The NORA MX Club hosted the first round of the NORA MX championships of 2022 at Sherwood MX Park near Mansfield. It was part a fantastic two-day Easter NORA MX event which incorporated the British sidecar Championship. The Easter weather was fantastic with the sun shining all weekend on the sandy, well-prepared track.
There were a few changes to last year’s format with Rookies (young riders) joining the Pro / Pro-am class. Masters A and Masters B will run together on one gate drop. Clubman and Clubman Elite will run together or separate races depending on rider numbers (to ensure safety). Ladies Championship will continue to run within the Inters class.
This weekend the Pro / Pro-am / Rookies were run as a 4-race weekend, with all other quad classes as a 5-race weekend.
In the Pro / Pro-am / Rookie class, racing got underway with an early lead for Oli Sansom with Harry Walker holding second. By the end of lap one Dafydd Davies took second with Dean Dillon behind. This left Harry Walker fourth but he was determined and fought back fighting past Dean Dillon, and Dafydd Davies, finally blasting past Oli Sansom and into the lead. Unfortunately, his bike picked up mechanical issues that could be heard as exhaust noise for the remainder of the race, the crowd were willing him to finish the race but it was not to be as he was left track side on the final lap. This left a battle for the lead with Jamie Morgan fighting past Oli Sansom, Carl Bunce took third ahead of Dean Dillon.
In Race two Oli Sansom took a second holeshot, with Harry Walker second from Dafydd Davies and Dean Dillon behind, but it was all change on the first lap with Dafydd Davies taking the lead from Harry Walker and with Oli Sansom holding third and Jamie Morgan through to fourth. The battle for the lead was on with Dafydd Davies and Harry Walker swapping the lead a number of times, the track was getting rough but that didn’t slow the leaders with a brilliant race at the front, Harry Walker managed to just take the win, but it wasn’t all good news, with a 5 place penalty for jumping the start gate. Dafydd Davies finished second but took maximum points. Dean Dillon blasted into third just a few laps from the end with Oli Sansom in fourth fighting off Jamie Morgan.
On day two there were another two races, with just as much excitement. Dafydd Davies blasted into the lead on Race three, going on to take another great win. Jack Naylor held second but was challenged by Harry Walker who fought past to take second. Jack Naylor battled to stay ahead but Jamie Morgan fought past to take third.
In their last race of the weekend, it was Jack Nailor took the hole shot but quickly passed by Harry Walker. Dafydd Davies had mechanical problems on the start and did not join the race. Harry Walker held the advantage going on to take a good win. After a few laps Jack Nailor had a problem dropping back out of the top five. This left Chad Beevers for fight with Craig Fisher, but it was Luke Berlyn who recovered from a slow start to blast into second on the final lap.
Pos
Competitor
Total Points
race 1
race 2
race 3
race 4
1
24
Jamie Morgan
132
40
33
35
24
2
7
Harry Walker
129
23
29
37
40
3
538
Chad Beevers (U21)
119
26
27
31
35
4
5
Dylan Mckenna (R) U21
113
27
26
29
31
5
40
Luke Berlyn
112
29
18
28
37
6
147
Craig Fisher (R)
108
24
25
26
33
7
15
Dafydd Davies
108
28
40
40
-
8
116
Scott Berlyn (R) U21
100
25
22
25
28
9
97
George Oliver
99
22
23
27
27
10
74
Jack Naylor
93
-
31
33
29
11
81
Zak Beevers (R) U21
89
20
21
23
25
12
8
Alfie Walker (U21)
78
31
-
21
26
13
3
Oli Sansom
72
37
35
-
-
14
136
Dean Dillon (U21)
70
33
37
-
-
15
39
Marcus Sprason (U21)
67
21
24
22
-
16
585
Carl Bunce
59
35
-
24
-
17
206
Jack Holmes
39
19
20
-
-
18
64
Callum Davis
37
18
19
-
-
19
13
Lestyn Rolands(U21)
28
-
28
-
-
The Masters A and Masters B classes raced together and was a great format. They had three races on Saturday and another two on Sunday. In race one it was a battle between Ed Davies who took the hole shot and Paul Winrow who fought past into the lead, but Ed Davies was not giving up easily and blasted back into the lead, Paul Winrow held on to second despite challenges from Johnathan Mcknight. Darren Bridge recovered well from a slow start to take fourth.
In race two Paul Winrow did not leave anything to chance, quickly taking the lead from Ed Davies with Darren Bridge holding third. Ed Davies fought back even taking the lead at one point but it was Paul Winrow who held on for the win. Then disaster struck for Ed Davies who was left track side with problems.
Race three was tough with the track rough and dusty, but the riders determined to gain as many points as possible. Paul Winrow took an early lead holding on for the win. Ed Davies and Johnathan Mcknight battled for second with Johnathan Mcknight blasting ahead in the final few laps.
On day two there were another two races, and with one win for Ed Davies and two for Paul Winrow, we knew there would be great battles. In race 4 it was Davies vs Winrow from the start with Ed Davies holding the lead until the final few laps when Paul Winrow blasted past. Johnathan Mcknight took third just ahead of Darren Bridge.
In their last race of the weekend it was Ed Davies who took the hold shot and lead until the final lap. Paul Winrow had a slow start but was up to third by the half way point and taking the win in style by shooting into the second two laps from the end, and into the lead on the final lap. Ed Davies held second from Johnathan Mcknight with Darren Bridge fourth.
With four out of five race wins that leaves Paul Winrow as championship leader.
Pos
Competitor
Total Points
race 1
race 2
race 3
race 4
race 5
1
73
Paul Winrow
197
37
40
40
40
40
2
99
Johnathan Mcknight
177
35
35
37
35
35
3
16
Edward Davies
176
40
27
35
37
37
4
22
Darren Bridge
158
33
28
31
33
33
5
39
Keith Harden
148
26
31
29
31
31
6
10
Geoff Otway
142
27
29
28
29
29
7
7
Chris Keitch
129
31
37
33
28
-
8
29
John Hall
89
29
33
27
-
-
9
47
Greg Fisher
81
28
26
-
27
-
In the 250 class it was Ross Dillon who dominated taking wins in all five races with Andrew Black close behind and taking second overall.
The Clubman Elite and Clubman classes raced together and was another great format. They also had three races on Saturday and another two on Sunday. It was the riders who stayed for both days that dominated the overall with Daniel Scott Evans taking the championship lead from Joe Pryke and Catrin Davies.
At the end of an eventful weekend there were lots of exhausted riders celebrating a great start to the racing season. The club worked tirelessly all weekend to make it a fantastic event, and we look forward to round two on May 21st & 22nd at Culham MX Park, OX14 3DA