In the beautiful countryside of Pebmarsh, the Sudbury Motorcycle Club made the most of two large stubble fields and created a testing course on well-watered land resulting in fast but unforgiving going, with a twisty track and sweeping open straights to put everyone through their paces. With 2 half hour sessions morning and afternoon for the 2 man teams and a change of course direction mid-day, the course rode faster than most expected and asked enough questions for the 3 ability graded classes run concurrently. The riders were started in fours at one minute timed intervals enabling the 65 teams enough space on the track. Placings were decided by total laps completed within a 30 minute timed session with penalties allocated for late arrival and emphasis on speed from the first lap out after lunch classed as the special test.
Winners of the Championship class cousins Jamie & Craig Roper- stalwarts of the Sudbury Club took the top position with just .25 of an advantage over Jack Nicolau a fellow Sudbury member paired with Ben Clark from Braintree District MCC as was 3rd placed William Hughes with his partner James Jackman who was riding under the Sidcup District MC flag.
The Expert class again was hotly contested and again just .25 split the top two places between Robert Blackman from Colchester Castle his partner Thomas Sargent from Bury beating father & son combination Phil & Jake Roper from the Sudbury Club and fellow member Shaun Leggett with his Woodbridge partner Fred Stearn.
In the popular Clubman Class, former youth riders with Sudbury and helped up through the ranks with the Team Dave Roper supported youth Program, Archie Gunton & Barnaby Knight both age 18 took top slot in such a close finish it was down to just 3 seconds on the special test that beat second placed Toby Ward and Jake Suskins.
It was third place for local members Graham Mays and Nigel Ross. With a few more years’ experience on the track than the top two placings the podium finish was well deserved. With great local representation from Halstead Ipswich Woodbridge Diss Colchester Norwich and Bury clubs it was great to get another race under way in the region in what has been a very strange year.
Championship
1st Craig Roper & Jamie Roper with 56 laps
2nd Jack Nicolau & Ben Clark with 56 Laps
3rd James Jackman & William Hughes with 56 Laps
4th Jack Sheppard & Toby Morley with 55 Laps
5th Josh Peters & Henry Cox with 52 Laps
6th Joseph Hall & Lewis Bond with 53 Laps
Expert
1st Robert Blackman & Thomas Sargent with 54 Laps
2nd Phil & Jake Roper with 53 Laps
3rd Fred Stearn & Shaun Leggett with 51 Laps
4th Daniel Cummings & Jono Jones with 51 laps
5th Ben Grice & Chris Ballard with 51 Laps
6th Oliver Macrae & Lewis Gatt with 50 Laps
Clubman
1st Archie Gunton & Barnaby Knight with 51 Laps
2nd Toby ward & Jake Suskins with 51 Laps
3rd Graham Mays & Nigel Ross with 50 Laps
4th Luke Barker & Lloyd Barker with 49 Laps
5th Wayne Barker & Robert Swann 49 laps
6th Paul Michael Langridge & David Hands 49 laps
Report and Photo by Paula Day Photography