Harry Driffs to Putoline win...
By TMX Archives on 28th May 09
THE True-Grit Off-Road (TGOR) team set themselves a major challenge to re-designing the Driffield course after a very successful opening round of the National Putoline Hare Scramble Championship back in February.It was a huge ask, however, after weeks of plotting and planning they once again came up with another superb course variation which keeps the venue as one of the most popular in the country. Some 600-acres of plantations, open grassland and chalk roads were the order of the day for the entry of 350 riders over the Bank Holiday weekend. Things kicked off on a sunny Saturday afternoon with a Youth and Ladies race.
At 1pm TGOR'S Martyn Field set the race in motion using a shortened track for the youngster whose ages range from eight to 13-years on machines from Autos to 85cc.
In the Senior B class, Scott Altass was quickly into the lead with Luke Flack chasing hard. At the end of the first lap Scott was nearly a minute ahead and the leading two positions varied little throughout the race with Altass eventually taking the win from Flack with by a margin of 65-seconds as both riders completed ten laps. Dan Bewlay was third on nine laps
In the Junior class, Ben Clarke claimed victory from second place Doltan Shannon with Ross Johns in third, all three racking up seven laps.
The ladies class was well supported as usual, with Gina Bewlay taking the win on her home event watched by her proud dad who is recovering from a serious accident with Emma Ball second and Jade Gordon third.
Sunday offered glorious sunshine as the riders arrived for the noon start with nearly 300 riders neatly lined up on the massive Driffield start area.
At 12 noon the Experts lead the field away round the first corner and down the straight. Josh Bendell claimed the RAS-Sport hole-shot award.
As the rest of the massive entry set off in their respective waves, all eyes began to focus on race control and as the riders came back into view to complete there first lap Josh Bendell was holding on to a narrow one-second lead from a pack containing Harry Hillas, Daniel Hiorns, Joe Deakin and other top Expert riders.
Race favourite, Biff Smith, the defending champion and series leader was suffering with bike problems and was well down on the leaders
Meanwhile, Bendell crashed heavily, hurting his leg and Deakin inherited the lead for laps two through to lap four when Daniel Hiorns moved to the front where he stayed until the last 30-minutes.
Then Harry Hillas past him and opened up a gap which he maintained until the finish, to take a well deserved win.
Daniel Hiorns and Joe Deakin finished second and third respectively.
In Clubman E1, class victory went to Niki Walker as Lee Smith and Stuart Gordon matched him in completing eight laps. Ripon's Steve Watson topped Clubman Open ahead of Levi Johnson and Ben Hamilton as all the top three completed eight laps. Ian Shannon took victory in the Over 40 class from Rob Butler and Simon Bastow.
The massive Sportsman ranks were split into two classes and here Jack Colley was best in E1 while Danny Clarke headed the Open section. Luke Gorse was first past the post the Senior A youth class.
With racing complete, the results were ready within seconds of the last man finishing, thanks to the state-of-the-art transponder system and the awards were then presented to the various winners.
Once again the Driffield venue proved a great success with the riders and the hoards of spectators who turned out to view the X-Country action. Martyn Field, TGOR's event director was pleased with the Bank Holiday turn out, and is in talks with the MoD to restore camping over the weekend for the October event.
The championship now moves to Bolton-by-Bowland, Lancashire, on the weekend of June 13/14 when DirtBike-Traxs will host the mid-point round of the series.
NATIONAL PUTOLINE HARE SCRAMBLE CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 5 – Driffield, Yorkshire (True Grit Off-Road)
MAIN RACE
Expert: 1 Harry Hillas 9 laps - 13:24 time penalties, 2 Daniel Hiorns 9 - 14:17, 3 Joe Deakin 9 - 16:58, 4 David Wilson 9 - 18:27, 5 Tim Pattinson 8 - 0:08, 6 Craig Reynolds 8 - 1:49.
Clubman E1: 1 Niki Walker 8 - 9:07, 2 Lee Smith 8 - 9:36, 3 Stuart Gordon 8 - 9:58, 4 Karl Waltmo 8 - 14:45, 5 Paul Westgarth 8 - 15:56, 6 Matthew Cowking 8 - 17:03.
Clubman Open: 1 Steven Watson 8 - 6:41, 2 Levi Johnson 8 - 7:36, 3 Ben Hamilton 8 - 12:09, 4 Gareth Lodge 8 - 13:36, 5 Andy Gorse 8 - 16:06, 6 Will Howe 8 - 17:33.
Over 40: 1 Ian Shannon 8 - 1:26, 2 Rob Butler 8 - 4:17, 3 Simon Bastow 8 - 9:17, 4 Mark wood 8 - 9:24, 5 Bill Howe 8 - 9:28, 6 Jon Lappin 8 - 10:20.
Sportsman E1: 1 Jack Colley 8 - 16:25, 2 Will Hillas 8 - 17:05, 3 Sherman Lofthouse 8 - 17:32, 4 Graham Hunt 8 - 19:58, 5 Lee Carlin 8 - 20:02, 6 Ryan Harris 8 - 20:59.
Sportsman Open: 1 Danny Clarke 8 - 15:15, 2 Jason Ingham 7 - 3:19, 3 Chris webster 7 - 3:30, 4 Mark Wardingley 7 - 4:16, 5 Nige Petch 7 - 4:56, 6 Jack Kitching 7 - 5:17.
Novice: 1 Clifford Dunning 7 - 2:52, 2 Iain Turner 7 - 10:35, 3 Andrew Wheildon 7 - 13:11, 4 Andrew Harris 7 - 14:29, 5 Marc Mathison 7 - 16:07, 6 Mark Fenwick 7 - 19:05.
Senior A: 1 Luke Gorse 7 - 5:28, 2 Matthew North 7 - 8:13, 3 James Wardingley 7 - 10:50, 4 Edward Field 7 - 14:07, 5 Jack Midgley 7 - 19:26, 6 Billy Grimmer 6 - 10:54.
YOUTH RACE
Senior B: 1 Scott Altass 10 - 6:42, 2 Luke Flack 10 - 7:47, 3 Dan Bewlay 9 - 9:23, 4 Harrison Bell 8 - 0:35, 5 Ben Clark 8 - 3:18, 6 Michael Gilby 8 - 3:52.
Junior: 1 Ben Clarke 7 - 6:26, 2 Doltan Shannon 7 - 11:17, 3 Ross Johns 7 - 12:13, 4 Charlie Athersmith 6 - 4:12, 5 Tommy Grimmer 6 - 5:21, 6 Luke Knight 6 - 9:46.
Girl Power: 1 Gina Bewlay 8 - 7:24, 2 Emma Ball 8 - 7:27, 3 Jade Gordon 8 - 8:13, 4 Anita Gordon 8 - 9:22, 5 Molly Howe 7 - 6:05, 6 Helen Lang 7 - 9:26.
QUAD RACE
Expert: 1 Dave Baldwin 9 - 1:43, 2 Davey Nixon 8 - 3:33, 3 Steven Moran 8 - 12:22, 4 Matt Alberti 5 - 5:33.
Clubman: 1 Andrew Kelly 9 - 9:02, 2 John Kerwin 9 - 10:18, 3 Simon Lang 8 - 1:30, 4 Andrew Vernon 8 - 1:31, 5 Steven Johnson 8 - 2:06, 6 David Hall 8 - 2:13.
Sportsman: 1 Shaun Murphy 8 - 2:51, 2 Neil Simpson 6 - 2:25, 3 Gary Hodgson 6 - 6:54, 4 Adam Mason 6 - 12:23, 5 Garry Bland 6 - 15:44, 6 Caroline Simpson 5 - 18:23.
Craig Reynolds rounded off the top six in the Experts.