First Knight

The win was Knighter's first title on Honda machinery, but from the quality of his performance, it won't be his last.

 

Paul Edmondson had planned a tough but rideable course, with several tricky rock sections scattered between huge climbs and some heart-stopping descents, with easier but longer routes around the tougher extreme sections.

 

The opening round of the series at Tong was tight and technical with plenty of woodland sections.

 

But Back Cowm Quarry does not possess a single tree and the course was harder, longer and more technical as it stretched into the far distance on a much larger scale than Tong.

 

As with the opening round of the series each section was easily accessible for spectators and the high cliff section offered an outstanding panorama of the whole event.

 

Trials supremo Dougie Lampkin was on the start-line, giving free advice to fellow Gas Gas riders Danny McCanney and Alexz Wigg.

 

Knight, Graham Jarvis, Jonny Walker, Paul Bolton, Danny McCanney and Lee Edmondson crowded the front row and as the flag dropped Eurotek KTM-mounted Paul Bolton got the jump on everyone.

 

But it was a brief lead, as Knight Jarvis and Walker quickly charged to the front of the field.

 

KTM's Jonny Walker and Husaberg's Graham Jarvis were in hotpursuit of Knight. 

 

The Manxman's claimed plan to take it steady for a few laps fooled no one as he took the lead, with Walker getting the best of Jarvis until Walker crashed hard at the first rock section, dead-legging both legs on his bars.This left Jarvis to tail Knight out into the tough course around the quarry.

 

The rocky terrain took its toll early on, as Knight made an unscheduled pit stop on his second lap to free off his rear brake, which had jammed on, but from that point onwards it was a one-man show.

 

Jarvis tried to make the most of Knight's misfortune and put some distance between himself and the Manxman – but within a lap Knight was back in command at the front.

 

A few small errors from Jarvis caused him to steady himself and push hard as the final few laps approached but Knighter had nearly a two-minute lead, with the pair of riders a lap ahead of everyone else. 

 

Unable to catch Knight, Jarvis settled for second spot as a ruffled Walker cruised home third, looking less than comfortable on his bike.

 

The Beta X-treme Team of Ben and Dan Hemingway were literally on home turf and both started well but within a quarter of a lap Dan was sidelined briefly as his mount tried to rev itself into oblivion. Two minutes of fiddling with his bike soon saw him back in contention but unable to match brother Ben, who was flying in fifth place – or even Beta Factory rider James Dabill who finished in seventh.

 

Paul Bolton used every ounce of his vast Extreme knowledge to take fourth spot while Danny McCanney, not an extreme specialist by his ownreckoning, was less than happy with his performance, when most riders would have been elated to take fifth in such exalted company.

 

Danny may not have been happy but his skills impressed everyone who saw him.

 

Rd 2 – Back Cowm Quarry, nr Rochdale (Fast Eddy Racing)

PM Race

Pro Class: 1 David Knight 16 laps - 2:04:21 total time, 2 Graham Jarvis 16 - 2:06:18, 3 Jonny Walker 15 - 2:02:30, 4 Paul Bolton 15 - 2:06:35, 5 Ben Hemingway 15 - 2:08:20, 6 Danny Mccanney 15 - 2:08:20, 7 James Dabill 14 - 2:04:10, 8 Dan Hemingway 13 - 2:01:20, 9 Gary Daniels 13 - 2:02:30, 10 Alex Wigg 13 - 2:03:37, 11 Arron Poolman 12 - 2:05:14.

Expert: 1 Zac Sherwin 13 - 2:06:44, 2 Lee Sealey 13 - 2:08:32, 3 Rob Johnson 13 - 2:09:33, 4 Brad Freeman 12 - 2:01:18, 5 Biff Smith 12 - 2:04:29, 6 Luke Flack 12 - 2:06:04, 7 Josh Law 12 - 2:06:06, 8 Nigel Crellin 12 - 2:06:26, 9 Damian Butler 12 - 2:10:14, 10 Kieron Hankin 12 - 2:12:26.

AM Race

Clubman: 1 Mick Boam 12 laps - 2:02:46 total time, 2 Sam Ludgate 12 - 2:07:13, 3 Henry Morehouse 12 - 2:07:52, 4 Jack Chapman 11 - 2:02:36, 5 Pete Bailey 11 - 2:04:33, 6 Daniel Farrer 11 - 2:07:47, 7 Reece Morewood 11 - 2:08:25, 8 Ian Mcmahon 11 - 2:08:54, 9 Iain Robinson 11 - 2:12:54, 10 Michael Kay 10 - 2:06:32.

Veteran: 1 Mark Jackson 12 - 2:04:26, 2 Anthony Ayrton 11 - 2:02:27, 3 Craig Parkes 11 - 2:03:26, 4 Scott Stephenson 11 - 2:04:34, 5 Keith Jenkins 10 - 2:03:14, 6 Chris Salt 10 - 2:07:15, 7 Jason Crossland 10 - 2:07:36, 8 Chris Ball 9 - 2:01:17, 9 Lee Smith 9 - 2:07:28, 10 Malc Russell 8 - 2:03:41.

Sportsman: 1 Ben Brierley 10 - 2:11:45, 2 Michael Pye 10 - 2:12:12, 3 Danny Lazaruik 9 - 2:05:21, 4 Michael Gorst 9 - 2:08:40, 5 Tom Collett 8 - 2:02:15, 6 Neil Crayston 8 - 2:07:10, 7 Steve Norbury 7 - 2:00:52, 8 Alan Stockdale 6 - 2:00:15, 9 Daniel Hurd 6 - 2:00:38, 10 Bill Forsyth 6 - 2:02:44.

Youth: 1 Antoine Criq 9 - 2:00:28, 2 Brandon Sharples 8 - 2:10:25, 3 Nathan Ball 7 - 2:07:12, 4 Will Emery 7 - 2:08:28, 5 Ryan Phillips 6 - 2:03:10, 6 Jack Fewings 5 - 2:22:45, 7 Ronnie Hill 4 - 2:07:50, 8 Michael Dutton 2 - 2:04:54.