Champions Crowned at Crewe and South Cheshire Season Finale

It only took Chris Mort (Honda 600) one race to make sure of the Crewe and South Cheshire club’s 450-1100cc Open class title at Tonfanau.

 

Leading his closest rival, James Evans, by 26 points going into this fourth and final meeting of the season, Mort won the opening race by over five seconds from Robert Varey (Merlin Yamaha 600). Evans (Yamaha 600) was only fifth over the line, giving Mort an unassailable 30 point advantage. Things did not all go Mort’s way from then on, though. Varey beat him home, narrowly, in race two, crossing the line just over three quarters of second ahead of the new champion and setting the fastest lap. Mort bounced back to win the third and final race by nearly three seconds from Varey to end the season on 103 points. Evans, who had a bad day, still took runner-up spot with 59 points, with Varey climbing to third overall on 55.

 

It was another great day in the short, but very impressive career of Sam Grief. The 17-year-old JCB apprentice from Derby, ended the meeting the 50cc Tonfanau champion. Grief had already got eight victories at the circuit under his belt, but was still not sure of winning the 50cc title. The teenager had 80 points, 14 more than veteran rival Steve Porter (Yamaha), so the outcome would be decided in this fourth and final round.

 

Half a dozen other 50cc riders lined up with Grief and Porter for their first race of the day, which also included 125cc and 250cc single cylinder machines. After eight laps Grief not only finished ahead of Porter, he beat every single one of the 15 other competitors. Porter was the second 50cc to cross the line but 10th overall.

 

Grief said: “I just could not believe it! I was determined to beat Steve, the bike was running like a dream and I just went for it. To beat bikes that potentially have so much more power is a testament to the time and effort my dad, Zac, has put into fine-tuning my Kreidler.”

 

Grief secured the championship title comfortably, in race two, crossing the line the first 50 and second overall. Porter had a difficult race, finishing the fourth 50. The talented youngster clocked up the fastest lap of the day at 72.99mph beating the lap record of 70.12mph he had set at the previous meeting. The third and final race was a re-run of the second, with victory and overall runner-up spot for new champion.

 

Phil Leatherland’s hopes of snatching the 250GP title were dashed by Simon Harris, on the GP Motorcycles Harris Racing Teams TZ Yamaha, winning all three races. Going into this meeting Harris held a slender nine-point lead, 79 to 70, but Leatherland could only manage two thirds and a second place, ending the year on 95 to the champion’s 109.

 

Running with the Supersport 400S, Harris managed to grab a front row start with Gareth Willis, also on a TZ Yamaha, in race one. Harris got a clean start and stayed out of trouble on the first lap, but  Willis crashed out on lap two going for second place at Paddock Corner.

 

Harris pulled away to take the overall race win by almost five seconds, from John Price (Kawasaki 400) and Anthony Varey, also on a Kawasaki. Timbrell was second 250 home, with Leatherland third. Race two was pretty much the same, after the race had been stopped at the end of lap one after Karl Bovill (Yamaha 400) had had a high side at Paddock. Harris had to do it all over again in the re-run. He took overall victory again, beating Price by over two seconds. Phil Mallard (Kawasaki 400) was third over the line. Leatherland was second 250 home in front of Willis, after starting from the back of the grid. Race three was a similar story, but the finish a bit closer with Price just a quarter of a second behind Harris. Paul Odlum (Kawasaki 400) was third, Willis was second 250 home with Leatherland third, two seconds behind. Simon Rowe was fourth after Timbrell was a non-starter after colliding with Bovil in race two.

Leatherland may have missed out on the 250GP crown, but he wrapped up the Forgotten Era 250 championship, thanks to three wins on his Tuning Works-sponsored Suzuki RGV VJ22 250. Starting in 13th place Leatherland made a good start and finished fifth overall in the first combined FE250 & SS400 race. The following two races went according to plan with wins and fourth overall in the following two races. Leatherland was under threat from some of the 400s and though he managed to stay ahead of them, the three leading 400s were too quick to catch, though not for the lack of trying. Leatherland took the title with 106 points, with the absent Dave Edwards taking runner-up spot on 71, one head of Hugh Edwards. To top off the weekend Leatherland collected a new award, the Tim Heeson Trophy for the best presented bike, as voted for by the scrutineers, in memory of Lee Heeson’s father.

 

In addition to his 50cc outings, Grief also raced John Lewis’s Kawasaki 250 KR1S that Forgotten Era class. He was third in the first two and runner-up in the third.  Fast lady, Caron Roberts (Suzuki) won the Tonfanau Classic 250 series, making sure of the title in the first race, by taking third place behind Ted Cornes and Geoff Hadwin on their Suzukis. In race two Roberts had good battle with Hadwin, before taking second place behind Cornes. She battled with Cornes in the third race, before he pulled away. That gave Roberts 100 points, with Hadwin climbing to second on 68.

 

Roberts raced in the Classic 125 and 250 Singles class on her Bultaco, She suffered ignition problems in two of the three races, but finished third overall in one race behind Dave Thorp and teenager Sam Grief on his Kreidler 50. Thorp took the title with 105 points, 43 ahead of Chris Bennion.

 

Mark Berry and passenger Adam Illman (Jacobs Suzuki 600) had a cracking weekend. The pair had already made sure of the sidecar championship after the first three meetings of the season, but ended the year on a high note by winning all three races, to extend their unbeaten run to six. The closest Berry came to serious injury was overnight on the Friday after some serious celebrating. He forgot his bunk in the truck was five feet off the ground, so when he got up for a call of nature in the middle of the night, he stepped out of bed. There was a pause and then the pain started! The pair won all three races, setting a new personal best lap time. Terry Howse and Leigh Ricketts (Jacobs Honda 600) clocked up three thirds to make sure of runner-up spot in the series,

 

Exactly one year after attending a race meeting at Tonfanau and buying Stuart Leigh's Kawasaki ZXR 400, John Price won both the Supersport 400 and Forgotten Era 251-500cc titles at the Welsh circuit. It was John’s wife, Jean and their two boys, aged 22 and 25, who encouraged Price to race. At his debut at Tonfanau in April the 46-year-old he was fourth in all three 400 Supersports and in the Forgotten Era 251-500cc I had a first, second and then a win. Price was 22 points clear of his closest rival, Karl Bovill in the Forgotten Era championship and six behind the same man in the 400 Supersport series. At the end of the day Price was on 115 points, with Paul Tye second on 75, Richard Ford third and Bovill pushed back to fourth in the Forgotten Era class. Price finished top of the 400 Supersport series on 93, with Paul Odlum second with 80 and Bovill finally third on 74.

Bovill lost all chance of taking the championships after a crash in the second Supersport race, putting him out of the rest of the meeting.

 

Three wins for Steve Birtles (Yamaha 1000) helped him cut into the 15 point lead held by Paul Myler (Suzuki 1100) in the Forgotten Era over 501cc. But Myler took two seconds and a third to take the championship by 11. Vincent Brett (Suzuki 650) swept the board in the Minitwins class, but his hat-trick of wins was still not enough to stop Alan Russell (Suzuki 650) from clinching the title by seven points.

 

Martin McGrath wrapped up the Steel Frame 600 championship after grabbing two thirds and a fourth. Those results gave him 99 points, 18 more than Dean Ephgrave. Tony Griffiths and Jon Wright shared the wins between them.

 

Adrian Day (Honda 350) led the Classic 251-500cc class by just nine points coming into this meeting, but with his closest rivals absent, three third places were enough to give him the title a clear 29 point winning margin. Mark Griffiths (Honda 350) won all three races.

 

Richard Ford had already made sure of the Classics over 501cc title and in his absence Mick Crompton (BSA 750) took two seconds and a third to grab runner-up spot in the series. Sad sign of the times was the lack of 125cc entries for the meeting. That gave Ian Cowles the crown by two points from Kimberley Rose.