British 2-Stroke Championship Results
By Paul Harris of 125mx.com
The perfect antidote to a winter of four-stroke thunder was served up at Mildenhall on Sunday, as the MC Federation’s British Two-Stroke Championship barked into life. Basking in glorious late-winter sunshine, a decent crowd turned out for round one to see some typically frenetic two-stroke racing – with the track well packed down, it wasn’t the normal, deep Mildenhall sand; the compact dirt broke down choppier than normal, but it didn’t stop the mix of regulars and newcomers from keeping it WFO all day long.
Jake Page got the holeshot in moto one in the 125 A class, streaking away ahead of Lloyd Morgan and Luke Dean, as Dave Willet charged back from a sub-top-ten start, with Christian Taylor, Jim Davies and Ashley Harland even further back. By the end of lap two, the remarkable Willet was up to fifth, as Morgan took the lead and tried to escape at the front. But even as Dean managed to make his way past Page into second, Willet was there to close down on third. Willet, on the number-two Yamaha, took his time making his way past Page’s KTM, but had no problem running down Dean. Again, he took his time making his way through before ripping great chunks out of Morgan’s lead and sweeping imperiously through for the win. Morgan held on for second with a gap over his 2008 sparring partner Taylor, as Dean kept a close watch.
Page grabbed a second holeshot for race two, but this time Willet was right there, ahead of Harland, Davies and Morgan. Iron Man Willet took little time to force his way into the lead. Davies, on the TM, was into second by the end of lap two and spent his race in fruitless pursuit of Willet, as Morgan hopped into third and went with him. Davies and Morgan swapped positions several times for second, with Jim making the telling move, carrying about 400mph out of the corner after the tunnel to cut inside Morgan for the position, Harland taking a lonely fourth ahead of Sean Stevens and Luke Kennett.
Moto three was just awesome. Harland got the jump out of the gate with Davies right on him, as Morgan and Page held a watching brief, but the crucial factor was a massive turn-two pile-up; Willet was mired up in the tangle but still managed to get free and finish the lap inside the top fifteen. As Davies and Harland engaged in a knock-down brawl for the lead, Willet coldly went to work. He was eleventh at the end of the second lap, seventh by lap three, but by the time he made fifth, he was the best part of two straights in arrears. But even as the leading duo went back and forth with Morgan dogging their trail, Willet was making massive inroads into their lead. It seemed that the track was none too easy to pass on, but once clear of traffic, the 2008 title runner-up was having no problem knocking great lumps out of the leads of the people ahead of him. Even as Willett passed Morgan for third, it seemed that the message of his imminent arrival was being passed along and Davies got his head down, charging away to try and escape before the Iron Man crashed the party. But the clock ticked down just a smidge too slowly, with Willet taking the lead with just a couple of laps to go until the checkers flew. Davies pushed one more time, but Willet had it all in control for the win. With Jack Brunnel seemingly not contesting the series and Jonathan Pettitt missing round one through injury, it’s hard to see the title going anywhere other than back to 2007 champion Willet. But then again, if it was that clear-cut, there’d be no point running the races.
The first Open A moto saw a Service Honda CR500 grab the holeshot in the hands of Luke Hill. With Mark Eastwood right on his shoulder and Carl Nunn in close attendance, it seemed just a matter of seconds before the British Championship frontrunners were past the 500 and scrapping amongst themselves, but no one told Hill that. Eastwood found himself under fire as Nunn made a move past him for second and then charged past Hill into the lead. Even as he launched his own assault on second place, two-class Willet was through into fourth ahead of Oliver Rusby before Ruzzer’s bike suffered a mechanical failure. Reigning Open champion Eastwood was making hard work of passing Hill as Willet drew ever closer and Nunn pulled away in front. Easto eventually had to use a hint of rudeness to take second. But whilst the gap to Nunny up front stayed the same, Willet managed to take third and close the gap down, passing Eastwood with almost half the race left to run. The three circulated in close company, but no one had enough left to make a move. Nunn took the win ahead of Willet and Eastwood with fourth-place Nathan Rooks almost a minute further down the track ahead of Hill.
Moto two was straight out of the X Files. Hill again got a start, but Eastwood gave him what for right from the start, shutting the door as the pair rounded turn one ahead of Nunn. Within seconds, Nunn was into second and Willet was on Hill’s back mudguard, but even as battle commenced, storm clouds were gathering. Barry Turnbull took a horrific fall further down the field, and while the medics were seeing to him, Eastwood took his own soil sample – a flat-out swap worsening until it spat him all the way off. In considerable pain, the reigning champion struggled to remount and continue, whilst Nunn, with a comfortable lead out front, ran into the ropes and was spat off, losing masses of time trying to free his bike. With Turnbull suffering a bad femur break, the red flags were thrown, giving the win to Willet ahead of Hill and Open-class rookie Adam Reynolds – the 2007 125 Junior champion had been straight on the pace aboard his KTM 250.
Moto three was far less fraught, with Nunn leading straight out of the gate from Hill, Willet and James Cotterell, and Eastwood circulating in typically full-bore style a few places back. But although the mind might have been willing, for Eastwood the body was for once unable to deliver – his battered frame as aggressive as ever but unable to recapture his normal blistering pace. Local lad Nunny cruised to an easy win whilst Willet took second place to clinch his second overall victory of the day, with Luke Hill leading Lewis Rose over the line for third and fourth.
The Fuchs-Silkolene two-stroke series takes a five-week break now before it reconvenes at Cusses Gorse on the 12th of April. If you’re a fan of motocross, this is a must-see event, because there is no finer sight or sound than a pack of howling 125s battling for the win.
