The second round of the championships was held at Wooley Grange in Co Durham and this year the hosts were the Iveston & Satley MCC. The Wooley Grange track has been used for this championship for the last few years but it is over ten years since the Iveston & Satley club have hosted a round.
When we arrived on Saturday afternoon the track had been well prepared but it was extremely dry and it looked as if dust was going to be a real problem on Sunday. Fortunately the weather forecast was accurate and steady overnight rain left the track in good condition for Sunday’s races.
In timed training Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain set the fastest time nearly 5.5 seconds quicker than second placed Brett Wilkinson / Steve Kirwin.
The prize money for the meeting was as usual but for this meeting the club had secured holeshot money for each race from Filtec so the race to the first corner was more attractive to the riders. In the opening leg the holeshot was taken by the Irish crew of Neil Campbell / Ross Graham just ahead of Brown and Bradford / Peters. Campbell held the lead into the second lap but Brown then made his move and took the lead. At about the same time Bradford lost third place to Wilkinson. On the next lap Wilkinson was up to second with Bradford third and Campbell fourth. These four stayed in these positions to the flag with Brown winning by over 35 seconds. Jarvis / Humphrey had a steady start and worked their way up to fifth, taking Pelling / Morrell just before half distance.
The leading Expert in this race was Grahame / Lloyd who finished in seventh place two places ahead of the second placed Expert, Pannell / Parmenter.
The second leg was headed by Wilkinson for the first two laps but then Brown made his move to take the lead. Bradford held third place for three laps when Jarvis overtook him. At the front Brown was riding extremely smoothly and very fast increasing his lead over Wilkinson lap after lap. He went on to win by over thirty seconds from Wilkinson with Jarvis finishing third.
Behind the leaders Grahame held fifth place for the first half of the race but on lap six Campbell overtook him.
When the riders came to the line for the final race of the day the track had dried out and the dust was beginning appear but at the same time the wind really started to blow taking the dust away from the spectators and the paddock area.
This time Brown got off the line in front of everyone with Bradford second and Campbell third. Before the riders reached turn two Bradford’s passenger, Luke Peters, missed his footing and although he quickly corrected things they were down to fourth. Wilkinson hadn’t got such a good start and was back in fifth place but after seven minutes he was up to third and challenging Jarvis for second. Campbell was now fourth but under pressure from Bradford.
With fifteen minutes gone Wilkinson took Jarvis but later in the lap the positions were reversed when Jarvis jumped past his rival. Wilkinson very quickly reversed things and went on to finish second over 45 seconds behind Brown. Jarvis was third and Bradford fourth. In the Experts Grahame was the winner with Pannell second.
Once again Brown / Chamberlain had a perfect day and remain unbeaten in the championship. They now lead the championship on 150 points, twenty four points ahead of Wilkinson with Bradford third, a further twelve points adrift.
In the Experts class Grahame leads with 147 points, twenty eight points ahead of second placed Pannel with Moulds / Gardner third.
The third rounds of the championships are at Milton Park on 21
st June.