels and James Harvey in fifth.
Richard Main topped the Veteran class with ease, a lap up on Dennis Harrison. Alan Vissian was third, three minutes behind Harrison.
The morning race saw Derrick Edmondson claim the first family win of the day in the Veteran and Ladies class and was first past the post overall. Fresh from an outing in North Africa he went well despite describing himself as ‘knackered'. Gareth Lloyd matched him on laps but was just under 90-seconds behind.
Kev Freeman headed the Novice 2T field, a lap up on all his rivals. Second-placed Alec Trawford was last off the start line but soon powered through the field to take second place, a minute ahead of Kev Sandland.
Liam Garbett was a country mile clear of the field in Novice 4T. He finished with a seven-minute advantage over Lee Carpenter. Mark Beresford, also on nine laps, took third just seconds ahead of Jim Fitzsimmonds.
Joe Jones headed Clubman 2T home and was joined by Steve Holcombe and Karl Day all on ten-laps.
Sean O'Neill, Lee Hattersley and Gareth Delahay were top three in the Clubman 4T class all completing 11 laps.
Jack Edmondson started the triple family win over the weekend when he won the Youth 65cc class by two clear laps on Saturday afternoon. Alex Walton was his closest rival on 23 laps of a somewhat slightly shorter course. Scott Clifford topped Youth 125/ 150cc with ease. Joe Wootton and Fraiser Flockhart had the contest of the day as they battled it out in Youth 85cc. Wootton just took the win ahead of Flockhart, both on 20 laps.
Good weather certainly helped this event. The course was very good, competitive and challenging with a few places to rest during the long lap.
PUTOLINE X-COUNTRY CHAMPS
Rd 3 – Llandrillo, North Wales (FastEddyRacing.com)
Pro: 1 Paul Edmondson, 2 Lincoln Brewster, 3 Mike Kock, 4 Jon Hinam, 5 James Jackman.
Expert: 1 Ben Wootton, 2 Jack Twentyman, 3 Craig Reynolds, 4 Drew Harvey, 5 Gareth Hopkins.
Super Clubman: 1 Joe Deakin, 2 Lewis Belfield, 3 Jamie Robinson, 4 Gary Daniels, 5 James Harvey.
Veteran Over 35: 1 Derrick Edmondson, 2 Gareth Lloyd, 3 Peter Clarke, 4 Keith Padstone, 5 Rob Prosser.
Clubman 2T: 1 Joe Jones, 2 Steve Holcombe, 3 Karl Day, 4 Huw Jones, 5 Lance Hurdsman.
Clubman 4T: 1 Sean O'Neill, 2 Lee Hattersley, 3 Gareth Delahay, 4 Rich Cookland, 5 Stu Keedwell.
Novice 2T: 1 Kev Freeman, 2 Alec Trawford, 3 Kev Sandland, 4 Johnny Jones, 5 Davie MacNulty.
Novice 4T: 1 Liam Garbett, 2 Lee Carpenter, 3 Mark Beresford, 4 Jim Fitzsimmons, 5 Sam Strong.
YOUTH RACE (Sat)
Youth 65cc: 1 Jack Edmondson, 2 Alex Walton, 3 Brad Edwards, 4 Ryan Hughes, 5 Oli Benton.
Youth 85cc: 1 Joe Wootton, 2 Fraiser Flockhart, 3 Dominic Thomas, 4 Rhian George, 5 Andrew Bull.
Youth 125/ 150cc: 1 Scott Clifford, 2 Johnny Jones, 3 Thomas James, 4 Alex West, 5 Jake Marsh.