Castle Stormer
By TMX Archives on 20th Sep 13
International motocross returned to the legendary Farleigh Castle circuit last weekend, as it played host to the 2013 Vets MXDN team event.
Teams from all four corners of the globe, representing their individual nations, gathered at the legendary grand prix venue in Somerset for the honour of lifting the prestigious team trophies.
For many, the very mention of Farleigh Castle brings goosebumps to the skin, reflecting on the many historic races and famous names to have graced the hallowed grounds in its heyday.
The inclement weather forecast for much of the weekend thankfully stayed away and the fans were rewarded with two days of top-class racing, culminating in sensational victories for both team USA and the National
twin-shock UK squads.
However, Farleigh Castle is a mere shadow of its past as it is no longer the chosen venue for the British Grand Prix, but the quality of entry and racing demonstrated by the vets is second to none.
Last year's individual performance by American Ryan Hughes was truly awesome but with Hughes now retired following injury a new name stepped up to the plate – American Jon Dowd.
The 48-year-old ‘Junkyard Dog' from Massachusetts romped to four breathtaking victories on his KX 500cc Kawasaki, to lead Team USA to a slender victory as the inaugural winners of the ‘Georges Jobe' trophy for the best team performance in the EVO class.
"I have had a blast this weekend – it's been great” said the American.
His fellow squad members Shaun Kalos, Guy Cooper and Doug Dubach carded 11th, 13th and 22nd spots in the overall standings.
Dubach, despite finishing in 11th spot on three occasions had a dnf in his opening moto, after the rear-end of his Honda suffered a catastrophic failure.
Dubach joked: "I had 21 rib fractures earlier this year and I'm not even supposed to be riding. My wife thinks I came here to spectate.”
Fellow American Cooper was equally jovial: "Hell I'm just glad it's over. Next year I will just support the team and wave a flag. Man that was tough out there.”
Team USA didn't have it easy though as they were pushed all the way by the hard-charging DT EVO squad of Phil Lewis, Rick Du Feu, Brian Wheeler and Phil Mercer.
The latter duo who appear to be in the form of their lives taking third and sixth overall in the individual standings, with Du Feu backing them up with a respectable 16th overall.
The fourth and final moto was the best of the weekend, though, and had the crowd on their feet as Wheeler scampered away at the head of the pack.
Dowd, meanwhile, was recovering from a poor start and was trailing back in tenth at the end of the opening lap.
But the American was really hauling and had moved up to second spot by lap four.
Wheeler, who looked to be holding an insurmountable lead, was being urged on by the patriotic crowd as Dowd clawed away at the West Countryman's advantage.
The result was inevitable, though, as the American was not going to be denied a clean sheet as he moved ahead on the final half-lap to claim a momentous victory.
Team England were initially awarded third overall and took their spot on the podium, but a mistake was made and it was in fact the Belgian team of Werner De Witt, Johan Boonen, Jan Lauryssen and Edmond Natterman who should have been rightly credited with the final podium slot.
With the very presence of four ex-World Champions in the French squad, you could be forgiven for assuming they were going to be the runaway victors.
But the fairytale was not to be, as age and the lack of racing in recent years became evident.
Jean-Michel Bayle put in a classy performance, showing sparks of sheer brilliance finishing with a 3-3 on the opening day's racing.
But despite holeshotting the final two motos the 42-year-old from Provence, in the South of France, could not maintain the pace and slipped to eighth and 15th spot in his final two encounters.
He still claimed a fine fifth overall – but his compatriots were not so lucky.
The 1986 World 250cc Champion Jacky Vimond managed to complete his four races without incident to claim 20th overall, although like several others he found the four races too much.
The Frenchman said: "I am 52 years old and it is very fast out there – you are banging bars.”
Fellow-countryman and two-times world 250cc champion Fred Bolley was clearly not enjoying himself.
Talking between races on Sunday the disgruntled Marseille man said: "Yesterday was okay but today I have no feeling for the bike or the track.”
Bolley finished 28th spot overall.
Ex MX3 champion Yves Demaria claimed a fine 11th spot in the opening moto, but never appeared again.
Earlier in the day the National Twin-shock UK squad of Alex Rach, David Campbell, Ed Bradley and Phil Mercer snatched a sensational victory in the twin-shock MXDN, beating a strong Germany and the JMD Belgium squads.
Rach, from Bakewell, was the surprise package of the twin-shock class, claiming the individual VMXDN overall honours after carding first, second, third and seventh in his four outings.
He was ably backed up by another stunning performance by individual runner-up David Campbell, who scored an equally-impressive sixth, eighth, seventh and fifth place set of results.
Disappointingly, Mercer had his chances of a promising overall ruined, after his lifeless HPF Honda was left on the line in the final moto.
Despite rejoining the fray some way adrift, the Oxford man's race was attributed as a dnf, pushing him back to 14th spot in the overall standings.
Fourth man Bradley finished the day seventh in the overall standings, after four consistent rides.
There were also class wins for John May (EVO 125), Todd Kellet (Evo 250 group 1), Sam Sunderland (EVO 250 group 2), Graham Irwin (EVO 500), Matt Stephenson (Open Twin-shock), Jim Anderson (Over 50s twin-shock), Lee Holland (Pre 83 125), Brad Tomlin (Pre 85),
Lee Jackson (Four-stroke), Todd Kellett (EVO Group A) and Ashley Hudson (EVO group B).
