Round two of the Bickers Lifting sponsored Eastern motocross Championships, hosted by the Littleport club, was staged at the Mildenhall circuit on Sunday was held in dry sunny weather. Once again, the twelve race programme provided some excellent closely fought races.
Race one in the premier class for expert graded riders saw 2016 champion, Luke Parker, taking the lead, closely followed by Shaun Southgate, Mitchell Lewis and Luke Benstead. Lewis took the lead on lap three in the twenty minute long race, and Parker was left to fend off Benstead and Southgate. Eventually, Benstead moved into second place but could not reel in the Kent youngster, Lewis. Parker finished third from Southgate and South African, Brad Woodroffe.
Shaun Southgate led the chasing pack in race two, and was never headed. Benstead followed him home, with Declan Whittle, who had crashed and retired in race one, finishing third from Adam Day and Woodroffe.
Race three saw a high speed battle which thrilled the crowd. Benstead held off the challenge from his Husqvarna team mate, Luke Parker, to take the win, and overall victory. Mitchell Lewis was involved in a tight scrap for third place, with Whittle, Southgate and Woodroffe finishing inches apart.
In the Eastern Junior championship races, newcomer to the series, James Wayman was the overall winner with two wins and a fourth place. Aaron Holloway led race one for two laps, with Alex Hornsby and Wayman chasing hard. Wayman took over at the front after eight minutes, with Hornsby finishing second, from Holloway and Sudbury club rider, Ryan McDonnell. Holloway again led race two, chased by Rheis Morter, Hornsby and Tim Clark, with Wayman circulating in fifth place. Wayman then started to pick off the leading bunch, and with five minutes left, had moved to the front. Holloway held onto second place, chased home by Morter and Hornsby.
The Chelmsford youngster, Morter, made sure of the win in race three, leading from the start. Hornsby got the better of Tim Clark for second place, with Wayman in fourth, just ahead of Holloway.
After two rounds, both expert and junior championships are being tightly fought, and the battles will continue at Blaxhall on May 28th, for round three of this exciting series.
The support races saw veteran Paul Hubbard taking his KTM to three race wins, with Paul Burdett and Sam Boydell always in contention for top three overall in the A group.
Suffolk's Darren Stone was the overall winner in Group B, taking two wins and a second place. Billy Middleton rode well for second overall, with a first, second and third place, with Michael Kester third overall on the day.
Results. Round two Bickers Lifting Eastern championships. Experts overall.
1st Luke Benstead GH Husqvarna, 2nd Shaun Southgate Herts MX Honda, 3rd Luke Parker GH Husqvarna, 4th Brad Woodroffe Husqvarna, 5th Mitchell Lewis Yamaha, 6th Tom Grimshaw Yamaha
Juniors Overall.
1st James Wayman Honda, 2nd Alex Hornsby Suzuki, 3rd Rheis Morter Yamaha, 4th Aaron Holloway Kawasaki, 5th Tim Clark Honda, 6th Simon Daniels Honda
Junior Support A Group Overall.
1st Paul Hubbard KTM, 2nd Paul Burdett Honda, 3rd Sam Boydell Honda, 4th Dan Cole Honda, 5th Tom Fazah Yamaha, 6th Chris Lake Yamaha
Junior Support B Group Overall.
1st Darren Stone KTM, 2nd Billy Middleton Yamaha, 3rd Michael Kester Yamaha, 4th Jake Robertson KTM, 5th Rick Gorrell KTM, 6th Robbie Blaxell Honda.
Championship after two rounds. Experts. Benstead 128 points, Woodroffe 104, Parker 104, Whittle 91, Tomlin 90, Southgate 86
Juniors. Morter 131, Holloway 121, Hornsby 102, Daniels 73, McDonnell 71, Wayman 68
Report by Charlie Ralph