Weston Beach Race - Adult Quad Race
By TMX Archives on 26th Oct 07
Adult Quad Report - SATURDAY'S main Quad and Sidecar race at Weston kicked-off in glorious sunshine with the 365 entrants being watched by an excellent crowd, easily over 10,000 in number.
In an attempt to make the usual chaotic first dune pile up a bit more of a stretched and flowing affair, the course builders made the first three dunes much smaller than has ben the norm at Weston for the past 25 years. Each one was approximately 10 feet high and three feet wide at the peak. It did not work!
Frenchman Jeremie Warnia powered his Suzuki France 450 quad through the chicane, another new feature that did seem to work to take the hole-shot. He had a sizeable lead at this point, some 100 meters clear of Paul Winrow and American Wayne Matlock. The race leaders cleared dune one with ease but it was not long before the dry sand started sucking in rear-wheels.
The design of the first dune meant marshals could not stand on top and pull up the stranded riders so easily and thus it was not long before the air had turned blue as hundreads of riders sat awaiting a line to attack the dune with. A suitable amount of waiting time over and with the leaders heading back round, the side gates were opened and then riders had the opportunity to do it all again on dunes and three, and the first of the courses traditional big dunes, number four.
The race itself was a fast and flowing affair, for Weston, as the dry weather made for a relatively smooth course. Winrow took the lead well before the end of the opening lap and opened up a big gap out front before a front-wheel puncture forced him into the pits.
Warnia subsequently closed the gap and took over at the front, but mechanical problems then knocked him back and Winrow re-passed to regain the lead.
At the end of the race, three hours, seven minutes in, fourth-time victor Winrow was credited with 20 laps, over three and a half minutes clear of Warnia, the only other rider on the same lap count, while Carl Bunce claimed the final podium position on his Anderson ATV Suzuki machine.
A delighted Winrow said the win was important to him as Weston is a great race and with little (for him) joy in the national quad motocross and enduro championships this year the Weston win was fantastic.
It was also a fantastic weekend for the Can-Am 4x4 team as they swept victory, filling the top five positions in the 4x4 Q4 class where winner Simon 'Porky' Davies put in an amazing 18 laps on the Renagade 800 machine.
Hats off to TMX's own Quad columnist Andy Foulkes and reporter Dick Law, who while not being one of the youngest or smallest competitors seemed to be in jolly spirits throughout the race and racking up 13 laps and six laps respectively, Dick after never having ridden a Quad in his life until he made his way down to the start!
The trip over to Weston from County Tyrone was worth it for Paul Harkness and Alan Lynn as they took the Q2 two-man class on 16 laps with a three minute advantage over Micheal Boyle and team mate Michael Taggart, who said it was 'murder'.
RESULTS
2007 WESTON BEACH RACE
QUADS
QUAD Q1 OVERALL: 1 Paul Winrow 20, 2 Jeremie Warnia 20, 3 Carl Bunce 19, 4 Liam Cater 19, 5 David Baldwin 19, 6 Chris Cook 18, 7 Chris Cooper 18, 8 Matthew James 18, 9 Sam Bishop 18, 10 Caine Hinder 18, 11 Justin Reid 18, 12 Kevin Morris 18, 13 Paul Davie 18, 14 Cathal McGilligan 18, 15 Conor Lynch 17, 16 John Lumley 17, 17 Lewis Hill 17, 18 Steven Dommett 17, 19 Jonathan McKnight 17, 20 Jamie Corkish 17.
QUAD Q2 OVERALL: 1 Harkness/ Lynn 16, 2 Taggart/ Boyle 16, 3 Thorpe/ Statham 16, 4 Edwards/ King 15, 5 McConway/ Larkin 15, 6 Ponder/ Pearson 15, 7 Thipthorp/ Thipthorp 15, 8 Munden/ Frost 15, 9 Owen/ Handford 15, 10 Hunt/ Hunt 15, 11 Keyte/ Hawkins 14, 12 Preson/ Preson 14, 13 Van Leeuwen/ Van Mill 14, 14 Thipthorp/ Tipper 14, 15 Berry/ Clinch 14, 16 Holmes/ Reeve 14, 17 Cowan/ Gilchrist 13, 18 Deacon/ Cooper 13, 19 Hopkins/ Dixon 13, 20 Jennings/ Booker 13.
QUAD LADIES OVERALL: 1 Beverley Barnes 15, 2 Kelly Saunders 2.
QUAD 4X4 OVERALL: 1 Simon (Porky) Davies 18, 2 Craig McCormick 17, 3 Richard Toye 17, 4 Bret Greenholz 17, 5 Ross Tipper 15, 6 Richard Smith 15, 7 Charlie Blanchard 14, 8 Neil Martin 14, 9 Chris Keitch 14, 10 Anthony Griffiths 13, 11 Mark Slade 13, 12 Philip Rowley 13, 13 Alan Bromiley 13, 14 Andy Foulkes 13, 15 Paul Taylor 12.