Back on Sunday June 23rd round 3 of the Point-S South West Masters Championships returned back in to Devon to Little Silver Moto Parc, Exeter. On the Saturday the sun was out in all its glory and had made things a bit dry and water had to be distributed on the track early race day morning which worked wonders as the track was in prime condition as the practice and qualifying got underway, but it didn’t need no more water during the day as this came naturally as a light drizzle was to fall in the second and third block of racing.
In the 24MX Expert Championship it was Championship leader Luke Hawkins on the CheddarMX Honda who had set the fastest qualifying time and had first pick of the gate.
In the opening race it was Ross Kersey with the Holeshot on the St BlazeyMX Honda from Hawkins and the Wheeldon Off Road Kawasaki of Joe Clayton with Todd Kellett on the Dragon Tek/St BlazeyMX Yamaha making his return to the Championship on the 2-Stroke there in 4th but all was to change by the end of the opening lap as Hawkins had taken the lead with Kellett moving up in to second ahead of Clayton with Kersey dropping down to 4th. Hawkins seemed to be in control for a couple of laps at the front, but the real battle was going on between Luke Dean on the Wildmoor Grabaway/Langmead Construction Yamaha and the Tony Maunders racing Suzuki of Jamie Skuse with Skuse eventually passing Dean on lap 6. Kellett was still in contention in 2nd and was now turning the power on and was to close right in on Hawkins and was soon breathing all over him on lap 6 and was trying loads of different lines to get pass, but Hawkins kept shutting the door and held his nerve and was to go on to take the win but only just as Kellett was literally less than a second behind at the chequered flag with Clayton taking 3rd some 30 seconds adrift of the leading two.
In the second moto with the rain starting to fall it was Clayton this time with the best start from Kellett with Hawkins there in 3rd. Kellett and Hawkins were all over Clayton on the opening lap and Clayton was soon relegated to 3rd on lap 2 as Kellett hit the front followed by Hawkins. Clayton was soon pressured by Skuse and Dean who again were having a real tussle for several laps with both Skuse and Dean getting the better of Clayton mid race. Meanwhile back at the front Kellett had put a bit of distance between himself and Hawkins and was to hold that margin to take the win, but all eyes were on to see who was going to take 3rd as Dean was all over Skuse on the last lap desperately looking to find away pass and he eventually got pass dropping in to a right hander and was to take that 3rd spot.
In the last moto this time it was Skuse who emerged at the front from Hawkins and Clayton, but not the best of starts for Kellett in this one back in 5th at the end of the opening lap, but he was soon on the gas as was Hawkins who took the lead from Skuse on lap 2 and it wasn’t long before Kellett was all over Skuse desperately looking to get pass which he did squeezing through on a fast right hander and was up in to 2nd giving chase and was soon to catch Hawkins which turned in to a battle royal for most of the 4th lap until Kellett hit the front after passing Hawkins on a canvered right hander and from there was to go on to take the win from Hawkins with Skuse taking 3rd.
In the Wulfsport Over 35 Championship it was the Cheddar MX Honda of Darren Banwell who had the fastest qualifying time ahead of Championship leader Wayne Shimell on the TyreMarks Honda who had yet to lose a race. In the opening race it was Shimell with a flyer out of the gate followed by Ricky Brown on the Tony Maunders Racing Honda with Banwell tucked in 3rd. Shimell had a clear track in front of him and was soon into a rhythm and was starting to ease away on the second lap from Banwell who was now up in to 2nd with James Kensington on the 2-Stroke Tony Maunders Racing KTM giving chase in 3rd but Shimell was in control and from there went on to take yet another win from Banwell with Kensington taking 3rd.
In the second moto this time it was Brown with the holeshot from Kensington and Banwell with Shimell back in 7th, but he was soon up in to 3rd by the end of the opening lap after passing Banwell. Kensington was on a mission in this one on the 2-Stroke and was to get the better of Brown on lap 2 and took the lead and was starting to get away. Shimell was soon all over Brown, but it wasn’t until a lap later that he got the better of Brown exiting out of the U-turn corner and Banwell was also to get the better of Brown on the same lap. Shimell was to gradually haul in Kensington and was to take over the lead on lap 4 and went on untroubled to take the chequered flag from Kensington a close 2nd with Banwell coming home in 3rd.
In the last moto Shimell was to lead from the off from Banwell with Brown there in 3rd for the first couple of laps before Kensington who had piled the pressure on Brown on the opening couple of laps eased his KTM pass and moved up in to 3rd, but he wasn’t going to make any ground on the leading two with Shimell holding on to his hundred percent record taking the win from Banwell.
In the Wulfsport Over 45 class it was the CR125 Honda of Wayne Butt who had notched up the quickest lap in qualifying and it was Butt with the best start in the opening race from David Shipton with Championship leader Leigh Williams on the J D Racing KTM in 3rd, but all was to change at the front as Butt slid off and it was Shipton who was to lead for several laps from Williams who was been pressured by the Projuice KTM of David Ford who moved up in to 2nd on lap 3. Butt was back on the gas and was closing in on the leading three and on lap 5 was to retake the lead after passing both Williams and Ford and then found himself leading after Shipton made a mistake and from there went on to take the win from Ford with Dean Davies on the Tony Maunders Racing Husq taking 3rd after a mistake from Williams late in the race.
In the second moto again it was Butt with the early lead from Williams and Davies with Williams all over Butt from the word go which was to be a real ding dong battle for several laps with Williams eventually finding a way pass on lap 5 and from that point was to pull away and went on to take the chequered flag from Butt with Davies again taking 3rd literally by a whisker from Ford.
There was no stopping the fast gating Butt who made his third good start from Williams and Davies. Ford didn’t have the best of starts in this one but was to move up in to 3rd on the second lap after Davies dropped it, but the battle was on at the front with Williams breathing right down Butts neck for several laps until another error from Butt which you don’t see very often was to gift Williams the lead who was to go on to take the win with Butt taking 2nd which gave him the overall by one point on the day and ford finished in 3rd The JCT
Developments Junior Championship has produced some top quality racing so far this season with many new names coming to shine and also some of the countries up and coming youngsters breaking in to the adult ranks and this was the case at round 3 in the Championship as lining up as a wildcard was young 15 year old Louie Kessell (Pictured No 7) on the Kessell Commercials/Judd Racing KTM from Cornwall.
In the opening race there was a bit of banging bars in the first corner with many riders coming to a halt with one of them being Kessell who was well down the field as well as Championship leader Daniel Wade, but there was no stopping Kieran Yorke who sits second in the standings who shot away at the front and with a clear track in front of him raced away to take the win with Wildcard Harry James taking 2nd ahead of Kessell even after a mid-race spill still managing to finish in 3rd.
In moto 2 there was no mistaking who was at the front in this one and that was Kessell who within a couple of laps had a comfortable lead and was to go on to take the win by some 13 seconds from Ben Clayton with Yorke taking 3rd. In the last race it was Rocky Letherby with the early lead from Wade with Kessell tucked in 3rd. Wade was to get the better of Letherby on lap 2 as was Kessell with Kessell then taking the lead a lap later and from there on didn’t look back and took the chequered flag.
In the Junior B class it was James Chard who was to dominate the opening race from Kona Jenkins, but there was no stopping Jenkins in the other two races who was to take the overall on the day.In the Junior C class there was no stopping Ryan Lock who was to notch up a hat trick of wins.
OVERALL RESULTS24MX EXPERT CHAMPIONSHIP1st Todd Kellett (250 Dragon Tek / St Blazey Yamaha) 2nd Luke Hawkins (450f Cheddar Mx Honda) 3rd Jamie Skuse (450f Tony Maunders Racing Suzuki) 4th Luke Dean (250f Wildmoor Grabaway / Langmead Construction Yamaha) 5th Joe Clayton (250f Wheeldon Off-Road Centre Kawasaki) 6th Ross Kersey (250f St Blazey Honda)WULFSPORT OVER 35 CHAMPIONSHIP1st Wayne Shimell (250f TyreMarks Honda) 2nd Darren Banwell (450f Cheddar Mx Honda) 3rd James Kensington (250 Tony Maunders Racing KTM) 4th Peter Bulley (350f KTM) 5th Ricky Brown (450f Tony Maunders Racing Honda) 6th Mike Burgess (450f Kawasaki)WULFSPORT OVER 45 CHAMPIONSHIP1st Wayne Butt (CR125 Honda) 2nd Leigh Williams (450f J D Racing KTM) Richard Green (450f Yamaha) 3rd David Ford (250f Projuice KTM) 4th Dean Davies (350f Tony Maunders Racing Husq) 5th Robert Topp (450f Honda) 6th Neil Stephens (450f Yamaha)JCT DEVELOPMENTS JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP1st Louie Kessell (250f Kessell Commercials / Judd Racing KTM) 2nd Kieran Yorke (Honda) 3rd Harvey James (250f Foxhayes Carsales / Wright Racing KTM) 4th Ben Clayton (250f Wheeldon Off-Road Centre Kawasaki) 5th Daniel Wade (250f Yamaha) 6th Brandon Baker (450f Kawasaki)JCT DEVELOPMENTS JUNIOR B1st Kona Jenkins (Yamaha) 2nd James Chard (KTM) 3rd Callan Marshall (KTM) 4th Reegan West (KTM) 5th Adam Barfoot (Yamaha) 6th Kai Ford (KTM) JCT DEVELOPMENTS JUNIOR C1st Ryan Lock 2nd Dominic Stoneman 3rd Steven Flack 4th David Abraham 5th Toby Brook 6th Dalton Webber