Higgs' Southern style
By TMX Archives on 11th Jun 08
RICKY Higgs continued his domination for the Southern Supermoto Champs by winning all three races at last weekend's round three at the Lydden Hill circuit, Kent. While Higgs was doing his thing in the Expert ranks, Steve Valentine, Justin Bateman and Dave George were fighting for the intermediate class overall and all three posted a win apiece.
The clear skies of Friday night turned damp and wet in the early hours of Saturday morning making practice very tricky and slippery, as lots of riders struggled for grip even on the tarmac sections, never mind the off-road section.
As racing was about to start, the drizzly clouds were blown away, leaving a dull and overcast day, but with a rapidly drying track.
Higgs got the holeshot in the fist of the three Expert motos with Rob McNealy slipping by him on the first of the off-road sections.
By half-way round lap two, Higgs had found his way back into the lead, as Darren Lee slid off in the dirt.
Higgs just cleared off after that, leaving McNealy, Jay Smith and George Clements to fight it out for second spot.
At the halfway stage Higgs had a six-second advantage over the battling trio, while, some distance back, Kieron Dixon, Ryan Dixon, Matt Pope, Craig Williamson, Simon Ovenden and Brad Davey were line astern and all aiming for fifth place.
Two laps later the race was red flagged' following a collision between Alan Smith and Tristan Ovenden.
The result was called with Higgs taking the win ahead of Smith, McNealy and Clements, while Kieran Dixon headed up the best of the rest.
It was Higgs all the way in race two after he got his second holeshot of the day. This time Jay Smith was in his shadow, with McNealy and Clements playing catch up.
For the next three-laps Smith did all he could to stay with Higgs, which seemed to pull him away from the battle for third between McNealy and Clements.
SOUTHERN SUPERMOTO CHAMPS
Rd 3 Lydden Hill, Kent (SSM)
Expert Race One: 1 Ricky Higgs (550 Aprilia), 2 Jay Smith (560 KTM), 3 Rob McNealy (450 Husqvarna), 4 George Clements (450 Husqvarna), 5 Kieran Dixon (450 Honda), 6 Ryan Dixon (505 KTM). Race Two: 1 Higgs, 2 Smith, 3 McNealy, 4 Clements, 5 Pope, 6 Dixon. Race Three: 1 Higgs, 2 McNealy, 3 Clements, 4 Pope, 5 Hillier, 6 Warner.
Intermediate Race One: 1 Dave George (450 Honda), 2 Steve Valentine (550 Aprilia), 3 Justin Bateman (250 Honda), 4 Steve Spring (450 Honda), 5 Mike Phipps (550 Aprilia), 6 Matt Edwards (450 Honda). Race Two: 1 Bateman, 2 Valentine, 3 George, 4 Spring, 5 Edwards, 6 Tilbury. Race Three: 1 Valentine, 2 Bateman, 3Spring, 4 Stephens, 5 Phipps, 6 George.
Novice Race One: 1 Lee Caswell (650 Husqvarna), 2 Tim Shakespeare (560 KTM), 3 Nick Hewitt (525 KTM), 4 Andy Goodsell (450 Suzuki), 5 Andy Warwicker (450 Honda), 6 Dave Evans (450 Honda). Race Two: 1 Shakespeare, 2 Caswell, 3 Goodsell, 4 Hewitt, 5 Evans, 6 Warwicker. Race Three: 1 Caswell, 2 Goodsell, 3 Evans, 4 Warwicker, 5 Dave Blanks (250 KTM), 6 Russell Drew (450 Honda).
125/250cc Race One: 1 Shaun Church (250 Kawasaki), 2 Robert Hartley (250 Honda), 3 Justin Bateman (250 Honda), 4 Sam Gilbody (250 Honda), 5 James Farrance (125 Honda), 6 Joe Carnell (250 Honda). Race Two: 1 Church, 2 Bateman, 3 Hartley, 4 Gilbody, 5 Farrance, 6 Brown. Race Three: 1 Bateman, 2 Church, 3 Hartley, 4 Gilbody, 5 Brown, 6 Farrance.
Youth 85/150cc Race One: 1 Jake Dixon (85 Yamaha), 2 Scott Pitchers (85 Yamaha), 3 Kane Robson (85 KTM), 4 Ashley Saunders (85 Honda), 5 George Tilbury (85 KTM), 6 Meg Berry (85 Honda). Race Two: 1 Pitchers, 2 Robson, 3 Saunders, 4 Tilbury, 5 Berry. Race Three: 1 Pitchers, 2 Robson, 3 Saunders, 4 Tilbury, 5 Berry.
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, June 13, 2008