Norl' in a day's work!
By TMX Archives on 7th Oct 09
Saunders makes the perfect catch...
They think it's all over, well it is now, as Ben Saunders and Lee Dunham wrapped up the respective AMCA MX1 and MX2 titles during the final round of the 2009 series at Norley, Cheshire, on Sunday.
While Dunham efficiently and professionally confirmed his MX2 crown, as expected, by picking up a sixth place in the opening moto, the destination of the MX1 crown appeared far from certain.
Going into the Norley event, just 43 points separated the top four of Saunders, Brad O'Leary, Charlie Hollis and reigning champion David Campbell. However, after being denied of the coveted MX1 title in the final round of both the 2007 and 2008 campaigns, Saunders made no mistake on this occasion.
In determined fashion, the Delkevic Kawasaki pilot blasted to three moto wins and thus confirm his first ever AMCA Championship.
AMCA MX1
NATURALLY, all eyes were on the big MX1 Championship top four as the pack made the long charge to the opening turn of moto one. And, first to show was Charlie Hollis with David Campbell in second while Ben Saunders was seventh and Brad O'Leary 12th. But by the completion of the first circuit, Saunders was already in control while Hollis had slipped back to third. That's the way it remained until lap eight when the unfortunate Hollis then picked up a front wheel puncture.
Gradually dropping down the leaderboard, Charlie had to settle for eighth at the flag as Saunders recorded a crucial win ahead of Campbell. Producing yet another impressive performance on his comeback trail, Elliot Barrs, buoyed by consecutive podium finishes took a strong third spot in moto one ahead of Jamie Powell, Alan Pearce, O'Leary getting back to a vital sixth and David Wright.
AMCA MX2
ALTHOUGH Lee Dunham required just an 11th place finish and 32 points to confirm the MX2 title, there was however still plenty of issues to be resolved before the completion of action as just 13 points separated Phil Mercer and Matt Porter in the battle for the Championship runners-up spot.
When the gate dropped for moto one though it was fourth placed Mark Hooley who led the charge followed by Shane Holmes, Jamie Dobson, Jack Taylor, 15-year-old Luke Knowles, Sean Frayne and Kristofer Ayres, while the Championship top three of Dunham, Mercer and Porter held tenth, 11th and 23rd places respectively.
AMCA MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 8 – Norley (Mid Cheshire MXC)
1 Ben Saunders (Delkevic Kawasaki) 60 + 60 + 60 = 180
2 David Campbell (Corby Kawasaki) 54 + 50 + 47 = 151
3 Elliot Barrs (Marsh Suzuki) 50 + 41 + 54 = 145
4 Charlie Hollis (Proppa Honda) 39 + 47 + 50 = 136
5 Tim Truman (Doodson Suzuki) 37 + 45 + 45 = 127
6 Jamie Powell (KTM) 47 + 37 + 43 = 127
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Ben Saunders 1,149 points (CHAMPION), 2 Charlie Hollis 1,080, 3 David Campbell 1,077, 4 O'Leary 1,062, 5 Truman 927, 6 Powell 868, 7 Russell 805, 8 Meakin 764, 9 Blakeley 736, 10 Pearce 728, 11 Elliot Barrs 717, 12 Turner 681, 13 Bailey 650, 14 Rawlings 594, 15 Wright 451, 16 Jones 449, 17 Reynolds 438, 18 Eckersley 430, 19 Hookham 424, 20 Castledine 403, 21 Hyde 383, 22 Clinton Barrs 357, 23 Chamberlain 327, 24 Coward 317, 25 Neesam 307,...
AMCA MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 8 – Norley (Mid Cheshire MXC)
1 Mark Hooley (Craigs KTM) 60 + 60 + 50 = 170
2 Shane Holmes (KTM) 50 + 47 + 54 = 151
3 Jack Taylor (Proppa Gear4 KTM) 54 + 50 + 33 = 137
4 Sean Frayne (Honda) 47 + 22 + 47 = 116
5 Phil Mercer (Delkevic Kawasaki) 0 + 54 + 60 = 114
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Lee Dunham 1,188 points (CHAMPION), 2 Phil Mercer 1,067, 3 Matt Porter 991, 4 Hooley 974, 5 Holmes 900, 6 Frayne 889, 7 Taylor 857, 8 Neale 779, 9 Mathia 747, 10 Carl Benjamin 696, 11 Dobson 681, 12 Pearce 647, 13 Yarranton 580, 14 Clark 557, 15 Simon Lane 551, 16 Halls 531, 17 James Lane 481, 18 Bellis 455, 19 Ben Smith 449, 20 Payne 423, 22 Daniel Hill 406, 23 Ayres 374, 24 Marchant 373, 25 Spence 372,...
SUPPORT RACE RESULTS
EXPERT: 1 Gary Ashcroft 161 points, 2 Richard Buckley 159, 3 Edward Briscoe 151.
SENIOR: 1 Stephen Goodwin 161, 2 Edward Bailey 161, 3 Steven Eckersley 146.
JUNIOR: 1 Garth Payne 168, 2 James Chambers 167, 3 James Hopley.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2009
Lee Payne (3) just gets the nudge ahead of fellow MX2 competitor Kristofer Ayres (88).
