Wulfsport King of the Castle - full report
By Geoff Shuttleworth on 4th Jul 18
The first weekend in July holds many special memories for MX fans, as it was traditionally the 500 GP at Farleigh Castle, so it is fitting that the annual Wulfsport King of the Castle meeting is held on the same date.
The meeting itself dates back to the year 2000, when Phil Steadman took the gamble to run the classic event and the rest is history as they say.
Cumbria Twin-shock, who now run the event so successfully, had an amazing entry of just short of 400 riders, covering classes from Pre-65 right through to the West Midlands Evo bikes for Pre-85 machines.
Mark Dudley leads Neil Williams in the WME 500 class
The weekend itself, is the largest gathering of vintage MX fanatics of the season, and is just as much about the social gathering as it is about the racing.
The paddock was absolutely rammed with vans and campers with riders all looking to emulate their heroes from back in the 70s and 80s, and this was certainly another one ticked off the bucket list of most who were there.
There were two days of frenetic racing in the sweltering heat, and the club worked wonders to keep the dust at bay with water bowsers, although it did get a bit bad towards the end of day one, due to there being 22 races per day.
The results are below, and it is difficult to single out any particular class as being the best, but the Experts races were a joy to watch on day two, as Barry Turnbull had to work extra hard to shake off Lee Holland and Terry House.
Turnbull ended up with four clear victories, just ahead of Holland. Third eventually went to Aussie Cameron Bullen after House had a DNF. Canadian rider Sandy Louitt took a fine fifth overall.
The HVA Four-stroke also had some exciting racing, with Luke Hill completing a clean sweep, although Joel Hughes pushed him in every race to take second, and Andy Hinchliffe took third on his debut on the Marsh HPF.
Martin Coleman was surprised at the presentation as he picked up the Brian Wilson Memorial Trophy, for his efforts, and presented to him by the legend that is Terry Cox.
In the Over 60 Sammy Doble took the overall, after a long battle with Pat Rowe, who won two races but had a DNF while leading the third race. Alan Hambridge had four very good rides to take second over the weekend. It was a special weekend for Dave Mosley, as he hung his boots up after over 40 years in the saddle after race four.
Scott Reed was this close to his Dad Kev Reed all day in the WME 500 class
The West Midlands Evo big boys on the 500cc machines had some titanic battles, but Jonathan Tapp won all four races, and several riders gave him a run for his money as Jake Chamberlain took second from Scott Reed. Kev Reed had three seconds but a DNF in race two put paid to his chances of second overall.
Neil Williams won the WME Four-strokes, Zac Hackett took all the wins in the 125 class and Chris Jones easily won the 250cc category. Other winners included Andy Hinchliffe in the 250 Twin-shock class with four wins, Sam Pocock grabbing the Clubman 1 with three wins, and Clubman 2 went to Al King with a brace of wins.
Dean Warren reigned supreme in the Over 40s, as he sailed to four wins, as did Gary Parker in the Over 50A class, again taking all four victories.It was nice to see Tom Lowe back in the results finishing second to Parker, with Walter Bickmore in third.
The Over 50B saw Eamon Cullen come out on top, after runner up and three race winner Steve Folland had a DNF in race four. Anthony Twidle won the Partridge Ventilation Pre-83 125 with three wins, from Paul Baldwin and Nathan Kingcome, and in 125 Twin-shock.
It was a family affair, as the Berthiaumes took control with son Seb winning from father Warren, and John Davis in third.
There was a good turn out of classic riders on the iconic circuit, and it was won by Sam Nicholls, with Phil Nicholls taking second from Andy Hinchliffe. Andy won three of the races and again, a DNF saw him drop to third.
The presentation was well attended, as over 100 riders took home glass mementoes and Lillys Cider, to remember their King of the Castle experience for another year.
RESULTS
Clubman Twin-shock 2: 1 Al King, 2 Tom Salt, 3 Sam McEvoy, 4 Richard Williams, 5 Liam Mudie, 6 Steve Cadd.
Over 50 Twin-shock B: 1 Eaemon Cullen, 2 Steve Folland, 3 Andy Elliot, 4 Pat Jackson, 5 Mike McEvoy, 6 Adrian Bence.
Clubman Twin-shock 1: 1 Sam Pocock, 2 Jason Buffery, 3 Thomas Mollett, 4 Luke Townsend, 5 James Tuckman, 6 Brad Revell.
Twin-shock Over 40: 1 Dean Warren, 2 Andy Liddington, 3 Ben Braddick, 4 Lee Buck, 5 Richard Benham, 6 Chris Taylor.
Twin-shock A Over 50: 1 Gary Parker, 2 Tom Lowe, 3 Walter Bickmore, 4 Paul White, 5 Tim Sabine, 6 Andy Holland.
Pre-83 125cc: 1 Anthony Twidle, 2 Paul Baldwin, 3 Nathan Kingcome, 4 Ryan Allen, 5 Kevin Jewell, 6 Mike Wheeler.
Twin-shock 125cc: 1 Seb Berthiaume, 2 Warren Berthiaume, 3 John Davis, 4 Sean McCrea, 5 Carl Benham, 6 Simon Potter.
Classic: 1 Sam Nicholls, 2 Phil Nicholls, 3 Andy Hinchliffe, 4 Phil Roberts, 5 Yan Dixon, 6 Tim Austen.
Twin-shock Over 60: 1 Sammy Doble, 2 Alan Hambridge, 3 Pat Rowe, 4 Wayne Le Marquand, 5 Peter Lightfoot, 6 Andy Long.
WME Pre-85 Four Stroke: 1 Neil Williams, 2 Laurens Visser, 3 Jerry Grobben, 4 Mitch Griffin, 5 Glen Phillips, 6 Paul Kirkby.
WME Pre-85 500cc: 1 Jonathan Tapp, 2 Jake Chamberlain, 3 Scott Reed, 4 James Reeves, 5 Darren Pocock, 6 Nathan Smith.
WME Pre-85 250cc: 1 Chris Jones, 2 Seb Dexter, 3 Jim Shand, 4 Neil Sutton, 5 David Williams, 6 Fin Davey.
WME Pre-85 125cc: 1 Zac Hackett, 2 James Hudson, 3 Paul Winstone, 4 Dean Iggleton, 5 Ben Masters, 6 Paul Tapp.
Twin-shock Expert: 1 Barry Turnbull, 2 Lee Holland, 3 Cameron Bullen, 4 Terry House, 5 Sandy Louitt, 6 Matt Pemble.
Twin-shock 250cc: 1 Andy Hinchliffe, 2 Ewan George, 3 Neil Carroll, 4 Dave Gane, 5 Kyle Godbear, 6 Todd Leill.
HVA Four Stroke: 1 Luke Hill, 2 Joel Hughes, 3 Andy Hinchliffe, 4 Paul Webb, 5 Carl Lillywhite, 6 Stephen Miller.
Brian Wilson Memorial Cup: Martin Coleman.
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