DEPartment of talent!
By TMX Archives on 19th Nov 08
LIKE the Himalayas, the DEP Pipes British Two-stroke Championship has been consistently moving forwards over the last few years. Everything was put on the line when the series was first started in 2005, but its exponential growth has proven that there's a cadre of hardcore two-stroke racers out there still to be catered for.From a single class in 2005, by the start of 2008 the organisers were looking at dedicated two-stroke events that rival anything else in the UK with five classes and some real talent throughout the field.There's no doubting the vision and commitment within the MCF, and 2009 is set to be one hell of an action-packed season!
The 2008 season didn't start off too brightly though, quite literally – as bad as the weather had been at Canada Heights for round two of the Maxxis British Championships in March, when the DEP series fronted up there a fortnight later for its season opener, the snow that had trickled to a halt for the Maxxis contenders just kept falling, becoming heavier and heavier as the day went along.
The rapidly deteriorating track restricted the meeting to a single block of racing that saw full-time series returnee Jonathan Pettitt kick off his title campaign with a smart win in the 125A class – a league ahead of defending champion David Willet.
Super-consistent in 2007, Willet had a poor start and a mid-race excursion off track that left Pettitt well out of his reach. Jack Brunnel withstood early pressure from Adam Reynolds before a crash dropped the 2007 Junior Champion, Reynolds, down the field.
Brunnel was left to take third ahead of Greg Hanson and Darren Redman, who came from a long way down the pack in the sloppy conditions, while Christian Taylor fired the first shot in the Junior 125cc championship, taking an emphatic win in front of Bradley Howlett and Craig French.
The Open class saw Mark Eastwood and Dave ‘Two-class' Willet battle. Ironman Willet made the early running, but the wily Eastwood played it cool, waiting until late in the race to catch Willet in traffic and make the winning move. Dutchman Mike Kock claimed third place ahead of Scott Eastwood, with the Open Junior honours going to Ashley Pennycook, Karl Johnson and Paul Anderson.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2008