Saunders' class act
By TMX Archives on 12th Mar 08
WITH reigning AMCA Superclass champion Phil Mercer deciding not to defend his title, there will be a new name on the trophy for 2008. Following the opening meeting of the two-round series at Polesworth on Sunday, Ben Saunders could well be the man to take top honours for this year. With a second/ first/ first scorecard, Ben topped the podium joined by Clinton Barrs and Charlie Hollis. In the annual contest where the top Open class AMCA championship riders lock horns with the best 125cc AMCA championship pilots, invariably the big bike racers generally dominate proceedings. Indeed, at Polesworth they filled the top nine overall positions with Lee Dunham being the highest placed 125cc class rider on the day in tenth spot.
Report and Pictures: MIKE WOOD
For most riders, Sunday's event was their first race meeting of the season. However, despite this fact they still attacked the first corner of moto one with tremendous determination, speed and aggression. Leading the way was triple AMCA 125cc champion Brad O'Leary aboard his new 450F KTM, followed by Aaron Poolman, Ben Saunders, David Campbell, Aaron Crowder and Jamie Powell.
Whilst Poolman suffered clutch problems and slipped back to an eventual seventh, O'Leary held on for a stylish win despite coming under some intense late pressure from Saunders. Taking third in the opener was Campbell, who openly admitted that he found the going rather tough, this being his very first outing on a bike since October 2007! Following Campbell home was Barrs in fifth, Hollis sixth and Lee Dunham, the first 250F rider home, in eighth.
Despite his lack of bike time', Campbell still made a brilliant holeshot in Superclass moto two, only to fall on the second turn, handing race leadership to fellow fast-starter Poolman. For three laps Poolman remained in control before being passed by Saunders. Any hopes that Poolman held though of holding second spot were evaporated by a fall which further relegated him down the leaderboard behind runner-up O'Leary and a hard-charging Barrs. With Hollis fifth, Crowder sixth and Tom Fish seventh, it was 250F riders Lee Payne, Owen Delaney and Dunham who filled the next three places. Early faller Campbell eventually took 15th place at the flag.
Switching back to his beloved 250cc two-stroke machinery, Yorkshireman Danny Blakeley briefly led the final Polesworth Superclass charge before first Hollis then Saunders took control of proceedings. Following his lightning holeshot, Blakeley then fell in an incident which also saw O'Leary and Dunham both bite the dirt.
Desperate to get back in contention as he chased the overall verdict, O'Leary crashed again, eventually finishing 16th at the flag, one place ahead of Dunham who was fighting a Kawasaki front wheel minus some of its bearings!
Meanwhile, at the front end of the contest, Saunders, Hollis and the very impressive Barrs aboard his new 450F KTM were producing a great scrap for the race leadership. At the flag, Saunders was again the victor with Hollis second, Barrs third, Crowder fourth, Fish fifth, Powell sixth and Andy Marchant the first 250F pilot home in seventh. The deciding round of the Superclass Championship action now moves to Tirley, on April 6.
In the Polesworth Support action, there were overall victories for Jonathan Slesser, Andy Parker, Aaron Paskin, Jay Rumbold, Sam Winter, Daniel Lister and Lewis Ashby. For Ashby, Lister and Rumbold this was a particularly pleasing start to the season as they recorded maximum points from their three races.
AMCA SUPERCLASS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 1 Polesworth (Polesworth MCC)
MOTO ONE: 1 Brad O'Leary (Direct CCTV/ AMS 450F KTM), 2 Ben Saunders (Delkevic 450F Kawasaki), 3 David Campbell (450F Honda), 4 Aaron Crowder (Sandiford 450F Honda), 5 Clinton Barrs (JB Racing/ SA Fletcher 450F KTM), 6 Charlie Hollis (Mission Control 450F Honda), 7 Aaron Poolman (MotoExtreme 450F Kawasaki), 8 Lee Dunham (MotoExtreme 250F Kawasaki), 9 Tom Fish (Murray Harper International Transport 450F Suzuki), 10 Lee Payne (Malin Floors 250F Yamaha), 11 Stephen Tillotson (450F Honda), 12 Andy Marchant (250F KTM), 13 Aran Agius (Thornbury MX 250F Kawasaki), 14 Scott Mathia (Wulfsport 250F KTM), 15 Shaun Pearce (250F Honda), 16 Carl Benjamin (Thornbury MX 250F Kawasaki), 17 Steve Bailey (450F Honda), 18 Simon Lane (Sutton MX 250F Honda), 19 Danny Blakeley (Silvesters 250cc Yamaha), 20 Craig Chamberlain (450F Honda).
MOTO TWO: 1 Saunders, 2 O'Leary, 3 Barrs, 4 Poolman, 5 Hollis, 6 Crowder, 7 Fish, 8 Payne, 9 Owen Delaney (T+W Racing 250FYamaha), 10 Dunham, 11 Jamie Powell (Stevens 450F Yamaha), 12 Agius, 13 Tillotson, 14 Pearce, 15 Campbell, 16 Blakeley, 17 S Lane, 18 Benjamin, 19 Mathia, 20 Marchant.
MOTO THREE: 1 Saunders, 2 Hollis, 3 Barrs, 4 Crowder, 5 Fish, 6 Powell, 7 Marchant, 8 Campbell, 9 Tillotson, 10 Mathia, 11 Agius, 12 James Lane (Sutton MX 250F Honda), 13 Bailey, 14 Pearce, 15 Richard Meakin (450F Honda), 16 O'Leary, 17 Dunham, 18 Benjamin, 19 Blakeley, 20 Dan Hill (250F KTM).
OVERALL AND SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Saunders 72 points, 2 Barrs 56, 3 Hollis 53, 4 O'Leary 52, 5 Crowder 51, 6 Fish 42, 7 Campbell 39, 8 Poolman 32, 9 Tillotson 30, 10 Dunham 28, 11 Agius 27, 12 Powell 25, 13 Marchant 24, 14 Payne 24, 15 Mathia 20, 16 Pearce 20, 17 Delaney 12, 18 Benjamin 11, 19 J Lane 9, 20 Blakeley 9.
SUPPORT RACE RESULTS
EXPERT UNLIMITED: 1 Jonathan Slesser, 2 Ryan Morris, 3 Simon White.
MX1 SENIOR: 1 Andy Parker, 2 Steve Atkins, 3 Ian Copson.
MX2 SENIOR: 1 Aaron Paskin, 2 Arran Nelson, 3 Russell Hewitt.
MX1 JUNIOR: 1 Jay Rumbold, 2 Martin Creaney, 3 Stuart Hipkiss.
MX2 JUNIOR OVER 18: 1 Daniel Lister, 2 Mitchell Perry, 3 Craig Ulliott.
MX2 JUNIOR UNDER 18: 1 Sam Winter, 2 Grant Thomas, 3 Aiden Starkey.
INTER JUNIOR: 1 Lewis Ashby, 2 Chloe Currien, 3 Parm Allmark.
For full pictures, see T+MX NEWS, Friday, March 14, 2008