JUNIOR ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS - LCRRC
Rowrah, 27th May 2007 Two days of glorious sunshine preceeded what turned out to be a frustrating mix of sunshine and heavy showers on race day, at one of the UK's [if not THE top circuit] favourite circuits. The meeting however, was never under threat, unlike many further south of the Cumbria venue, who had cancellations on the same day.
Juniors were first up, and the mixed LCRRC and MinimotoGP mini moto grids offered an impressive field. The weather held off for race one, which saw Jake Archer take the win from the impressive Harry Hartley, with Edward Antill third, Acher also came away with fastest lap of the race, and the day as it turned it in the juniors, of 37.92 on the "short" circuit...then the rain came! Race two Saw Hartley, obviously confident in the damp conditions, press home a win by 16.38 seconds from Sam Banda, while Archer went from 2nd to 4th, with Dennis Wynn [a rookie!] coming home 2nd. Race three was, once again, Harry Hartley, who had done enough to take the meeting win, with Sam Banda second, however, Archer staged a comeback, and his third, was enough to take 2nd overall from Banda by a mere point!
4.2hp Senior A/B class pocket bikes were next, and it was a Willo whitewash in the A's, with three race wins, and fastest lap of 37.35, again set in a dry first race, however, he had to fight for it, after dropping to 5th in race one, and then pick his way through the field. Second in race one was Matt Sowden, with Andrew Rumsam third. Race two saw Drinkwater take a second, with Harley Harrilson third, with Sowden struggling, a lap down. Race three saw another second by Drinkwater [now 2nd overall], with Harrilson again third. The B's saw Mark Barber streak away in races one and two, finishing in front of most of the A's! Only in race three, did Barber have to settle for a second, obviously taking the overall 1st place. Again, the action was lower down the field, with Craig Booth [Elvis!], taking two second places and a win to take 2nd overall, leaving Dave Fotherby, Mick Spencer, Graham Carr and Jim Bullock to slug it out for third, however, a DNF a piece for Fotherby, Carr and Spencer, opened it up for a very consistent Jim Bullock to take the final podium spot.
The Production Light/Heavy, combined classes saw plenty of action, close racing certainly being the name of the game. The A's saw Willo bag a win [and fastest lap, again, dry conditions, of 34.13], with Jade Spencer second, Lee Wheelan third.....then came the rain! Race Two saw Tom Potter, 10th in race one! Bag the win, again, from Jade Spencer, this time Willo having to concede for third, however, he staged a comeback in race thee, again taking the win, this time from new boy, John Wadsworth, with Lee Wheelan third. 2nd Overall went to Spencer, with Potter 3rd overall, courtesy of the win in race two. The B's saw Mark Woof [fastest time of 35.03] take two fairly comfortable wins, and one second [to Chris Windsor] to end up on the top spot. Lower down, things were a little less consistent! A three way scrap ensued, between Chris Winsor, who's new bike was obviously paying off, new boy David Jenkins and old hand, Mak Barber. Windsor, however ended up with a fairly comfortable 2nd overall, with Barber pipping newie Jenkins for 3rd.
The amazing Jawa GP50 Auto class saw some amazing close action, and the same inconsistency as some of the othe classes! Three different race winners in three races, with Sam Edwards, Joe Ravenscroft and Bradley Perie all sharing equally, however, a DNF a piece for Edwards and Ravenscroft was to hand a comfortable victory to Perie. Jake Archer was another benefitiary of it all going "Pete Tong" for others, taking a well earend 2nd overall from Joe Ravenscroft, who's win and second, just put him ahead of Edwards [a win and third]. The GP50 Rookies, also on the same grid, suffered similar problems due to the heavy rainfall, and again, three different race winners, Andrew Fisher [1st overall], Declan Eastwood [2nd overall], and Lewis Black [3rd overall after a big crash in race one].
The Conti Cup UK, is the largest and longest established "mini GP" class in the UK, and the qualty of the racing has always been outstanding [with many previous champions, Like Scott Redding and Luke Mossey for instance going on to bigger things], and today was no exception, but today didn't really belong to the 6 or so fighting for the championship at the moment, the wet weather doing what wet weather tends to do, the guys confident in such conditions coming to the fore. And today belonged to Sunni Wilson, who's two race wins and a second, put him on the top spot for the first time. Series leader, James White had obviously decided that a points damage limitation was going to be the best he could do, and as it turned out, it payed off, with his main rivals, Tom Carne [2nd overall] and Connor Tagg [4th overall after 2 second places but a DNF in race two] not eating into his lead as badly as it could have been. 3rd overall, was 2006 Conti Challengs Champion, Devon Turner, who's really becoming a threat to the series leaders, now he has become used to the newer V3 Conti machine.
the GP70 Junior class is, without doubt, hard fought, and again, the series leader, Adam Robinson, decided on a damage limitation excercise in the difficult conditions. There was no doubt about the winner, current EMRA GP70 series leader, Connor Tagg came home with 3 straight wins, from the ever improving Will Mayes, who seems to be learning bike set up at a rapid rate! Robinson bagged a second in race three, to take 3rd overall from Jamie Thackerey. Josh Brown, riding the 2007 Jawa RS70 for Phoenix Racing, bagged his highest finish yet, of third in race two.
GP70 Rookie was a Aaron Murray hat-trick, the seemingly un-stoppable Murray, clearly just at home in wet conditions as dry. 2nd overall saw Matt Wigley stage an excellent comeback after a miserable time at the previous round, with a hat-trick of second places, with Luke Thackerey bagging 3rd overall from a rapidly improving Cory Smith, who's DNF in race one, kept him off the podium....but not for much longer I suspect! The GP70 seniors saw Andrew Asher get the first real challenge of the year, after his team mate, Steve Riach [2nd overall] had found more speed via a new ignition system, fitted the day before, however, top spot still belonged to Asher in the end.
Junior Supermoto was about the only class suited to the weather! The A's saw three straight wins for Joe Ravenscroft, with Aaron Murray this time having to settle for 2nd overall, with three second places, and 3rd overall was Sam Edwards. The B's saw series leader, Josh Brown, extend his lead with three straight race wins from Lee Yates [2nd overall] and Noah Lee, getting the better of David Conway for 3rd overall.
Supermoto [Pit Bike] Cat A & B classes were combined, and the A's were as hard fought as always. Kenny Owen, 2006 Champion, is not having things all his won way in 2007, mainly in the shape of Adrian Hamilton, Paul Parkin and Peter Bengston. Owen did, however, manage to pull off 1st overall, with two wins and a fourth, with Parkin finishing 2nd overall, in front of Hamilton, which will have done Owen's championship aspirations no harm at all! Bengston turned round an initailly frustrating day to take the final race win, nudging him up to 4th overall. The B's saw Les Noble walk away with it, DNF's and DNS's a plenty saw Dave Millington take second. www.phoenix-minimoto-racing.co.uk |
