Report: Phoenix Tools Premier MX Championship
By Dave Rich on 7th Apr 16
Last Sunday the Phoenix Tools Premier motocross Championship headed to Landrake in Cornwall for round two in the series and the opening round of the long awaited open two-stroke Championship.
The track as usual had been prepared to a high standard and many wildcard entries were signed on.
However during the early hours of Sunday morning it rainedhard and with further showers the decision was made to only run two blocks of racing.
In the Expert Championship there was a host of wildcard entries including Graeme Irwin who had posted the fastest time in qualification and it was Irwin with the holeshot in the opening race from fellow wildcard Liam Garland.
A slight mishap from Garland on the opening lap dropped him back down to fourth and up in to second was now Ryan Houghton with Jordan Divall all over him.
Irwin soon eased away at the front, Divall got the better of Houghton on lap two, but this was short lived as a mistake from Divall saw Houghton back in second and up in to third was now Sunny Thompson who was well on the gas.
Houghton gave his all to try and stay with Irwin, but it was a big ask in the slippery conditions and settled for second with Thompson an excellent third.
In the second moto it was Thompson who shot around the outside of Irwin on the first corner with the holeshot and looked in fine stead as he pulled away on the opening lap and by the end of lap two he was a full four seconds ahead of Irwin.
Houghton was now starting to shine in third and was closing in on Irwin, but Irwin was quick to react and found another gear eased away from Houghton.
On lap five he caught and passed Thompson to take the lead and from there went on to take the chequered flag with Houghton coming through on the last lap after Thompson got his leg stuck in his back wheel to take second with Thompson third.
In the Over 35 Championship the battle was again between current Championship leader Wayne Shimell and Ben Harmon.
In the first race it was Shimell with the holeshot from Harmon who was right on his back wheel, but
Harmon was a bit too close going in to the second corner and clipped the Shimell's back wheel and they both wentdown. Shimell was back up in a flash, but Harmon's day was over as he had damaged his water pump.
Jonathan Morrissey led for most of the opening lap until he found Shimell right back with him and it wasn't long before Shimell took over at the front and claimed a comfortable win with Morrissey second and Luke Dewey taking third.
In race two it was all about Shimell from the off who with a clear track in front of him was to storm away and increased his Championship lead with another win from Morrissey with Christian Seloon taking third.
In the Over 40 Championship it was Richard Green who headed the opening race from Paul Deeble and Steve Elford early on.
But by the end of the opening lap Elford had hit the front, but he had Martyn Tucker breathing all over him with Tucker taking the lead a lap later after a slight mistake from Elford.
Tucker was on a mission at the front and went on to take an easy win from Deeble with Rick Hanson third.
In the second moto Hanson led from the off and showed that he had still got it as he took take the win from Deeble with Green third.
In the Over 50 class there was only one winner and that was David Ford who took both wins to make it five wins out of five in the Championship so far.
New to the 2016 series was the Open two-stroke Championship which had several top names in the line up. In the opening race it was Jamie Skuse who had the best start, but as he came into the second corner he went down and up in to the lead came James Kensington ahead of Jordan Carter and Will Worden.
The man on a mission on the opening lap was Leighton Holmes who powered his way to the front by the end of the opening lap.
Worden got the better of Carter and Kensington on lap two, but by this time Holmes was a full six seconds ahead and took the win from Worden with Carter third.
The second race this time saw Worden with the best start from Henry Ebbutt with Holmes third, but as he did in the opening race Holmes hit the front by the end of the opening lap.
Holmes went on to take the win from Worden with Kensington taking third.
In the Junior Championship first race it was Dave Anthony who had the early lead from wildcard Daniel Smith and Jamie Buckingham, but not so good for Championship leader Harry Linton as he went down and was almost last by the end of the opening lap.
Anthony lost the lead to Smith on lap two and was also passed by Buckingham who seemed to relish in the wet conditions.
Smith was in fine form at the front and took the win from Buckingham and Anthony.
The second moto was a different kettle of fish as this time it was Linton at the front from Anthony and Buckingham with Smith fourth.
Linton was in a real hurry in this one and soon had a comfortable lead, but there was a real battle going on for second mid race with Smith eventually passing Anthony, but Anthony came back two laps from the end to take second behind Linton with Smith taking third.
RESULTS
Gabriel Insulations Expert Open: Graeme Irwin (Honda), 2 Ryan Houghton (Husqvarna), 3 Sunny Thompson (Kawasaki), 4 Jordan Divall (KTM) 5 Ty Kellett (KTM) 6 Jamie Skuse (Suzuki)
MD Racing Over 35: 1 Wayne Shimell (Husqvarna), 2 Jonathan Morrissey (KTM), 3 Christian Seloon, 4 James Price (Kawasaki), 5 Luke Dewey.
MD Racing Over 40: 1 Rick Hanson (KTM), 2 Paul Deeble, 3 Martyn Tucker (Suzuki), 4 Richard Green (Honda), 5 Richard Tapscott (KTM), 6 Stuart Rawlings (Honda).
MD Racing Over 50: 1 David Ford (KTM), 2 Alan Packer (Honda), 3 Adrian Toy (KTM), 4 Dave Watson (Honda)
RC Motorhomes Open 2-Stroke: 1 Leighton Holmes (KTM), 2 Will Worden (KTM), 3 James Kensington (KTM) 4 Henry Ebbutt (KTM), 5 Scott Northover (Husqvarna) 6 Lewis Barfoot (250 Honda).
Tony Maunders Junior: 1 Daniel Smith, 2 Dave Anthony (Honda), 3 Jamie Buckingham (Husqvarna), 4 Harry Linton (KTM) 5 Bradley Flagg (Honda), 6 Jay Lewis (Honda)
Junior B: 1 Lee Randall-Smith (Kawasaki), 2 Darren Toy (KTM), 3 Giles Richards (KTM), 4 Marcus Feltham (Yamaha) 5 George Pool, 6 Bradley Barfoot (Yamaha)
Junior C: 1 Michael Rich (KTM), 2 Joe Allaway, (Honda), 3 Scott Hooper (Honda), 4 Elliott Woodward (Kawasaki) 5 Graham Pugsley (Honda), 6 Jack Jones (Honda)
