British Two-Stroke Championship Report
It was business as usual for the DEP 2-stroke British Championship, after the cancellation of the Marshfield round due to the appalling weather.
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Practise got under way a little later than normal due to the M3 being closed after an accident, so the decision was made to hold fire on the start until those riders who were caught up in the massive tailback could finally get to Cusses Gorse and race.
Timed qualifying in the 125 class got under way at 10am, Dave Willet topped group one followed by the ever improving Jim Davies, group two saw TM’s Stuart Edmonds and Steve Bixby take the top two qualifying spots and in group three teenager Jack Brunel ripped to the fastest time of the day by nearly three seconds.
In the 125cc group B class Matt Nash had to battle hard for the overall victory, Matt took races one and two but was stopped from achieving his maximum by David Ford in race two.
Positions were changing all day long within the top four of each race, Jason Wells, Ashley Crossley, Michael Garrett and Michael Deeley all had there own individual battles going on which made for exciting and entertaining racing.
Jack Brunel the new kid on the block at this round of the DEP championship, threw a huge spanner in the works in moto one by taking the win but it was in race two that you saw Jack’s real quality shine through, as he battled from dead last to a eye popping fifth place – a superb ride.
Stuart Edmonds made light work of race two and shot away into the distance for an eight second victory followed by fellow TM team member Jonathan Pettitt.
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The top ten in the 125 class saw lots of different battles throughout the day – mixing it up in all three races were Jim Davies, Ryan Hamblin, Matt Ridgway, Scott Probert, Brett Wheeler, Steve Collins, Steve Bixby, Jim Scrafton, James Kensington, Darren Redman and Paul Shires - a brilliant days racing.
We had an international flavour in the 250 class with Swedish rider Max Nymberg trying to sneak in for a race victory or two – but not this time around.
Dave Willet and Stuart Flockhart topped timed practise with Nymberg, Chad Yarranton, Ryan Voase and Mark Eastwood following close behind.
Ryan Voase who found the Cusses circuit to his liking, blitzed to a fifteen second win from Willet and Mark Eastwood in race one, but it was Stuart Flockhart who made the headlines after attempting a heel clicker while battling with Chad Yarranton, it seemed to go horribly wrong mid air which saw Flockhart hit the floor hard in one of the biggest crashes I’ve witnessed this year – thankfully after brushing himself off he was fine.
Race two was very similar to the first but it was Dave Willet’s turn to race to an emphatic victory by seventeen seconds from Voase and Eastwood.
Jason Higgs kept ahead of Swede Nymberg for fourth and Yarranton came home in sixth.
Race three was upped in tempo by new MXDN team manager Mark Eastwood, not used to coming third at any if the DEP rounds this season, Mark let everyone know that he is still the championship leader with a crushing victory from Voase and Willet.
Andre David hung in there with the top three for most of the race and was rewarded with a fine fourth position.
Much like the competitive 125 class the top ten in 250 group was just as close with Robert Barney, Ashley Harland, Robert Buckland, Paul Watts, Alistair Clark and Ricky Lethaby all having their own personal duals throughout the day.
Full results can be found at www.2strokebritishchampionship.co.uk
The championship now moves on to Marshfield near Bristol for round seven and not MATCHAMS PARK - the date for your diary is Sunday July 29th.
The DEP series also moves onto Tenerife at the end of November for the DEP race week, full details can be found online at www.2strokebritishchampionship.co.uk – this one is not to be missed.
Please credit images to Ray Chuss