The NORA MX Club hosted the seventh and final round of the NORA MX championships of 2022 at Culham in Oxfordshire. It was part of another fantastic two-day quad championship event which incorporated the sixth round of the NORA sidecar Championship.
After the rain over the past week the track was in great condition and the weather was kind. Day one saw some rain overnight which helped with the dust, and day two was cloudy with no further rain, racing conditions were great.
Racing format was similar to other two-day events this season. The Pro / Pro-am / Rookies run as a 4-race weekend, all other quad classes raced as a 5-race weekend and the sidecars as a 3-race single day event.
In the Pro / Pro-am / Rookie class, Jamie Morgan held the championship lead, 69 points ahead of Harry Walker, but Jamie was carrying an injury from the QMX Des Nations and was never going to win a race at Culham but worked on damage limitation to stay ahead in the championship with good finishes in all races.
Racing got underway with a great win for Dafydd Davies, Carl Bunce held second for most of the race, but suffered problems on the last lap and went missing from the leader board. Harry Walker fought through to take second with Chad Beevers just behind. Luke Berlyn had a great racing, fighting through from a slow start to take fourth.
In Race two, Harry Walker quickly took the lead despite Dafydd Davies getting the hole shot, holding on for a great win. Behind Chad Beevers took second with Dafydd Davies in third just ahead of Luke Berlyn.
On day two there were two great races. In Race three, Dafydd Davies dominated the race, staying ahead but chased by Harry Walker throughout, he stayed very close and made a mode on the final few bends to make a move and blast into the lead, all the time fighting for those precious championship points. Behind Chad Beevers took a safe third with a battle for fourth where Carl Bunce managed to stay ahead of Jack Naylor. It was great to see Ross Dillon take a brilliant sixth place.
In the final race of the season, Harry Walker was determined despite holding fourth on the for lap he fought through to take the lead, passing Dafydd Davies who held second. Carl Bunce held a great third place from Chad Beevers. One of the last riders over the line was Jamie Morgan, but with determination he took enough points on the day to win the championship, just 8 points ahead of Harry Walker.
The Masters A and B class raced together, they had three races on Saturday and another two on Sunday. In the championship Ed Davies was just 11 points behind Paul Winrow at the start of the weekend, and the battles for those points were tough in every race.
In race one Ed Davies took the holeshot but Paul Winrow battled past in the final few laps. Johnathan Mcknight held a safe third with Greg Fisher just behind. Darren Bridge held fifth.
In race two Paul Winrow didn’t leave anything to chance, despite Ed Davies getting the hole shot he blasted ahead in the first few laps, going on to take another great win. Johnathan Mcknight took was just behind with Greg Fisher fourth and Darren Bridge just behind in fifth.
In the final race of day one, Ed Davies took the holeshot and fought hard to stay ahead, taking his first win of the weekend. Paul Winrow had a slower start but fought through to take second. Johnathan Mcknight held third with Greg Fisher close in fourth.
On day two there were another two races. In Race four Paul Winrow took the lead with Ed Davies behind in second, but on lap two disaster struck and the dropped to the back of the pack but didn’t give up and fought back. Johnathan Mcknight had a great race passing Paul Winrow for the win. Greg Fisher tucked into third with Ed Davies fighting back to take a brilliant fourth place.
In their last race of the weekend, it was Ed Davies who took the hole shot and held the advantage throughout to take the win. Paul Winrow fought past Johnathan Mcknight to take second, with Greg Fisher just behind. In the championship it was Paul Winrow who took the win with a 15-point lead. Great racing throughout the season, this was one that could have gone either way.
In the 250 class it was Ross Dillon who dominated taking wins in all three races on day one with Alfie Pennington close behind in all three, but on day two Ross Dillon joined the Pro-Am class with two great races, this left Alfie Pennington to with both of the remaining races, but Ross Dillon already had enough points to take the championship win.
The Clubman Elite and Clubman classes raced together. They also had three races on Saturday and another two on Sunday. Daniel Scott Evans wins in all five races to take the overall win on the weekend. This was enough to take the championship win with Joe Pryke just 20 points behind.
In the intermediates, Kieran Marriott took three race wins and the overall on the weekend, and enough to take the championship win.
Luca Shaw took the overall win on the weekend, but it was Brodie North who took the championship win with a consistent season of good finishes.
After another fantastic weekend we look forward to the prize giving and watch out for the Nora MX plans for next season.
Report and Photos by Tracy Thacker