Preview: Acerbis Nationals Bank raid
By Team TMX on 7th Jun 17
The Acerbis Amateur Nationals series hits the halfway mark this weekend (June 10/11) with round four at the spectacular Skelder Bank circuit overlooking Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast.
After a six-week break following the previous round at Hawkstone Park the series regulars face a major change in conditions with the modern,
jump-filled circuit designed by James Noble contrasting dramatically with the famous old-school former GP track.
In the Paradise MX-backed MX1 class Lewis Meadows holds a 10-point lead over Andrew Wilson with Jake Gowan a further 10 points off the pace.
Meadows, the 2015 MX2 champion, should go well at Whitby but Gowan's heading into the event on the back of a maximum at Hawkstone and will be hoping to carry this momentum.
Current Craigs Motorcycles MX2 series leader James Lassu has a commanding 60-point advantage over Brad Wheeler after the defending champion's slow start to the season.
He did pick up the pace at Hawkstone but has still left himself a tough task if he's to close down Lassu and also defend his current position from Scott Hamilton who's just four points behind him in third.
While we're on the subject of Wheelers, Brad's dad Brian has finally hit the front of the Vets Over 40 field after losing out to Danny Blakeley at the opening two rounds. At Hawkstone the defending champion ripped to five straight moto wins as Blakeley went off the boil to open up a 23-point lead. Richard Collins sits in third 39 points off the lead.
A comfortable winner of the Roberts Plant Vets Over 50s title in 2016, Alan Eaves hasn't had it all his own way this year and heading into round four trails Warren Berthiaume by 29 points. Eaves isn't the biggest fan of Skelder Bank and if Berthiaume gels with the track this deficit could be extended.
Nigel Parker holds a distant third but the overall win could very well go to rapid Welshman Andy Watkins whose title hopes ended when he missed the first round but has since taken overalls at rounds two and three including a five-race sweep at Hawkstone.
The Ladies share track time with the Over 50s and it's currently Chelsea Gowland who's setting the pace with 12 race wins and two second places at the opening three rounds giving her a 48-point lead over Nadiya Jones with Ellie Sleightholm third but 116 points behind.
In the 250cc Two-stroke Open class Paul Johnston has a super-slender seven-point lead over Luke Gidney after a mechanical DNF in the final moto at Hawkstone while Lewis Dowdeswell leads the Moto Connection 125cc division by 35 points from Chris Povey.
The CCM Junior Open class is currently led by Ben Walsh who's 33 points ahead of John Cooper.
Practice kicks off at 9am both days with racing from 10.15am.
Skelder Bank is just off the A171 about three miles from Whitby. Postcode is YO21 1TN.
