This is England
By Team TMX on 19th Sep 15
The four-man England team bashed, barged and bulldozed its way to the Evo Vet MXdN title at Farleigh Castle last weekend as more than 500 riders and thousands of fans converged on the iconic Wiltshire track for the annual celebration of retro racing.
A successful defence looked on the cards from the drop of the gate in Saturday's first race when Ryan Voase exited the opening left-hand hairpin in the lead with Brian Wheeler on his back wheel.
Neil Prince had crashed along with Northern Ireland's Dave Watson in the first-turn carnage but with a team's best three finishes to count and Craig Pratley holding down fifth it was first-blood to England.
As expected the USA provided the strongest opposition and John Dowd and Doug Dubach crossed the line in third and fourth with two-time world champ Trampas Parker next-best American in 11th.
Werner Dewitt led the Belgian team home in sixth with Jurgen Van Nooten eighth and David Cools 10th.
Voase and Wheeler sat 1-2 at the start of the second moto with Pratley moving into third on the opening lap. Dowd and Dubach were also in the hunt and when Voase had bike issues late on and slipped back to sixth Dowd, who'd already passed Pratley, inherited second.
Dubach was fourth from Belgium's Sven Breugelmans with Todd DeHoop registering the USA's third score in 10th.
It was business as usual at the start of Sunday's opening Evo VMXdN race with Voase leading Wheeler and DeHoop.
Breugelmans moved into second on lap two and chased Voase hard for almost the full race distance but the British Vets champion managed to ease away in the closing stages. Wheeler lost third to Dowd on the final lap with Dubach fifth from Wales' Gary Davies.
With Pratley seventh and Parker 13th the English team went into the final moto leading the USA by 30 points to 55.
Voase nailed his fourth holeshot of the weekend in the decider with who else but Wheeler right behind. Dubach moved into second on the opening lap chased by Davies and Pratley as Wheeler slipped back to fifth but Dowd was charging.
Back in 10th after the first lap, Dowd moved up to fourth, then third, then second on successive laps and with the chequered flag unfurled he took full advantage when Voase got held up by back-markers to snatch a last-gasp victory.
Wheeler recovered to third ahead of Breugelmans, Davies and Dubach with Pratley's ninth – one place ahead of DeHoop – sealing the deal for England.
His last-lap pass also earned the American the individual win by one point from Voase. Wheeler was third from Dubach and Pratley.
"I enjoyed it and the team's won it and that's what we were here for,” said Voase. "There are some big names – I was a bit star-struck with a few of them and it was mint to race them.”
Wheeler doesn't do star-struck but the big man from Gloucestershire wasn't happy with his form on Sunday.
"Today I was riding useless,” he admitted. "I was struggling to find lines and as a rule around here I'm the one who finds them. John Dowd was so much quicker down through the wood and I couldn't get my head around it.
"I was going okay but I needed to get in behind Ryan right away and I didn't. But we won it and that's what counts.”
Former British championship front runner Pratley was all smiles at the end of the weekend but the 42-year-old was feeling the pace.
"That was really hard,” he said. "If you're not riding regularly and I'm not then it's a real struggle because those guys are on it.
"They may be a bit older but they're still aggressive on the first two laps. But I managed to hang on – just.”
Prince, racing a 125, was up against it all weekend but the former British champ dug deep and would have finished much higher up the overall standings without his opening race DNF. "I'm happy for the boys,” he said.
"This weekend I've been a let-down to them really. The first race today when I came in I felt like I was having a heart attack and it was the same in the second.
"To race at this level with these guys you need to be fit, you need to be on the bike and while I do a bit of local racing I don't practice anymore so it's hard for me to come here and be anywhere near where Craig, Brian and Ryan are at.”
Germany won the Twin-shock VMXdN class after Belgium A self-destructed in race three.
The Belgians – Breugelmans, Birk Schelfaut, Bengt Laeremans and David Cools – dominated the opening two motos but three DNFs in race three ended their chances.
France brought it home in second ahead of the Twin-shock UK team of Terry House, Alan Eaves, William Burgess and Gary Parker who were holding down second after Saturday's opener.
Germany's Laurent Lacasse was best individual performer from team-mate Jurgen Kuppers, Breugelmans and Parker.
Dowd suffered double disappointment in the fiercely-contested Twin-shock Over 50 class.
After winning the first two races the Junkyard Dog was leading the third when his clutch went, handing the moto win to Dubach.
With a three-point lead over Jos Claessens going into the final race Dubach just needed to keep his cool to take the overall but the American legend steamed into the first turn far too hot and crashed.
Restarting dead last, he tore through the field but despite making a string of passes he could only recover to fifth in the five-lap race.
Claessens' 3-3-2-2 card earned him the overall from Dubach. Alan Bott was third from David Salkeld and Mark Gleadhill with Dowd's three wins still good enough for sixth.
The Evo 500 class boiled down to a two-man battle between Elliott Banks-Browne and Brad Anderson with Billy MacKenzie playing a supporting role.
The first moto was a full-contact scrap with EBB and Brad swapping passes for the opening laps before EBB pulled clear.
But in the closing stages the two-time British MX2 champ went down avoiding a back-marker allowing Ando through for the win.
EBB ran away with the remaining three motos to seal the overall, his super-smooth style in distinct contrast to the typically all-action Ando who was more than happy to hang it out. MacKenzie ended the weekend third ahead of Gavin Robertson, Martin Izzard and Fred Heath.
James Shand dominated the Pre-83 125cc class, screaming to a full-house of wins from Robert Mead who chased him across the line each time.
Belgian Giovanni Bruenetti ended the weekend third after some great battles with Italian Debbi Massimo who snatched fourth from Paul Lippitt on a tie-break.
The second maximum of the weekend came in the Pre-85/Four-stroke Twin-shock class where Paul Kirby was untouchable.
Carl Pope ran 2-3-2-3 for a comfortable second overall from James Jackaman after Stefan Garton, who was neck-and-neck with Pope, had a disaster in Sunday's final moto.
James Reeves was fourth ahead of Sebastien Dexter and Gary Gladwin.
John May ripped apart the Evo 125cc class with an impressive lesson in how to keep an eighth-litre machine on the pipe.
The Bristol rider was WFO pretty much all the way around the Farleigh circuit to reel off four clear-cut wins.
With a full-house of second-placed finishes Bradley Doyle was a deserved runner-up as Van Nooten slotted into third just ahead of Phil Lewis, Richard Chinn and Neil Carroll.
The Twin-shock Under 50 division was a contest of youth versus experience with Graeme Irwin and Todd DeHoop the two main men.
And it was youth that came out on top with 23-year-old Irwin racing to four wins from 47-year-old DeHoop, the ‘88 125cc East SX champ.
Michael Smith was looking good for a podium finish with a 3-3-3 card heading into the final moto but a DNF dumped him down the order and let Dean Warren through for third after a tie with Marcus Feltham.
Despite starting the weekend as a reserve, Danny Blakeley came out on top of the competitive Evo 250cc class.
The Yorkshireman won the opening moto and then ran 2-3-3 to narrowly defeat Jacob Chambers. James Faulkener came home third followed by former British championship riders Johnno White and Jon Barfoot.
Local man Jamie Skuse won races two, three and four but a DNF in the opener meant he ended the weekend in 11th.
The Super Evo class was all about Lewis Gregory who ripped to an impressive maximum and was never threatened all weekend. Irish visitor Neil Thompson's consistency paid off and his 3-3-4-2 moto finishes were good enough for second from Jordan Carter and Chuck Davies.
