Nicholls makes his Mark
By TMX Archives on 25th May 07
THE third round of the DEP Two-stroke British championship will go down as a classic. On one side of the coin you had the youth and exuberance of 17-year-old Jake Nicholls and on the flip side you had the experience and speed of veteran Mark Eastwood. Both these riders put on a brilliant display of close, fair racing - something the American riders could learn from for sure.
The Landrake circuit was primed and ready for action for the thirdround of the DEP championship and to add to the excitement we had thereturn of newly-registered riders Jonathan Pettitt on his 125 TM, thefirst appearance of the season of Jake Nicholls and Jason Dougan fromFork-Rent Suzuki and Joe Dark of Meredith Motocross Suzuki.
The 125cc class was looking white hot for action; Dougan, making hisfirst appearance on a 125cc machine in a long time, knew he had to beon top of his game from the first drop of the gate.
Stuart Edmonds, Jonathan Pettitt and David Willett tried to staywith the Fork-Rent Suzuki GP star but by the end of threemouth-watering races, ‘Dougie' took a much deserved maximum.
Behind him positions were swapping all over the place. Pettitt,Edmonds and Willett had to fight-off the challenges of Team Relentlessriders Jim Davies and Matt Ridgway with Davies putting on his bestperformance of the season with a hard-fought fifth overall. TM'sEdmonds was closest to taking a race win from the flying Dougan but itwas the Dougan's outright speed and determination that saw him crossthe line first on three separate occasions.
Another TM rider, Jonathan Pettitt, showed that he still has thespeed to challenge anyone in the championship and showed that the TM isno slouch out of the gate either, a little bit more bike time on the125 machine and you could say Pettitt will be a tough cookie to crack!
Current series leader in the 125 A class is David Willet who hadbike problems in moto two but still did enough for a fourth overallresult. Matt Ridgway put in another consistent ride in sixth with NickyWatts, Jim Scrafton, Highway Oliver and Luke Kennett following onbehind in that order.
DEP BRITISH TWO-STROKE MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 3 - Landrake Moto Park, Cornwall
Expert 125cc: 1 Jason Dougan 136 points, 2 Stuart Edmonds 127, 3Jonathan Pettitt 114, 4 Dave Willet 106, 5 Jim Davies 99, 6 MattRidgway 96, 7 Nicky Watts 82, 8 Jim Scrafton 68, 9 Highway Oliver 60,10 Luke Kennett 57.
Junior 125cc: 1 Adam Reynolds 130, 2 Sean Stevens 127, 3 Paul Shires124, 4 Mark Wakley 108, 5 Sam Holloway 93, 6 John Butler 90, 7 MattNash 75, 8 Lee Holland 75, 9 Chris Glover 64, 10 Ryan Tomkins 64.
Expert 250cc: 1 Mark Eastwood 133, 2 Jake Nicholls 130, 3 DavidWillet 117, 4 Ben Taylor 94, 5 James Lassu 87, 6 Robert Barney 85, 7Oliver Moyce 76, 8 Chad Yarranton 72, 9 Ben Milward 69, 10 Dale Raynor.
Junior 250cc: 1 Ricky Lethaby 133, 2 Eddy Carr 129, 3 Ashley Hudson111, 4 Alex Smith 105, 5 Arron Sewell 99, 6 Darren Marklove 86, 7 IanFagg 82, 8 Jack Swain 78, 9 Neil Watton 70, 10 Kenneth Fuller 62.
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, May 25, 2007