On Sunday 6th of April, Halstead & District MCC hosted the opening round of the ACU Eastern Centre Championship, backed by sponsors Stebbings Car Superstore and Templant Hire LTD. With dry and sunny spells in the weeks prior to the meeting, plenty of water was used in the preparation but was unable to prevent the dusty conditions during racing.
The premier class riders headed to the gate for their opening moto with Max Broadbelt in pole position after a blisteringly quick lap in qualification. With all eyes on the gate nobody could have predicted what was about to occur. As the gate dropped and 39 riders went charging up the hill and into the first corner, they left the reigning champion Sam Nunn on the gate! Was it clutch issues or rider error, who knows, but Nunn was dead last and left with a mountain to climb. Josh Peters was the quickest away and layed down a fast pace at the front of the pack, usual contenders Shaun Southgate, Luke Benstead and Joe Leeks were all close by in the top 5. By the end of the first lap, Nunn had clawed his way into top 15 and looked stylish doing so. Max Broadbelt made some neat passes to find himself onto the rear wheel of the leader Peters, but his charge came to an end when struggling to pass lapped riders and it was Peters who would hold on to a start-to-finish race win on his Yamaha. Broadbelt was second and impressively Nunn finished third, ahead of Benstead and Southgate after some late race passes.
If you thought Race one’s start sounded surprising then you might not believe what happened in race two! The gate dropped, and again Nunn was left stranded on the start to the disbelief of the expecting crowd. Incredibly it happened again, Nunn was at the back of the pack once more but this champion doesn't give up easily. With Southgate in the lead early on and a whole host of fast experts behind him, all eyes were on Nunn as he was carving his way through the pack. A great battle between Southgate and Benstead would see the latter take the lead, while Peters dropped the bike and out of the battle up the sharp end. Just like in the first race, suddenly Nunn was involved in the equation for the race win and quickly made his way into second. Benstead however was too fast and too far up the track, he claimed race number two victory ahead of Nunn, Broadbelt, Southgate and Peters.
In Premier class race three, this time everyone got out of the gate cleanly and Southgate would again grab the holeshot. Nunn was mixing it at the front early on but Peters was the first rider to pass Southgate and into the lead. Soon followed Nunn and Broadbelt as these three put on a fantastic show for the crowd. Lap after lap they would battle, until the persistence of Nunn would see him pass Peters on the final lap, and take a much deserved race win, you cant keep a champion down for long! Peters home in a solid second place ahead of Broadbelt, Benstead and Southgate. Joe Jones finished sixth to round off a consistent set of results.
The premier class overall win would go to Sam Nunn, Josh Peters would finish in second ahead of Max Broadbelt in third. In the junior class, talented youngster Alfie Geddes-Green took the overall honors ahead of Travis Bixby in second and Alex Christopher in third.
The support A class was fast and frenetic with John Hinz taking the overall carding a 3-1-1, ahead of Barnaby Knight with a 1-2-4. In third was Lee Kirkpatrick with a 4-5-5.
In the support B class the honors were taken by Mark Relland with a 4-1-1, in second was Lee anderson with a 2-4-4. In third was Zak Beards carding a 1-8-2.
The support C class overall was won by Alfie Self with a 5-1-1 ahead of Finley Whitlam with a 3-2-3 and Tyreece Wells in third with a 1-6-2 finish.
Race Report By Stefan Hicks
Images courtesy of Narna Media