Brad to the bone
By TMX Archives on 22nd Dec 06
AFTER going close on more than a couple of occasions, Brad O'Leary eventually won his first 125cc AMCA title in 2005. That success earned him some valuable support from FotoX and AMS Motorcycles, switching from Honda to KTM machinery.
Armed with a brace of rapid orange projectiles, Brad retained his crown in 2006 with a truly champion performance. In all eight rounds, he was to finish on the podium but remarkably only took control of the title race during the penultimate round at a very wet Culham. The reason he had to wait to gain control was because during 2006 he had met an equally consistent performer in Mark Hooley. Like O'Leary, Hooley finished on the podium in every 125cc round before then suffering a painful knee injury at Culham, thus signalling an end to his challenge. Up to this point, Hooley, also KTM mounted, with support from Servo Racing, had won a total of seven motos compared with O'Leary's four victories.
Although O'Leary and Hooley were to be the main contenders, it was Lancashire lad Rob Clitheroe who led the early stages of the AMCA series. Being a renowned sand track expert, Clitheroe, on his SCT tuned Honda, blasted to three brilliant moto wins in the opening round at Hawkstone. Despite missing a majority of 2005 after a wrist operation, Clitheroe remarkably took the first moto at Hawkstone by an incredible 13 seconds ahead of O'Leary, Lee Payne, Clinton Barrs, Rick Du-Feu and Jamie Powell.
Sand was also on the menu for round two at Matchams and Clitheroe was again winning motos. However, the Hampshire venue was also to signal Clitheroe's first defeat of the season. During moto two his Honda popped a valve, a problem he was to experience again later in the season, resulting in an eventual switch to a One11MX KTM.
With Clitheroe out, Hooley took full advantage for the win and was now trailing the series leader by just two points with reigning champion O'Leary a further five points behind in third. Victory in the 125cc class at Matchams went to Du-Feu with a very consistent second/ second/ third scorecard. Also producing a strong performance at Matchams was young Lee Dunham in fifth overall.
After the sand of Hawkstone and Matchams came the hard pack of Topcliffe, in Yorkshire. Riding in his native county, Hooley was in fantastic form, scorching to a brilliant hat-trick of moto wins to thus also now lead the title chase by a clear 20 points. Not enjoying the fast, flat-out terrain, Clitheroe was restricted to tenth overall on the day resulting in both O'Leary and Du-Feu climbing above him in the championship table. Producing his own personal best performance of the season, Honda Equipe rider James Lane earned the final 125cc podium place at Topcliffe.
AMCA 125cc CHAMPIONSHIP (TOP 15)
1 Brad O'Leary (FotoX/AMS KTM) 522 points, 2 Mark Hooley (Servo Racing KTM) 412, 3 Rick Du-Feu (DK Off-road Honda) 399, 4 Rob Clitheroe (One11MX KTM) 385, 5 Clinton Barrs (Wildmoor/ Wulfsport Yamaha) 368, 6 Lee Dunham (Molson Team Green Kawasaki) 326, James Lane (Honda Equipe) 292, 8 Scott Mathia (Wulfsport Honda) 245, 9 Lee Payne (Honda) 241, 10 Alan Pearce (Honda) 201, 11 James Shaw (DK Off-road Kawasaki) 184, 12 Daniel Hill (Motomark Racing KTM) 148, 13 Richard Cannings (MG Metalcrafts Honda) 136, 14 Shaun Pearce (Pete Jones Motorcycles Honda) 122, 15 Tom Fish (Honda) 119.
AMCA OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (TOP 15)
1 Phil Mercer (DK Off-road Kawasaki) 462 points, 2 Elliot Barrs (Wildmoor/ Wulfsport Yamaha) 451, 3 Simon Lane (Honda Equipe) 396, 4 Aaron Crowder (Sandiford Honda) 372, 5 Richard Mike-Jones (ER Williams Honda) 354, 6 Danny Blakeley (Silvesters Yamaha) 327, 7 Paul Burn (Drilltec Honda) 286, 8 Charlie Hollis (Invek Foods Honda) 285, 9 David Wright (Sandiford Honda) 251, 10 Paul Coward (Honda) 228, 11 Craig Chamberlain (Fast Eddy Honda) 169, 12 Steven Bailey (KO Motorcycles Honda) 162, 13 Danny Ayres (Yamaha) 160, 14 Nicky Batcock (SAS Swansea Yamaha) 138, 15 Jason Rennie (RaceFX Honda) 121.
AMCA SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP (TOP 15)
1 Simon Bradford/ Martin Taylor (Husaberg) 721 points, 2 Dave Petty/ Lee Machin (KTM) 615, 3 Mark Banks/ Peter Girling (VMC) 464, 4 Alan Peever/ Anthony Phillips (KTM) 431, 5 Steve France/ Geoff Wrigglesworth (EML) 407, 6 Andy Grahame/ Martin Friary (EML) 404, 7 Alan Grahame/ Tony Grahame (EML) 394, 8 Ian Cole/ Dean Evans (VMC) 346, 9 Keith Helliwell/ Simon Dadson (KTM) 345, 10 John Grahame/ Scott Grahame (EML) 338, 11 Stewart Lines/ Marc Cooper (SUZ) 328, 12 Colin Griffiths/ Terry Griffiths (VMC) 245, 13 Stephen Evans/ Darren Bishop 240, 14 Thomas Mann/ Neil Burke (BSU) 202, 15 Steve Bann/ Neal Bann (HUS) 190.
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, December 22, 2006