Sky high for Mitchell
By TMX Archives on 27th Nov 08
IRONMAN John Mitchell was not content just to win all six of his Pro Quad races over two days of the weekend at the QRA's Margate Big Sky Beachcross, but he also rode the six-race Solo event on a borrowed 250F Suzuki, and finished fourth overall, despite not going out to contest the final solo race due to suffering from exhaustion. Master of the sand and solo class overall winner was Sam Holloway with four wins from six races, while Jon Morgan didn't finish out of the top three all weekend and took the Expert Quad overall.
What could you say about the weather over the weekend? There were very strong winds on Saturday which blew the sand about, and stung uncovered faces and it looked like Sunday was going to be the same as Saturday, but as riders poked their heads out of their various campers and vans on Sunday morning, there were bright blue skies.
However, this proved to be short-lived for, as soon as the action started on the beach, strong black clouds moved in and down came the snow which got increasingly heavy.
An hour latter the snow had turned to rain which continued until just before racing was completed for the weekend.
Julian Mawbey got the holeshot at the start of the first Pro Quad race, but before the completion of the opening lap, Mitchell had taken the lead and was on his way to the first win of his weekend with a margin of almost half-a-lap.
Giles Davis was leading race two from the gate until half-distance when Mitchell swept past and again rode off to victory. Davis held on to second while Ben Morgan fought his way through to third from an initial seventh.
BIG SKY BEACH-CROSS
Margate, Kent (QRA)
Pro Quad: 1 John Mitchell (450 ATV World Yamaha) 150 points, 2 Giles Davis (450 Suzuki) 126, 3 Oli Sansom (450 Cromwell Trucks Yamaha) 106, 4 Geoff Sharp (450 Honda) 101, 5 Pete Gallagher (450 Honda) 89, 6 Julian Mawbey (450 Suzuki).
Expert Quad: 1 Jon Morgan (450 Can Am) 134, 2 Christian Bye (450 Yamaha) 131, 3 Richard Horton (450 Suzuki) 129, 4 Arran Turner (450 Yamaha) 90, 5 Kevin Dixon (450 Suzuki) 87, 6 Damon Mayhew (Can Am) 83,
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2008
With four wins out of six races, Sam Holloway took the overall in the Solo class.