Before the meeting started it was reported that ex champion Brett Wilkinson would not be riding because of leg injuries which may possibly keep him out of the saddle for a number of months. Also missing was one of the front runners in the Experts class, Paul Pelling, who was also suffering from a knee injury.
The last time I came to this track was in 1997 but this was a completely different track comprising mainly deep sand that suggested that it would be survival of the fittest by the end of the day.
In timed practice Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain set the pace over half a second quicker than Jake Brown / Joe Millard. Third place was taken by the wild card team of Dutch rider Ijen Kops and his passenger Paul Horton.
When the bikes came to the line for the opening race the drama started before the riders came under starter’s orders when Stuart Brown’s motor failed because of a flat battery. After a bit of fettling behind the line the motor roared into life so it was all systems go.
Stuart led the race in the early laps from Jake with Foden / Cooper third and Campbell / Graham fourth. Kops got tangled up early on leaving him with ground to make up.
Towards the half distance Jake closed right up on Stuart and passed him to go on and take the win. Stuart came home in second with Foden third and Kops an excellent fourth.
The second race had no pre start drama and once again Stuart took the holeshot with Jake in second place. This time Stuart made no mistakes and went on to take the win from Jake who was twelve seconds adrift. Kops came home in third place, over half a minute off the lead. With the track now becoming seriously rough only six crews were on the same lap and only seventeen teams finished.
The final race of the day started with only fourteen bikes on the line. An indication of how rough the track had now become. Incredibly all riders finished although some had been lapped twice.
The early laps saw Stuart leading but after about four laps it became very obvious that Josh Chamberlain was suffering badly under the severe conditions and was having trouble even holding on. Stuart slowed down to allow Josh to recover but this let Jake take the lead.
Jake went on to win with Stuart just holding on to second with Kinge / Henderson third.
Thus the overall win was taken by J.Brown / Millard with S.Brown / Chamberlain second, positions they now hold in the main championship table.
In the Experts class Bowers / Phelps took the overall win from Connor / Grahame.
The penultimate round takes place at Cusses Gorse 25th July.