The third round of the Bickers Lifting ACU Eastern Championship took place at the Blaxhall Circuit, hosted by the Woodbridge & DMCC and supported by Orwell Truck and Van. Following a week of hot weather the track was heavily watered to ensure the track was in the best condition possible for racing on Sunday morning.
With a strong line of the riders in the Expert class including the likes of Maxxis British Championship front runner Steven Lenoir and others including Luke Norris, James Dunn and Jordan Divall the racing was fast across the three Championship races. The Qualifying session saw Lenoir set the fastest time ahead of Jordan Divall and Luke Norris with local rider Shaun Southgate in fourth and Dylan Woodcock fifth.
The first Expert race of the day saw Steven Lenoir and Luke Norris make the start ahead of the field with Lenoir quickly moving into the lead on the opening lap. The Frenchman pushed hard early on and opened a comfortable lead to take victory over Norris by 15 seconds. It was Divall who had worked his way through the pack from 10
th on the opening lap to cross the line in third ahead of the Expert Championship leader Luke Benstead in fourth and Dylan Woodcock in fifth.
The second Expert race of the day would see EMX300 rider James Dunn on his KTM 250 2stroke take the holeshot and lead the early laps of the race ahead of Steven Lenoir. Lenoir soon moved into the lead and took another race win by nearly 20 seconds over Dunn. Third place went to Benstead after battling from 9
th on the opening lap, with Norris and Woodcock rounding out the top 5.
The third and final Expert race of the day saw Dunn once again get the 250 2stroke out of the gate at the front of the field. This time around Dunn was able to hold onto the lead for a little bit longer, before Lenoir took the lead. But for the first time of the day Lenoir made a mistake and drop his machine handing the lead back to Dunn who held the lead until the halfway point when Lenoir reclaimed the lead and the took the win and the overall victory. Dunn took a comfortable second and third overall on the day. In third it was Norris and his 2-4-2 gave him second overall on the day. The fourth and fifth places went to Divall and Benstead.
In the Junior Championship the 120 riders were split across 3 groups and produced some great racing in all the races. The opening Junior Championship race would see Aaron Holloway take the start and the early race lead but he was caught and passed late in the moto by eventual race winner Ashly Campbell. Rheis Morter also managed to move into second place ahead of Holloway in third. Fourth and fifth places went to James Wayman and Simon Daniels.
The second Junior Championship race would see Tim Clark take the early lead before Holloway moved into the lead early on and take the race win ahead of Jack Youngs in second. The story of the race was Rheis Morter who crashed on the first turn and produced a storming ride to come from last to take third at the flag ahead of Tim Clark and Ashly Campbell.
The final Junior Championship race of the day saw Tim Clark once again make the start and this time Holloway moved into the lead on lap 1 and held the lead all race long only to be passed on the final lap by Morter who took the win and the overall victory. Holloway took the second place and second overall with Campbell in third in the race and on the day. Fourth and fifth places went to Wayman and Joseph Golding.
In the Junior Support A races it was Thomas Fazah who claimed the opening race win, while William Nice took victory in the second race and Lewis Dorling claimed the third race win. The overall on the day saw William Nice take the victory over Lewis Dorling and Regan Smith in third, fourth and fifth went to David Farrant and Thomas Fazah.
The Junior Support B would see Gary Scarlett take the opening race win, while Shaun Grimwood claimed the second race and Darren Stone took the third. The overall victory for the class went to the Gary Scarlett ahead of Shaun Grimwood and Stephen Parker, fourth and fifth overall went to Michael Kester and Robert Green.
Report and Photos by Richard Blyth Results Expert Class Race 1
1 – Steven Lenoir
2 – Luke Norris
3 – Jordan Divall
4 – Luke Benstead
5 – Dylan Woodcock
Race 2
1 – Steven Lenoir
2 – James Dunn
3 – Luke Benstead
4 – Luke Norris
5 – Dylan Woodcock
Race 3
1 – Steven Lenoir
2 – James Dunn
3 – Luke Norris
4 – Jordan Divall
5 – Luke Benstead
Overall
1 – Steven Lenoir – 75
2 – Luke Norris – 60
3 – James Dunn – 59
4 – Luke Benstead – 54
5 – Ryan Hammond – 40
Junior Championship Race 1
1 – Ashly Campbell
2 – Rheis Morter
3 – Aaron Holloway
4 – James Wayman
5 – Simon Daniels
Race 2
1 – Aaron Holloway
2 – Jack Youngs
3 – Rheis Morter
4 – Tim Clark
5 – Ashly Campbell
Race 3
1 – Rheis Morter
2 - Aaron Holloway
3 – Ashly Campbell
4 – James Wayman
5 – Joesph Golding
Overall
1 – Rheis Morter – 67
2 – Aaron Holloway – 67
3 – Ashly Campbell – 61
4 – James Wayman – 51
5 – Jack Youngs – 44
Junior Support A Race 1
1 – Thomas Fazah
2 – Jordan Rowe
3 – William Nice
4 – Justin Whyatt
5 – Lewis Dorling
Race 2
1 – William Nice
2 – Justin Whyatt
3 – Lewis Dorling
4 – Regan Smith
5 – Oliver Clarke
Race 3
1 – Lewis Dorling
2 – David Farrant
3 – William Nice
4 – Regan Smith
5 – Tom Deacon
Overall
1 – William Nice – 65
2 – Lewis Dorling – 61
3- Regan Smith – 51
4 – David Farrant – 43
5 – Thomas Fazah – 41
Junior Support B Race 1
1 – Gary Scarlett
2 – Shaun Grimwood
3 – Robert Green
4 – Stephen Parker
5 – Richard Gorrell
Race 2
1 – Shaun Grimwood
2 – Darren Stone
3 – Gary Scarlett
4 – Michael Kester
5 – Robert Green
Race 3
1 – Darren Stone
2 – Gary Scarlett
3 – Stephen Parker
4 – Michael Kester
5 – Richard Gorrell
Overall
1 – Gary Scarlett – 67
2 – Shaun Grimwood – 60
3 – Stephen Parker – 53
4 – Michael Kester – 51
5 – Robert Green - 51