Odds & Sods - Bere Regis

“Where Regis?!”

Report by Kay Turner

 

With 98% of the riders getting lost on the way to the track, the 10 o’clock start was a godsend at Portsmouth MX’s recent Odds & Sods Trophy Meeting.   98 riders looked forward to riding on a new track to the Club, Bere Regis in Dorset.  A four lap dash in block four, just for a bit of fun, followed a hilarious third block with Le Mans style starts, with all riders racing to their bike after the gate dropped.

 

With the track in perfect condition, the Autos arrived at the start gate ready for the uphill climb to the first corner.  Spluttering around the track was overall winner Joshua Coleman who despite bike problems in two races still managed to finish first, with two wins and a third.  Nail-biting action between James Cox, David Keet and Oliver Evans left the crowd whooping with delight, with Cox taking second overall with two wins and a fourth.  Keet and Evans tied on points, but Evans brilliant win in race two to the deafening cheers of the spectators saw him take the higher position of third overall, adding a fifth and a third to his truly deserved race win.  Well done Oli!!  Also on 123 points David Keet finished in fourth overall, having a great battle to the very last corner in every race.  A second, third and fourth just left him outside the top three.  Working harder than he has all year, Ryan Turner left his best points-scoring meeting to the one that didn’t count!  But a great fifth overall was well-deserved by the youngster who finished in his highest position all year.  A fourth, a tenth and a fifth saw him happy to receive a small trophy.  And finally a brilliant result for young Freddie Lambeth who has improved all season to finish in a great sixth overall.  Testing the track to finish ninth in race one, he stepped up a gear to finish in fifth and sixth in the final motos.

 

The Inter 85s and Inter Open boys and girls battled it out together, making the racing worth watching.  Local boy Jake Shipton rode as though the others weren’t there, and the lead he held all day showed his true brilliance.  Unsurprisingly, Shipton won overall with three straight wins.  Consistent to the end, Christopher Noyce showed pure riding style around the track with three straight second places to come in second overall, followed by a brilliant performance by Jack Scarlett who finished in third overall.  Racing to perfection, Scarlett finished in third, fifth and third.  The James brigade took control of the remaining three top six places.  James Windsor finished in a brilliant fourth overall, his last race letting him down and missed out on a top three position, but fourth, third and ninth positions are brilliant results.  James Rennie, recently upgraded from the smaller wheeled class, blasted straight into the top six with a fifth overall, finishing in fifth, sixth and fifth.  James Gatcum took the last spot and saved the best for last.  Two ninths didn’t bode well but being one of the fastest to his bike in race three meant a great fourth position added those extra points to snatch the place away from Darren Wingar, who tied on points.

 

The Big Wheels, with many upgraded riders from the small wheels taking their first outing, saw Jake Carey taking the victory for the group.  Battling hard with second overall Ryan Maguire, Carey won twice and came in second behind Maguire in race three.  A brilliant win by Maguire added to his two second places rewarded him with second spot.  Jacob Myers finished in a brilliant third overall in his first meeting on the big wheeled bike.  He came passed the chequers in third, fifth and fifth.  Mitchell Bligh had a great meeting in his first race meeting also on the big wheeled 85, taking the fourth overall trophy.  Not to be outdone by cousin Oli, Mitchell shot straight into the top six, storming passed the chequered flag in fourth, fourth and fifth, just two points off taking the third trophy.  Aaron Pearce had an equally impressive debut in the Inter Open class, although his first race didn’t go to plan as machine gremlins spoilt his day, leaving him battling back to 13^th place.  He proved his worth in the remaining two races by finishing in third place in both motos, a taste of things to come.  Following an injury at the Semi Finals, Edward Upton continued to shine in the group, taking the final place in the top runners.  Sixth overall was rewarded to Edward after crossing the finish line in fifth, eighth and fourth place.

 

With only five AMX riders on the track, the VMX joined forces for some breathtaking racing.  Sean Lock took all three race wins to be AMX victor, with Dan Jenkinson managing to keep his bum stuck to the bike and finished in second overall with three second places and no crashes!!  Zac Myers, an AMX debutant finished in third overall with two thirds and a fourth.  After constantly battling with Myers and swapping positions throughout the day, Gareth Morffew finished in fourth overall with two fourths and a third.  Ben Wassell had major bike problems again in race one and just managed to sneak in a couple of laps, finishing fifth overall.  Fifth overall was awarded to unlucky Ben after finishing in fifth in the remaining motos.

 

In shocking pink, yes pink, gear Martin Bradbury took the overall victory in the Veterans class.  Battling hard all day with Alan Scott, Bradbury won races one and two, but with rugby tackles and trouser holding in race three, he succumbed to Scott and finished in second.  Alan Scott rode brilliantly and challenged for the lead in all three races, but settled for second in the first two, but took the win in race three.  Ian Birkett rode well to take third overall with a fourth and two thirds.  Tying on points, Jamie Winbourne and Martin Turner battled all day for fourth and fifth overall, with Winbourne taking the higher position, all thanks to his first race third position.  Coming in fifth in motos two and three behind Turner gave him the upper hand.  Martin Turner, with a distinct advantage in race three, thanks to a mystery helper putting his bike in gear, finished in fifth overall with a fifth and two fourth places.  Brother Alan Turner closes the top six, with three consistent sixth places.  But he had a disadvantage of Mick Noyce holding him down in race three following Martin Bradbury covering his goggles and blocking his view, a rather bad sportsmanlike payback after being rugby tackled in the first red-flagged race.  A crash on the second to last lap still didn’t stop him passing a few riders to finish in sixth.  Maybe someone should tell him what a black flag means though, especially after he being black flagged every lap by the President!

 

The Senior class saw three different winners, but Ben Tiley shocked the crowd by being overall victor.  Winning the first race in style, he added a third and fourth place to make sure his points tally beat the rest.  A great result for Chris Bick who won the final race and added two fourths to be awarded second overall, with Aaron Bowden following in third overall.  Throwing his toys out of the pram in race one after crashing and coming in 10^th, he won race two with ease and came in third in the third.  Another Bick in the top six, this time Jon who finished in fourth overall.  A great result in race one, finishing in third, he consistently finished in eighth in the remaining motos.  Visitor Wesley Thomas enjoyed his day by finishing in fifth overall, being awarded a sixth, seventh and a fifth.  Daniel Strudwick ended the day with a great sixth overall after a disastrous 11^th in race one.  Pushing himself to the limit, Strudwick finished in fifth and sixth in his remaining races.

 

The Brilliant Billy Hare took victory in the Junior class with a third and two brilliant wins.  The noise of the bikes was drowned out by the cheering crowd following Oliver McMurray’s race win in the first moto, followed up with a second and a third to give him second overall.  A long awaited third overall went to David Roberts who rode brilliantly all day finishing in second, second and fourth.  One of the best rides of the day was by Johnny Pettyfer who finished in fourth overall, on equal points with the lovely Beth Farmer.  Pettyfer followed Farmer in the first two motos, coming in fifth but a disastrous start by Farmer left Pettyfer free to speed away and snatch a third place.  Beth battled hard to finish in fourth in races one and two, but flipping her bike on the start didn’t help her cause but she still clawed her way back to fifth in race three, leaving her in fifth overall.  Charlie Lambeth made an impressive debut into the top six, constantly spurred on by the cheering crowd, finishing in sixth, sixth and eighth.