Graham Thomas returned to winning ways by taking victory in the Senior class at round 3 of the H & N supplies Ltd. FGA championship. The Shrewsbury man only dropped 1 point during the heats to current champion Wayne Broadhurst, putting him top of the table before the winner takes all finals.
Young contender Max Broadhurst would take up the 2nd qualifying spot for the final only dropping points to his dad and Thomas. Andrew Rowson would qualify 3rd after putting in some fantastic performances in the heats scoring 44 points. Ledbury clubman Adam Hawker was consistent in his 6 rides to take 4th before the final, whilst champion Wayne Broadhurst was left with 5th pick after a plug cap failure in his opening ride. Max Derrick made a late change to move up to the seniors and it proved worthwhile for the Bristol youngster, taking 6th pick ahead of Minsterley duo Colin How and Anthony Rowson.
As the top 8 left the start line in the final, it was Thomas that stormed to the front whilst Champion Broadhurst had to sit in behind son, Max. Thomas had clear track and went on to take a solid victory and 40 championship points whilst the younger Broadhurst saw off the challenge from his dad. Andrew Rowson finished a solid 4th place ahead of Hawker, How, Derrick and Brother Anthony.
The youth classes provided some fantastic racing throughout and it’s a pleasure to see so many up-and-coming riders within the FGA community. Lilly Bence continues her domination of the E-Bike class, taking 7 race wins. Cooper Greenwood and Kobi Gutteridge were tied on points before the final, where Greenwood would take 2nd behind Bence, leaving Gutteridge with the final podium step. FGA newcomer JJ Falconer made his Grasstrack debut and rode consistently all afternoon to take 4th.
In the Auto cadet category, it was Alfie Shipp that took maximum points ahead of Levi Collins and late entrant Albie South with Dalton Wright finishing in 4th. The Cadet Category was won by Charlie Dowd ahead of Dakota Wright. The Autos & Cadets were combined for their races and put on some fantastic racing with plenty of passing and not much separating the 6 riders.
Results
E-bikes – 1st L. Bence 48, 2nd C. Greenwood 38, 3rd K. Gutteridge 38
Autos- 1st A. Shipp 48, 2nd Levi Collins 42, 3rd A. South 36
Cadets – 1st C. Dowd 48, 2nd Dakota Wright 36
Cubs – 1st A. Whitelam 46, 2nd C. Davis 39, 3rd R. Ratcliffe 38
Juniors – 1st F. Theobald 48, 2nd C. Arthur 33, 3rd I. Collins-Bullock 14
Senior (Top 10 – Points scored in heats)
1st G. Thomas 47, 2nd M. Broadhurst 46, 3rd W. Broadhurst 41, 4th Andrew Rowson 44, 5th A. Hawker 42, 6th C. How 36, 7th M. Derrick 38, 8th Anthony Rowson 33, 9th M. Furley 32, 10th M. Crutchington 31.
Report and Images by Ross Wharton