The Chaddesley Corbett Grasstrack Club made their promotional debut on Sunday, and what a great event it was to be. With the recent weather pattern becoming more settled, ground conditions at Chaddesley Corbett were remarkably dry, the Clubs first major task therefore being to create a race strip worthy of the occasion.
Race Report & Images by Mike Wood
So, Club chairman George Pardoe, a rider himself, and his hard-working team went into action spending endless hours in the days before the meeting preparing and watering the ground to thus allow moisture to become deep rooted and ensure the surface was in prime condition.
With riders initially apprehensive to go out in practice and try out the virgin track, they eventually got dialled in. And with the sun shining, the top surface getting turned over and drying out, the going just got better and better eventually producing plenty of quality racing. The first group to get into race mode at Chaddesley was a combined Juniors/Intermediates contest. Finley Theobald won all four Juniors clashes ahead of both Brayden Blyth and William Offen. In the Intermediates, Thomas Vinning was first past the chequered flag in the opening two heats ahead of Jesse James, Max Derrick, Dylan Amies and Jacob Phillips. For heats 3 and 4 though it was all change as Derrick took both wins ahead of Vinning the eventual overall victor.
After Ian Clark and Wayne Broadhurst won their respective opening heats in the GT140’s class, the two riders were then involved in what was arguably the race of the day! In their second heat, Clark and Broadhurst along with Luke Wicks and Mark Scopes produced a classic four-way battle which raged for the entire duration of the contest. Continually swapping positions, it was Broadhurst who eventually got over the line first. Wayne then also won his last race to top the qualifying charts ahead of double heat winner Kevin Gwillam, Clark, Max Broadhurst, Scopes and Jordan Cross.
Russell Little rode a very clever race hugging the smooth, drier, tight inside line to take victory in the first 250cc solo heat of the day. David Knowles, Tim Greig and Ben Phillips were also heat winners but it was maximum man Knowles who topped the qualifying scorecard. There was certainly no doubting the winner of Sunday’s 350cc solo class as the fast-starting Cameron Taylor won all four heats with Jack Roberts, Barry Powell and Steve Garside chasing hard. Roberts though did gain some consolation by storming to maximum points in the 500cc solo contest and also earning the Noel Clark Memorial Trophy with Ryan Ashcroft taking 2nd on each occasion.
Talking of maximum scores, well that’s just what Tony Atkin achieved in the Uprights. Tony was in his usual immaculate form, looking comfortable at the front with Tim Curnock and Jason Prynne the closest challengers. Over in the Pre-75’s, John Priest won the opening three heats before being defeated in the last one by Dave Hammond. However, Priest still took the overall top slot from Hammond, Richard Warry and Rob Snow.
Chris Kay/Karl Hocaniuk won the opening 500cc Sidecar battle but this class was to be pretty much decided in heat two. In that one, both Kay and the fancied pairing of Richard Jenner/Adrian North failed to score as Ben Ilsley/Luke Russell took victory. Although Jenner then bounced back to be first past the chequered flag in the remaining two heats from Kay and Ilsley, it was the latter who bagged the overall verdict.
Old and New Sidecars produced a great battle at the front between Mark Courtney/Leon Torres and Liam Brown/Frankie Courtney. Going into the final heat, Brown required victory to thus also snatch the overall verdict. Courtney though rode a very clever race to resist his rival’s determined challenges and claim the first-place trophy. Third in this one went to Paul Herman/Ash Pearce with the entertaining Chris Tyrell/Neave Newton next.
And so, to the 1,000cc Right-hand Sidecars producing more than its fair share of drama and great racing! The first set of heats was particularly incident packed and in the opening heat Matt Furmerola/Andy Wilson took victory only to crash after crossing the finishing line when their outfits front tyre punctured. Suffering a heavy tumble, the pairing was forced to withdraw from the rest of the meeting. Then, the Cossar’s Mark and Tom created their own drama when going head-to-head in their opening contest. Tom was fastest away with Mark coming through to challenge on lap two.
Going hard into the top turn, Mark made contact with his brother’s outfit, clipping the rear end but thankfully both crews managed to remain upright despite losing forward momentum. Whilst Tom was able to quickly fire his outfit back to life and still take the win, Mark could not restart resulting in a DNF. Completing this crazy trilogy of incidents, in the very next race, Vinny Branch, passenger of Michael Austin came off the back of their outfit in the charge to turn one. Requiring medical attention, Vinny was also now out of the event!
There was also plenty of top action in this class with Terry Saunters/Liam Brown scoring maximum points whilst the impressive Kieran Hicks/Frankie Courtney and Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb also won heats, showing great form and really mixing it at the front. With the unbeaten Saunters and Tom Cossar along with Whitelam and Hicks going direct to the ‘A’ final, following his heat one DNF, Mark Cossar had to now do it the hard way and try and qualify via the ‘B’ final. Also in that race was Trevor Heath/Sam Heath who had missed out after spinning to a halt whilst leading their final race. In that ‘B’ final with the top two going direct to the main event, Cossar and Heath were fastest away only for it to be stopped on lap one following a sickening collision involving Clint Blondell/Chris Townsend and Steph Blyth/Morgan Blyth. With medical attention and ambulance rides required for the Blyth’s and Townsend, this was to be the last action of the day. Here’s hoping that all of the injured 1,000cc Sidecar competitors make a speedy recovery and are back out on track as soon as possible!
Despite that very unfortunate premature conclusion, let’s still give the organising Chaddesley Corbett a massive pat on the back for their efforts in promoting a super opening event. Hopefully this will be the first of many more to come!
Results
Juniors 1 Finley Theobald 48 points 2 Brayden Blyth 38 3 William Offen 38.
Intermediates 1 Thomas Vinning 44 points 2 Max Derrick 42 3 Jacob Phillips 31 4 Jesse James 29 5 Dylan Amies 16.
Pre 75’s 1 John Priest 46 points 2 Dave Hammond 40 3 Richard Warry 37 4 Rob Snow 20 5 Martin Adams 17 6 Steve Cox 15.
Uprights 1 Tony Atkin 48 points 2 Tim Curnock 39 3 Jason Prynne 37 4 Dave Hammond 30 5 Max Dent 25 6 Eddie Rouse 23.
250cc Solos (Top six after qualifying heats) 1 David Knowles 36 points 2 Russell Little 32 3 Tim Greig 31 4 Ben Phillips 30 5 Austin Riches 27 6 Hayden Watts 25.
GT140’s (Top six after qualifying heats) 1 Wayne Broadhurst 36 points 2 Kevin Gwilliam 34 3 Ian Clark 32 4 Max Broadhurst 29 5 Mark Scopes 27 6 Jordan Cross 24.
350cc Solos 1 Cameron Taylor 48 points 2 Jack Roberts 40 3 Barry Powell 36 4 Steve Garside 32 5 George Pardoe 23 6 Will Thurlby 23.
500cc Solos 1 Jack Roberts 48 points 2 Ryan Ashcroft 40 3 Luke Tuck 31 4 Karl Miles 31 5 S Bridges 21 6 Will Thurlby.
1,000cc Right-hand Sidecars (Top six after qualifying heats) 1 Terry Saunters/Liam Brown 21 points 2 Tom Cossar/Wayne Rickards 21 3 Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb 19 4 Kieran Hicks/Frankie Courtney 16 5 Mark Cossar/Gareth Williams 14 6 Mick Stace/Toby Russell 14.
500cc Sidecars 1 Ben Ilsley/Luke Russell 20 points 2 Chris Kay/Karl Hocaniuk 17 3 Richard Jenner/Adrian North 16 4 Nick Bull/Scott Gutteridge 15.
Old and New Sidecars 1 Mark Courtney/Leon Torres 26 points 2 Liam Brown/Frankie Courtney 22 3 Paul Herman/Ash Pearce 13 4 Chris Tyrell/Neave Newton 12 5 Dean Kitchker/Liam Kitchker 9 6 Marrianne Walford/George Pardoe 5.
