The Eastern Eagles soared high at Whaddon Farm on Sunday before swooping down to pick up their rewards for victory during a superb inaugural Track Racing Team Tournament.
Race Report, Images and Interviews by Mike Wood
Whilst the Eagles flew to the top honours out on track, there was one other major winner on the day; that’s surely the sport of Grasstrack Racing! Organisers Grasstrack Banter Promotions served up a totally professional and polished event with every detail immaculately covered, including race jackets and helmet colours for the riders, coloured team merchandise for supporters and organised team parking in the pits area. Putting all those ingredients together, it generated a truly feel-good but still highly competitive atmosphere throughout the entire proceedings, and the racing served up wasn’t too bad either!
The format of points scoring in the team tournament meant the need to try and get as many of your riders as possible scoring well in the heats to thus earn direct progress into the most productive ‘A’ Finals. And that’s just what was to fire the Eastern Eagles to eventual success, qualifying for the big main events in the GT140’s, 250cc and 500cc classes. Once into the big ones, the Eagles then bagged maximum points in style. In the GT140’s Final, they took on the Southern Stags and filled the first three places as the unbeaten Adam Shipp was again the victor, followed home by Ian Clark and Steve Newsham, with Luke Wicks, the top Stags rider in 4th.
Dominance was also the key word for the Eagles in the 250cc contest. They again took the first three Final places, Ricky Scarboro heading home teammates Hayden Watts and Austin Riches. In that 250cc clash, the Eagles faced the Northern Knights, with Jonny Holmes and John Cox taking 4th and 5th, respectively.
The Eagles hat-trick of ‘A’ Final success came in the 500cc solos where they fielded a powerhouse team consisting of Alfie Bowtell, Ryan Kinsley, Jake Mulford and Mickie Simpson. Previously unbeaten, Simpson had to settle for 2nd spot in the decider as Mulford took the win with Bowtell in 3rd. Earlier Redcar Speedway rider Mulford had suffered rather mixed fortunes, suffering a DNF in heat 2 when shedding a chain before then getting the better of the previously unbeaten Edward Kennett of the Southern Stags in the last heat with a great from the back pass. Providing the Eagles opponents in the 500cc ‘A’ Final were those determined Northern Knights, with Daniel Winterton, Jack Roberts, Jake Mudgway and David Speight really getting stuck into the task at hand.
Talking of those Knights, well, they showed fantastic team spirit and comradery to eventually bag the runners-up spot in the final team standings. It was far from plain sailing for them, though, with riders suffering vehicle issues on their journey South, crashes out on track and the unfortunate non-arrival of top man and intended team manager Paul Cooper. Planning to ride in France on Saturday at a rescheduled European Grasstrack semi-final before then dashing back to the UK and competing in the Team Tournament, bad weather was to then scupper Paul’s best intentions! With the semi cancelled again on Saturday due to rain and pushed back 24 hours, it meant he would now not be a Whaddon Farm starter. So, taking up the Northern Knights team managers spot was Rachel Cox whilst Jack Roberts and John Cox competed in extra rides to cover for Mr Cooper. The busy John Cox even took some outings in the 250cc solo’s covering for his own son Liam who was forced out of the meeting after flipping his bike off the start during his opening heat.
As well as making the 250cc and 500cc finals, the Knights absolutely dominated the 350cc racing. The trio of Tony Atkin, John Cox and Jack Roberts took all of the heat wins available to cruise into the ‘A’ Final. Then, with the big points up for grabs, Roberts led all the way, accompanied by Atkin, as Cox got home in 4th.
Splitting the Knights was a very determined Steve Garside representing the Western Warriors and who was joined in the 350cc class by Barry Powell, Jody Hodgson and Ben Phillips.
Garside’s Western Warriors went on to earn 3rd overall in the overall Team Tournament standings, and their squad at Whaddon Farm included one very interesting additional guest. Making his first-ever appearance on the grass was Sheffield and Redcar speedway rider Jason Edwards. On a bike built and supplied by the Grasstrack Banter boys, Jason quickly adapted to the new discipline and finding the fast lines, he finished his day with an impressive win in the 500cc ‘B’ Final. Hopefully, he will feature on the grass again in the not-too-distant future!
The Western Warriors also made it to the 1,000cc Sidecar ‘A’ Final, where Neal Owen/Jason Farwell, Kieran Hicks/Frankie Courtney and Robbie Simmons/Ben Schofield carried the team colours. Earlier in the heats, both a very fired up Owen and Simmons had scored a brace of wins apiece before the Warriors then dominated their ‘B’ Final and thus earn a place on the big ‘A’ Final start line. In that main event, the Warriors faced a super-strong Midlands Missiles team consisting of Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth, Tom Cossar/Wayne Rickards and Matt Fumarola/Andi Wilson. Whilst Mark Cossar was in his usual dominant form, his brother’s day did not start to plan! Engine failure in heat one was then followed by a second race collision, which saw his passenger, Rickards, take a nasty tumble off the chair. Thankfully, Wayne was uninjured and able to continue.
So, to the final and Mark Cossar led all the way, pushed hard by the Warriors Simmons as Tom Cossar took 3rd from Fumarola, Owen and Hicks. That meant the 1,000cc Sidecars was a team victory for the Midlands Missiles. With all of the finals done and the totals calculated, the Eastern Eagles were declared the overall event winners with 20 points from Northern Knights 17, Western Warriors 16, Midland Missiles 11, and Southern Stags 11.
Completing the programme on Sunday was a separate Old and New Sidecar class, in which the immaculate Mark Courtney/Frankie Courtney took all four heat wins. Sam Jacobs/Wayne Rickards were to eventually bag 2nd overall from Herman Paul/Ash Pierce and Brian Hatch/Lew Wharton. Massive congratulations to everyone involved for producing an absolute classic, and let’s hope the Team Tournament will become a permanent fixture on the grasstrack calendar for many years to come!
Heat overall Results
GT140’s 1 Eastern Eagles 100 points (Ian Clark, Adam Shipp, Steve Newsham, Connor Sargeant) 2 Southern Stags 69 points (Paul Smith, Luke Wicks, Lee Harding, Michael Chittenden) 3 Northern Knights 57 points (Duncan Burton, Andrew Holiday, Max Dent, Paul Smith) 4 Western Warriors 55 points (Mark Chessell, Matthew Klasson, Ian Coed, Andy Denton) 5 Midland Missiles 52 points (Matt Fumarola, Lester Denham, Murrie Collins, Andrew Rowson).
250cc 1 Eastern Eagles 100 points (Ricky Scarboro, Tim Greig, Austin Riches, Hayden Watts) 2 Northern Knights 63 points (Liam Cox, Lee Gray, Jonny Holmes, John Curtis, John Cox) 3 Western Warriors 55 points (Adam Hawker, Max Derrick, Luke Tuck, Jake Breeze) 4 Southern Stags 52 points (Richie Knight, Shane Knight, Karl Beddingfield, Stuart Bridges) 5 Midland Missiles 50 points (Bradley Phillips, Aidan Arthur, Simon Hammersley, Alan Brook, David James.
350cc 1 Northern Knights 120 points (Jack Roberts, Tony Atkin, John Cox) 2 Western Warriors 78 points (Steve Garside, Barry Powell, Jody Hodgson, Ben Phillips) 3 Eastern Eagles 53 points (Jamie Fenn-Smith, Will Thurlby, Daniel Broughton, Tim Neal) 4 Midland Missiles 41 points (George Pardoe, David James, Karl Miles, Tim Curnock) 5 Southern Stags 29 points (Charlie Wood, Luke Clifton, Dave Mears)
500cc 1 Eastern Eagles 93 points (Mickie Simpson, Ryan Kinsley, Alfie Bowtell, Jake Mulford) 2 Northern Knights 77 points (Daniel Winterton, Jake Mudgway, Jack Roberts, David Speight) 3 Western Warriors 60 points (Jason Edwards, Darren Phillips, Luke Tuck, Kenzie Cossey) 4 Midland Missiles 58 points (Luke Harris, Steve Brook, Eli Meadows, Ryan Ashcroft. 5 Southern Stags 47 points (David Hollingsbee, Jordan Noel, James Laker, Edward Kennett)
1,000cc Sidecars 1 Midland Missiles 54 points (Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth, Tom Cossar/Wayne Rickards, Matt Fumarola/Andi Wilson) 2 Western Warriors 40 points (Neal Owen/Jason Farwell, Kieran Hicks/Frankie Courtney, Robbie Simmons/Ben Schofield) 3 Southern Stags 36 points (Michael Austin/Joseph Knight, Will Offen/Ricky Pay, Clint Blondel/Conor Measor) 4 Eastern Eagles 34 points (Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb, Dale Fish/Jordan Fish, Stef Blyth/Morgan Blyth. 5 Northern Knights 21 points (Bradley Reynolds/Jordan Holland, Peter Lloyd/Ryan Wharton, Simon Beaney/Sam Heath.
Final Results
GT140’S C Final Western Warriors beat Midland Missiles 33 – 13 B Final Southern Stags beat Northern Knights 27-23 A Final Eastern Eagles beat Southern Stags 33-20.
250cc C Final Southern Stags beat Midland Missiles 24-22 B Final Northern Knights beat Western Warriors 28-18 A Final Eastern Eagles beat Northern Knights 33-13.
350cc C Final Midland Missiles beat Southern Stags 30-11 B Final Western Warriors beat Eastern Eagles 33-20 A Final Northern Knights beat Western Warriors 27-23.
500cc C Final Midland Missiles beat Southern Stags 28-13 B Final Northern Knights beat Western Warriors 27-26 A Final Eastern Eagles beat Northern Knights 32-21.
1,000cc Sidecars C Final Eastern Eagles beat Northern Knights 11-10 B Final Western Warriors beat Southern Stags 16-5 A Final Midland Missiles beat Western Warriors 14-8.
Overall, Team Tournament standings 1 Eastern Eagles 20 points 2 Northern Knights 17 3 Western Warriors 16 4 Midland Missiles 11(1 class win) 5 Southern Stags 11.
