Baker's tasty bite
By TMX Archives on 2nd Jul 08
AFTER ten-laps of the latest Hewitt National Cross-Country Championship round at Midford, near Bath, on Sunday, Expert rider Darren Wheeler appeared all set to record another victory. Leading the contest, Wheeler was forced to eventually retire from proceedings after losing the oil breather pipe from his Husaberg.
Despite his frustration, the Midwest-supported rider did gain some consolation though by taking home a trophy donated in memory of Nick Phillips who just a year earlier had been tragically killed in a farming accident.
The trophy is awarded to the rider posting the fastest lap of the day, with Wheeler recording a time of 8-minutes 44-seconds on his sixth circuit.
With Midford another new venue in 2008, the forward-thinking, ambitious Midwest MCC organisers were rewarded yet again by a bumper entry.
At just after 11am, the Experts led the charge up the hill and on to the fast, flowing, grassy track.
Quickly, Wheeler took control only to be halted by that aforementioned mechanical gremlin. In his absence, Gary Baker completed a grand total of 19-laps to earn a deserved win and the top award, one-circuit ahead of Jeremy Box, Derek Bawn, Derry Milling and Neil Thomas who were separated by just 2-minutes 37-seconds.
In Clubman 2T, Ben Roberts produced a stunning performance to finish a full two-laps ahead of his closest rivals. Triss Ball eventually took the runners-up slot over three-minutes ahead of Seb Dexter. The next three riders all completed a total of 15 laps with Stuart David the fastest ahead of Simon Prideaux and Richard Multon.
Over in Clubman 4T, Tyson Maytom-Jones recorded another victory chased hard by Jason Webb. Although Webb posted the fastest lap time in this class, he was nearly 3.5-minutes behind Jones at the chequered flag.
Sportsman 4T resulted in victory for Paul Jones, a full lap ahead of Troy Webb, Jeff Cripps, Wayne Tibbles and Benjamin Wyles who all completed 15 circuits.
In a tight finish to the Sportsman 2T battle, John Bradley, Colin Smith and Garry Price all recorded a total of 14 laps. In the chase to the chequered flag, Bradley was the victor, just over four-minutes better than Smith.
There were also close finishes in both Veterans classes.
In the Expert group, Alastair Bramwell, Jerry Adams, Gary McCoy and Marcus Barnes were the
Jeff Cripps finished third overall in the Sportsman Two-stroke class
leading quartet. Although Adams posted the fastest lap time, he was still 1-minute 37-seconds behind Bramwell when the finish flag eventually dropped.
Guy Mansfield-Smith, Andrew Taylor and Robert Shore disputed the Veteran honours, enjoying 15-laps of the grassy going. Taking the eventual victory was Mansfield-Smith some 1-minute 9-seconds better than Taylor, with Shore in third spot.
HEWITT NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPS
Rd 4 – Midford (Midwest MCC)
Expert: 1 Gary Baker, 2 Jeremy Box, 3 Derek Bawn, 4 Derry Milling, 5 Neil Thomas, 6 Stephen Grimshaw.
Veteran Expert: 1 Alastair Bramwell, 2 Jerry Adams, 3 Gary McCoy, 4 Marcus Barnes, 5 Richard Maisey, 6 Ian Strudley.
Clubman 2T: 1 Ben Roberts, 2 Triss Ball, 3 Seb Dexter, 4 Stuart David, 5 Simon Prideaux, 6 Richard Multon.
Clubman 4T: 1 Tyson Maytom-Jones, 2 Jason Webb, 3 Gary Sims, 4 Jason Dreyer, 5 Mark Taylor, 6 Jason Balley.
Veteran: 1 Guy Mansfield-Smith, 2 Andrew Taylor, 3 Robert Shore, 4 Pat Poole, 5 Simon Bailey, 6 Philip Male.
Sportsman 2T: 1 Paul Jones, 2 Troy Webb, 3 Jeff Cripps, 4 Wayne Tibbles, 5 Benjamin Wyles, 6 Daniel Hosznyak.
Sportsman 4T: 1 John Bradley, 2 Colin Smith, 3 Garry Price, 4 Andy Chubb, 5 Lee Burgess, 6 Stephen Walker.
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, July 4, 2008