Sizzling, exciting and dramatic Walterstone
By TMX Archives on 30th Jul 08
ON what was the hottest weekend of the summer so far, wildcard entry Lee Dunham produced a performance to match the sizzling temperatures as he blasted his MotoXtreme Kawasaki to a glorious overall victory in the IMBA European MX2 Championship round at Walterstone on Sunday. Recording a stunning 2-1-1 scorecard, Dunham was joined on the IMBA podium by series leader, Dutchman Martijn Romviel and German Andre Adrian.While Dunham rightly took the headlines, his fellow Brits also flew the AMCA flag in style.
Despite having a badly swollen ankle, Phil Mercer bravely completed all three motos for a gutsy fourth overall, closely followed by Lee Payne in fifth and Simon Lane sixth. Also earning top ten overall positions, Matt Porter finished ninth and impressive IMBA debutant, Sean Frayne, was tenth. The final British team member, James Lane, took a gallant 19th, a result which in no way reflected his efforts on the day.
Supporting the IMBA action was round four of an increasingly exciting and very dramatic AMCA MX1 Championship, which produced further twists of fate. While Clinton Barrs recorded a superb overall victory, both Gary Davies and Tom Fish crashed out, as David Campbell moved back to the top of the series standings, just a single-point ahead of Ben Saunders.
Report and Pictures: MIKE WOOD
As the organising Hereford MXC continued its day-long battle to damp down rising dust clouds, Phil Mercer was receiving treatment after badly twisting an already painful ankle. With just minutes to spare, Mercer reached the start line and despite his heavily strapped joint, remarkably proceeded to make a flying moto one start.
However, Mercer was not first into the opening turn, that honour went to a jet-propelled Dunham, who ensured that he would enjoy the luxury of clear vision.
In the early stages, the flying Dunham and fellow Brit Mercer were chased hard by Romviel, Porter, Kenny Beekmans, Simon Lane and Payne. Three laps into the contest, Payne slid off, while James Lane crashed when in tenth place.
At the front, Dunham, Mercer and Romviel were setting a blistering pace which saw them leave fourth-placed Porter some 30-seconds in arrears.
With less than two-laps remaining, Mercer eventually found a way past Dunham, who then had to repel a serious last ditch challenge from Romviel. Maintaining a strong fourth place was Porter, with Adrian fifth, Payne recovering well for sixth, Simon Lane seventh, Frayne, on his debut ride, 14th, and James Lane 28th.
In moto two, Romviel led the early exchanges with five Brits – Mercer, Dunham, Payne, Porter, Simon Lane and Frayne – all giving chase. That pattern quickly changed as first Mercer crashed over the top of a dusty berm and left the circuit. Then Payne fell in a downhill corner while third.
With the dust at its worst, Dunham remained totally focussed, cool
and calculated before reeling in Romviel and passing the Dutchman to earn a comfortable nine-second victory.
Showing some of his best form of the season so far, Simon Lane was the next Brit home in an impressive fourth with Payne recovering for fifth, Frayne a super seventh, Mercer climbing back to eighth, Porter 11th and James Lane 13th.
While Porter was dumped into the dust by a forceful Adrian on the opening lap of moto three when in third, Dunham produced another textbook holeshot to lead the pack. In determined fashion the Brit quickly fabricated a healthy advantage at the front while Adrian and Romviel hotly disputed second spot, just ahead of an all British battle between Payne and Mercer.
Celebrating with a victory wheelie, Dunham crossed the finishing line over eight-seconds ahead of Romviel, to secure the second overall IMBA success of his career. Next Brit finisher home was Payne in fourth, narrowly defeating a very brave Mercer, with Simon Lane eighth, Frayne tenth, first lap faller, Porter, was 14th and James Lane 18th.
AMCA MX1 CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 4 – Walterstone (Hereford MXC)
SPONSORED BY STORMER MX
MOTO ONE: 1 Clinton Barrs (450F Fowlers KTM), 2 David Campbell (450F Honda), 3 Jamie Powell (450F Stevens Yamaha), 4 Brad O'Leary (450F Direct CCTV KTM), 5 Elliot Barrs (450F MotoXtreme Kawasaki), 6 Ben Saunders (450F Delkevic Kawasaki), 7 Charlie Hollis (450F Mission Control Honda), 8 Rick Du-Feu (450F Delkevic Kawasaki), 9 Aaron Crowder (450F Sandiford Honda), 10 Jonathan Slesser (450F Honda), 11 Danny Blakeley (250 Silvester Yamaha), 12 Steve Bailey (450F Honda), 13 Andrew Summerton (450 Suzuki), 15 Ben Smith (450F Kawasaki), 16 Paul Coward (450F CAS Honda), 17 Richard Meakin (450F Honda), 18 Gary Chappell (250 Yamaha), 19 Clinton Thomas (450F Honda), 20 Robert Fox (450F Kawasaki).
MOTO TWO: 1 Campbell, 2 C Barrs, 3 Hollis, 4 James Russell (450F Kawasaki), 5 Slesser, 6 E Barrs, 7 Meakin, 8 Du-Feu, 9 Coward, 10 Crowder, 11 Blakeley, 12 Bailey, 13 O'Leary, 14 Saunders, 15 Summerton, 16 Chappell, 17 Smith, 18 Martin Jones (450F Honda), 19 Matt Gordon (450F Honda), 20 Ed Reynolds.
MOTO THREE: 1 C Barrs, 2 Campbell, 3 Saunders, 4 Du-Feu, 5 Hollis, 6 Crowder, 7 O'Leary, 8 Blakeley, 9 Meakin, 10 Russell, 11 Bailey, 12 Summerton, 13 Slesser, 14 Coward, 15 Chappell, 16 Smith, 17 Reynolds, 18 Jones, 19 Fox, 20 Joshua Williams (250 Kawasaki).
OVERALL ON DAY: 1 C Barrs 72 points, 2 Campbell 69, 3 Hollis 50, 4 Du-Feu 44, 5 Saunders 42, 6 O'Leary 40.
SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Campbell 213 points, 2 Saunders 212, 3 C Barrs 194, 4 O'Leary 190, 5 Hollis 183, 6 Gary Davies 156, 7 Du-Feu 139, 8 Crowder 118, 9 Tom Fish 107, 10 Powell 103, 11 Russell 95, =12 E Barrs, Meakin & Slesser 85, 15 Blakeley 84, 16 Stephen Tillotson 69, 17 Sean Eckersley 55, 18 Coward 45, 19 Summerton 39, 20 Bailey 31,...
AMCA Support Results
AMCA Championship Non-Qualifiers: 1 Alun Joyce, 2 Martin Streeton, 3 Kevin Neesam.
Experts Unlimited (Sponsored by Fusion MX): 1 Justin Hill, 2 Christian Davis, 3 Simon Baldwin.
Seniors Unlimited (Sponsored by Bethell Motors and Hereford Low Bake Centre): 1 Adrian Phelpstead, 2 Jan Icec, 3 Wayne Powell.
Junior Unlimited (Sponsored by Mr Chips and Denco): 1 Paul Jones, 2 Ade Richards, 3 Lee Renwick.
Inter Juniors (Sponsored by John Mumford Auto Services): 1 Paul Dunn, 2 Jamie Bevan, 3 Kack Hill..
IMBA MX2 EUROPEAN MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 4 – Walterstone (Hereford MXC)
SPONSORED BY AJP HYDRAULIC SERVICES
MOTO ONE: 1 Phil MERCER (GB), 2 Lee DUNHAM (GB), 3 Martijn Romviel (NL), 4 Matt PORTER (GB), 5 Andre Adrian (D), 6 Lee PAYNE (GB), 7 Simon LANE (GB), 8 Kenny Beekmans (NL), 9 Ronnie Van Rooji (NL), 10 Tiziano Peverieri (I), 11 Rene Egsgaard (DK), 12 Christoph Selent (D), 13 Andy Baumgartner (Switzerland), 14 Sean FRAYNE (GB), 15 Francesco Ombrosi (I), 16 Christian Schoeler (DK), 17 Giorgio Marincioni (I), 18 Stefan Rueger (Switzerland), 19 Frederic Birh (F), 20 Alexander Hubner (D),... 28 James LANE.
MOTO TWO: 1 DUNHAM, 2 Romviel, 3 Adrian, 4 S LANE, 5 PAYNE, 6 Peverieri, 7 FRAYNE, 8 MERCER, 9 Van Rooji, 10 Josef Mnuk (CZ), 11 PORTER, 12 Schoeler, 13 J LANE, 14 Marincioni, 15 Donny Schmidt (B), 16 Ombrosi, 17 Menno Verleng (NL), 18 Egsgaard, 19 Jonathan Lesage (F), 20 Birh.
MOTO THREE: 1 DUNHAM, 2 Romviel, 3 Adrian, 4 PAYNE, 5 MERCER, 6 Peverieri, 7 Beekmans, 8 S LANE, 9 Van Rooji, 10 FRAYNE, 11 Selent, 12 Mnuk, 13 Maurice van Kasteren (NL), 14 PORTER, 15 Baumgartner, 16 Marincioni, 17 Lesage, 18 J LANE, 19 Schoeler, 20 Stefan Rueger (CH).
OVERALL ON DAY: 1 DUNHAM 174 points, 2 Romviel 158, 3 Adrian 145, 4 MERCER 144, 5 PAYNE 135, 6 S LANE 127, 7 Peverieri 121, 8 Van Rooji 111, 9 PORTER 107, 10 FRAYNE 103,... 19 J LANE 65.
SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Romviel 465 points, 2 Adrian 421, 3 Van Rooji 403, 4 PAYNE 373, 5 MERCER 358, 6 Selent 320, 7 PORTER 273, 8 Egsgaard 269, 9 Beekmans 263, 10 van Kasteren 260, 11 Peverieri 257, 12 S LANE 215, 13 J LANE 206, 14 Schoeler 200, 15 Mnuk 198,...
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, Aug 1, 2008