Following on from a successful opening round at Mildenhall round two of this years mammoth GT Cup competition moved north to amply swell the paddock at Fat Cats near Doncaster. The weather proved to be the best of the year so far, and with a shed load of quality wild card entrants mixing it with championship contenders the action bristled from start to finish.
Cambridge JSC were the glue holding the show together and here’s how it all went.
The Auto’s were first up for qualification where Charlie Heyman dominated just as he did in racing action carding five resounding heat wins. That’s ten from ten so far for Charlie and he’s going to take some stopping. The battle behind featured mainly Harvey Cashmore on the Vampires Rock machine as he went head to head with fellow local buddy Jaygo Beasty. All totalled it was close run thing but Harvey nicked it by two points. Elsewhere in the section strong performances coming from Alfie Jones, Callum Murfit and Luke Batty filled the top six.
In the 65’s it was all about guest rider Lewis Hall as he won all five races in some style. In championship terms Ike Carter proved unbeatable and his maximum points return now gives him the series lead. Louie Kessell and Eddie Jay Wade fought hard and long for the runners up berth with Kessell ultimately just edging it by one single point. Eddie Jay Wade unlucky however with a first outing that ruined his otherwise impressive run of second place returns.
In the small wheel 85’s it was another speedy wild card entrant catching the eye as KTM mounted Harry Kimber won four from five. The section highlighted by a weekend three way tussle between Kimber and the Powerband duo of Tom Grimshaw and Christopher Mills. Generally speaking Kimber had the edge but the battle between Grimshaw and Mills proved absorbing and at times just about as close as it can get. All totalled in points scoring trim Grimshaw claimed it with three maximum scores over the two carded by Mills. Finishing in third overall and laying down another show full of promise and determination Carl Budge (3-3-4-3-3) keeps his championship hopes alive. Tommy Clarke, Connor Ford and Arthur Williams rounded out the top six.
Coming back from recent injury and keen to test himself against the best Big Wheelers around Jordan Eccles had all the watchers nodding in approval as he chalked up four impressive heat wins. The only disappointment for Eccles (now running from under the Powerband awning) was a last race DNF. In the championship stakes Albie Wilkie injured himself in race one and didn’t resume combat until Sunday where he notched up a cracking win and second place finish. Over the five race distance Will Jeonney blasted his Honda to three maximum scores with Henry Siddiqui and Wilkie picking up the others.
Consistency proved key however and it was Siddiqui who eventually stood top of the Big Wheel pile with his 2-2-1-2-4 score. Jeonney only let down by a poor finish in race five but he retains the series lead from Siddiqi in second. David Keet (Vampires Rock KTM ) claimed third overall on the weekend with a best of second in race five. Keet is also third in the championship standings. Elsewhere in the section eye catching shows from Jake Edey as he finished in fourth overall and twelve year old George Grigg Pettite as he notched up three third place finishes.
In MXY2 Kieran Banks won a single race at round one – this time he went three times as good to wrap up another overall win and take a commanding lead in the points table. Ben Harrison and Rickie Roderick were the other two individual heat winners. While Harrison put together a solid five race card to finish in second overall Roderick missed out completely in heat four dropping him down to eighth overall. Adam Day with a best of two thirds finished with the section bronze as Ben Cole just got the better of Ben Franklin and Connor Dennis to claim section fourth.
In the 125cc two strokes Jim Davies looked well on course to record a five race rout but misfortune late on in race two when leading ultimately denied him. The lowly 26 points scored allowed hard charging Jamie Carpenter in to claim overall victory. Jamie laying down a cracking 2-2-3-2-2 effort. Leighton Holmes won race two and he duly finished in fourth overall with Ryan Butler running a consistent five races for third overall. Davies himself claimed second on the end of meeting box.
Steve Turvey and Dean Hakes were the two main men in the MX2 Clubman class. Turvey nailed three wins from four starts with Hakes claiming the other – but with Hakes wild carding Turvey added a maximum to his championship collection. Ashley Watt scored a pair of second place returns helping him into second overall. Ben Spill finished with a weekend best of third in heat four and he took third overall.
In the Expert races Josh Spinks (2-1-1-1) in MX1 and Ashley Smith (1-1-2-1) in MX2 were the eventual victors. To get an overall picture of the combined dice however you have to throw in the wild card entrants. They included James Lassu, sixteen year old Michael Eccles and Patrick Major having a big say. In Saturday action Eccles almost stole it as he poked a 250f stick at the more experienced MX1 guys. Ultimately guest rider Eccles had to settle for a 2-3 return as fellow guest J Lassu went 1-1 in thumping fashion. On day two it was all about top qualifier Spinks as he nailed a brace of accomplished gate to flag victories. Lassu powered on for a Sunday 2-3 finish as Major totalled with a well good 3-2-3-2 overall score. Returning to the championship position Dominic Foreman (1-4-2-2) claimed second overall in MX1 with Harry McKenna picking up third. In MX2 finishing behind Smith Shaun Springer took silver on 3-2-1-2 with Seb Osbourne in third.
