The NORA MX Club hosted the seventh round of the NORA MX championships of 2023 at Walterstone MX Park in Hereford, just on the English side of the Wales border. It was part of another fantastic event which incorporated the fifth round of the NORA sidecar Championship.
The track was a new experience for most riders, but absolutely brilliant and almost completely natural (apart for a jump or two), stretching across a sloping field with long sweeping bends and plenty of width for passing.
Unfortunately, the weather was unpredictable. There were showers forecast which should have kept the dust down, but the sun was bright and the wind breezy which dried the track out and left it dry and dusty and needed watering in places. When the rain did arrive, it wasn’t showers, it was thunder and lightning, then the skies opened with several downpours which made the track slippery. Whilst the bikes did get round, racing each other was more difficult, after the third massive down pour there was a riders meeting and a vote, which led to the decision to stop racing after two races each.
The sidecar supporters were in for a treat with two GP teams present, Jake Brown with Josh Chamberlain, and Dan Foden with stand in passenger Lewis Grey. They raced with the Nora Championship crews but didn’t qualify for championship points.
Race one got underway with an early lead for Tony and Scott Grahame with Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps second. They stayed ahead until Jake Brown and Josh Chamberlain blasted past to move into the lead. Tony and Scott Grahame held second, with Dan Foden and Lewis Grey fighting through to third. Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps held fourth, and behind Ashley Williams and Jon Hunt moved ahead of Jack Roger and Ryan Beavis.
In race two Tony and Scott Grahame took an initial lead, but Dan Foden and Lewis Grey were determined and moved ahead to take the lead with Jake Brown and Josh Chamberlain tucking into second and pushing hard to take the lead, but they were distracted by a massive downpour which left the track so slippery the bikes were going backwards, sidewards, but going forward was a struggle. Jake Brown and Josh Chamberlain weren’t racing for points and made the sensible decision to return to the pits. Dan Foden and Lewis Grey kept the lead and were putting on a great corner drifting spectacle for the very wet crowd. Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps seemed to get grip from somewhere and moved into second, Jack Roger and Ryan Beavis held third with Tony and Scott Grahame just behind. Enduro experience helped the next few teams with Paul Pelling and Mike Curnow taking fifth, just ahead of Luke Peters and Thomas Mackay.
Tony and Scott Grahame had gained enough points at the last round to move into the championship lead, held their advantage and are now leading Lee Foyle and Dan Phelps by just eight points, the battle goes to the final round.
In the Pro / Pro-am class, Simon Hammersley took and early lead in Race one, but behind Dafydd Davies was pushing hard and blasted ahead going into lap two, Harry Walker fought through to tuck into third with Jamie Morgan just behind, but Chad Beevers was on top form and fought through and took fourth.
In race two the track was very wet after a downpour during the previous race, and only ten riders made it to the line. It was Dafydd Davies who took an early advantage, but with the sploshy mud running in a river down the track, the riders were hardly recognisable. Simon Hammersley held second with Jamie Morgan behind, but he went missing, leaving Tom Day in third, ahead of Marcus Sprason and Craig Fisher.
The Masters A and B class had two races, and all in the dry. In race one it was a battle between Johnathan Mcknight and Paul Winrow, they stayed very close throughout with Paul Winrow holding the advantage and took his first win of the day. Greg Fisher held third from Chris Keitch, with Jason Wildman taking fifth.
In race two it was Paul Winrow who led from the start with Jason Wildman behind, Johnathan Mcknight fought past to take second but with Jason missing on the next lap, Greg Fisher took third with Chris Keitch fourth.
In the Masters B class James Lees battled all day with Jason Hall, just managing to hold the overall win by two points.
In the Clubman Elite and Clubman classes there were some great battles with Aled Davies taking two brilliant wins. In race one Josh McKnight pushed through to take second, and in race two Catrin Davies had a brilliant start holding a great second throughout, this was enough to give her second overall on the day, with Lewis Humphries finishing two consistent races and taking third overall.
In the 150 / 250 races it was Frank Marston who took overall win in the 250 open class, taking the win in one race with Louie Holt close behind. Louie Holt won the second race and took second overall on equal points. Seth Terrell had a couple of great wins in the 250 Air cooled class with Jay Sams taking second overall. Brodie North did a great job to win the 150 Open class.
In the Intermediates Charlie Eaton had a great weekend and was awarded with two wins, although Josh Morris did win race one but was disqualified. Brooke Bunce was again on top form and won the ladies class.
Finally, the 50 / 100 class was well supported Kayla George took two hard fought for wins in the 100 Autos after battles all day with Owain Lewis who led each race after some brilliant starts. Beatrix Drinkwater took the overall win in the 100 Geared class, and Macson Lorton had a consistent day to take the overall in the 50s class.
We look forward to round eight on Aug 6th - Little Silver - EX6 8BB with the final sidecar round on Oct 1st - Culham - OX14 3DA.
Results: Nora MX Quad Rd7 and Sidecar Rd5, Nora-Mx Quad Racing, United Kingdom - Official Event Results, MYLAPS Speedhive