The Nora-MX crew and competitors travelled to Little Silver in Devon for the sixth round of its increasingly-popular 2020 championship, the first time quads had raced at the old-school motocross circuit for many years.
Report by Jenni Foulkes – Images courtesy of John Cook
The weather held fine throughout the weekend, the track was well-prepped and well-watered, the landowner was welcoming, and, by all accounts, a good time was had by all.
The nature of the tight and challenging track set the scene for some close and hard-fought tactical racing battles across the classes.
The Pros were on fire, and the different style of track made things interesting out front with three different race winners across the three motos. In the opening Pro race, Dafydd Davies and George Day held first and second spots for the first few laps. Championship leader Harry Walker worked his way up from third, taking first Day and then Davies for the win, setting the fastest time on lap seven in the process.
Oli Sansom was on a mission in the second moto, taking a flag to flag win and never looking back. He made it his own with Jamie Morgan and George Day battling behind him in second and third, until the closing laps when Day nipped past Morgan for the win. Walker finished fourth from a mid-pack start.
In the final Pro race, Day was out front for the first lap and half but Bevan made his way through, charging for the chequered flag and a well-deserved win. Walker was down pecking order off the start in around seventh, but he moved steadily through the pack to take third ahead of Carl Bunce.
Alfie Walker was dominant in the Clubman group, taking three wins from three starts. He was unstoppable, while behind him the pack jostled for positions. Robbie Wood had a strong second finish in the first race with a consistent Danny Smith in third. A table-top off in the second put Wood out of contention but the tough Scott managed to complete five laps to get a finish, and then got back on his quad for the last race to take and impressive second. Danny Smith finished second in race two ahead of Dylan McKenna and rounded out the top three in the final.
The Masters once again went to Ed Davies who had a trio of wins ahead of Johnny McKnight and Greg Fisher.
Over in the Inters/Novice/Ladies, another Davies put in a storming ride in race one to take a start to finish win. Gavin Roach held off a late charge from the championship leader Tom Bainbridge, who finished fourth, while Harry Walker held it together to take third. In race two, Walker was out front until the last lap when Roach made the pass for second with Davies following him through. Dillon Stepney was in the frame to take third. Walker finished fifth. Walker made up for his second race set back by taking the holeshot in the third race and kept his wheels clean for the duration of the race to take his first class win of the season. Stepney was a strong second and Davies stayed with the boys in third.
In the 250s, Chad Beevers, Josh McKnight and Luke Berlyn all maintained their starting positions to the chequered. In race two, McKnight was out front for the duration, while Berlyn and Beevers swapped position at around half race distance for Berlyn to finish runner up and Beevers. Ross Dillon showed the Open machines his Air-cooled wheels with a fifth-place finish. In race three, Beevers and Berlyn held positions to the finish and Dillon put in a magnificent performance to take the third spot.
Frank Marston was out front again in all 100cc Geared races, with Olly McDonald claiming three runner-up positions. Ellie Stott was third in the first two races with Reggie Binskin take the last race third place. Harriet Mewse again rode her heart out to take all three 50cc race wins.
Round 6 Results
Pro/ProAm
Race 1
Pro: 1. #7 Harry Walker, 2. #15 Dafydd Davies, 3. #29 George Day
ProAm: 1. #74 Jack Naylor, 2. #17 Thomas Chell, 3. #39 Marcus Sprason
Race 2
Pro: 1. #3 Oi Sansom, 2. #29 George Day, 3. #24 Jamie Morgan
ProAm: 1. #74 Jack Naylor, 2. #17 Thomas Chell, 3. #39 Marcus Sprason
Race 3
Pro: 1. #222 James Bevan, 2. #29 George Day, 3. #7 Harry Walker
ProAm: 1. #74 Jack Naylor, 2. #17 Thomas Chell, 3. #39 Marcus Sprason
Clubman Elite/Clubman
Race 1
Elite: 1. #7 Alfie Walker, 2. #6 Robbie Wood, 3. #84 Danny Smith
Clubman: 1. #50 Daniel Scott Evabs, 2. #116 Scott Berlyn, 3. #6 Joe Pryke
Race 2
Elite: 1. #7 Alfie Walker, 2. #84 Danny Smith, 3. #5 Dylan McKenna
Clubman: 1. #116 Scott Berlyn, 2. #6 Joe Pryke, 3. #58 Luke Brown
Race 3
Elite: 1. #7 Alfie Walker, 2. #6 Robbie Wood, 3. #84 Danny Smith
Clubman: 1. #6 Joe Pryke, 2. #58 Luke Brown, 3. #40 Jack Evans
Masters A/B
Race 1
Masters A: 1. #16 Ed Davies, 2. #99 Johnny McKnight, 3. #47 Greg Fisher
Masters B: 1. #29 John Hall, 2. #40 Steven Smart, 3. #61 Richard Clark
Race 2
Masters A: 1. #16 Ed Davies, 2. #99 Johnny McKnight, 3. #47 Greg Fisher
Masters B: 1. #29 John Hall, 2. #61 Richard Clark, 3. #76 Gary Jones
Race 3
Masters A: 1. #16 Ed Davies, 2. #99 Johnny McKnight, 3. #47 Greg Fisher
Masters B: 1. #76 Gary Jones, 2. #61 Richard Clakr, 3. #6811 Matthew Kirk
Inters/Novice
Race 1
Inters: 1. #69 Catrin Davies, 2. #25 Gavin Roach, 3. #169 Harry Walker
Novice: 1. #213 Myles Mott, 2. #274 Martyn Doyle, 3. #841 James Lee
Ladies:1. #69 Catrin Davies, 2. #18 Nicole Lowry, 3. #666 Shelley Smart
Race 2
Inters: 1. #25 Gavin Roach, 2. #69 Catrin Davies, 3. #3 Dillon Stepney
Novice: 1. #213 Myles Mott, 2. #274 Martyn Doyle, 3. #841 James Lee
Ladies: 1. #69 Catrin Davies, 2. #18 Nicole Lowry, 3. #666 Shelley Smart
Race 3
Inters: 1. #169 Harry Walker, 2. #3 Dillon Stepney, 3. #69 Catrin Davies
Novice: 1. #213 Myles Mott, 2. #841 James Lee, 3. #111 Joshua Groom
Ladies: 1. #69 Catrin Davies, 2. #18 Nicole Lowry, 3. #666 Shelley Smart
250cc
Race 1
250 Open; 1. #538 Chad Beevers, 2. #2 Josh McKnight, 3. #40 Luke Berlyn
250 Air-cooled: 1. #14 Andrew Black, 2. #36 Ross Dillon, 3. #152 Arthur McDonald
Race 2
250 Open: 1. #2 Josh McKnight, 2. #538 Chad Beevers, 3. #40 Luke Berlyn
250 Air-cooled: 1. #36 Ross Dillon, 2. #14 Andrew Black, 3. #40 Luke Berlyn
Race 3:
250 Open: 1. #538 Chad Beevers, 2. #40 Luke Berlyn, 3. #16 Aled Davies
250 Air-cooled: 1. #36 Ross Dillon, 2. #152 Arthur McDonald, 3. #77b Connor Yates
100/50cc
Race 1
100 Geared: 1. #4 Frank Marston, 2. #62 Olly McDonald, 3. #7 Ellie Stott
100 Auto: 1. #177 Jay Sams, 2. #33 Luca Shaw, 3. #11 Finnley Bedding
50cc: 1. #426 Harriett Mewse, 2. #46 Morgan Humphreys, 3. #167 Jackson Marriott
Race 2
100 Geared: 1. #4 Frank Marston, 2. #62 Olly McDonald, 3. #7 Ellie Stott
100 Auto: 1. #177 Jay Sams, 2. #888 Seth Balaam, 3. #10b Liam McGowan
50cc: 1. #426 Harriett Mewse, 2. #167 Jackson Marriott, 3. #46 Morgan Humphreys
Race 3
100 Geared: 1. #4 Frank Marston, 2. #62 Olly McDonald, 3. #15 Reggie Binskin
100 Auto: 1. #177 Jay Sams, 2. #33 Luca Shaw, 3. #10b Liam McGowan
50cc: 1. #426 Harriett Mewse, 2. #135 Shay McKenna, 3. #46 Morgan Humphreys
Next up; Nora-MX heads to West Meon in Hampshire for the finale of its seven-round 2020 season. Visit www.nora-mx.co.uk for more information or check out the club’s Facebook page Nora-MX2020.
