At just the very tender age of 16, Lucy Tibbetts tragically passed away on 13th October,2020. Lucy was a working member of the Bewdley MCC and someone who was never afraid to get stuck in, erecting track marking posts, roping the circuit and participating in just about any task possible to help out her beloved club. So, in memory of this amazing young lady, the Bewdley MCC wanted to pay tribute to her and that’s just what they achieved last weekend by staging a two day charity grasstrack event, ‘Lucy’s Lap of Honour’.
Report and Images by Mike Wood
And, what a memorable tribute it was, the track superbly prepared and presentation slick, as a massive total of 93 races were completed. Representing the full spectrum of the grasstrack scene, there was action for all classes from the very youngest Cadet competitors right through to the most experienced riders. The busy programme also covered all capacities of solo machines as well as sidecars, quads and even an e-bike group on day one.
The weekend which was to produce very contrasting conditions commenced with a wet, cold Saturday . On that opening day of action and very fittingly the entry list included both the brother and sister of Lucy Tibbetts. Determined to do their very best and honour Lucy in the best way possible, A J Bence, Lucy’s brother competed in the Youth Auto class and was to take home a trophy with a great 3rd overall.
Taking the win was Esme Theobald who bagged three heat victories on her way to glory as Chloe Davis, the only other rider to win a heat, eventually finished as the overall runner-up. Lucy’s sister Lilly Bence was out in the e-bike competition, going onto bag 4th spot. The victor in that one was Alfie Shipp, as someone else with a very familiar surname, a certain young Toby Cossar, took 2nd with the final podium step being claimed by Daisy Townsend.
The other Youth classes on day one featured action for Cadet and Juniors. Three Cadet’s braved the conditions with Brayden Blyth bagging maximum points ahead of Kein Farwell and Jessica Cox. In the Juniors, the classy Archie Rolph also blasted to maximum points to take top slot on the podium from Thomas Vining and Ollie Binns.
In the 125cc solo class, Stephen Mace took the win ahead of Andrew Rowson, Max Broadhurst and Bruce Mills. After four hotly contested races, Mace and Rowson were to finish on top of the scorecharts with 46 points apiece. The first place trophy though was to go to Mace who had crucially defeated Rowson when the pair met in their final race. Maxine Beck topped the GT140 qualifying scorecard with three unbeaten rides but was to then suffer defeat in the all-important final. First past the post was Wayne Broadhurst as Beck had to settle for 2nd ahead of Paul Smith and Kevin Gwilliam.
Completing the Saturday solo action was the Uprights and Pre-75 class. For the Uprights the outcome was settled just over four straight heats and there was to be no doubting the winner as Jason Prynne went through the card unbeaten. Over in the Pre-75 contest, John Priest won his three heats before the also scoring victory in the final from Gary Kirtly-Paine and Ian Gutteridge.
The last race out on track during wet Saturday was the 1000cc Left-hand Sidecars which was run on a heat and final basis. With a brace of wins, Martin Cuff/C Clark topped the qualifying chart before then also being first past the post in the all-important final. Rob Heath/Kyle Fish, second highest scorers in the heats also took 2nd in the final contest with Josh Penfold/G Simmons 3rd.
Eventually the rain of day one eventually stopped leaving the club with dry weather for Sunday’s action and conditions were to be near perfect. Indeed the wet stuff deposited from that big watering can in the sky was to prove just about sufficient to allow 52 races to be completed with dust never a threat until the closing stages. Day two was opened by the Youth Intermediate class as Austin Riches made his intentions perfectly clear by scoring a classy win. From here onwards, Riches rather dominated proceedings, proving victorious in all of his remaining three rides including a super last heat effort to pass the fast starting Kenzie Cossey. Taking the runners-up spot in this class was Harrison Rogers with Cossey the 3rd placed finisher.
The 250cc class started with victory for Cameron Taylor whilst the spectacular Aidan Arthur provided an early highlight with a great win from the back. As Taylor went through the card, both Arthur and Graham Thomas scored heat victories to set up what promised to be an interesting final. As the tapes rose, it was Thomas who hit the front only for Taylor to make a stunning pass on turn one. Initially driving outside, the Gloucestershire youngster then produced a super cutback to snatch the lead before racing onto victory. With Thomas having to settle for 2nd, Arthur took 3rd and Tim Greig 4th.
Deciding to forfeit his 500cc ride and compete in the 350cc class only, Tony Atkin stormed to three super early wins in the heats. His final qualifying heat victory was to prove particularly entertaining, locked in a great battle with Jack Roberts and John Cox. With Atkin breezing his way to the final, Roberts, Wayne Broadhurst, Barry Powell and Cox also comfortably qualified. In that final though, Atkin was again superb, making a lightning start and racing onto a classy win as Roberts worked overtime to get home in 2nd despite constant pressure from Cox and Jamie Fenn Smith.
The 500cc solo’s was all about four straight heats and Arran Butcher quickly built the foundations for his eventual success with a hat-trick of wins. The last 500cc heat though was not quite so straight forward! Jack Roberts hit the front from Phil Ashcroft and Butcher only for Roberts to then stop when an engine bolt snapped, blocking his motor’s barrel. It was now Ashcroft leading the way before Butcher blasted into control and despite getting temporarily out of shape he managed to bring it home and complete his maximum score.
This super Bewdley MCC event also catered for the Quad riders with the very experienced John Elliott taking the final victory from Paul Skelton, Lee Hakin, Paul Beamond, Andy Hoskin and Richard Badham. Earlier in the day, both Elliott and Hakin had gone through the qualifying heats with perfect maximum scores.
Now onto the three-wheeled racing and the opening heats in the 500cc Sidecar competition produced identical results as Shaun Hughes/Louis Bennett stormed to victory chased home by Richard Jenner/Michael Chittenden and Rachel Cox/Scott Gutteridge. In the last clash though it was to be heartbreak for Hughes when his machine ground to a halt when leading thus allowing Jenner through to take the win and the overall verdict.
In a stacked 1000cc Right Hand Sidecar contest, there was to be plenty of thrilling early action, typified by a great scrap between Trevor Heath/Sam Heath and Kieran Hicks/Frankie Courtney. In that one, Heath snatched victory right on the line and by the very narrowest of margins. During block one, Clint Blondel/Ben Evers, Mark Cossar/Gareth Williams and Tom Cossar/Wayne Rickards also bagged a race win. Despite not being a regular entrant in the last year or so, Tom Cossar was showing absolutely no signs of race rustiness ,remaining unbeaten throughout the heats along with his brother Mark.
So with the Cossar’s safely making the final, joining them were initially Peter Lloyd/Terry Madley, Blondel, Heath and George Penfold/Danny Hill. However Penfold was then unable to make the final start line thus handing a last minute place to first reserve Terry Saunters/Liam Brown. As the tapes went up it was Mark Cossar who hit the front chased by Tom Cossar. Whilst those Warwickshire boy’s battled it out at the front, Saunters was 3rd but being closed down by a hard charging Heath. In a super last lap, Heath got alongside Saunters then hugging the inside line he found the grip to just defeat his rival right on the line by just a tyre’s width. In the race for victory, Mark took the win from Tom to make it a memorable weekend for the Cossar family!
Results
Saturday
125cc Solo 1 Steve Mace 2 Andrew Rowson 3 Max Broadhurst.
E-Bike 1 Alfie Shipp 2 Toby Cossar 3 Daisy Townsend.
Youth Auto 1 Esme Theobald 2 Chloe Davis 3 A J Bence 4 Daisy Torres.
Youth Cadet 1 Brayden Blyth 2 Kein Farwell 3 Jessica Cox.
Youth Junior 1 Archie Rolph 2 Thomas Vining 3 Ollie Binns 4 Finley Theobald 5 Dylan Amies 6 Oliver Bovingdon.
Uprights 1 Jason Prynne 2 John Weeks 3 Luke Tuck 4 Rob Dugdale 5 Lee Coley 6 Stephen Russell.
GT140 1 Wayne Broadhurst 2 Maxine Beck 3 Paul Smith 4 Kevin Gwilliam 5 Mark Scopes 6 Ian Clark.
Pre-75 1 John Priest 2 Gary Kirtly-Paine 3 Ian Gutteridge 4 Martin Adams 5 Kenny Blain 6 Mark Gayther.
Left-Hand Sidecars 1 Martin Cuff/C Clark 2 Rob Heath/Kyle Fish 3 Josh Penfold/G Simmons 4 D Morris/S Tillman 5 Steve North/Steve North jnr 6 Tony Penfold/R Barnes.
Sunday
Youth Intermediate 1 Austin Riches 2 Harrison Rogers 3 Kenzie Cossey 4 Zak Batey 5 Number 41 6 Max Derrick.
250cc Solo 1 Cameron Taylor 2 Graham Thomas 3 Aidan Arthur 4 Tim Greig 5 Karl Bedingfield 6 Jake Breeze.
350cc Solo 1 Tony Atkin 2 Jack Roberts 3 John Cox 4 Jamie Fenn-Smith 5 Barry Powell 6 Wayne Broadhurst.
500cc Solo 1 Arran Butcher 2 Phil Ashcroft 3 Ryan Ashcroft 4 Jack Roberts 5 James Peters 6 Sam Hall.
Quads 1 John Elliott 2 Paul Skelton 3 Lee Hakin 4 Paul Beamond 5 Andy Hoskin 6 Richard Badham.
500cc Sidecars 1 Richard Jenner/Michael Chittenden 2 Shaun Hughes/Louis Bennett 3 Rachel Cox/Scott Gutteridge.
1000cc Right-Hand Sidecars 1 Mark Cossar/Gareth Williams 2 Tom Cossar/Wayne Rickards 3 Trevor Heath/Sam Heath 4 Terry Saunters/Liam Brown 5 Clint Blondel/Ben Evers 6 Peter Lloyd/Terry Madley.
