Wootton is Iron!
By TMX Archives on 14th Aug 08
the track was superb, the turnout was good, the organisation fantastic and, most of all, everyone went home happy! That's what riding dirt-bikes is about, enjoying yourself and that is certainly what the 150 or so riders did at the Doodson Six-hour Challenge event for either two-man teams or individual Ironman', on Sunday, at the awesome Robins Mountain circuit, at Abergele.
The track builders, headed by Liam Yozza' Hughes, did a fantastic job with the 6.2-mile circuit, created utilising all of the technical little woodlands and gnarly crannies with the flowing open moorland and lakeside trails that this unbelievable venue offers. With a lap ride time of around 15 minutes for the faster rider, four laps per hour was the target set.
Starting at 10am, the Expert Two-man class set off first, followed by the other classes in order.
The Ironmen were last to leave the start line and had a really hard slog in front of them with six hours of bumpy technical going to negotiate and no partner to help share the pain.
Ben Wootton, the young Welshpool rider, is strong and fit, and it showed on Sunday as he had a remarkable ride.
Wootton topped the Ironman class by two laps and stayed with the top Two-man teams for the whole of the challenge, completing 24 laps and finishing fifth overall.
The second placed Ironman was Matt Ridgeway who finished two laps clear of Tom Smith.
Doodson Two-man Challenge
Robins Mountain, Abergele (WOR Events)
Expert Two-man: 1 Rob Reese/ Paul Herbert 25 - 7:28, 2 Lincoln Brewster/ Lewis Belfield 25 - 9:02, 3 Grant Hacking/ Andy Cripps 24 - 7:02, 4 Jamie Robinson/ Damien Butler 24 - 7:34, 5 Alun Jones/ Lee Pritchard 24 - 11:16, 6 Steven Hughes/ Dafydd Jones 24 - 13:17.
Clubman Two-man: 1 Jason Hope/ James Lockett 22 - 1:25, 2 Paul Engelan/ Ben Haycock 22 - 6:39, 3 Gareth Roberts/ John Roberts 22 - 12:47, 4 Malc Magnall/ Brian Williams 18 - 8:29.
Family Two-man: 1 Owain/ Kevin Humphreys 22 - 0:13, 2 Colin/ Leah Jones 20 - 9:27, 3 Michael/ Niall Stokes 18 - 0:07, 4 Elwyn/ Jordan Beedles 18 - 2:49, 5 Andrew/Oli Coop 18 - 8:18, 6 Luke/ Steven Thomas 18 - 14:24.
Over 35 Two-man: 1 Steve Ireland/ Gareth Lloyd 24 - 13:29, 2 Paul Davies/ Rob Lambert 22 - 5:02, 3 Allan Hopwood/ Mark Maloney 22 - 7:31, 4 Stephen Malone/ David Hall 22 - 14:27, 5 David Watt/ Paul Davies 21 - 8:12, 6 Steve Crompton/ Rick Thompson 17 - 7:18.
Novice Two-man: 1 Ged Tyson/ Neil Griffy 21 - 1:51, 2 Damian Roberts/ Darren Maloney 21 - 16:28, 3 Andrew Donald/ John Haywood 19 - 1:32, 4 Steve Cottrell/ Mark Fletcher 19 - 8:20, 5 Neil Wrigley/ Edward Fear 19 - 19:18, 6 Rhys Gethin/ Gwion Prys 18 - 14:49.
Youth Two-man: 1 Simon Jones/ Gethin Humphries 22 - 3:14, 2 Adam Barratt/ Shaun Marchington 21 - 4:31, 3 Joe Wootton/ Huw Jones 20 - 0:10, 4 Josh Parry/ Owain Davies 20 - 1:30.
Ironman: 1 Ben Wootton 24 - 11:11, 2 Mat Ridgeway 22 - 6:46, 3 Tom Smith 20 - 6:15, 4 Dean Williams 19 - 8:04, 5 Dean Reed 18 - 9:00, 6 George Dennison 18 - 18:13.
Sportsman Two-man: 1 Chris Wagstaff/ Carl Thomas 22 - 8:54, 2 Ryan Faulks/ Ben Ball 22 - 9:58, 3 Ben Roberts/ Dylan Owen 21 - 12:51, 4 Johnson/ Ford 20 - 8:51, 5 John Bowen/ Darren Heyes 20 - 10:00, 6 Henry Markey/ Stephen Thornton 20 - 11:08.
FOR FULL REPORT, SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2008