Dunn's Master class
By Mike Wood on 5th Nov 10
With the best of Britain's all-weather tracks at Leisure Lakes, Preston Docks, Mepal Motoparc and Finningley already booked and a tasty substantial 4000 prize fund on offer plus additional product prizes from series sponsors Muk Junkie and holeshot awards supplied by Charge Clothing, it was time to go racing as the Muk Junkie British Masters Winter series kicked off on Sunday.
Venue for round one was Leisure Lakes, Southport, and the all-weather venue was to more than prove its suitability, for after heavy rain in the North West during the preceding week racing at most circuits would certainly not have been possible. Instead the Masters crew were able to stage three full blocks of smooth, trouble free action with overall victories going to James Dunn, Jack Kelly, Ethan Gatenby, Kevin Wells and Stuart Houlston in the respective MXY2, Big-wheel 85cc, Small-wheel 85cc, Amateur MX1 and Amateur MX2 classes.
Words & Pictures: MIKE WOOD
Opening the action was the MXY2 group as James Dunn aboard his 125cc KTM made a super start to lead the pack for two laps before Callum Luxton took control for the win. Reece Desoer took third spot in moto one just ahead of a hard charging Luke Newman who had moved through the pack from 13th up to fourth at the flag.
With Luxton a surprise non-starter in the second MXY2 clash of the day, Newman following his great comeback in moto one again proved his speed by leading from gate to flag. However he suffered a very nervous final lap as Dunn reeled him in at an incredibly rapid rate and thus take the verdict literally right down to the finishing line.
Earlier Dunn had slipped off on lap one and after finding himself in 13th spot then displayed his true class with a super ride to almost snatch an astonishing win! Taking third spot in this clash was Patrick Mayor.
In the final MXY2 moto, Yates led the way from Newman, Dunn, Callum Sloman, Mayor and Desoer. However by lap three Dunn had moved to the front of the pack and there he remained to earn the round one overall honours, finishing nearly 17 seconds ahead of Newman.
There was no doubt who was the round one star of the combined Big-wheel/Small-wheel85cc class at Leisure Lakes as Jack Kelly blasted to three stylish wins. After leading both motos one and two from gate to flag Kelly was actually passed in the final clash of the day. For two brief laps, Sam Wragg grabbed control before normal services was resumed. With Kelly dominant in the Big-wheel 85cc group, Ethan Gatenby matched his efforts by being the first Small-wheel85cc rider home in all three motos.
With Kelly winning moto one from Osmaston, William Wall, Myles Duffy, Casey Connell and Robbie Dawson, Wragg picked himself up from a fall in the opening turn and blasted from last up to ninth. Moto two and it was Kelly all the way from Osmaston while Wall dropped from third to fifth after being passed by Wragg and Connell. So to the final moto, and it was Kelly who was fastest away with Wragg, Wall, Robbie Dowson and Connell in tow. On lap two Wragg displayed great determination to take control only to be re passed on lap four by that lad Kelly and that's the way it remained all the way to the chequered flag.
After setting the fastest qualifying time Kevin Wells then proceeded to blow away the opposition in the Amateur MX1 class with a blistering hat-trick of wins. However it was not totally straight forward for the Kawasaki rider as he slid off on the opening turn of moto one when disputing the lead with Aaron Crowder. Although both riders managed to keep their engines running Wells was the quickest to react and remarkably by the completion of lap one he even led the pack ahead of Jake Boyes, Jack Cooper and Crowder. With Boyes then crashing out on lap three Wells raced onto a comfortable victory followed by Crowder, Darren Fowden, Cooper, Ryan Bruce and Robert Brown.
With Wells leading moto two chased by Crowder and Bruce that's the way it appeared set to finish until a dramatic penultimate lap when Crowder crashed and dropped back to sixth behind Bruce, Cooper, Brown and Chris Neesam. In the final Amateur MX1 clash Wells confirmed the overall win with another stylish comfortable victory as Crowder chased him home in second.
While Aaron did not enjoy the very best of fortunes at Leisure Lakes he must still have been one very proud parent after watching his son Ryan take the opening Amateur MX2 honours with a great gate to flag win ahead of Stuart Houlston, David Blackburn, Daniel Woodward, Ashley Wilson and George Martindale.
In moto two Ryan had to move up from an early fourth spot to pass Blackburn and John Hall for second spot with victory on this occasion going to Kawasaki mounted Houlston.
So in a deciding last moto who would earn the overall Crowder or Houlston? Well it was Crowder who grabbed the holeshot but by lap two Houlston was in control and there he remained all the way to the flag and snatched the top honours in round one.After making a flying start Crowder eventually slipped back to third behind Wilson.
That's it then, one down and three to go so get your entries in fast for round two at Preston Docks on November 21 and be in with a chance of earning some super cash and product prizes!
MUK Junkie British Masters winter series
Round 1 - Leisure Lakes, Southport
MXY2: 1 James Dunn (KTM), 2 Luke Newman (Kawasaki), 3 Patrick Mayor, 4 Jake Lord (KTM), 5 Ryan Thornhill (KTM), 6 Rhys Yates (Honda) .
Big-wheel 85cc: 1 Jack Kelly (Honda), 2 Oliver Osmaston (Honda), 3 William Wall (KTM), 4 Sam Wragg (KTM), 5 Casey Connell, 6 Myles Duffy (Honda).
Small-wheel 85cc: 1 Ethan Gatenby (KTM), 2 Aaron Burns (Suzuki), 3 Matt Lomas (Suzuki), 4 Dee Jay Walker, 5 Jake Rowles.
Amateur MX1: 1 Kevin Wells (Kawasaki), 2 Aaron Crowder (Honda), 3 Ryan Bruce (Kawasaki), 4 Jack Cooper, 5 Robert Brown (Honda), 6 Barry Marshall.
Amateur MX2: 1 Stuart Houlston (Kawasaki), 2 Ryan Crowder (Honda), 3 Ashley Wilson (Yamaha), 4 David Blackburn (Honda), 5 Daniel Woodward (KTM), 6 John Hall (KTM).