Jason wins the WOR
By TMX Archives on 30th Nov 07
YET again, Jason Thomas, on his Fast Eddy Suzuki, was the man to beat at the latest WOR Events promotion, round three of the Motul Winter Hare Scrambles Series, staged at one of the club's superb winter venues at Cefn Llwyd Forest.
With a lap six miles in length, comprising fastfire roads and some brilliant man-made lanes, including climbs and dropoffs, water splashes and gnarly downhill sections, the young Shropshirestar Thomas was untouchable from lap one right through to the end ofthe race.
3-HOUR RACE
SETTING the event's fastest laps for all but twoof his 11 laps, Thomas ended the race with a 6.5-minute advantage oversecond placed Lincoln Brewster. Third in the Expert class was AndyHackett, with a committed and consistent ride that rewarded him with apodium position, although a lap down on the top two.
With Lee Jones making a welcome return on a new300 KTM and Rowland Morris out on his 250 Yamaha, along with MartinSandiford on a Honda 4T it was expected to be quite hot at the sharpedge of the Expert class but Jones retired after a bad start and someearly lap problems. Morris took a stone to the eye and remindedeveryone how important goggles are in this sport as he had to retirewhilst holding a very strong third place and Sandiford retired forreasons only known to himself while holding a firm fourth on lap two.
None of these problems bothered Thomas or Brewsteras they simply pulled away from the field and started to really enjoythe course as it became Enduro heaven lap-by-lap with some reallyrideable banks and berms forming in the man-made sections and the flowing fire roads becoming much more grippy as the race progressed.
Top Clubman was downhill mountain-bike star, DanAtherton, and he fully deserved his spoils with a ride that saw himslowly but surely catch the class leaders. With two laps to go, thetall local rider had established a near one-minute lead which he heldto the end to take the class win and a fine fifth overall.
Second and third Clubmen were Aled Humphreys and Lewis Belfield respectively, both with solid rides on ten laps each.
The Veteran (Over 45) group was blitzed by acurrently very much on form Colin Jones, who posted a six-minuteadvantage over second placed Dennis Harrison, who rides neat and tidyand showed his class with a clear lead over third-placed Dave Smith.
Ian Barnett made a brilliant return with a comprehensive win in the Over 35 class by two minutes from Jack Twentyman and Mick Armstrong, although Armstrong was a lap down to the leading duo.
The three-hour race has a new class called Hobbyfor riders that just want to ride and don't really care about trophies,points, awards etc.
This class is still scored though and results are presented at the end and is growing event by event.
Laurence Barber took the win here from Chris Kent and John Woodcock in third.
2-HOUR RACE
THE organisers are probably the most experiencedin this form of racing in the country and they slickly ran the 2-hourevent and the 3-hour event combined and the top 3 riders in each classall received their trophies as they passed the chequered flag.
The event started at 10am so, at just gone midday,the two-hour race was completed and the riders that were competing inthat session were shown the track exit and the 3-hour riders simplycontinued on their way for further laps of the forest.
This is a simple format but one that protects thevenues from all day noise and neighbour issues along with making iteasier for all concerned (riders and race staff) to get the day clearedup and get home that little bit earlier in the chilly winter months.
The top rider in the two-hour race was youngBarnaby Moore who was going well for the duration. A move to clubmanfor Barnaby is on the cards as he just improves race by race. Secondwas Anthony Trawford with Kev Freeman in third.
Christopher Wagstaff topped the Novice class with a huge margin over second placed Mick Wright.
Owain Humphreys was untouchable in the Youthcategory, screaming his 125 around the place to take not only the classwin but a brilliant second overall in the two-hour race. Joe Deakin wassecond in class although a few problems mid-race saw him fall 14minutes behind the flying Humphreys.
The Over 40 class was won in style by Dave Ellis from Nick Evans and John Wadsworth.
So with no serious problems or injuries, anothersafe and fun WOR Events Hare Scramble had taken place with decentweather and solid parking - one of the advantages of these forest-basedevents - and the whole venue was clear of track waste, litter, peopleand cars by 4pm.
MOTUL WINTER HARE SCRAMBLES SERIES Rd 3 - Cefn Llwyd Forest (WOR Events)
Open: 1 Jason Thomas 11 laps - 1:14 timepenalties, 2 Lincoln Brewster 11 - 7:55, 3 Andy Hackett 10 - 0:09, 4Ben Wootton 10 - 6:22, 5 Gary Jones 10 - 11:14, 6 Damien Butler 10 -15:23.
Clubman: 1 Dan Atherton 10 - 8:34, 2 AledHumphreys 10 - 9:31, 3 Lewis Belfield 10 - 18:14, 4 Gary Daniels 9 -2:47, 5 Dafydd Jones 9 - 3:18, 6 Ralph Jones 9 - 10:33.
Over 35: 1 Ian Barnett 10 - 11:17, 2 JackTwentyman 10 - 13:24, 3 Mick Armstrong 9 - 6:12, 4 Mick Kendall 8 -36:59, 5 Andy Wilson 8 - 11:23, 6 Des Cowley 7 - 1:34.
Over 45: 1 Colin Jones 10 - 12:57, 2 DennisHarrison 10 - 18:54, 3 Dave Smith 9 - 8:41, 4 Gar Lloyd 9 - 15:00, 5Adrian Kent 8 - 1:24:35, 6 Delwyn Pugh 7 - 9:21.
Hobby: 1 Laurence Barber 8 - 1:22:48, 2 Chris Kent7 - 6:06, 3 John Woodcock 7 - 12:33, 4 Chris Hesford 6 - 10:30, 5 SteveLittler 5 - 1:28, 6 Lee Stephenson 3 - 1:23.
Sportsman: 1 Barnaby Moore 6 - 2:48, 2 AnthonyTrawford 6 - 20:21, 3 Kev Freeman 6 - 21:52, 4 Edward Briscoe 6 -27:01, 5 Ben Ball 5 - 1:37, 6 Edward Turner 5 - 2:56.
Novice: 1 Christopher Wagstaff 6 - 19:56, 2 MickWright 6 - 4:00, 3 Alec Trawford 5 - 10:27, 4 Ryan Faulks 5 - 12:29, 5Paul Bright 5 - 13:22, 6 Stuart Middleton 5 - 14:54.
Over 40: 1 Dave Ellis 6 - 7:51, 2 Nick Evans 6 -9:11, 3 John Wadsworth 6 - 23:00, 4 Tom Humphreys 5 - 8:40, 5 BrianLloyd 4 - 2:21, 6 Gareth Taylor 4 - 10:24.
Youth: 1 Owain Humphreys 6 - 3:28, 2 Joe Deakin 6- 17:28, 3 Adam Barratt 5 - 9:17, 4 William Hillas 5 - 15:48, 5 JoeWootton 5 - 18:20, 6 Jane Daniels 4 - 3:57.
See T+MX News, Friday, November 30, 2007 for full pictures.