Kings of the Castle
By Team TMX on 8th Jul 15
On a slippery, treacherous track Joel Hughes rode out of his skin to win the headline race at the Wulfsport King of the Castle two-day classic and twin-shock meeting at Farleigh.
After posting hit-and-miss results in the Expert class the young Welshman staged an epic charge from last to first in Sunday's final race before soaking up pressure from Alex Rach in the closing laps to turn his weekend around.
The famous Farleigh Castle circuit had been treated to some serious TLC with many riders reckoning it was the best it's been in years. A downpour halfway through Sunday's programme turned the track into a skating rink - prompting organiser CT Events to cut out the steps section - but with smooth throttle control and smart line choice the quick men didn't need to drop their pace too drastically.
Turning back the clock in the Over 50s A class, Dave Watson relived his 1980 MXdN heroics at Farleigh and raced to a pair of wins on Saturday chased every step of the way by Alan Bott.
The Irishman looked a safe bet for the overall until he ran out of petrol on the final lap of race three and collected a DNF and with Bott also suffering mechanical issues Kevin Reed nipped in to take the race win.
Watson won his fourth moto but the damage had been done and he had to settle for second overall behind the super-consistent Reed with Bott just edged out into third by virtue of Watson's final race win.
With three races down the Over 50s B class looked to be a shoo-in for Wayne Twiddle who went into the final moto with his hat-trick in the bag and aiming to make it four from four.
But signing off with a fifth place allowed Andy Elliott to snatch the class win, again on a tie-break, with a 2-2-2-1 card. Garry Craddock was third.
In the 125cc class Paul Baldwin and John Davis locked horns and after Saturday's action honours were even with Baldwin running 1-2 compared to Davis' 2-1.
Sunday saw Baldwin get the upper hand and a pair of wins against Davis' two runner-up finishes earned him the overall.
The 250cc two-smokers class went to Dave Gane but after winning both races on Saturday he had a few nail-biting moments the following day when he slipped to fourth in moto three.
Scott Reed took the win and put himself back into contention for the overall but Gane made no mistake in the final race to run out a relatively comfortable winner.
Joel Hughes was left counting the cost of a second race no-score in the CCM/Four-stroke class.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICS SEE TMX NEWS, THURSDAY JULY 9, (ISSUE 1979)
