Ledbury MCC British Masters Grasstrack Challenge
Report & Pix: Ben Falconer
Ledbury MCC's ACU British Masters Challenge attracted a big crowd who witnessed a star of the future see off many established names.
Seventeen-year-old James Shanes scored six wins from six outings at Orlham Farm, Leddington on Sunday, July 20 with an assured display which left many wondering just how far he will go on grass or the shale of the speedway tracks. His backing-in style seems suited to the 500cc machine, on which he is riding his first full season.
The Dorset rider left seasoned campaigners Mitch Godden and Glen Phillips and fellow young guns Georgie Wood and Hunter Anderson in his wake and he heads a top 16 who will take on the seeded riders at Astra GTC's British Masters on September 21. The track with a big sweeping hill side bend was a favourite with spectators and the solo riders. The outfits took the bottom bend carefully and sadly it was the scene of a couple of crashes which required medical cover. We wish those hurt a speedy recovery.
The Midlands Air Ambulance was called on, and it staged an impressive fly-by for the Calvin Palmer Air Ambulance Challenge as well. Calvin was very seriously injured in a sidecar crash last year the the charity played a vital part in saving his life. His daughter Hannah is determined to raised £5,000 for the Midlands Air Ambulance and part of her fundraising efforts was to cover race distance as passenger on a 1000cc right hand outfit.
In stepped British Champion Mark Cossar, who practised with Hannah, then during the interval he turned up the wick quite a bit! Hannah looked right at home on the outfit and the whole thing was witnessed by Calvin himself A very special moment for him, his family, friends, Ledbury MCC and spectators. Congratulations to Ledbury MCC for staging a great event. 47 races in just under six hours for £12 has to be superb value.
Results
500cc Solo
1st James Shanes 54pts, 2nd Mitch Godden 43pts, 3rd Georgie Wood 43pts, 4th Glen Phillips 39pts, 5th Mark Baseby 37pts, 6th Daniel Winterton 36pts, 7th Hunter Anderson 35pts, 8th Danny Warwick 34pts, 9th Martyn Sturgeon 27pts, 10th Dave Mears 25pts, 11th Ben Millichap 25pts, 12th Adam Filmer 23pts, 13th David Speight 23pts, 14th Rob Finlow 21pts, 15th Rodney McDonald, 16th Jody Hodgson, 17th Steven Taylor, 18th Rob Snow.
1000cc Sidecars
1st Gareth Winterburn/Liam Brown 35pts, 2nd Robbie Wilson/Bradley Steer 35pts, 3rd Paul Johnson/Carl Pugh 35pts, 4th Will Offen/Nicky Owen 30pts, 5th Tris Winterburn/Henry Purcell 26pts, 6th Myles Simmons/Kevin Woodley 24pts, 7th Matt Fumerola/Dan Crawford 23pts, 8th Clive Stoneman/Rowland Broomfield 22pts, 9th John Hiscock/Carl Bell 20pts, 10th Paul Whitelam/Gareth Williams 19pts, 11th Pete Colvin/Steve Colvin 17pts, 12th Joe Mogg/Jake Cutler 16pts, 13th Simon Heal/Terry Madley 14pts, 14th Peter Lloyd/Daz Whetstone 14pts, 15th Will Penfold/Ricky Pay 13pts.
The top 16 Solos and 13 Sidecars qualify for the British Masters Championship.
500cc Sidecar Support Class.
1st Simon Beard/Antony Goodwin, 2nd Shaun Harvey/Danny Hogg, 3rd Nick/Abi Radley, 4th Dave Carvill/Richard Phillimore, 5th Dan Berwick/Mark Hopkins, 6th Mark Cossar/Sam Heath.