Wednesday May 30, 2018 at 11:04am
Chris Mort (Honda 600) made a superb start to his bid to regain the Crewe and South Cheshire club’s 450-110cc Open championship, with an unbeaten hat trick of wins in the opening round of the series at Tonfanau.
Mort, champion at the Welsh circuit in 2015 and 16, but relegated to runner up spot last season, galloped home to a comfortable nine seconds victory over Rob Barber (Suzuki 600), in the eight-lap race one, shrugging off the after effects of a heavy downpour just before the start.
Grant Gaskell (Kawasaki 600) was third home, seven seconds further back, riding cautiously on a day he was out to add the signature he needed for his Manx GP licence. Reigning champion James Evans (Yamaha 600) was fourth, just a tenth of a second behind Gaskell.
Conditions had improved for race two, but Mort was again over seven seconds clear of his closest rival, Gaskell. Evans was third, trying to cope with things after disconnecting the quick-shift in a bid to cure a misfire.
Evans had swopped engines in a bid to cure his problems, but his efforts were in vain. He discovered that the track was still damp in patches for race three, tricky enough to unseat him on lap two, when lying second. That left Mort to win again, this time more than 11 seconds in front of Gaskell, after just six laps. Josh Williams (Honda 600) was third home.
Mort, on a maximum 30, tops the points’ table, but his closest rival Gaskell will not race at Tonfanau again this season, concentrating on his Manx Grand Prix efforts.
John Price slipped up last season at Tonfanau, winning the 400 Super Sports championship for the third year in succession, but missed out narrowly on retaining the Forgotten Era 251-500 title by ten points. Price has started this year well, winning all six his races on his Kawasaki. Ian Riley finished runner up in the points table, four down on Price.
Price was unbeaten in the Forgotten Era 251-500 races, too, chased home each time by Phil Millard.
Mark Purslow intended to give his Honda 125 a run out in preparation for Aberdare, later in the year. But after suffering some clutch problems, he borrowed Steve Porter’s Ducati for the three Classic 125-250 Single Cylinder races. He beat Caron Roberts (Bultaco 250) by almost eight seconds in race one and was a similar margin ahead in race two.
Purslow had not sorted out the right gearing for the final outing and Roberts, who admitted she had pushed a little harder, came out on top by just over two seconds.
Just to show that Caron is not the only fast lady at Tonfanau, Sarah Measures on her Greeves 197, grabbed third place in races two and three.
Roberts gave the first Forgotten Era 250 race a miss because there was a wet track and she did not have wet tyres for her Yamaha.
Roberts went out on a damp track in race two, taking second place, a long way behind Phil Leatherland (Suzuki), but a clear three seconds in front of Dave Edwards (Honda). Roberts moved through the pack in race three to take second spot to Paul Tye (Yamaha).
Phil Leatherland tops the FE 250 table, but only nine points cover the top four. Paul Tye (Yamaha) leads the 250cc GP class, on 20, two ahead of Leatherland.
It’s close in the FE Over 501 series, with just five points covering the top three. Mick Crompton (BSA 750) won two of the three Classic Over 501 races, but big rival Richard Ford (Triumph) won the third and now just one point separates the pair.
Adrian Day (Honda 350) tops the Classic 251-500cc championship with a hat trick of wins putting him three points clear of the very impressive Sarah Measures (Yamaha 400).
Tony Griffiths suffered from a misfire on his Kawasaki 400 and only went out in the first race before parking up, but he had no problems in the Steel Frame class where he won all his three outings beating Scott Wakefield each time out.
There were three different winners, though, in the Minitwins that raced alongside the Steel Frames. Darren Raybould won the first, Martin Robbins the second and David Evans the third. Raybould added a second and a third to his victory, putting him top of the points table on 27, four ahead of Gareth Evans.
Reigning Minitwins champion, John Bain, was fastest in practice, but rain for race made his machine almost un-rideable. He finished fourth, but then called it a day.
Father and son, Roger and Bradley Stockton (D&D Windle 600) was too good for the opposition in the Sidecar class. Gary Wilson and Mark Griffiths (Windle Suzuki 1000} chased the Stocktons home in all three races, but the closest they got was in the first, crossing the line just under eight seconds adrift.