Winrow's king of Margate
By TMX Archives on 27th Feb 08
THE 2008 QRA Margate Beach-cross was judged a resounding success, as massive crowds basked in the sunshine while being entertained with some fantastic racing on the golden sands of Margate's main beach.
The course was very demanding 1.3-mile circuit.The event was staged over two days with three points-scoring races per class each day and the spectators lined the promenade to witness the spectacle of top class Adult Quad and Solo racing. Some of the solos did find it hard going but those who persevered learnt a lot and enjoyed it.
After practice on the Saturday, there were three ‘qualifier' heats to determine classes for the main event. Andy Downes shot out of the start in the first heat to lead from start to finish ahead of reigning Margate champ, Stef Murphy, and Ben Richmond.
The second heat went to Northern Ireland's David Cowan ahead of David Baldwin and Tony Preistly. Liam Cater just made it into the Pro class in this heat after getting caught up in a tangle on the first turn and coming up to ninth in the three-lap dash.
William Waggott got hooked up on the sand and flew out of the start in the third of the qualifying heats and looked in good form, keeping Paul Winrow behind for one lap. However it was Winrow on his Honda winning the heat from Waggott and Oli Sansom.
The racing for real got underway with the Solo open class on Saturday. The 26- strong competitor line-up was headed by Jason Morris on his Boretech 250cc Suzuki who was in a class of his own and lapped up to himself. Second spot went to Ricky Watt with local hero Paul Anderson Junior in third and Andre David, last year's Solo final winner down on his luck in fourth after a forced machine change.
The tide on Saturday came in higher than predicted and put the back straight under shallow water, but it was enough to enforce an interval of over one hour during which time several riders lead by Oli Sansom and the MKM Rocketman Suzuki team entertained the crowds with some riding displays over the ‘clock tower jumps'.
The interval meant that time would only permit two blocks of racing in each class on Saturday. However, when Sunday dawned, racing got underway at 10am and the last block of heats from Saturday were successfully added to the day's programme.
Paul Winrow put on a cracking display of racing, unbeaten in all six Pro Class races, sometimes from the back of the pack and encouraging the likes of last year's QRA Margate Champion and his team-mate Stef Murphy along. Stef rode some cracking races and kept a level head when at times other around him had lost theirs.
Twice British QuadX champion, Justin Reid was debuting his new Can Am DS450 mount in almost stock trim and looked very much at home. Oli Sansom rode the hide off his Yamaha with some ‘never give up'
displays. William Waggott continued to make blinding starts in every race and maintained good positions each time. Paul Holmes was at times over enthusiastic which cost him.
The solo field was depleted somewhat on the Sunday and sadly Jason Morris, who had dominated Saturday's races, had other commitments and had to leave Andre David to take top honours, un-beaten in the remaining races, as Matt Stephenson and Paul Anderson kept it close for second and third.
After the six rides per Quad class, the finale was the QRA Margate Big Sky Grand Final. The top nine riders from each class were brought together in the one race. No hanging back this time from Winrow as the tapes flew. Ricky Tordoff led with surprise package, Caine Hinder, tucked in behind Tordoff, with Sansom, Reid, Stef Murphy, Samuel Bryan and Winrow chasing.
Hinder maintained a great pace, only fading towards the end while Winrow chased hard and by half distance was pestering Sansom for the lead. They repeatedly swapped positions until the last lap flag when Sansom faded slightly and Winrow looked fresh and up for more. Reid fought through and on the last lap stole third from Stef Murphy and relegated Hinder to fifth spot.
It was another excellent event for our sport, two or four-wheels. When asked for a comment Dave Kinnear, from the Margate Town Partnership, who worked very hard to put the event on, said: "At a time of year when Margate would normally be hibernating, an estimated crowd of 20,000 people enjoyed an exhilarating two days of close fought quad and solo bike racing.''
QRA MARGATE BIG SKY BEACH-CROSS
Pro Quad Class Overall: 1 Paul Winrow (Winrow Honda UK) 150 points, 2 Stef Murphy (Winrow Honda UK) 112, 3 Oli Sansom (Cromwell Trucks Yamaha) 104, 4 Paul Holmes (ATV World Yamaha) 102, 5 William Waggott (KIK Honda) 99, 6 Justin Reid (Team Can Am) 89, 7 Ricky Tordoff (Mercuria Yamaha GYTR) 89, 8 Caine Hinder (Winrow Honda UK) 74.
Expert Quad: 1 Samuel Bryan (Honda) 147, 2 Josh Chilcott (MKM Rocketman Suzuki) 115, 3 Liam Ryland (MKM Rocketman Suzuki) 113, 4 Anthony Smith (Wiltshire ATV Can Am) 104, 5 Robert Hanks (Suzuki) 87, 6 Ian Johnson (Honda) 86.
Club Quad: 1 Jack Cadet PDL Honda) 137, 2 Ryan Wildman ATV's R Us Yamaha) 119, 3 Julian Mawbey Suzuki) 103, 4 Roland Hopkins Yamaha) 91, 5 Dean Johnson Elite Honda) 80, 6 Nigel Hughes KMM Gas Gas) 78.
Solo Class: 1 Andre David (ATV Racing Suzuki) 118, 2 Matt Stephenson (???) 100, 3 Paul Anderson (Kawasaki) 92, 4 Ricky Watt (Watt KTM) 85, 5 Sam Holloway (Suzuki) 76, 6 Ryan Matthews (Jon Jon Yamaha) 75.
Big Sky Quad Grand Final: 1 Paul Winrow, 2 Oli Sansom, 3 Justin Reid, 4 Stef Murphy, 5 Caine Hinder, 6 Ricky Tordoff, 7 Samuel Bryan, 8 Ryan Wildman, 9 Josh Chilcott, 10 Liam Ryland.