Eastwood and Pettitt win again at Blaxhall
By TMX Archives on 28th Aug 08
MARK Eastwood and Jonathan Pettitt continued their dominance of the 2008 British Two-stroke Championship at Blaxhall on Sunday, but David Willett was on hand to remind them that they're not going to have it all handed to them on a plate.With the Suffolk sand track well watered by the elements, just staying on the bike was a challenge, but there was no shortage of lines and the racing was excellent.
The Group A 125cc started off with business as usual, Jonathan Pettitt taking moto one victory ahead of Jack Brunell, David Willett and an excellent ride by Brett Wheeler.
However, it was all change for moto two. Lloyd Morgan and Shaun Stevens were the quickest out of the gate and for once the trio of Pettitt, Willett and Brunell were all a little further back, with Pettitt baulked by a first lap spill by Bradley Howlett.
Morgan tried to gap the field, as Stevens showed resilience in second. Willett was on the move, though, charging through the pack and closing in on the leading duo and taking Jim Davies with him.
Pettitt and Brunell both seemed to be struggling to stay on it, with Brunell in particular showing the scars of a heavy crash.
With five-minutes remaining on the clock, reigning champion Willett caught Morgan for the lead, sweeping around the outside as the young MXY2 star was baulked by a back-marker.
Meanwhile, Pettitt finally managed to get a rhythm and began his inexorable charge through the pack.
It looked like Morgan would hang on for second with just a couple of laps left, but a fall in the same turn where Willett overhauled him cost Morgan vital seconds and Pettitt drew alongside just as he got going again – and there was only going to be one winner of that contest.
Davies had the pair of them in sight at the flag, with Stevens not too far out of touch in fifth after a solid ride. Crucially, however, the battle-scarred Brunell was forced out of the race and scored no points, which must give Willett a sniff of second in the series.
Normal business was resumed in moto three, as Pettitt motored off into the distance and left the rest to fight it out amongst themselves. Jim Davies was with his TM team-mate, but a lap one crash left him tangled in the ropes and it took a furious charge to bring him back up through the field into the top ten.
Brunnell led early after overcoming another Morgan holeshot and as Pettitt and Willett closed up, it looked like we were in for a battle royale.
However, once the championship leader was out front it was game over, as mistakes cost the others time. Willett came out on top in the battle for second, with Brunell third ahead of Morgan, Stevens and Christian Taylor.
Mark Eastwood revelled in the sand during the first Open A moto. The reigning champion cantered away to win the opener unchallenged, a long way ahead of Dave Willett, who had Nathan Rooks, Matt Ridgeway and Lewis Tombs to keep him honest
'Ironman' Willett, who had less than half an hour's respite between each of his six brutal motos, made no mistakes in race two, overcoming the early challenge of a fast-starting Tombs and putting in ferocious resistance when Eastwood came up to challenge him. Eastwood took the lead as the race entered the final third, but Willett wasn't prepared to let him have it and launched a strong counter-attack.
It was neck-and-neck as the duo battled back and forth starting the final lap, but when the chequered flag came out, Willett took it unopposed.
Tombs brought his U-Tag Yamaha home for an excellent second, ahead of the quick and consistent wild-card Jordan Booker, as everyone looked to see where the number one Honda was, but it was some time before Eastwood appeared, helmet off and pushing the bike through the deep sand to cross the line in fourth, almost two minutes behind Willett. A crash late on the final lap left the MXdN team-manager in considerable discomfort.
'Easto' was ready to rock for moto three, however, grabbing the holeshot ahead of Tombs, Willett and Alistair Clark, and clearing off for the win.
Tombs put in a charge that saw him lead Willett as Eastwood cleared off, and it took the 'Ironman' some time to fight back and retake second place as the deep sand took its toll. Tombs took a fine third ahead of Booker and Nathan Rooks, as Mike Kock bounced back from mechanical woes in moto two to take an excellent sixth on a 125cc machine.
The series returns to Suffolk for round eight in three-weeks, as the two-stroke revolution heads to Mildenhall on September 14.
With just three-rounds left, the vast supporting cast will be sure to want to show that it's not just about Eastwood and Pettitt...
DEP BRITISH TWO-STROKE MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 7 – Blaxhall MP, nr Woodbridge (MC Federation)
EXPERT 125cc
1 Jonathan Pettitt 45 + 42 + 45 = 132
2 Dave Willett 39 + 45 + 42 = 126
3 Sean Stevens 33 + 36 + 36 = 105
4 Brett Wheeler 36 + 30 + 33 = 99
5 Jim Davies 28 + 39 + 30 = 97
6 Adam Reynolds 26 + 33 + 26 = 85
7 Jack Brunell 42 + 0 + 39 = 81
8 James Kensington 24 + 28 + 24 = 76
9 Paul Shires 30 + 18 + 22 = 70
10 Ashley Harland 22 + 26 + 16 = 64
JUNIOR 125cc
1 Jack Plowman 45 + 42 + 39 = 126
2 Lloyd Morgan 28 + 45 + 45 = 118
3 Oliver Rusby 42 + 39 + 36 = 117
4 Christian Taylor 17 + 36 + 42 = 95
5 Jasper Uphill 30 + 33 + 28 = 91
6 Ady Peedle 39 + 14 + 33 = 86
7 Bradley Howlett 36 + 18 + 30 = 84
8 Joshua Scott 24 + 30 + 18 = 72
9 Lee Holland 33 + 12 + 26 = 71
10 Luke Dowsing 18 + 26 + 24 = 68
EXPERT 250cc
1 Mark Eastwood 45 + 39 + 45 = 129
2 Dave Willett 42 + 45 + 42 = 129
3 Lewis Tombs 36 + 42 + 39 = 117
4 Dale Raynor 30 + 36 + 30 = 96
5 Michael Hand 26 + 33 + 22 = 81
6 Jason Bouttell 24 + 30 + 26 = 80
7 Matt Ridgeway 39 + 0 + 36 = 75
8 Paul Edge 17 + 26 + 28 = 71
9 Mike Kock 28 + 0 + 33 = 61
10 Michael Deeley 16 + 22 + 20 = 58
JUNIOR 250cc
1 Jordan Booker 42 + 45 + 45 = 132
2 Nathan Rooks 45 + 42 + 42 = 129
3 Alfie Smith 39 + 39 + 39 = 117
4 David Dibble 36 + 33 + 33 = 102
5 Justin Penty 30 + 30 + 36 = 96
6 Ashley Pennycook 33 + 28 + 30 = 91
7 Darren Marklove 28 + 26 + 28 = 82
8 Karl Johnson 18 + 36 + 26 = 80
9 Daniel Grove 20 + 22 + 22 = 64
10 Warren Clifton 22 + 17 + 24 = 63
NEXT ROUND: Sep 14 – Mildenhall, nr Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
David ‘Ironman' Willet put in strong challenges in both the Expert 250cc AND Expert 125cc races.