Things are Warming up
By TMX Archives on 1st Jul 15
The Scott Amateur Nationals MX1 class was blown wide open on Sunday at Warmingham Lane where Rob Clitheroe stormed to overall victory and series leader James Lassu dropped a bunch of points on his main title rival.
The series' premier class has boiled down to a War of the Roses with Yorkshire's Lassu and Lancashire's Clitheroe pulling clear of the chasing pack but on the hardpack Cheshire track Lassu found himself down in third overall behind Matt Stephenson after picking up a puncture in race one.
Clitheroe won the opener from Chris Shallcross and Stephenson as Lassu limped home in 15th but the Barnsley racer fired back to claim a narrow win in the second moto from Clitheroe and Stephenson.
With dust causing problems in the final block the races were shortened and Lassu just failed to chase down Clitheroe for the final moto win. Stephenson completed his hat-trick of third-placed finishes.
"I got a puncture about the third lap into the opener," said Lassu, "and all I could do was keep going and try and score as many points as possible but it was pretty dangerous so I had to back right off.
"In the second race I was fourth out of the gate, got to the front and made a mistake and Rob caught me but I managed to stay ahead. I wanted to win the last one and closed the gap to Rob at the end but the race being cut short didn't work in my favour.
"But that's how it goes - I had a bad knee injury here last year which put me out all season so I'm happy to get away in one piece."
Clitheroe, who had feared he was out for the season after damaging ligaments at the previous round at Dean Moor, is still focussed on the title despite missing two motos in Cumbria.
"I shouldn't be riding now really but I had a quick go on Wednesday at Cusses Gorse and it didn't feel too bad so I thought I'd give it a go," he said. "I need to get that lead back now - it'll be close but I'll try."
With five rounds down and three to go Lassu leads Clitheroe by 37 points with Shallcross in third a further 121 points adrift.
It's even tighter in the Craigs Motorcycles MX2 class where Bradley Wheeler has closed to within 15 points of series leader Lewis Meadows after a day of contrasting fortunes.
Meadows had started the day solidly, swapping wins and second places with Stuart Owen as Wheeler posted a pair of thirds. But in the final race Meadows got caught in a first corner pile-up and as Owen raced away with the win and overall from Wheeler and Luke Woodland he could only recover to a distant 24th.
After missing Dean Moor to race the French round of the WMX world championship Stacey Fisher was back in Scott Amateur action and she raced to three Ladies wins from Nadiya Jones and Brittany Cuthbert.
"I really like doing the Scott Nationals because of the way it's run," said Fisher. "[Promoter] Darren Hudson's a nice guy and everyone in the paddock's nice to you so I enjoy being here."
FOR FULL REPORT & PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS, THURSDAY, JULY 2, (ISSUE 1978)
