What a weekend it was for riders contesting round five of the 2013 AMCA Wulfsport British Masters at Fatcat Motoparc.
Starting with a dry, bright day one, a mini hurricane then ripped through the site in the early hours of Sunday morning wrecking awnings and tents before a torrential rain storm made the going rather tricky during the closing stages of the event. It wasn’t only the weather though that was to be unpredictable in South Yorkshire as some new names popped up at the top of the overall standings with Jordan Booker taking victory in the Battery Energy Pro MX2 class. The only real constant throughout proceedings was the eventual destination of the Battery Energy Pro MX1 honours as Kristian Whatley on his MBO Sport Yamaha blasted to yet another smooth, stylish overall win.
For the first time this season, the Pro racing was a combined class and what great action it served up. Making a simply dream start, Ashley Wilde led the opening moto dash to turn one hounded by Kristian Whatley, Bryan Mackenzie, Daniel Hutchinson, Neville Bradshaw and Matthew Moffat. For four laps, Wilde gloriously held onto his advantage before that man Whatley glided almost effortlessly through and into an unassailable lead. As Kristian marched onto victory, Wilde gallantly maintained second spot with Mackenzie having a brilliant ride on his 250F Pendrich Kawasaki to hold third from gate to flag. With the top three settled, there was plenty of movement going on for the remaining top leaderboard positions in a super quick no holds barred encounter. Bradshaw slipped from fifth down to 10th whilst Nathan Parker, despite a rear wheel puncture, Jordan Booker, Adam Sterry and Nathan Watson all worked hard to move up the leaderboard and take fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth places respectively, just behind Matt Moffat.
With Mackenzie finding himself down in last place during the early exchanges of Pro moto two and with it all to do if he was to claim the MX2 overall class win, this clash was to be a classic. Josh Waterman, Wilde and Moffat all took turns to lead the way before Whatley eventually took control on lap nine. This eventual victory though was not to be totally straight forward for Whatley as he had a real tiger on his tail in the form of Nathan Watson. Moving up from an early seventh, Nathan was to then insert heavy pressure on Kristian in the final five laps but was never able to get quite close enough to attack and make a pass stick on his rival. Again having great rides, Moffat took a super third with Wilde in fourth.What about the 250F pilots then? Well Sterry got home in a brilliant fifth aboard his STR KTM after initially gating 11th whilst Booker was equally impressive by taking seventh. On his racing comeback following injury, Nathan Parker was a solid sixth in moto two whilst early leader Waterman eventually had to settle for eighth. For Mackenzie though their was to be no moto two glory, attempting to move rapidly up the leaderboard, the Scot crashed, damaging the front end of his Kawasaki machine and eventually retiring on lap ten.
Going into round five, Jamie Ellis held an 11 point advantage at the top of the GSP Race Products MXY2 class ahead of Reece Desoer. However following the Fatcat clash, it’s now all change as Desoer took gold to also move to the top of proceedings and with a 55 point lead. During the weekend, Reece blasted to three out of four moto wins, his only defeat being inflicted by Nathan Dixon. Overall victor Desoer and runner-up Dixon were eventually joined on the podium by Max Acres whilst Jack Seaborne, Chase Neale and Callum Whaling also produced strong performances. For Ellis well it was a final nineth overall, his scoring hindered by a moto two DNF.
With series leader Jay Hague a non-starter at Fatcat, it’s now the very consistent Joe Jeffries who leads the Putoline BW85cc Minimasters class. In Yorkshire, Jeffries recorded a 2-2-2-1 scorecard and earn second overall behind Dexter Douglas. Whilst Douglas also blasted to three moto wins, there was to be strong performances from Matt Lomas, Brett Pocock, Aaron Booker and Howard Wainwright. In Putoline SW85cc Minimasters, young Archie Osmaston continues his march to final glory, increasing his title lead to a big 137 points. At Fatcat though, Archie had to settle for second overall as Nathan Claughan blasted to maximum points with four superb victories. Completing the SW podium were Dylan Spencer, Ben Burridge and Benjamin Knight.
In Muk Junkie Amateur MX1, there was yet another overall win and maximum points score for the rapid JLP Bikesport KTM pilot, Daniel Hutchinson. Whilst Hutchinson also increased his advantage at the top of the Championship table, Tom Kelly chased him home in all four clashes to earn the overall runner-up slot ahead of Gavin Houson and Chad Yarranton. There was also a maximum points winning performance in the www.goggle-shop.com Amateur MX2 contest with Jack Kelly scorching to success. With Kelly in such dominant form, series leader Richard Cannings took second spot in all four clashes, in the process fighting off the almost constant attention of Adam Wells, Ryan Crowder, Zac Stealey and Luke Newman. In the title table, Cannings having finished on the podium in all five rounds so far still leads the way, 67 points clear of Wells with Stealey third.
There was to be big drama in Pirelli MX1 as Shaun Scrivens was to lose his lead at the top of the Championship standings. Going into the Fatcat event, Scrivens had won all four previous rounds and held a 79 point advantage in the race for the title. However in moto one in Yorkshire, Scrivens dislocated his shoulder forcing him out of action. In his absence, the very much in-form Welsh two-stroke KTM rider Adam Cook blasted to four brilliant wins and with it obviously the overall Fatcat verdict from Jason Kendrick and Daniel Chapman. In the Pirelli MX1 title table, it’s now Kendrick who leads the way from Adam Smith with the unlucky Scrivens dropping to third.
On a weekend of surprises when the form book generally did not always rule, the super Pirelli MX2 series leader Bradley Wheeler was also to suffer defeat. In both the opening and very wet last clash, young Bradley was headed by Ryan Osborn. In the remaining motos though it was service as normal with Wheeler taking the wins, enough to still secure yet another overall verdict. Having his best performance of the season so far, a very determined Brandon Benjamin was to take third overall with his brother Mitchell also inside the top 10 in seventh.
Next up for the Masters is a first ever visit to the superb Brookthorpe circuit in Gloucestershire on the weekend of August 7/8, an event not to be missed.
