2024 Ledbury Leader Grasstrack – Preview
Sunday, 2nd June it’s Ledbury Leader time at Sparrington Farm, Pencombe, Herefordshire HR7 4SL. Hosted by the Ledbury MCC, practice is scheduled for 10.00am with the first race away at 11.30am and the action should be red hot! Taking to the track will be solo classes covering 250cc, 350cc, 500cc, GT140, Upright and Pre75 bikes. For the sidecars it’s Old and New and 1,000cc Right-Hand outfits.
Words and Images by Mike Wood
The 250cc solo class pulls together a nice mix of Youth v Experience and should produce some cracking racing! In the experience corner, you have the likes of Tim Greig, Karl Beddingfield and Graham Thomas, whilst Max Derrick, Jake Breeze, Aidan Arthur and Liam Cox carry the youth challenge. Missing from that 250cc entry is Charlie Wood as he moves up to the 350cc competition at the Ledbury Leader. In that one, he will face Welshman Steve Garside, Max Broadhurst and Liam Ashcroft, amongst others.
Having recently won the Bantasia event and currently in strong form, Chad Wirtzfeld tops the 500cc class and should be one of the hot favourites for honours on Sunday. Also coming to the line and probable front runners will be Leicester speedway rider Arran Butcher, Luke Harris, Jamie Fenn-Smith and Ryan Ashcroft.
GT 140’s winner at Chaddesley Corbett, Ian Clark, will be at the Leader, but once again, there’s a stacked field in this one. The Broadhurst’s Wayne and Max, Kevin Gwillam, Steve Newsham, Mark Chessell and home club member Adam Hawker will also be coming under starter orders! Turning to the older solo machinery and the classy Tony Atkin tops the Uprights entry, where Jason Prynne, Edward Rouse, Luke Tuck and Dave Hammond look to be the main threats. Meanwhile, over in the Pre-75’s, Hammond doubles up and will be mixing it with the likes of Martin Adams, Stephen Dowling and Mark Chessell.
Once again, the 1,000cc Sidecar boys will be out in force, producing an entry list which should create a Ledbury Leader thriller. Just for starters, there are the main men Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth, Terry Saunters/Liam Brown, Matt Fumarola/Andrew Wilson, Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb and Michael Austin/Vinny Branch. Then you can also throw into what is already a spicy mix of Kieran Hicks/Frankie Courtney, Steve Smith/Gareth Little, Clint Blondel/Conor Measor and having his first outing of 2024, Trevor Heath/Sam Heath.
Completing the Ledbury Leader programme is what promises to be an interesting Old and New Sidecar contest. The Cornish boys will be out in force as the likes of Frankie Courtney/Liam Brown, Mark Courtney/Leon Torres, Sam Jacobs/Kieran Hicks and Mark Seward/Simon Rogers lock horns.
Admission for the event is just £12 Adults, £10 concessions with Under 16’s FREE. With hot and cold food also available on site, it’s going to be an absolute cracker so make sure you are there!
