What a weekend it was for the 30th Anniversary of the AMCA Weymouth Beach Motocross, the event again proving its immense popularity by attracting its biggest entry list for six years.
Organised by the Purbeck MXC, a very small club with a fantastic togetherness and ‘can do’ attitude in conjunction with the Weymouth and Portland Lions Club, it’s no wonder that this particular beach gathering continues to go from strength to strength.
Pulling out all of the stops and looking to make this a fun, entertaining weekend for all the family, the 2014 meet started on Saturday with majorettes and Andy ‘Gorilla man’ Hobbs displaying his quad riding antics before the kick-ass Jamie Squibb Freestyle FMX Stunt team thrilled the crowds.
On Sunday though it was all about the motocross, as thousands of spectators lined the Esplanade to watch six high-octane races which resulted in eventual overall victories for Jamie Dixon, Luke Oldfield and Josh Waterman in the respective Juniors, Seniors and Experts classes.
Despite a strong on-shore breeze resulting in the required retreat of the tide being slightly delayed, the action did still manage to blast off exactly at the 1pm programmed start time.
Right on queue, Alf Shipton then lowered his flag with the help of the Weymouth Carnival Queen to signal the thunderous charge of the Juniors class in their opening moto. Leading the blast along the three quarters of a mile straight to tackle the series of twists, turns and leaps was Mark Morris. Come the completion of that very frantic opening lap though in which over 100 Junior riders were giving it their all and enjoying the chance to go sand surfing it was now 16-year-old Jamie Dixon aboard his 450F that led the way.
As expected on that golden, fine sand of Weymouth Beach the leaderbaord was ever changing and as Dixon then made a mistake and slipped down to ninth that man Morris was back in control. Undeterred though by his early slip-up, young Dixon was on a mission and timed his comeback to perfection. On the seventh and final lap, Jamie returned to the front and earned the first win of the day with Reece Marriott climbing from sixth to bag the runners-up slot ahead of Tom Thorp, Morris, Tom Salt and Tom Ayres.
Juniors race two and it was again Morris who appeared as the early leader before being replaced at the front by Dixon. From here onwards, Dixon controlled proceedings all the way to the chequered flag as the very consistent Marriott again took second from Oakley Gwyther with early leader Morris in fourth. So in this Juniors class supported by Caroline Racing the overall top three read winner Dixon, runner-up Marriott and Thorp in third.
In the Seniors class sponsored by Richie Racing, 81 riders started the opening race and it was Brett Moore who was fastest to fire his engine into life and lead the way with Jonny White, Luke Oldfield, Shaun Brooker, Adam Gordon and Ricky Britton providing the close company.
In fine style, Moore remained cool, composed and in control until lap six when Oldfield produced a pass to become the new pace-setter. For the remaining five laps, Oldfield really turned on the style, his eventual winning margin being some 34 seconds as Gordon worked hard to get up to bag second ahead of Moore, Jack Alderton who had initially gated 12th, Brooker, Mark Teggin and White.
Moto two for the Seniors saw Oldfield lead the charge with Jamie Aitken in second and Gordon, Moore, Damien O’Brien and Christian Seldon also inside the top six. As O’Brein and Seldon then dropped down the pecking order, the leadership of the contest was also to change on lap five as Gordon hit the front by passing Oldfield.
Not to be outdone though, Oldfield cleverly plotted his revenge and thus swoop right back into pole position on lap eight. Once again he turned up the gas and bagged his second win of the day with Gordon earning another runners-up slot from George Welch (who had started in 12th) Moore, Brooker and Jonathan Tarr.
To the big Experts clashes, sponsored by Poole Yamaha Racing, with the quality and competitive entry list including the likes of Ben Saunders, Paul Neale, Liam Knight, Josh Waterman, Luke Mellows, James Dodd, Jamie Skuse, Tommy Alba and Adam Harris although the rider who probably enjoyed the most support at Weymouth was Jake Shipton.
Currently based in Dubai and racing for the United Emirates KTM team, local lad Shipton was back in the UK for a short break, only arriving home just 17 hours before the scheduled Weymouth Beach race start time!
However, showing no signs of tiredness from his travels, Shipton blasted his KTM to the front of the opening Experts clash ahead of Alba, Waterman, Knight, Benjamin Milward and James Kensington. Setting a terrific pace and using his Dubai sand riding experience to maximum profitability – Shipton was ripping up the sand and lapping riders at will until suffering an anxious closing few laps to the contest.
With his engine reaching boiling point and even melting his gearbox drain plug, Jake just about managed to nurse it home to take the win ahead of the superb Waterman who had a great ride to earn second aboard his two-stroke KTM as Alba took third, Knight fourth and Dobb charging hard for fifth after initially being down in 22nd spot after lap one. The next three positions in the moto were filled by a trio of very determined AMCA riders in Milward, Mellows and Rich Meakin.
In moto two Shipton was again fastest away from Waterman, Skuse, Alba and Knight. Looking to earn a beach motocross overall win, the stylish Shipton looked to be in total control and marching to a superb victory until disaster struck on lap eight when his clutch expired, forcing him to retire.
So with Jake watching on it was now the super Josh Waterman in the driving seat. In great style the Gloucestershire ace was really on it and squeezing every last cubic centimetre of power from his rapid two-smoker. On completion it was Josh who was first past the chequered to also confirm the overall verdict, 36-seconds clear of Dodd who had another great ride to earn second after being down in 11th during the early stages.
Also in the mix this time around was Alba, Skuse, Mellows, Jack Waterman, Paul Neale, Martin Jessopp and Meakin. Reflecting afterwards on his disappointment at being forced out of moto two, Shipton declared that he will definitely be back again next year to try and bag a Weymouth win, the clash for your diaries being October 11, 2015.
