Matt Winstanley sets a new course record at the 51st Barbon Hill Climb and Chris Hudson’s there to catch all the action…
Dry and sunny conditions see course records topple at the 51st running of the Barbon Hill Climb. Supermoto-style bikes dominate proceedings with former British championship motocross star Matt Winstanley setting fastest time of the day on his 450 Honda to pick up the up to 500cc win with a time of 25.49. Winstanley’s former supermoto sparring partner Christian Iddon takes victory in the over 500s class on his Husaberg with a time .05 of a second faster.
It’s in the Top 15 shootout when times really start to drop though as Winstanley, Iddon and CR500-mounted Paul Jeffrey all start finding more speed up the half mile hill. The four-round shootout sees 15 riders whittled down to just three with times scrubbed for each new round. While Winstanley wins the first two rounds – setting a new record on the second run with a 25.28 – CR500-mounted Paul Jeffrey gets quicker and quicker and when Winstanley makes mistakes on the final two runs takes over as fastest man on the hill. The final run is particularly epic as Jeffrey rides a flawless sprint as Winstanley pushes too hard and outbrakes himself allowing the Devonshire rider to take the win for the day.
To see more awesome hill climbing images from Chris Hudson log on to www.ch-images.co.uk where you’ll also find a load of sweet galleries from more traditional dirt bike events.
Results
Class 1 up to 250cc
1 Dave Clarke 28.13
2 Ben Stafford 28.24
3 Neil Crayston 29.43
Class 2 250cc to 350cc
1 Stuart Anderson31.37
2 Mark Postlethwaite 32.12
3 Keith Riley 33.97
Class 3 up to 500cc
1 Matt Winstanley 25.49
2 M Mitchell-Thomas 26.44
3 Craig Venske 26.51
Class 4 over 500cc
1 Christian Iddon 25.44
2 Paul Jeffrey 25.98
3 Peter Short 26.84
Shootout (final run)
1 Paul Jeffrey 25.43
2 Craig Venske 25.93
3 Matt Winstanley 26.17
New course record:
Matt Winstanley 25.28
