The Darling buds of Mae'
By TMX Archives on 11th Jun 08
AFTER the cancellation of the first round back in April, the WOR Events road show finally got the first round of its now well established Motul GBHS (Great Britain Hare Scrambles) Series under way at the popular Maeshafn venue, near Mold, in North Wales.
The circuit was very much like an American GNCC with its whoops and dusty, loamy berms. The temperatures were very hot and for all the world the riders could have been in Florida and not Flintshire.
With a very demanding but enjoyable 5.2-mile loop, it was certainly a case of survival of the fittest as slowly but surely the conditions punished each and every rider. This was the first old-school' three-hour race WOR has staged in 2008.
From the looks on tired riders faces it was evident to see that there is so much endurance and stamina needed to compete in these type of events and that it truly is the best man wins.
Both races ran like clockwork.
THREE-HOUR RACE
THE three-hour main event was always going to be a tough one and the quality of the Pro class was very good, a testament to the profile of this established championship.
With BEC contender and Ashley Wood alongside the up-and-coming Gareth Hopkins, Gethin Price, Mark Roberts and Tim Foreman, it was never going to be easy for Lincoln Brewster to continue in his fine run of form at WOR Events.
Hopkins was the race leader from the off as he rode impressively to stay at the front for nearly four laps.
Disaster then struck Hopkins as, for the third time in a row while leading his back-wheel broke up.
With Hopkins out, the super smooth and fast Ashley Wood made the rest become a chasing pack as he pulled away at the front.
Mark Roberts was a very steady second, until he too had a disaster. His new exhaust pipe fell apart and he was forced to retire while setting some blistering lap times.
All the time, the determined Lincoln Brewster was pushing hard, as he always does, to make sure he was on that podium come the end of the race.
Tim Foreman pushed Brewster hard though and come the final results it was Wood as winner with Brewster second and Foreman third.
Wood and Brewster were the only riders to complete 17 laps as the clock and new three-hour ruling forced both of the riders out for another lap with only seconds remaining.
Ben Wootton was head and shoulders above his rivals in the Expert class, nearly five-minutes on his nearest rival, Rheinallt Davies.
Ben Haycock was the man to beat in the Clubman ranks. After battling with Lewis Belfield for the majority of the race, Haycock had a 90-seconds lead over Belfield come the end.
Jack Twentyman rode like a man possessed in Over 35 and once again proved the man to beat. He had nearly one-minute advantage over Richard Main.
TWO-HOUR RACE
THE two-hour race was once again well supported. Fastest man by far was young Sportsman Ryan Faulks, who is improving week by week.
Allan Hopwood was victorious in Over 40, taking a steady win ahead of Paul Davies and Mark Moloney.
Cumbrian James Dent is a young man growing not just in size but also in stature as he took a very commanding lead in the competitive Youth (14-16) group. Dent built up a three-minute advantage over second placed Johnny Jones.
The top Novice was Darren Moloney and Kate Lloyd once again finished as the best Lady rider.
YOUTH RACE
BEAUTIFUL summer conditions greeted the young Cross-Country riders as they took on the third round of the superb FMF Junior Hare Scrambles Series on Saturday. The race ran for 90-minutes and on a bumpy, dusty and demanding four-mile Maeshafn circuit.
Once again the flying Jack Edmondson took a comprehensive victory in the Up to 65cc class, a lap ahead of runner-up, Brad Edwards.
The Small-wheel 85cc group was topped by Dominic Thomas as he coasted to victory over a jet-lagged Charlie Nichols.
Joe Wootton had to chase down Simon Jones in the 85cc big wheelers to get the lead. Come the end of the race Joe had a three-minute lead over Simon.
In the big group, Up to 150cc, young Gethin Humphries took the win. Almost cruising around the circuit knowing he was leading, the young Welshman built up a margin of over 90-seconds on runner-up Adam Barrat.
RD 1 Motul GBHS & Rd 3 FMF Junior HS Series
Maeshafn (WOR Events)
3-Hr RACE
Elite: 1 Ashley Wood 17 laps - 10:34 time penalties, 2 Lincoln Brewster 17 - 10:52, 3 Tim Foreman 16 - 1:29.
Expert: 1 Ben Wootton 16 - 4:35, 2 Rheinallt Davies 16 - 9:44, 3 Chay Granby 16 - 11:16, 4 Damian Butler 15 - 1:10, 5 Craig Reynolds 15 - 6:17, 6 Simon Thomas 14 - 3:14.
Clubman: 1 Ben Haycock 15 - 0:29, 2 Lewis Belfield 15 - 2:01, 3 Jamie Robinson 15 - 8:01, 4 Gareth Davies 15 - 14:37, 5 Steven Hughes 14 - 0:38, 6 Josh Taylor 14 - 0:56.
Over 35: 1 Jack Twentyman 15 - 1:22, 2 Richard Main 15 - 2:06, 3 Karl Claybrook 15 - 2:21, 4 Ian Barnett 15 - 2:32, 5 Jason Hope 15 - 13:33, 6 Davide Watt 13 - 4:19.
Over 45: 1 Ray Whittall 15 - 6:16, 2 Colin Jones 15 - 9:01, 3 Dave Smith 15 - 11:04, 4 Gareth Lloyd 14 - 0:36, 5 Huw Edwards 13 - 11:02.
Sportsman: 1 Andrew Dean 12 - 15:47, 2 Matthew Lamb 8 - 2:31.
2-Hr RACE
Over 40: 1 Allan Hopwood 10 - 7:09, 2 Paul Davies 10 - 7:40, 3 Mark Moloney 10 - 12:51, 4 John McLeod 9 - 3:10, 5 Rob Lambert 9 - 6:17, 6 Delwyn Pugh 9 - 6:28.
Sportsman: 1 Ryan Faulks 10 - 2:26, 2 Edward Briscoe 10 - 6:20, 3 Ben Ball 10 - 8:43, 4 Chris Wagstaff 10 - 10:10, 5 Craig Parkes 10 - 10:13, 6 Pete Middleton 10 - 11:50.
Youth 14-16: 1 James Dent 10 - 10:59, 2 Johnny Jones 10 - 13:05, 3 Adam Barrat 9 - 0:36, 4 Simon Jones 9 - 2:43, 5 Josh Parry 9 - 4:29, 6 George Knowles 9 - 11:11.
Novice: 1 Darren Moloney 9 - 2:47, 2 Ben Roberts 9 - 4:42, 3 Carl Thomas 9 - 6:01, 4 Jaroslav Ceri 9 - 6:06, 5 Dean Williams 9 - 6:19, 6 John Walsh 9 - 6:38.
YOUTH RACE (Sat)
Up to 65cc: 1 Jack Edmondson 9 - 10:29, 2 Brad Edwards 8 - 6:13, 3 Joe Smith 8 - 11:27, 4 Jack Fewings 7 - 3:44, 5 Ross Davies 7 - 10:03, 6 James Angel 6 - 11:18.
Up to Small-wheel 85cc: 1 Dominic Thomas 9 - 4:02, 2 Charlie Nichols 8 - 7:30, 3 Sion Skinner 7 - 9:07, 4 George Price 7 - 13:52, 5 Glesni Non Jones 6 - 9:20, 6 Dafydd Edwards 3 - 13:36.
Up to Big-wheel 85cc: 1 Joe Wootton 10 - 0:47, 2 Simon Jones 10 - 3:51, 3 Sophie Thomas 10 - 10:08, 4 Matthew Blackwell 8 - 3:06.
Up to 150cc: 1 Gethin Humphries 10 - 0:17, 2 Adam Barratt 10 - 1:53, 3 Morgan Lewis 10 - 6:38, 4 Huw Jones 10 - 8:10, 5 Shaun Marchington 9 - 1:15, 6 Mark Otte 9 - 1:33.