Bolter ousts a three-Wheeler!
By TMX Archives on 14th May 08
REGARDLESS of the terrain, three-hours of non-stop cross-country racing is a severe test of endurance for any competitor and machine. So, throw in a challenging seven-mile lap and scorching temperatures and that battle to reach the finish line also becomes a stern examination of a riders physical and mental strength. At Chavenage, on Sunday, during round three of the Hewitt National Cross-Country Championship, an event again superbly promoted by the Midwest MCC, the heat was further increased by the appearance of top enduro riders Daryl Bolter and Chris Tett.
Despite the welcome inclusion of Bolter and Tett, Midwest Racing-supported Darren Wheeler was looking for a hat-trick of Expert class wins and he made a fantastic start to Sunday's event, and by the end of the first seven-mile blast had already forged a big early advantage, with Bolter in tow.
From that point onwards a superb contest developed as the lead changed hands following required fuel stops.
With just two laps remaining, the gallant Wheeler's challenge was effectively destroyed by a fall. Remounting and quickly firing his Husaberg back to life, he still managed to take second spot, a clear eight minutes ahead of Chris Tett, with Rich Warner fourth, Gary Baker fifth and Derek Bawn sixth.
In the Expert class for Veteran riders, the first ten riders home all completed a total of nine laps, so the verdict was decided by who was the quickest to the chequered flag. First man home was Marcus Barnes, who, after a full three hours of competition, held a remarkably slender advantage of just 11-seconds ahead of runner-up Alastair Bramwell. Winner of round two, Jerry Adams, finished a further 2:25 down on Bramwell and earned a very determined third place finish.
Victory in Clubman Two-stroke went to Seb Dexter. Like the Veteran Experts, speed was the deciding factor as the first eight riders home all completed nine laps.
Dexter finished Sunday's event 2:34 clear.
In a couple of very tight scraps to the finish line, Ben Roberts beat Matthew Woodham, the winner at round one back in February, by just eight-seconds for the runners-up slot while a narrow six-seconds separated Dane Palmer and Nerys Williams in fourth and fifth positions.
Midwest Racing-supported Tyson Maytom-Jones recorded his third victory of the series in the Clubman Four-stroke class. However his march to victory was far from comfortable after he suffered an early scare on lap one, bending his gear lever.
Undeterred, Maytom-Jones along with Gary Sims, Wayne Partington and David Fowler all completed nine laps. At the finish, Tyson's eventual winning margin was to be just over three-minutes.
All of the leading riders in the Veteran class managed a total of eight laps. Taking victory in another extremely tight contest was Robert Shore, just 16-seconds in front of James Browning.
Over in the always well supported Sportsman classes, victory went to Jeff Cripps and John Bradley respectively. Sportsman Two-stroke winner, Cripps, held a 3:19 advantage over Paul Jones.
While Bradley took the win in Sportsman four-stroke, his closest challengers, also completing eight hot laps, proved to be Stephen Walker, Garry Price, Nathan Kennedy and Andy Chubb.
HEWITT NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPS
Rd 3 Chavenage (Midwest MCC)
Expert: 1 Daryl Bolter, 2 Darren Wheeler, 3 Chris Tett, 4 Rich Warner, 5 Gary Baker, 6 Derek Bawn.
Veteran Expert: 1 Marcus Barnes, 2 Alastair Bramwell, 3 Jerry Adams, 4 David Lote, 5 Stuart Keedwell, 6 Hans Kaashoek.
Clubman Two-stroke: 1 Seb Dexter, 2 Ben Roberts, 3 Matthew Woodham, 4 Dane Palmer, 5 Nerys Williams, 6 Christian Seldon.
Clubman Four-stroke: 1 Tyson Maytom-Jones, 2 Gary Sims, 3 Wayne Partington, 4 David Fowler, 5 Mark Taylor, 6 Adrian Francis.
Veteran: 1 Robert Shore, 2 James Browning, 3 Guy Mansfield-Smith, 4 David Johnson, 5 Pat Poole, 6 Andrew Taylor.
Sportsman Two-stroke: 1 Jeff Cripps, 2 Paul Jones, 3 Benjamin Wyles, 4 Daniel Hosznyak, 5 Robert MacFarlane, 6 Wayne Tibbles.
Sportsman Four-stroke: 1 John Bradley, 2 Stephen Walker, 3 Garry Price, 4 Nathan Kennedy, 5 Andy Chubb, 6 Stephen Chesterton.