Report: Margate Beach Race
By Dick Law on 29th Oct 15
Five times British Beachcross champion Frenchman Arnaud Degousee notched up another two overall wins at last weekends round five and six of the 2015 championship staged at a mild and sunny Margate beach on the Kent coast.
But Degousee didn't have things all his own way for once as in race one on Saturday Mat Moffat (Husqvarna) beat the likeable Frenchman and handed him his first defeat in sixty four races.
Things were more straight forward in the quad side of the event as Carl Bunce (Suzuki) stormed to six unchallenged race wins over both rounds and became the 2015 British Beachcross champion.
In race one of the Solo pro class Moffat got the holeshot and stormed to a 20-second win from Degousee in the 11-lap race as Ton van Grinsen (Yamaha) passed the fast starting Morgan Walicki (Yamaha) on lap three to take third place.
Perhaps Moffat was Degousee's wake up call as in race two he got the holeshot and set a fast pace to take the race win while Moffat crashed twice but managed to get back into second place each time.
Grinsen spent the entire race battling with Moffat but had to settle for third place in the end with McKeon fourth again with Walicki fifth.
Moffat lead the pack at the start of the third and final race on Saturday with Degousee in his wheel trackd by the end of the opening lap after passing Grinsen.
The pair of fast riders danced over the top of the now chopped up sand and were pulling further and further away from the rest of the pack, headed up by Grinsen and McKeown.
With two laps to go Moffat made a little mistake and Degousee was through and into the lead, but Moffat was right back on it and it looked like it was going to be a very close finish.
But with lap to go Moffat was pinched off the side of his bike and handed the win, and the overall to Degousee with Grinsen and McKeown finish third and fourth again and being the only two other riders on the lead lap.So overall on day one it was Degousee from Moffat, Grinsen, McKeown and Walicki.
Bailey Edwards (Yamaha) got the holeshot at the start of the first pro quad race on Saturday followed by Mark McLernon (Yamaha), Sylvain Gorrilliot (Yamaha), Bunce and Jamie Clarke (KTM). By lap two McLernon was in the lead as Bunce moved into third at the cost of Gorrilliot.
As the race reached the halfway stage Bunce powered past McLernon for the lead and stretched out a lead of just over 22 seconds by the end of the race.
Clarke seemed to find some extra pace in the last couple of laps and snatched second from an unsuspecting McLernon with Edwards holding onto fourth and with Harry Walker (Yamaha) fifth.
Bunce was in the zone come race two as he lead from start to finish and crossed the finish line just over 40 second clear of Edwards who had spent all race in the position.
Michael Trannin (Honda) was third from a fifth place start while Clarke suffered a number of crashes and dropped from third place down to 14th place and a lap down.
Once again Bunce lead race three from start to finish leaving Edwards and Clarke to fight over the runner up spot.
The place changed hands a number of times with Edward claiming second place as the finish flag dropped.
Walker came from seventh at the start to finish fourth, with Gorrilliot and Nelson filling the next two places. Of course it was Bunce for the overall from Edwards, Walker, Clarke and Nelson.
The skies were clear on Sunday for the sixth and final round and the battle between Degousee and Moffat continued where it has left off the day before with Degousee leading Moffat for a lap with the positions swopping at the start of lap two.
The pair of fast sand riders were setting such a pace and pulling away from the rest of the pack that Grinsen, McKeown and Lewis spent all race in third, fourth and fifth and were hardly noticed as the eyes of the large crowd that lined the sea walls were glued on the battle for the win.
But it all went wrong for Moffat with a lap to go when he slid off while in the lead and handed the win to his French rival Degousee.
Things went from bad to worse for Moffat in Sundays second race for as Degousee got the holeshot and disappeared. Moffat gated fifth, crashed down to seventh place by the end of the lap, remounted and fought his way back to fifth only to have the engine of his Husqvarna start to overheat forcing him to pull out of the race to save the engine.
Grinsen spent all race in second while Lewis took third from McKeown with three laps to go as these four riders remained on the lead lap.
With Moffat's four-stroke suffering from the head Mat brought out his 250 two-stroke for the third and final race of the day and what a treat it was to hear it on full song in the deep sand.
Degousee got the holeshot from Moffat, Grinsen, McKeown and Bixby, but as the riders came round to complete there first lap Moffat stopped his machine and was looking down at the engine.
Grinsen took over second place from McKeown and Lewis while Moffat re-joined the race in sixth but was climbing the leader board fast.
Degousee took the final win of the year by almost 47 seconds from Grinsen and Lewis with Moffat crossing the line fourth despite losing his gear lever when he stopped and completing most of the race in one gear.
Overall it was Degousee from Grinsen, Lewis, Walicki and McKeown but in the championship it was McKeown who was the 2015 British Beachcross champion from Brett TJ Moore, Wilson with Degousee fourth after missing a couple of rounds.
"It's been a long time coming to win a championship,” said the new champ McKeown, "I am thirty-five years old now and I had given up motocross about six years ago and decided to make a bit of a comeback. I have not had the best of days today as I have had some clutch problems, but the fitness and the speed are all there so all I have to do is get them all back together. It's been consistence that has won the championship and it's all good training as I am doing Le Touquet for the first time next year”
Degousee was happy with his year and said, "I could not do all the championship rounds this year as I broke my hand when Skegness was on so it is a shame not do me champion this year. Mat (Moffat) was very fast today. I saw him ride at a French sand race back in September where he finished among the top riders in the sand. I will be back next year, as I love the event and the ambience”
Once again Bunce was in control of the quad races as he lead race one from start to finish with Edwards doing all he could to stay with him but in the end had to settle for second place 19 seconds behind Bunce.
Chris Nelson (KTM) was in a battle for second with Clarke for the first two laps till Clarke managed to open up a bit of a gap and made third his own.
At the half way mark Trannin pushed Nelson back a further place as the pair finished in fourth and fifth.
Clarke got the holeshot at the start of race two but by the end of the lap Bunce was once again in the lead and sailing to his second win of the day.
Edwards passed Clarke at the halfway stage for second place as Tannin fought his was from tenth on the opening lap for fourth, one place behind Clarke.
Once again Clarke got the holeshot at the start of the third race of the day and the last race of the series from Bunce, McLernon, Edwards and Walker, but by the time they had completed the opening lap Bunce was as usual in the lead and clearing off for a clean sweep of six win's from six starts.
McLernon passed Clarke for second on lap two, but crashed down to fifth a lap latter as Edwards charged his way into second place, which he held till the end of the race.
Clarke came home in third with Trannin fourth from tenth at the start and was followed home by Gorrilliot and Barrett.
Overall on the day it was Bunce from Edwards, Clarke, Trannin, Nelson and Gorrilliot while in the championship it was Bunce who won all but one of the rounds, from Clarke, John Mitchell who couldn't compete in the last two rounds and Laurence Stopps.
"It's been a good weekend for me” said Bunce after racing, "The track was very good and the bike ran faultlessly both days. It would have been nice to have a bit more opposition out there but I did see Bailey (Edwards) having a bit of a go in the last one. I was hoping that John Mitchel was coming down as it was quite close in the championship and that would have made it more interesting, but overall it's been a good championship and has been nice to win”
Results: Saturday
Pro solo:1 Arnaud Degousee (KTM), 2 Mat Moffat (Husqvarna), 3 Ton van Grinsen (Yamaha), 4 Richard McKeown (KTM), 5 Morgan Walicki (Yamaha), 6 Steve Bixby (Husqvarna), 7 Mathis Perez (Yamaha), 8 Jamie Wilson (KTM), 9 Beramger B'aheu (Yamaha), 10 Jack Scott (KTM), 11 Brett TJ Moore (KTM), 12 Henri Huchin (Yamaha), 13 Mitchell Lewis (Husqvarna), 14 Timmy Andrews (KTM), 15 Ryan Benton (Yamaha).
National solo: 1 Frank van Loon (Honda), 2 Josh Horton (Honda), 3 Henri Huchin Snr (KTM), 4 Brett VR Moore (KTM), 5 Kudovic Manier (Yamaha), 6 Stephen Ashdown (Honda), 7 Adam Moore (KTM), 8 Kyle Wright (Honda), 9 Oliver Fischer (Yamaha), 10 Sammy Ashdown (KTM), 11 Ryan Benton (Yamaha), 12 Robert Wiggins (Honda), 13 Henri Lauchet (Yamaha).
Pro quad:1 Carl Bunce (Suzuki), 2 Bailey Edwards (Yamaha), 3 Harry Walker (Yamaha), 4 Jamie Clarke (KTM), 5 Chris Nelson (KTM), 6 Sylvain Gorrilliot (Yamaha), 7 Jamie Morgan (Yamaha), 8 Jack Naylor (Suzuki), 9 Antony Barrett (Suzuki), 10 Ray Burling (Suzuki), 11 Marco Zaffino (Yamaha), 12 Ameelie Miller (KTM), 13 Ben Russell (Yamaha), 14 Craig Hodgkins (Yamaha), 15 Craig McCormick (Yamaha).
National quad:1 Freddie Russell (Yamaha), 2 Richard Horton (Honda), 3 Jon Morgan (Yamaha), 4 Richard Shaw (Yamaha), 5 Peter Bates (Yamaha), 6 Lee Baxter (Honda), 7 Clive Cooper (Suzuki), 8 Geoff Otway (Yamaha), 9 Simon Naylor (Suzuki), 10 Paul Bennett (Can Am), 11 Darren McPherson (Honda), 12 Jon Rootes (KTM), 13 Nik Blythe (Yamaha), 14 Karl Pilcher (Yamaha), 15 Janet Freeman-Smith (Honda).
Results: Sunday
Pro solo: 1 Degousee, 2 Van Grinsen, 3 Lewis, 4 Walicki, 5 McKeown, 6 Bixby, 7 Perez, 8 Wilson, 9 Andrews, 10 B'aheu, 11 Ashley Campbell (Honda), 12 Scott, 13 Huchin, 14 Moore, 15 Moffat.
National solo:1 Van Loon, 2 Horton, 3 Wright, 4 Brett VR Moore, 5 Huchin Snr, 6 Alex Hammond (Kawasaki), 7 Alex Ashdown, 8 Manier, 9 Adam Moore, 10 Nick Lapslie (Honda), 11 Wiggins, 12 Sammy Ashdown.
Pro quad:1 Bunce, 2 Edwards, 3 Clarke, 4 Michael Trannin (Honda), 5 Nelson, 6 Harry Miller, 7 Burling, 8 Walker, 9 Laurence Stopps (Suzuki), 10 Morgan, 11 Robert Swann (KTM), 12 Ameelie Miller, 13 Hodgkins, 14 Russell, 15 McCormick.
National quad:1 Russell, 2 Otway, 3 Mark Smith (Honda), 4 Bates, 5 Morgan, 6 Blythe, 7 Shaw, 8 Pilcher, 9 Freeman-Smith, 10 Baxter, 11 Rootes, 12 Duncan McCormick (Yamaha), 13 Ray Morgan (Yamaha), 14 Bennett, 15 Oliver Meredith (KTM).
