Blackdog and Englishmen
By TMX Archives on 4th Dec 08
IN AN incredible conclusion to the 2008 Hewitt National XC Championship, Gary Baker, Derry Milling and Darren Wheeler all entered the final round of the series at Blackdog Woods, Chapmanslade with a mathematical chance of winning the Experts title. Within two dramatic laps though, it was to be all over for the unfortunate Milling after a heavy crash resulted in a broken leg, get well soon Derry! So then it was a two-way shootout instead between series leader Baker and Midwest Racing supported Wheeler. In the race to the flag, Wheeler was to be the victor, completing 11 laps during the three-hour blast whilst Baker finished one lap down in fourth spot.
Yet again proving that XC riders are the ‘toughest' breed of off-road competitors, an entry of 200-plus braved rain, sleet and even snow in the bitterly cold conditions and help wrap up another superb Hewitt series.
At just after 11am it was the Experts class who led the charge into the dense Blackdog Woods and thus begin the first of their five-mile long laps. On the conclusion of that hectic opening circuit it was Wheeler who appeared first aboard his Midwest Husaberg and despite briefly losing his advantage for three laps to Rob Pollard, he regained his leadership and earned the eventual win, a full lap ahead. Critically though, both Pollard and Tom Smith both finished ahead of Baker.
With a rider's best seven results from the eight Hewitt rounds counting towards the final championship standings, Wheeler just edged out Baker by a very tight one point!
In the Veterans Experts class, Alastair Bramwell required just six points to mathematically take the Hewitt title, his closest challenger being Jerry Adams.
Although it was to be Ade Dark who took the win on the day, Bramwell kept his composure to produce a great ride. Keeping Dark in his sights, Bramwell matched Dark's nine lap total finishing seven minutes down at the flag in second spot.
With Terry Beecham, Hans Kaashoek and Stuart Keedwell also in the frame, Adams finished down in 16th spot, completing three laps. Earlier in the contest, Marcus Barnes had been well in contention for a top six slot until retiring on lap eight.
With the Clubman 2T title already in the bag, Ben Roberts was a non-starter at Chapmanslade, so it was his closest challenger Seb Dexter who was to take the win on Sunday.
Completing eight laps, a total also matched by Dean Reed, Triss Ball, Anthony Rymer and Andy Howes it was to be a race to the finish.
HEWITT NATIONAL XC CHAMPIONSHIP
Final Rd - Chapmanslade (Midwest MCC)
EXPERT: 1 Darren Wheeler, 2 Rob Pollard, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Gary Baker, 5 Neil Thomas, 6 Steve Biddle.
VETERAN EXPERT: 1 Ade Dark, 2 Alastair Bramwell, 3 Terry Beecham, 4 Hans Kaashoek, 5 Stuart Keedwell, 6 Terry Hoskins.
CLUBMAN 2T: 1 Seb Dexter, 2 Dean Reed, 3 Triss Ball, 4 Anthony Rymer, 5 Andy Howes, 6 Stuart David.
CLUBMAN 4T: 1 Gary Syms, 2 Tyson Maytom-Jones, 3 Matt Dark, 4 Adrian Francis, 5 Mark Woodman, 6 Reg Jenkins.
VETERAN: 1 Guy Mansfield-Smith, 2 Robert Shore, 3 James Browning, 4 Stuart Jones, 5 David Johnson, 6 Andrew Taylor.
SPORTSMAN 2T: 1 Daniel Hosznyak, 2 Dale Hall, 3 Jeff Cripps, 4 Lee Neale, 5 David Mears, 6 Daniel Price.
SPORTSMAN 4T: 1 Glenn Woodland, 2 Garry Price, 3 Peter Ballinger, 4 Andy Chubb, 5 Kevin Park, 6 Colin Smith.
FINAL HEWITT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
EXPERT: 1 Darren Wheeler 177 points, 2 Gary Baker 176, 3 Derry Milling 153, 4 Jeremy Box 135, 5 Rich Warner 132, 6 Dave Nuttal 123, 7 Neil Thomas 123, 8 Derek Bawn 103, 9 Steve Biddle 91, 10 Malcolm Lean 81.
VETERAN EXPERT: 1 Alastair Bramwell 195 points, 2 Jerry Adams 161, 3 Marcus Barnes 155, 4 David Lote 139, 5 Stuart Keedwell 120, 6 Hans Kaashoek 114, 7 Dave Potts 86, 8 Terry Beecham 77, 9 Iain Clark 75, 10 Lewie Davis 70.
CLUBMAN 2T: 1 Ben Roberts 196 points, 2 Seb Dexter 180, 3 Andy Howes 137, 4 Triss Ball 136, 5 Anthony Rymer 103, 6 Stuart David 102, 7 Simon Prideaux 91, 8 Peter Kyte 89, 9 Dane Palmer 74, 10 Matthew Woodham 70.
CLUBMAN 4T: 1 Tyson Maytom-Jones 207 points, 2 Gary Syms 187, 3 Adrian Francis 102, 4 Philip Gilder 100, 5 Mark Woodman 97, 6 Rydian Evans 97, 7 Jason Bailey 87, 8 Simon Evans 87, 9 Reg Jenkins 84, 10 Matthew Lefevre 63.
VETERAN: 1 Guy Mansfield-Smith 205 points, 2 James Browning 171, 3 Andrew Taylor 163, 4 Robert Shore 156, 5 David Johnson 142, 6 Simon Bailey 99, 7 Graham Reid 98, 8 Stuart Jones 96, 9 Paul Hoskins 83, 10 Philip Male 79.
SPORTSMAN 2T: 1 Paul Jones 202 points, 2 Daniel Hosznyak 176, 3 Jeff Cripps 134, 4 Dale Hall 130, 5 Robert McFarlane 118, 6 Benjamin Wyles 101, 7 Lee Neale 98, 8 Shaun Street 85, 9 Wayne Tibbles 84, 10 Graham Jones 84.
SPORTSMAN 4T: 1 John Bradley 199 points, 2 Colin Smith 161, 3 Garry Price 150, 4 Andy Chubb 141, 5 Stephen Walker 121, 6 Lee Burgess 112, 7 Kevin Park 98, 8 Peter Ballinger 97, 9 Nathan Kennedy 84, 10 Nick Worlock 81.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5
Darren Wheeler's top spot in the Experts on the day, helped him snatch Championship glory by a single point.