Sagar is the King of Devon
By TMX Archives on 12th Jun 09
THE GBXC Championship series reached its halfway point at the weekend as the whole show moved to Kingsbridge, in South Devon.
Set not far from Plymouth, the distance to the event may have put off a few central and northern-based riders, but local riders rose to the challenge – and what a challenge! The 6.25 mile course was, in the words of many riders, the best they had ever seen, encompassing rolling hills narrow gullies, several woodland sections with very different course conditions in each area.
Sunny Devon didn't live up to its name on Saturday. Torrential rain all day long saturated the course but eventually the clouds cleared and by evening the sun was out. Surprisingly, the terrain stood up well to the battering and a week of baking sunshine in the run-up to the event was counter-balanced by the downpour, leaving the course in excellent shape.
Straight off the start line riders encountered an unusual section through a small stand of bamboo. The course twisted and turned through the two-metre high stand, which caught out more than a few riders, and marshals. The flattened bamboo proved to be as slippery as ice for the first few laps then, as lines appeared, turned into one of the most enjoyable parts of the course, especially for spectators.
At first glance the track looked fairly fast but this did not prove to be the case. There were fast sections, which were balanced by tight, technical woodlands and gullies. One gulley in particular played a major part in the outcome of both the morning and afternoon races.
Many riders were surprised to see Paul ‘Fast Eddy' Edmondson take to the line in the Pro race. Eddy had not ridden competitively since the Muntjac BEC round earlier in the year and had finally shaken off a nagging back problem.
He had fierce competition in the class with Tom Sagar, Si Wakely, Greg Evans, Oliver Moyce, Ashley Woods and Northern Ireland's Phil McLaughlin. On form Darryl Bolter was also gunning for the overall win although he was in the Pro-Lite section.
Another great start from Mark Roberts, proving to be something of a start-specialist, had Fast Eddy hot on his heels while Tom Sagar got away in fifth, an improvement on recent events.
By the end of the first lap Edmondson had stretched out quite a lead on his Suzuki RM250 with only Si Wakely in touch at this point on his MPS Husqvarna. Edmondson's pace was fast – well too fast to maintain for 2.5- hours with little riding time under his belt over the past few months.
Sagar, Wakely and Bolter began to take control by lap four. The big Midwest-Husaberg had the speed across the field sections but Bolter's nifty KTM made up the gap in the technical woodlands and tight, bumpy gullies as the two were inseparable over the final few laps.
As Bolter re-fuelled, Sagar took the lead. Bolter followed him from the pits and there was around three-seconds between them heading into the final few laps. A few back-markers held up the leader in a tight gulley section, allowing Bolter to close the small gap and once out onto the field sections they were neck-and-neck with Bolter just edging ahead.
On the final quarter lap Sagar saw his chance to snatch the lead back and a new line helped him squeeze to the front and stretch out a nine-second gap to take the overall win and the Pro class. Bolter's determined ride was rewarded with the Pro-Lite victory.
Less than two-minutes behind was Si Wakely who had enjoyed one of his best rides of the season so far, finishing second behind Sagar in the Pro class. Edmondson was running on pure determination by the end of the race and was rewarded with third in class, as Greg Evans claimed fourth. Evans had seemed out of sorts early in proceedings but pulled himself together to get into the top five.
Lee Edmondson claimed to yet another podium finish, second in Pro-Lite, three-minutes clear of Jon Hinam, both on 12 laps. Lincoln Brewster completed the Pro-Lite entry by taking fourth place, a lap down on the leading trio.
Lewis Belfield battled throughout the race with young Joe Jones in the Expert class but managed to stretch a 20-second gap by the time the chequered flag was waved. Wheeldon Farm, the venue for the event, was well represented in the form of Max Hembroke, who took third place in the Expert class.
Callum Hicks and Oli Hart were head-and-shoulders ahead of the rest of the Clubman 2T pack. The two Welsh lads stuck to each other like glue and it took until the final two laps for Hicks to gradually build a 30-second lead over Hart to take the win. Tom Hirons took third.
Sean O'Neill and Gareth Delahay travel together to all GBXC events and they continued in that vein throughout the race in Clubman 4T. Delahay took the lead but suffered a puncture around the one-hour mark, handing control to O'Neill. A quick fix saw Delahay back in the fray but unable to whittle down O'Neill's five-minute lead. Delahay was closely followed by Lee Hattersley, who had also suffered tyre problems.
As usual, the opening race of the day saw the Over 40 class in furious action. Both Ade Bradley and Keith Jenkins are in contention for series honours and once again there was no quarter given. Jenkins rode fast and hard but Bradley rode even harder, the motocrosser in him still showing through. You didn't need to see where he was, you could hear the pinned Suzuki in the distance. Jenkins slight edge on XC experience won the day with Bradley second, just over a minute clear of Chris Roberts in third.
Chris Pryce dominated the Sportsman class and took the win some five-minutes clear of second placed Scott Smith.
Ash Bowden also managed a relatively easy win in the Novice class, with just under a minute clearance from Kieron Jordan.
The Youth class turned out to be as entertaining as the Over 40s. All-conquering George Bayliss had stiff competition from Gethin Humphries and the two were locked together for much of the race. Both riders experienced mechanical difficulties at one point or another but Humphries rode on to victory as Bayliss, for once, took second. Joe Wootton was a lap down on the leading pair in a solid third.
Jane Daniels and Sophie Thomas led the Ladies class but Daniels was in it to win it and took the class by seven minutes from Thomas.
A good course doesn't always provide good racing but on this occasion the two worlds collided and provided both. It was worth the long trek that many riders made, possibly the best XC course seen in this country to date. It had everything and a great balance between fast and technical sections, which suited all types of rider.
Steve Ireland and Paul Edmondson really went out on a limb by putting on an event so far from their normal venues, but it paid off and raised both expectations and quality of GBXC events.
Someone up there must like the pair, Devon was one of the very few places in the country that remained rain-free throughout the day.
GREAT BRITAIN X-COUNTRY SERIES
Rd 4 – Preston Combe, Woodleigh, Kingsbridge, Devon (GBXC)
Pro: 1 Tom Sagar, 2 Si Wakeley, 3 Paul Edmondson, 4 Greg Evans, 5 Oli Moyce.
Pro Lite: 1 Darryl Bolter, 2 Lee Edmondson, 3 Jon Hinam, 4 Linc Brewster.
Expert: 1 Lewis Belfield, 2 Joe Jones, 3 Max Hembroke, 4 Charlie Evans, 5 Gary Daniels.
Clubman 2T: 1 Callum Hicks, 2 Oli Hart, 3 Tom Hirons, 4 Ross Benton, 5 Tom Healy.
Clubman 4T: 1 Sean O'Neill, 2 Gareth Delahay, 3 Lee Hattersley, 4 Marcus Alber, 5 Jamie Faulkner.
Over 40's: 1 Keith Jenkins, 2 Ade Bradley, 3 Chris Roberts, 4 Colin Jones, 5 Gary Baker.
Sportsman: 1 Chris Pryce, 2 Scott Smith, 3 Luke Smith, 4 Nathan Holtby, 5 Aaron Tilley.
Novice: 1 Ash Bowden, 2 Kieron Jordan, 3 Mike Windsor, 4 Danny Morris, 5 Nathan Jenkins.
Youth: 1 Gethin Humphries, 2 George Bayliss, 3 Joe Wootton, 4 Tommy Alba, 5 Alex West.
Ladies: 1 Jane Daniels, 2 Sophie Thomas, 3 Steph Jewel, 4 Nina Thomas, 5 Helen Spiers.
Tom Sagar snatched the lead back on the final lap to finish nine-seconds ahead of Darryl Bolter.