The 40th Anniversary Weston Beach Race was a solid weekend for all, and despite obvious concerns about attendance with the MXGP date having been moved to the same weekend (the WBR is set with an eye on tidal patterns, and done so over a year in advance!), the crew at RHL Activities needn’t have worried as the seafront was packed and blessed with mostly lovely weather to boot!
Words: Ben Rumbold, Featured Image: RHL Activities/Steve Milner MX
Giving the Youth classes – 65cc for 75 minutes, the 85cc Big & Small Wheel race for 90 minutes on Sunday, plus the opener at a savage 9am Saturday for 125 & 250 Youth racers which is also 90 minutes long – their own taste of the sand on a shortened track gets them addicted early, and its amazing to read through the list of past winners who obviously caught the bug and kept coming back. Among them is indeed Todd Kellett, winner on a 65cc in 2008 and on an 85 in 2012!
That 125 & 250 opener was a cracking race. As the fast-starting Ben Zeale shot his GASGAS into the early lead, although he was soon passed by the serious speed of George Hopkins on his HJA Motorcycles GASGAS. Monster Mountain/Absolute MX/Apico sponsored Welshman Jak Taylor, a solid campaigner at British Championship level in recent years and another previous 85cc winner, followed Hopkins through as several 125s came unstuck in the deep and virgin-fresh piles of sand that littered their path!
In the separately-scored 125cc class, British Champion Reece Jones had opted to race Weston rather than EMX125 to try and make up for the heartbreak of 2022, when a mechanical failure robbed him of the win with two corners to go! Jones was the top 125 in 5th behind Leon Williams’ SW Commercials GASGAS, and the SJP Moto KTM was singing through the dunes as Reece attacked them in his typically vivid style. Monster Mountain winner Max Smith was also right up there early on the Redline Motorcycles KTM.
Hopkins was pushing the pace, setting the fastest lap of all on lap two, but Taylor looked to have something in reserve as they swapped places lap after lap. Jones got amongst the 250s and actually led overall on lap 14, before suffering with a slow pitstop that dropped him back down to 5th. He still led the 125 class though, and brought it home 2nd overall to take that 125cc trophy that eluded him in 2022. Chester Hyde charged into 2nd 125 after a start outside the top 20, just pipping Scotsman Graham Haddow, another previous winner on smaller bikes, who took 3rd in class.
Zeale did briefly lead again, but then plummeted down to 4th 250 as Taylor fought through to claim a well-deserved win ahead of Hopkins and Leon Williams. He will be a strong rider for someone in the Pro ranks if he can pick up a ride.
The 65cc class had a tough task as the dry conditions ensured the speeds were higher, but the ruts from the previous race were a major challenge for their smaller wheels and many came unstuck!
Fast Eddy-sponsored glyer Cohen Jagielski led the pack down the beach and had good speed through the dunes, whilst Jett Gardiner on the MGMX KTM was initially 2nd behind defending Champ Casey Lister on the #1 TS Racing GASGAS. Lister was up into 2nd at the end of the first lap as Jett suffered a small crash, but got back up to stay 3rd. He began a race-long battle with the distinctive yellow Homeplan Husqvarna of Riley Seeds and the JMR Foundation-backed Jamie Currie, all three of them holding 3rd for a time, but Jett held on to climb the podium, getting lapped once while the others got lapped twice.
Lister wore down the early lead of Jagielski, setting the fastest lap on lap 12 of 17 to hit the front himself, as the older and physically bigger rider came out the strongest by the close. Cohen had to settle for 2nd while Casey took his second straight Weston win in the class, and he will be a force on the 85cc class that he moves up to for 2024!
Sunday morning was a little drizzly as the beach was prepared for the main race by ramping up the dunes, and the poor 85cc riders had bigger sand-piles to deal with than the 125 & 250s had on Saturday! The all-white Madison/Moto Verde GASGAS of Drew Stock, in his last race on the 85, fired to the front early on but got stuck right in front of the commentary tower as the soft stuff bit him hard! He certainly wasn’t alone as on the dune behind him, second-placed Hayden Statt went over the bars of his Manchester MCs KTM, starting a long and tough race for the debutant.
There were proper Weston-style queues across several sections of the beach as the marshalls worked hard to help the kids out of the jams on the first few laps. All this chaos left official Team Marigold member Edward Belton from the Sudbury MCC outfit into a surprise early lead, and although Stock got back past on the second lap, Belton enjoyed a solid ride into 9th at the end.
Stock was in complete control and led from Dirt Store KTM riders Harry Lee and Blake Ward-Clarke, who looked very similar to each other as the gap varied throughout the race. Riley Small got in the mix on his Dirtwheelz KTM, but despite Ward-Clarke setting his fastest time on the 23rd and very last lap, he still had to settle for 3rd behind Lee, and the dominant Stock who never crashed again after that first lap incident!
The leading Small-Wheel bikes were inevitably left behind in the early melee, but British Championship runner-up Jenson Severn battled with the Big-Wheels on his TS Racing GASGAS and actually finished 7th overall to match his race number, and took the class win with a little over a lap to spare over Mr Dig/Ken Rodney Construction Husky rider Lucas Lee (no relation to Harry in the BWs) in 2nd, and the Fossehill KTM of Archie Butterfield who has had a solid end to his season, topped off by a 3rd place trophy from the 40th Anniversary Weston Beach Race!
Results
Youth 125/250
125 250CC - Race Result
85cc
Youth 85SW 85BW - Race Result
65cc
65CC - Race Result
