Sunday 2nd April saw the Woodbridge and DMCC host their first motocross meeting of the season at the Blaxhall circuit in Suffolk with the event being supported by local Commercial Vehicle dealer Orwell Truck and Van. The demanding sand circuit was in great condition as nearly 160 riders competed in the sunshine and bright blue skies. The day started with practice and qualifying sessions to determine the groups for later in the day.
In the A group the Expert and top Junior riders competed together in three exciting races. The opening race would see top National Youth rider Tom Grimshaw take the early race lead and battle with the current British Youth Champion George Grigg-Pettitt until Grigg-Pettitt crashed. Meanwhile former Centre Champion Luke Benstead was pushing hard to close down Grimshaw and take the lead and the win with Steve Bixby in third and Brendon Mayers and Jason Morland rounded out the top five, while Ryan Davin came home in sixth as the top Junior.
The Second A group race would see a repeat of the opening race as Grimshaw fired out of the gate in the lead and had pressure from Benstead early on until the race 1 winner suffered a problem and had to retire from the race. With Benstead out, Grimshaw took the race win by over 12 seconds from Steve Bixby and Brendon Mayers in third. Fourth and fifth places went to the George Grigg-Pettitt and Jason Morland with Ryan Davin once again the top Junior in 7
th place.
The third and final A group race saw Steve Bixby make the start but unfortunately due to an injured rider the race was stopped and re run. In the re run Bixby again made the start but was unable to stop Luke Benstead from taking the victory ahead of Grimshaw in second which was enough to give the youngster the overall victory. Bixby finished in third with Grigg-Pettitt and Morland rounded out the top 5. This time is was Rheis Morter who was the top Junior in seventh place.
In the B group it was John Gill, Thomas White and William Nice who all shared the race wins with John Gill taking the overall win after finishing 1-2-5 in the three races. Thomas White’s 5-1-3 scorecard was enough to secure him second overall with William Nice going 3-6-1 for third overall.
In the C Group it was John Bavin who took all three race wins to secure the overall ahead of Thomas Pearmain who recovered from a fifth in the first race to take two second places for second overall with Michael Kester having a solid day for third overall.
Sunday’s meeting also featured the opening round of the NGR championship and it was to be a tough day for reigning champion Tim Clark who suffered with problems in the 2
nd and 3
rd races. With Clark suffering bad luck it meant that Liam Walker was able to take the overall victory with three race wins ahead of Adam Gordon who took three second places and Aaron Hopkins in third overall. Fourth and fifth places overall went to Paul Hubbard and Jake Morphey.
Results
A Group
Race 1
1 – Luke Benstead, 2 – Tom Grimshaw, 3 – Steve Bixby, 4 – Brendon Mayers, 5 – Jason Morland
Top 3 Juniors 1 – Ryan Davin, 2 – Aaron Holloway, 3 – Rheis Morter
Race 2
1 – Tom Grimshaw, 2 – Steve Bixby, 3 – Brendon Mayers, 4 – George Grigg-Pettitt, 5 – Jason Morland
Top 3 Juniors 1- Ryan Davin, 2 – Aaron Holloway, 3 Matt Maxted
Race 3
1 – Luke Benstead, 2 – Tom Grimshaw, 3 – Steve Bixby, 4 – George Grigg-Pettitt, 5 – Jason Morland
Top 3 Juniors 1 – Rheis Morter, 2 – Matt Maxted, 3 – Aaron Holloway
B Group
Race 1
1 – John Gill, 2 – Martin Dixon, 3 – William Nice, 4 – Chris Keeble, 5 – Thomas White
Race 2
1 – Thomas White, 2 – John Gill, 3 – Jamie Hardman, 4 – Chris Keeble, 5 - Joe Marsh
Race 3
1 – William Nice, 2 – Ben Gilbert, 3 – Thomas White, 4 – Daniel Knight, 5 – John Gill
C Group
Race 1
1 – John Bavin, 2 – Gary Scarlett, 3 – Richard Gorrell, 4 – Shaun Grimwood, 5 – Thomas Pearmain
Race 2
1 – John Bavin, 2 – Thomas Pearmain, 3 – Shaun Grimwood, 4 – Richard Gorrell, 5 – Zac Norris
Race 3
1 – John Bavin, 2 – Thomas Pearmain, 3 – Michael Kester, 4 – Sam Cushion, 5 – Luke Stannard
NGR Championship
Race 1
1 – Liam Walker, 2 – Adam Gordon, 3 – Aaron Hopkins, 4 – Paul Hubbard, 5 – Tim Clark
Race 2
1 – Liam Walker, 2 – Adam Gordon, 3 – Paul Hubbard, 4 – Aaron Hopkins, 5 – Stephan Burdett
Race 3
1 – Liam Walker, 2 – Adam Gordon, 3 - Aaron Hopkins, 4 – Paul Hubbard, 5 – Jake Morphey