Masters Bank on a winner
By Mike Wood on 13th May 11
Following a short break, its again time for riders to get focussed and ready to battle for more vital Wulfsport British Masters points and prizes. After two exciting rounds at Mallory and Pontrilas, the superb Skelder Bank venue, at Whitby, on the weekend of May 14/15 is the next stop on the 2011 Masters tour!
To date the quality of racing as been outstandingly high, none more so than in the group for the youngest competitors, the Moto-Pro Mini Masters. Two rounds down and the points tables are beginning to take shape with Curtis Blamey leading the BW85 class charge, 14-points ahead of Pontrilas victor, Danny Lanfear, and Loui Harris. These three riders have dominated the moto win count. The only other rider to claim success is Alistair Evans during moto three at Pontrilas.
In SW85, current leader Henry Siddiqui has been in terrific form and in the eight motos so far, he has never finished lower than third spot. While Elliott Heap and Bradley Malin currently complete the top three in this class, the rider to look out for is Jay Hague!
Having claimed the 2010 Masters MXY2 crown, Dan Thornhill is again in top form and on a serious charge in this season's contest. The Gloucestershire rider has won four out of eight motos aboard his proppa.com KTM. The other race winners have been Andrew Smart, Jay Thomas and Lloyd Pettett. At present, Smart sits second in the standings, 48-points behind Thornhill, with Thomas a further 16-points adrift.
In the DK Off-Road Kawasaki Masters class, Peter Wainwright heads the MX1 category while leader Paul Neale and Gareth Padgett are setting a very hot pace at the top of MX2. Wainwright has recorded top five placings in all eight motos to date and leads by nine-points from Chris Neesam, a rider who has already bagged four moto wins, while Jamie Hallett holds third.
Over in MX2, Neale and Padgett have filled the top two placings in seven out of eight motos. The only blot on the copybook so far came in the final Pontrilas clash when Neale took the win, while Padgett had to settle for fourth behind Patrick Collins and Lee Clarkson.
The Michelin Masters is also an Unlimited class, with Paul Morgan (MX1) and Jamie Thompstone (MX2) the current pace-setters. In MX1, Darren Fowden won the opening six races before failing to score in moto three at Pontrilas. That result enabled a consistent Morgan to jump to the top of the standings, with Fowden currently second and Ben Thompson third. Thompstone presently controls Michelin MX2, while Tom Drabble, Jack Jones and Emerson Jones have all also won races.
After winning round one of the GSP Amateur MX1 class, Jamie Dobson was forced to borrow a bike for the Pontrilas meeting and slipped back to second in the standings behind Scott Bates. So far Bates, Dobson and Darryl Maxwell have been the race winners and also fill the top three championship positions.
In the competitive Raceworld-backed Amateur MX2 class, current leader Ricky Lethaby, Zac Stealey, Sam Smith and TM two-stroke pilot Charles Statt have all won motos. Despite also doubling up and competing in the Wulfsport Pro MX2 class, Stealey the 2010 Kawasaki Masters champion sits in third spot in the standings and must be considered to be a serious contender to earn another title. However there is still plenty a great action to unfold in this class which could well go right down to the wire at Dean Moor in September!
So to the Pros and with defending Champion Scott Elderfield missing Pontrilas due to injury, Brad Anderson took full advantage to move to the top of the Wulfsport MX1 standings, 20-points ahead of Bryan MacKenzie with Ross Hill in third.
Flying the AMCA flag, Brad Turner holds an impressive seventh place.
After snatching the overall verdict at Pontrilas, Matt Moffat heads the Wulfsport MX2 charge, just a slender two-points in front of Maxxis Henderson Kawasaki pilot, Bryan MacKenzie, with Scott Probert third.
That's it then – let's get the Wulfsport British Masters round three up and racing! The spectacular Whitby circuit can be found off the A171 road – SatNav reference YO21 1TN.
