Thursday March 31, 2011 at 9:33am
ACU British Quad X-Country Championship (Quad Events UK)
Haresfield, Gloucs, 27th March 2011
Quad moto cross regular Carl Bunce celebrated his first ever enduro with a thrilling win in Sunday’s opening round of the exciting new-look British Quad X-Country championship at Haresfield, Gloucs.
With the official ACU series run for the first time by the new forward looking QEUK club, several moto cross stars had joined the enduro regulars to see what all the hype was about. They were not disappointed!
A superb but technical seven mile course in the hills and woods around the Haresfield moto cross track provided superb racing, typified by Bunce’s battle with Stefan Murphy.
Oxfordshire’s Murphy led for most of the grueling three-hour encounter, until being ground down by Bunce in the final 30 minutes after the 25-year-old plasterer from Reading had hauled himself up from fifth in the early stages after hitting a tree.
Bunce’s performance was even more impressive as his right hand twist grip had come off with an hour to go!
“Luckily I use a thumb controlled throttle, so it wasn’t too bad”, said Bunce, who actually set the second fastest lap of the race while gripping the slippery metal bar!
“I’ve done things like Weston and Le Touquet and the Great 8 before but this is my first ‘proper’ enduro” added Bunce, who now plans to compete in the rest of the series.
Murphy, in contrast, was clearly deflated after dominating so much of the race and admitted this may his first and last appearance in the series.
“I didn’t have any problems, it was just one of those things. But I think I should concentrate on the moto cross,” said Murphy, who led the British U21 quad cross series by some distance last year before a broken wrist wrecked his season.
Enduro-only David Baldwin was chuffed with his third overall after his Suzuki wouldn’t start on the line and he was left dead last. A mid race pit stop to redial his front forks to cure his arm pump helped him get into a fine grove in the later stages.
Two riders who looked on course for podiums before bad luck struck were Chris Cooper, who cruelly had a sprocket fail with a lap to go while battling with the leaders, and enduro-specialist Martin Benbow who was hanging on to third mid race when a sticking throttle first caused him to crash then the motor stopped altogether.
It was a sweet day for Anthony Barrett, one of the group of quad enthusiasts who has worked tirelessly to form the new QEUK club and rejuvenate the series this winter. The 44-year-old took his first ever victory in the national series in the Expert class and also posted his best ever overall placing with fifth.
“My rear tyre partially deflated with an hour to go, and I was just waiting for it to go flat, but it never did. I could feel it on the fast corners, but other than that there were no real problems” said a shattered Barrett, who finished a full minute behind fourth placed Clint Eagle.
Buried in the results was one of the best impressive rides of the day from 16-year-old Danny Lloyd, who secured victory in the packed Clubman class and ninth overall, all in his debut adult season.
The young Welshman maintained an impressive rhythm throughout the race on his fuel-injected YFZ450 Yamaha, only slowing when he selflessly stopped to help another rider.
“I came across a guy who had flipped in the woods who looked like he needed help” he said.
Lloyd headed Morgan Hanford, who set the fastest lap in the 34 strong Clubman class, by just over three minutes, with Jack Price-Draper a further 39 seconds back.
Victory in the 4x4 Utility class went to Stuart Jones who romped to a one-lap win over Jon Morgan who in turn was a minute ahead of Clyde Thompson.
The meeting also saw the inaugural running of an official ACU British Youth X-Country championship with a healthy 30 riders starting the race, eventually won by Jack Godfrey.
The 15-year-old from Worcester, who only competes in enduro and has previously notched up podiums in the Weston Beach Race and the Great 8, was always with the leading group and eventually won by two minutes and 20 seconds.
“I got a bit of arm pump on the last lap, but other than that, no problems” he said.
Moto cross specialist Josh Coombes, 15, from Cardiff, in only his second ever enduro, was delighted with runner-up spot but admitted after he too won’t do the whole series despite his fine result.
Jamie Morgan had led impressively for much of the race and also set the fastest lap, but he was docked time after mechanical failure forced him to be towed back to the pits. He eventually finished seventh.
Dexter Langford was also a threat to Godfrey in the closing stages before a collision with a back marker bent his gear lever and he slumped to 13th.
The Y2 class was won in style by 14-year old Luke Davies from Stourport, who managed to 8th overall.
RESULTS:
Adult combined: 1 Carl Bunce (Suzuki), 2 Stefan Murphy (Honda), 3 David Baldwin (Suzuki), 4 Clint Eagle (KTM), 5 Anthony Barrett (Suzuki), 6 Paul Hannam (Suzuki)
C1 – Championship: 1 Carl Bunce (Suzuki), 2 Stefan Murphy (Honda), 3 David Baldwin (Suzuki), 4 Clint Eagle (KTM), 5 Paul Hannam (Suzuki), 6 Chris Cooper (Suzuki).
C2 – Expert: 1 Anthony Barrett (Suzuki), 2 Darren Bridge (Yamaha), 3 Chris Keith (Suzuki), 4 Jamie Jones (??), 5 Nathan Palmer (Honda), 6 Peter Gallagher (Honda)
C3 – Clubman: 1 Danny Lloyd (Yamaha), 2 Morgan Handford (Yamaha), 3 Jack Price-Draper (Suzuki), 4 Jack Griffiths (Honda), 5 Billy Langford (Yamaha), 6 Amelia Miller (Honda)
C4 – Utility: 1 Stuart Jones (Can-Am), 2 Jon Morgan (Can-am), 3 Clyde Thompson (Can-Am), 4 Simon Lane (Yamaha), 5 Adam Wykes (Can-Am), 6 Neil Martin (Yamaha)
Youth combined: 1 Jack Godfrey (Yamaha), 2 Josh Coombes (Yamaha), 3 Kyle Hawkes (Yamaha), 4 Failoy Downes (Yamaha), 5 Reece Burke (Yamaha), 6 Jack Pierce (Yamaha).
Y3: 1 Jack Godfrey (Yamaha), 2 Josh Coombes (Yamaha), 3 Kyle Hawkes (Yamaha), 4 Failoy Downes (Yamaha), 5 Reece Burke (Yamaha), 6 Jack Pierce (Yamaha)
Y2: 1 Luke Davies (Yamaha), 2 Jordan Hickman (Yamaha), 3 Guy Keenan (Yamaha), 4 Philip MacKenzie-Smith (Yamaha), 6 Jack Hurley (Yamaha).
Y3: 1 Marloe Magee (??). No other finishers.