Helsby & District JGT Club hosted the re-staged round 1 of the 2024 H&N Supplies ltd. Formula Grassttrack Championship on Saturday at their Morley Lane circuit.
This meeting was due to take place at Whitchurch MCC venue near Malpas in April, but poor weather cancelled it. With the fixture list already full, the club and the FGA joined forces to run the meeting combined with the June & Arthur Worrall Memorial.
For the E-bikes, it would be a special occasion as the club incorporated the ACU Gold Cup for the class. Lilly Bence was the pre-meeting favourite after starting the year off in scintillating form but would have a mechanical failure in her 1st ride whilst in front, leaving Kobi Gutteridge to win the race ahead of Jonah Bott. Bott would finish runner-up in the remaining 4 Gold Cup races, giving him the victory by 2 points from Bence, with Gutteridge finishing 3rd overall. Rory Tippett made his Grasstrack debut and came 4th overall ahead of Noah Bakewell. Bence would be take home the top honours in the FGA round with victory in the final ahead of Bott and Gutteridge.
Alfie Shipp returned to FGA action after missing round 4 last month to take a solid maximum in the Auto class, and the youngster from Diss was untroubled all afternoon. Albie South also made his 2nd FGA outing of the year to take 2nd, with Dalton Wright taking 3rd.
Charlie Dowd was super smooth in taking 7 wins from 7 rides to take victory in the Cadet category ahead of Darcy Powell, who was making his first appearance in the Cadet class at the FGA.
The Cub class produced some superb racing once again, and it was Archie Whitelam who took victory despite dropping 4 points in his 5th ride. Chloe Davis continued her impressive run of form to take 2nd, only 2 points behind Whitelam, and Roman Ratcliffe would finish a comfortable third on points. Jessica Cox came home in 4th and clinched 3rd place in the final at her home club’s track. Kaylem Bourne and AJ Bence would finish 5th and 6th, respectively.
Isaac Collins-Bullock continued to improve on his way to FGA Junior class victory, with Charlotte Arthur finishing in 2nd place.
Once again, the Seniors provided great entertainment on a track slightly bigger than they are used to. Wayne Broadhurst and Graham Thomas both tied on 47 points to qualify for the A final. Adam Hawker was in brilliant form, only dropping 2 points to qualify for the A final in 3rd spot. Andrew Rowson continued his superb season to get 4th pick ahead of the returning Phil Thomas, who was forced to sit out the start of the season on medical grounds. Colin How, Den Edwards and Anthony Rowson would take the final 3 spots in the winner takes all final.
Graham Thomas stormed to the front, chased hard by Broadhurst, while Phil Thomas, Hawker, How, and Andrew Rowson battled for the final rostrum spot. Broadhurst had no answer to Graham Thomas and settled for 2nd, but the 4 men behind continued their on-track battle, with only a bike length splitting them as they took the chequered flag. Minsterley’s Colin How came out on top, giving him 3rd overall, with Phil Thomas holding off the hard-charging Hawker. Rowson would take 6th with Den Edwards holding off Anthony Rowson for 7th.
In the Mainstream youth categories, Finley Theobald raced to a fine victory over Archie Rolph, with Archie Whitelam taking 3rd. Ollie Binns and Thomas Vining did battle in the Intermediate class, putting on some superb racing. Binns would take the top honours ahead of Vining, with Liam Cox finishing Third despite a 1st ride tumble.
A Depleted GT140 lineup didn’t disappoint, with some quality racing between all 5 of them. Broadhurst managed to take 4 wins from 6 to take victory over British champion Ian Clarke with Glyn Stanton riding consistently all afternoon in 3rd place. Mark Chessall was left with 4th after falling in his 2nd ride, and Brandon Gutteridge made a rare appearance to take 5th.
The Club completed 74 races in 4 and a half hours, and some competitors had 13 races in the afternoon!
Words and Images by Ross Wharton
Results
Ebikes (Gold Cup) – 1st J.Bott 50, 2nd L. Bence 48, 3rd K. Gutteridge 48
Ebikes (FGA) – 1st. L. Bence 60, 2nd J. Bott 60, 3rd K. Gutteridge 57
Autos – 1st A. Shipp 72, 2nd A. South 60, 3rd D. Wright 36
Cadets – 1st C. Dowd 72 2nd D. Powell 50
Cubs – 1st A. Whitelam 44, 2nd C. Davis 42, 3rd R. Ratcliffe 38
Juniors (FGA) – 1st I. Collins-Bullock 48, 2nd C. Arthur 35
Seniors (Top 10) – 1st G. Thomas 47, 2nd W.Broadhurst 47, 3rd C. How 37, 4th P. Thomas 42, 5th A. Hawker 46, 6th Andrew Rowson 43, 7th Den Edwards 37, 8th Anthony Rowson 35, 9th M. Crutchington 33, 10th N. Alder 31
Juniors (Youth) – 1st F. Theobald 72, 2nd A. Rolph 60, 3rd A. Whitelam 54
Intermediates – 1st O. Binns 70, 2nd T. Vining 62, 3rd L. Cox 45
Gt140 – 1st W. Broadhurst 68, 2nd I. Clark 64, 3rd G. Stanton 49