Ledbury MCC Evening Grasstrack, June 13 2015
Report: Ben Falconer
Teenage sensation James Shanes stormed to victory in his spectacular trademark style, impressing an appreciative crowd at Ledbury MCC's Saturday evening grasstrack.
The Dorset 18-year-old sailed through to the final thanks to two wins and a second, where he had to give best to James Wright in leg two. Leg three saw Shanes gain the upper hand, as experienced speedway star Wright tumbled out of the event at the tricky turn three.
The pair were engaged in a thrilling and fair fight for the lead when Wright was the fourth rider to be claimed by the third turn's slight adverse camber. The injured Wright was unable to take to the start line in the final, leaving Tom Perry as the main challenger to try and overturn to defeats to Shanes in two previous outings.
However a bad start by his standards meant he had to settle for third behind Rob Finlow as Shanes cleared off at the front, picking lines at will. Perry's three wins in four legs were not enough for the overall win on points in the 350cc class - a no-show in the final leg meant Luke Harris took the win. Cinderford's Barry Powell suffered a broken arm in a turn three fall in leg three, having been the main challenge to Perry in the first two legs.
Lydney rider Callum Walker didn't ride in the 500cc class but such was his dominance in the 250cc class that he would not have looked out of place amongst the 500s on the smaller bike. Only a mental lapse when he miscounted his laps and slowed on the penultimate lap of leg two meant he did not make a clean sweep to the final, where he headed Chris Johnson in a rerun.
The pairing of brothers James and David Goudge were undefeated through their three qualifying legs in the 1000cc sidecars, and won the final in fine style. Barrie Bennett and Eifion Hughes kept Dan Berwick and Mark Hopkins at bay in three of the four legs, before giving best in an enthralling battle during the fourth leg.
The next Ledbury MCC meeting is The Ledbury Flyer on August, 18 at the club's new venue Sparrington Farm, Pencombe, Bromyard, Herefordshire, HR7 4SL.
250cc 1st Callum Walker, 2nd Chris Johnson, 3rd Tim Greig, 4th Trevor Clarricoats, 5th Chris Bird, 6th Adam Hawker, 7th Ben Worrall
350cc 1st Luke Harris, 2nd Tom Perry, 3rd Martin French, 4th Tommy Crewe, 5th Connor Locke, 6th Steve Dowling.
500cc 1st James Shanes, 2nd Rob Finlow, 3rd Tom Perry, 4th Zach Wajtknecht 5th David Rowlands, 6th Rob Fortune 7th Jason Newitt.
Pre 75 1st Roger Taylor, 2nd Gerald Short, 3rd Adrian Vaughan, 4th Derren Harris, 5th Luke Tuck 6th Dave Meadows.
Uprights 1st Tim Curnock, 2nd Andrew Gomm, 3rd Luke Cox, 4th Stephen Maile, 5th Vincent Priestley, 6th Adrian Vaughan, 7th Stephen Pollock, 8th Dave Meadows.
500cc Sidecar. 1st Barrie Bennett/Eifion Hughes, 2nd Dan Berwick/Mark Hopkins, 3rd Keith Richards/Glyn Fletcher, 4th Colin Harris/Taylor Harris, 5th Michael Gosling/Hannah Palmer, 6th Gary Ball/Tony Starke.
1000cc Sidecar. 1st James Goudge/Dave Goudge, 2nd Peter Lloyd/Fraser Sutherland, 3rd Trevor Heath/Kieron Bonner, 4th Joe Mogg/Jake Cutler, 5th Tom Cossar/Hayd Evans, 6th Stef Blyth/Jordan Smith.