Melk' made...
By TMX Archives on 6th Nov 08
FOLLOWING persistent overnight and then early morning rain, conditions both on and off track were very sticky and slippery for round seven of the Hewitt National XC Series promoted by the Midwest MCC.Thankfully, Midwest's choice for this event proved to definitely be the correct one, as Whitley, near Melksham, is probably the least demanding of the club's excellent cross-country venues.
Generally routed around the edge of fields with little uphill or wooded sections, most competitors were able to still slip and slide their way to the finish line.
Shortly after the 11am start, the rain did, at long last, cease and although riders had to work hard during the first hour to gain positive, forward momentum, gradually a drier riding line appeared, offering improving grip.
Taking the Expert victory was Rich Warner, his first win of the season, ahead of Midwest Husaberg rider, Darren Wheeler, Derry Milling, Dave Nuttall, Jeremy Box, Neil Thomas and series leader Gary Baker.
With just one round remaining and riders able to drop their worst score of the campaign, Baker still appears on course for the title, barring a disastrous DNF.
After winning the last three rounds at Twinhoe, Cley Hill and Ston Easton, Veteran Expert points leader, Alastair Bramwell, had to settle for runners-up spot behind David Lote.
Keeping up the pressure on Bramwell, though, in the title race, Jerry Adams and Marcus Barnes also enjoyed the Wiltshire mud-slide.
Currently in fine form, Ben Roberts has also won the last three rounds of the Hewitt Series in the Clubman 2T category to build a strong advantage title race. Roberts was again first past the post at Whitley and with closest rival Seb Dexter a non-scorer, that Hewitt title is drawing ever closer. Runner-up spot at Whitley went to Triss Ball ahead of Andy Howes, Simon Prideaux and Luke Wyatt.
HEWITT NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES
Rd 7 – Whitley, near Melksham (Midwest MCC)
EXPERT: 1 Rich Warner, 2 Darren Wheeler, 3 Derry Milling, 4 Dave Nuttall, 5 Jeremy Box, 6 Neil Thomas, 7 Gary Baker, 8 Paul Davies, 9 Steve Biddle, 10 Geraint Coombes.
VETERAN EXPERT: 1 David Lote, 2 Alastair Bramwell, 3 Jerry Adams, 4 Richard Maisey, 5 Marcus Barnes, 6 Alan James, 7 Ian Israel, 8 Paul Kingston, 9 Lewie Davis, 10 Iain Clark.
CLUBMAN 2T: 1 Ben Roberts, 2 Triss Ball, 3 Andy Howes, 4 Simon Prideaux, 5 Luke Wyatt, 6 Peter Kyte, 7 Stuart David, 8 Dane Palmer, 9 Simon Lewis, 10 Adrian Stagg.
CLUBMAN 4T: 1 Tyson Maytom-Jones, 2 Matthew Lefevre, 3 Gary Sims, 4 Adrian Francis, 5 Stuart Davy, 6 Alan Seabourne, 7 Simon Evans, 8 Tomas Janikowski, 9 Julian Challis, 10 Lee Owens.
VETERAN: 1 Guy Mansfield-Smith, 2 James Browning, 3 Andrew Taylor, 4 David Johnson, 5 Simon Bailey, 6 Graham Reid, 7 Nicholas Goud, 8 Anthony Mallett, 9 Philip Male, 10 Anthony Edwards.
SPORTSMAN 2T: 1 Paul Jones, 2 David Mears, 3 Daniel Hosznyak, 4 Dale Hall, 5 Graham Jones, 6 Darren Hosznyak, 7 Chris Carpenter, 8 Steven Maynard, 9 Ben Lewis, 10 Robert Lees.
SPORTSMAN 4T: 1 John Bradley, 2 Stephen Walker, 3 Colin Smith, 4 Andy Chubb, 5 Shane Bennett, 6 Gary Price, 7 Stephen Chesterton, 8 Nick Worlock, 9 Kevin Park, 10 Glenn Woodland.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2008
Clubman 2T rider, Stuart David, blasts around the Whitley circuit, eventually taking seventh spot on the day.