Skeggie is sand-tastic
By Mike Wood on 23rd Nov 12
Sand, sea, sun and a great weekend of action for solo, quad and sidecar competitors, were theingredients which made the third staging of the AMCA Skegness Beach race another roaring success.
The AMCA team had rolled into the East Lincolnshire seaside resort earlier in the week, to erect the almost endless lines of crowd control barriers which marked the direction of the circuit, again designed by Rob Meek.
With the help of main sponsors Roberts Plant Engineers and their vast array of sand-moving equipment, sand-racing king Meek plotted a demanding but fair and flowing track, to satisfy riders of all ages and abilities.
With his work done, Rob was then able to sit back and enjoy a superb performance from his amazing boys.
In the main solo race, Nathan Watson took home the juicy £1,000 winners' cheque by bagging a stunning and classy victory ahead of his 15-year-old brother Ben, while Ryan came home in 11th.Earlier in the weekend, Ben Watson had also took the MXY2 Youth race win, wow these Watson lads have certainly got talent.
Other Skeggy victors on another great AMCA weekend were Mark Houson (Solo Vets), Jake Edey (BW85cc), Toby Avis (SW85cc), Stefan Murphy (Quads) and Alun Davies/ Rhys George (Sidecars).
The main event of the super Skegness action is the big three-hour solo blast which starts at midday on Sunday and is sponsored by SECWHA (Skegness East Coast and Wolds Hospitality Association).
So with the sun shining and a massive crowd scrabbling to find everyavailable vantage point to watch the action, it was time for the battle to start.
Although defending Champion Neville Parker was missing due to injury, the field still included plenty of quality with 2011 top ten finishers Nathan Watson, Neville Bradshaw, Dan Thornhill, James Lassu, Steven Smyth, Ryan Watson and John Robson joined by Skegness first-timer Carlton Husband and a whole host of others.
With the excitement levels pumped to fever pitch, Putoline Honda star Bradshaw led the short charge to the first dune.
The vast majority of riders then successfully cleared that first hurdle with minimal carnage, so the race was now well and truly on.
After a frantic lap one, Bradshaw was still in control but already Nathan Watson was hot on his heels, with Lassu, Ben Watson, youth rider Jamie Ellis, Ryan Staveley, Smyth, Husband and Robson also right in the early mix.
By lap three the leaderboard was already changing as Nathan Watson stormed to the front while his brother Ben moved into third ahead of Lassu.
Dramatically on lap ten, though, Bradshaw's race was over as his Honda stopped, so it was now a Watson one-two at the front as Staveley, Lassu, Husband and Thornhill – on a borrowed KTM – locked horns in a crowd-pleasing battle for the vacant third spot.
Despite his gallant efforts Staveley was to become another victim as he dropped out of contention on lap twelve, later followed by the unlucky Lassu who was forced out following a very strong performance and having completed a tough, thirty-three
Skegness laps.
With Lassu nursing his sick Kawasaki back to the pits, Thornhill was on a serious charge and took his turn to move into the top three, showing his talent despite riding a very unfamiliar machine.
Dan though was under intense pressure from Husband and after having to make a late pit stop slipped back down the leaderboard to fourth.
At the flag and after three hours of all-action sand racing, victory belonged to the superb Nathan Watson, after an immaculate, masterclass performance.
Such was Nathan's relentless pace that he finished two laps ahead of his equally-talented brother Ben, with Husband third, Thornhill fourth and Robson fifth.
Also producing memorable rides were AMCA MX1 Championship runners Michael Reynolds and Luke Meredith.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS NOVEMBER 23
AMCA SKEGNESS BEACH RACE
The Promenade, Skegness (AMCA Ltd)
Adult Solo (sponsored by SECWHA): 1 Nathan Watson (450F Honda) 45 laps, 2 Ben Watson (250F KTM) 43, 3 Carlton Husband (450F KTM) 41, 4 Dan Thornhill (250F Kawasaki) 41, 5 John Robson (450F KTM) 40, 6 Michael Reynolds (450F Kawasaki) 39, 7 Gavin Houson (???) 39, 8 Luke Meredith (450F Kawasaki) 38, 9 Steven Smyth (450F Honda) 38, 10 Stuart Houlston (250F Kawasaki) 38, 11 Ryan Watson (450F Honda) 37, 12 Steven Gardham (250 KTM) 37, 13 Steven Hind (300 KTM) 36, 14 Ryan Burton (250 KTM) 36, 15 Jack Staines (200 KTM) 36,...
Veteran Adult (sponsored by Michelin): 1 Mark Houson (Honda) 34 laps, 2 Eddie Sloane (300 KTM) 34, 3 Anthony Dean (350F KTM) 32, 4 Stephane Dufay (450F Honda) 31, 5 Mike Dowson (125 KTM) 29, 6 Henri Huchin (450F Yamaha) 28, 7 Mark Lloyd (250F KTM) 27, 8 Mark Hawkins (450F Kawasaki) 25, 9 Brett Moore (450F KTM) 25, 10 Stephen Askin (450F Honda) 24, 11 Andrew John Pulfrey (350F KTM) 24, 12 Paul Klein (???) 21, 13 Martin Pickard (200 KTM) 21, 14 Sean Renvoize (144 KTM) 20, 15 Nick Allday (250F KTM) 17,...
Quad (sponsored by Muk Junkie): 1 Stefan Murphy (450F Honda) 26 laps, 2 Martin Edey (???) 26, 3 David Vass (450F Suzuki) 26, 4 Aaron Pole (450F Honda) 25, 5 Peter Gallagher (450F Honda) 25, 6 Clyde Thompson (450F Gas Gas) 25, 7 John Naylor (450F Suzuki) 25, 8 Anthony Page (450F Honda) 24, 9 Adam Huxham (???) 24, 10 Shaun Murphy (450F KTM) 24, 11 Paul Skinner (450F Honda) 24, 12 Sam Payne (450F Yamaha) 23, 13 Andrew Paul Homer (450F Yamaha) 22, 14 Danny Gilligan (???) 22, 15 Jeremy Watterson (450F KTM) 22,...
Sidecar (sponsored by Muk Junkie): 1 Alun Davies/ Rhys George (450F Husqvarna) 19 laps, 2 Richard Chandler/ Liz Millett (450F Yamaha) 14, 3 Andy Strutt/ ??? (450F KTM) 10, 4 Stewart Lines/ Lee Machin (450F KTM) 10, 5 Darren Gooch/ Simon Daniels (250F Suzuki) 9, 6 Ross Bowers/ ??? (450F KTM) 7, 7 Ian Galley/ ??? (450F Aprillia) 6.
Youth MXY2 (sponsored by Spiral GFX): 1 Ben Watson (450F Honda) 15 laps, 2 Jamie Ellis (250F KTM) 13, 3 Mathew Callaghan (250F Honda) 13, 4 Harry Hinson (250F Suzuki) 13, 5 Mitchell Meadows (250F Honda) 13, 6 Jack Staines (125 TM) 13, 7 Callum Imrie (???) 12, 8 Bradley Clay (250F Honda) 12, 9 Tim Gardham (125 Kawasaki) 12, 10 Oliver Benton (125 KTM) 12, 11 Gareth Artus (250F Honda) 11, 12 Joshua Bishop (250F KTM) 11, 13 Charlie Sutton (250F KTM) 10, 14 Jack Watling (250F Honda) 10, 15 Cory Green (250F Kawasaki) 9,...
Big-wheel 85cc (sponsored by Matt Gardiner MX): 1 Jake Edey (???) 14 laps, 2 Troy Willerton (85 KTM) 14, 3 James Wainwright (150F Honda) 14, 4 Jack Camwell (85 KTM) 13, 5 Ben Coleman (85 KTM) 13, 6 Bradley Lilburn (85 KTM) 13, 7 Todd Ritchie (???) 12, 8 Nieve Holmes (150F Honda) 12, 9 Kurtis Williams (150F Honda) 12, 10 Mitchell Warhurst (85 KTM) 12, 11 Carl Robson (150F Honda) 11, 12 Harry Prady (???) 11, 13 Joshua Oates (85 KTM) 9,...
Small-wheel 85cc (sponsored by Matt Gardiner MX): 1 Toby Avis (85 KTM) 12 laps, 2 Carl Budge (85 KTM) 9, 3 Dawson Marriott (85 KTM) 6, 4 Warren Benner (85 KTM) 3, 5 Callum Green (85 Kawasaki) 1, 6 Ben Murray (85 KTM) 1, 7 Daniel Fisher (85 KTM) 1.
