Golden Oldies give youngsters a run for their money

Monday March 16, 2015 at 4:14pm

After an overcast start to the day, with a surprisingly dry track, conditions were looking good, albeit a little bit cold for the first round of the Clubmans Championship at Binsted, nr Alton on Sunday 15^th March. Unfortunately, the drizzle started just before race 1, making the conditions more interesting.

Race 1 sees brothers Danny & Lewis Gray take the holeshot, with Roger Blackman/Eric Maguire breathing down their necks. A mishap between Lewis and a post sees Gray/Gray fall to 5^th, putting Blackman/Maguire into the lead, only for it to be stolen from them by Rob Oldfield/Ross Parmenter. With Ross Bowers/Dan Spencer in 3^rd keeping a steady pace and Rob Foden/Dug Woods holding strong in 4^th, they managed to keep Gray/Gray in 5^th for a couple of laps. Oldfield/Parmenter then makes a great pass on Blackman/Maguire to take the lead into lap 3, whilst Bowers/Spencer sit tight in 3^rd, Gray/Gray sneak into 4^th and Arthur Walton/Ryan Humphrey climb from 7^th into 5^th. Further back in the field Jon Pannell/Craig Parmenter climb from a near last after a mistake on the gate, into a respectable 7^th position at the checkered flag, with Mark Banks/Chris Pannell climbing from 9^th to take 6^th.

Race 2 sees ‘Golden Oldies’ Blackman/Maguire take the holeshot from Bowers/Spencer, closely followed by Gray/Gray, who appear on top form today, leading from, Pannell/Parmenter and Walton/Humphrey. 2^nd place is quickly snatched from Bowers/Spencer as he gets passed by Gray/Gray, and eventually Pannell/Parmenter, whilst Walton/Humphrey gets passed by Banks/Pannell and Oldfield/Parmenter. A close battle for all in the top 5 sees a win for Blackman/Maguire, 2^nd Gray/Gray, 3^rd for Pannell/Parmenter, and 4^th for Bowers/Spencer and 5^th for Walton/Humphrey.

Race 3 sees a surprise holeshot from Tony Grahame/Scott Lloyd and saw Oldfield/Parmenter a close second, Bowers/Spencer again took 3^rd. Previous race leaders Blackman/Maguire hold 4^th, with Gray/Gray sitting tight behind them in 5^th. With Grahame/Lloyd slowly pulling away from Oldfield/Parmenter, leaving the rest of the top 5 to battle it out between them, a big crash for Oldfield/Parmenter just seconds after the half way mark, meant the race was red flagged meaning that Grahame/Lloyd took the win, followed by Bowers/Spencer in 2^nd and Dan Lawry/Darren Bishop in 3^rd, leaving Gray/Gray in 4^th and Blackman/Maguire in 5^th.

Some varied results throughout the day, leave the ‘Golden Oldies’ of Grandad’s Roger Blackman and Eric Maguire currently holding the Championship, leaving the ‘youngsters’ with some work to do at the next round. There are definitely a few up and coming crews to watch, with Gray/Gray proving they’re not to be forgotten about, Bowers/Spencer holding a comfortable 3^rd all day and Grahame/Lloyd taking a surprise win in the final race.

Thankfully it looks like no major injuries for any of our riders today, just a few cuts and bruises. The next round of the Championship takes us to GEST MX, Iden in East Sussex, TN31 7UU on the 19^th April 2015.

Words and Pictures by Polly Chewter

Top 10 overall results

Pos 1

#20

Roger Blackman/Eric Maguire

63 pts

Pos 2

#211

Ross Bowers/Dan Spencer

60 pts

Pos 3

#15