Following heavy overnight rain, tricky conditions greeted competitors for round three of the Judd British Premier Cup at Fat Cat MP last weekend. A few changes to the race order worked well for the younger riders on day one and a weekend of top action was duly completed.
Head to head in the combined British Clubman championship races, AMCA top gun Richard Cannings and series contender Ashley Greedy put on an absorbing show in MX1. For Greedy, the weekend didn't quite go to plan as a couple of DNF's ultimately outweighed his three powerhouse wins. Cannings would take the other two wins and overall victory going 1-1-2-2-2 and nothing was better than the fifth race clash as he and Greedy slugged it out in close quarters action. Doubling up once again in two events two stroke maestro Jim Davies finished second overall in MX1 as third step went to ultra-consistent Josh Taylor. Going 3-2-5-5-3 was more than good enough for Taylor to keep his series lead alive in MX1 as the MX2 round three spoils went to Sion Talbot. Four times section winner Talbot dominated as Kieron Cooke picked up the other win and second overall on his return to action following lengthy injury. Previous MX2 series leader Jack Bas (
injured at round two) made a good fist of it finishing in third overall on his return to bike action.
In the combined Adult/Junior 125's another terrific weekend of entertainment ended up with Troy Willerton taking top step in the Adults following his three cracking race wins. Taking second overall, wild card runner Nathan Claughton was on fire winning the other two heats on an Enduro machine as Jim Davies battled his way into third overall. In the Junior 125's section Drew Anderson once again caught the eye as he totally whitewashed the opposition. His remarkable efforts (
runner up four times with one third place finish against the adults) were fully good enough to have placed him second overall in the senior rankings. Callum Beekan was the clear cut runner up in the Junior section as Marshall Smith made third overall.
Making his presence felt and claiming overall victory in the 250f Rookies Aaron Lee Hanson nailed four impressive heat wins. Claiming the runner up berth there was a welcome return to best form from Kurt Griffiths, he ran Hanson especially close in heat one. The other heat win went to Lewis Taylor as Denny Rapson bagged third overall with a speedy and consistent weekend show. In the 125cc Rookies Danny Clarke increased his series lead with another overall victory which included one race win. Declan Hunter starred with victory in the other four heats, he would have settle for third overall though following bike issues in heat two. Ethan Tollet, with his best performance of the year - carding nothing but second and third place returns - powered his way into third overall.
Overall victory in the b/w 85's went to series leader Ben Clark fighting of the close attentions of Jack Grayshon, Mitchell Raine and Sam Atkinson. At the finish just four points covered all four guys with Clark winning it a single point ahead of Grayshon. The individual heat wins went twice to Clark as day two entrant Lewis Wood also won twice. Alfie Rickwood brilliantly nailed the other race win as he sped to glory in the opening heat.
In the s/w 85's, series leader Bailey Johnston had it all his own way on day one recording gate to flag wins in heats one and two. He went on to claim overall victory but on day two it was a different story as wild-card runner Charlie Heyman made his return to race action following injury. Generally six seconds a lap quicker than the field, Heyman scorched to victory in all three of his races. In the overall result a fine weekend show from Callum Murfit rewarded him with second step on the podium just one point to the good over Leon Ongley.
In the Junior 65's Ollie Colmer claimed back the series lead with a real show of force winning all five heats by a clear and emphatic margin. Kalvin Kelly, last season’s auto champ, turned in his best show of the series to claim second overall as Louis Vincent took section third. Deposed series leader McKenzie Marshall can count himself somewhat unlucky as a blank score in race two dropped him off a likely podium finish.
Battling away valiantly against the opposition and the conditions - picking up two race wins - guest rider Ben Casey topped out in the Auto under 8's section. Finishing in second overall Jayden Jones was also a two times heat winner, he increased his series as Harlow Green won once taking third overall.
In the under 7 division a ding dong tussle between Hayden Statt and Harley Smith went all the way down to the wire. Ultimately Statt pocketed overall glory winning heat five as both boys ended tied on points having won two races apiece. The opening race winner Archie Britton claimed third overall.
Words and Photos by Mike Gurney.