Get your skates on!
By TMX Archives on 19th Dec 07
WITH freezing conditions underfoot and a very chilly wind blowing through the Oror Estate venue, near Corwen, the WOR Events team staged a superb three-hour Hare Scramble to round off the Motul Winter series.
The flowing fields were frozen solid and set the
riders a superb challenge of ability and ice-skating skills – so just to stay upright was no mean feat.
The woodland sections, which are usually the hardest part of events at this venue, were a welcome relief as the frost had not affected them so much and they were offering dusty berms in places! Unbelievable really as the Welsh Winter Weather was biting hard.
The event started at 10am and was to run for three-hours for some classes and two-hours for the others. This is a format that works so well and definitely causes less impact for all concerned.
With over 250 riders enjoying a great weekend's sport it was a great way to end the series.
THREE- HOUR RACE
RHEINALLT Davies was out on his new 125 Husky and took the overall honours with a fine controlled ride.
Setting faster and faster laps as the event progressed, the mid-Wales youngster was really impressive through the woodland sections as he clawed back the race leader, Andrew Edwards.
Edwards had a fifth gear high-side at the mid-way point, which he put down to bad luck rather than anything else, as he tried to swerve a slower rider. Unfortunately, this crash ended the former British Enduro Champion's race, leaving Davies to sweep the spoils, the only rider to manage 15 laps.
Lincoln ‘Podium' Brewster had bike problems that put him out of contention early on as the cold conditions played havoc with rider's machines.
However, Lincoln got his head down and battled on to take a well deserved
runner-up spot ahead of third-placed Andrew Cripps.
Cripps once again entertained the crowd with his ‘stunts' rather than concentrating on his race, but he still took a trophy.
Jamie Robinson was on stunning form and put in a superb ride to take the Clubman overall, proving that he has real ability in all conditions.
Second place in the Clubman went to Dan Atherton (the downhill mountain-bike star!) with another very good ride that proves that he's adjusting to this sport with ease. The final podium position went to trials rider Mike Evans who was the class leader for much of the three hours until a few falls dropped him back slightly.
Local Gas Gas dealer, Gareth Lloyd, was a man on a mission as he led the Over 45 class away from the start on his new steed. Lloyd was trying the new 2008 EC125 machine from the Spanish factory and boy was he going well.
The bike sounded awesome and Lloyd used all his ‘old school' riding knowledge to try and take the class win but in the end it was his old foe, Colin Jones, who managed to take top spot with another spirited ride on his 250 Yam.
As the race drew near to the finish, the 250 was just managing to get more power down with the slowly thawing ground.
With Jones taking the win and Lloyd settling in 19 seconds down for the runner-up place it left Dave Smith to fill the podium in third. Smith ‘went for a swim' in the icy lake at one point and must have been absolutely freezing for the rest of the day. Well done for carrying on, Dave.
Jack Twentyman dominated the Over 35 group with a determined ride. He finished the event in fourth place overall.
Smiling Gary Benniman fully deserved his runner-up award while Chris Roberts took third place with a steady 13 laps, behind the top two on 14.
TWO-HOUR RACE
THE two-hour race catered for four classes and was very well supported.
Allan Hopwood aced the Over 40 class and the two-hour race overall, with nine laps to his credit. Gareth Jones was second and Dai Lewis in third.
The Sportsman class was once again won by Barnaby Moore, who will be upgrading to Clubman class after dominating the Sportsman category throughout the winter series. Kev Freeman finished second ahead of Paul Engelen.
One of the rides of the day came from little Joe Wootton, out on his Small-wheel 85cc. The little fella put in a fantastic ride and blitzed the rest of the Youth class with ease – and some of the riders on bigger machines too. Second was Owain Humphries and third, Joe Deakin. Wootton finished eight-minutes clear of Humphries and 12
minutes clear of Deakin.
Lee Carpenter topped the Novice group.
MOTUL WINTER HARE SCRAMBLE SERIES
Rd 5 – Oror Estate, nr Corwen (WOR Events)
THREE-HOUR RACE
Open: 1 Rheinallt Davies 15 laps - 8:47 time penalties, 2 Lincoln Brewster 14 - 0:15, 3 Andy 'Captain' Cripps 14 - 1:36, 4 Craig Reynolds 11 - 0:57, 5 Ben Wootton 10 - 11:33, 6 Lee Abbot 7 - 8:16.
Clubman: 1 Jamie Robinson 14 - 13:50, 2 Dan Atherton 13 - 0:52, 3 Mike Evans 13 - 4:01, 4 Dafydd Jones 13 - 4:54, 5 Lewis Belfield 13 - 6:11, 6 Aled Humphreys 13 - 7:13.
Over 35: 1 Jack Twentyman 14 - 10:14, 2 Gary Benniman 14 - 12:19, 3 Chris Roberts 13 - 4:41, 4 Ian Coburn 12 - 3:25, 5 Karl Greenhall 11 - 0:30, 6 Des Cowley 11 - 5:43.
Over 45: 1 Colin Jones 13 - 1:01, 2 Gareth Lloyd 13 - 1:20, 3 Dave Smith 13 - 8:42, 4 Paul Davies 11 - 6:07, 5 Colin Griffiths 11 - 7:57, 6 Jonathon Jones 10 - 7:11.
Hobby: 1 Gerallt Williams 10 - 16:08.
TWO-HOUR RACE
Youth: 1 Joe Wootton 8 - 2:59, 2 Owain Humphries 8 - 10:03, 3 Joe Deakin 8 - 14:50, 4 Huw Jones 7 - 2:26, 5 Adam Barratt 7 - 8:36, 6 Daniel Edwards 7 - 8:41.
Sportsman: 1 Barnaby Moore 9 - 14:46, 2 Kev Freeman 8 - 4:21, 3 Paul Engelen 8 - 10:50, 4 Ben Ball 8 - 12:18, 5 Lee Cotterill 8 - 14:03, 6 Lee Sefton 8 - 16:45.
Novice: 1 Lee Carpenter 8 - 3:49, 2 Phillip Foster 8 - 4:59, 3 Darren Heyes 8 - 10:14, 4 Ryan Faulks 8 - 10:26, 5 Gareth Lewis 8 - 14:32, 6 Robert Foster 7 - 3:16.
Over 40: 1 Alan Hopwood 9 - 9:17, 2 Gareth Jones 8 - 2:50, 3 Dai Lewis 8 - 5:39, 4 Kevin Humphreys 8 - 9:02, 5 Rob Lambert 8 - 9:24, 6 John Wadsworth 8 - 12:23.