The racers for Round 1 of the 2024 EXGP British EX Championship made the trip over Chesil Beach to Portland and to Grove Farm as they embarked on their crusade for this year’s title.
Race Report by EXGB – Images courtesy of Nicholas Guppy
With the Sun shining and their faces painted, the little riders were ready for action. And what a fine display they put on once again for the big crowd of spectators.
Continuing from where he left off by winning the EXGB Indoor title at Wheeldon Farm in May, Tommy Ashmore was once again putting the hammer down in the Oset 12.5 class and winning five of the six races in fine style to take the Overall for Round 1.
Battling hard for second were Walter Shingler-Hulme and Jenson Wood, with both riders showing great speed. In the end, though, and with a race win under his belt, the number two spot would go the way of Walter, with Jenson rounding out the podium in third. Eden Davies racked up some good points with some fantastic riding for fourth, Hunter Brierly showed great pace with a superb fifth, and Chace Dunstan made an excellent debut in this class for sixth.
The Mini E class is going from strength to strength, and this EXGP opener saw 27 racers going at it for EXGP glory. Once again, it went down to the wire, with the last lap of the last race deciding who the winner would be. The top three riders were separated by just two points, but with a battling display and picking himself up from a crash in the final on Sunday, the victory would go the way of Albie Dallas. Well done, Albie.
Parker Herbert put in two fine rides in the Finals on both days to finish an excellent Second overall, while Bear Todd triumphed in the Final on Sunday with a brilliant ride to take third for the round. Grayson Blake-Martin had an eventful weekend, which could have seen him finish higher for the order. Grayson was leading Sunday’s final but came off, which hampered his points scoring, but he still finished a mighty fine fourth.
Doing it for the locals and gaining some massive Airtime, Louis Good ended the weekend with a superb fifth overall, with Charlie Needs riding his socks off and claiming an awesome sixth.
The next four riders were separated by just four points, but Cooper Dunstan came out on top of this dual for seventh with some great riding. Alfie Puddy had some cracking races and would take home a good Eighth; Lucas Gill, making his debut in this class on a Husqvarna E2, was a super ninth, and Aliyas Westwick, with some fantastic speed, took home tenth.
Picking herself up from a couple of nasty tumbles was Nancy Good in a superb eleventh; Junior Garbutt showed his liking for his new machine with a tremendous twelfth. Charlie Masters was nailing the starts with some lightning reactions and claimed a strong thirteenth, Callen Haward-Scales kept it pinned for a good fourteenth, Louie Smith looked smooth and stylish in a great fifteenth, and Rafe Harwood had some epic speed and got some great airtime in a tremendous Sixteenth.
Noah Whittaker turned on the style for an excellent seventeenth, Zara Jackson kept the hammer down to finish in a super eighteenth, Ethan Rudd showed his liking for his new Husqvarna E2 with a great nineteenth, and Nina Davies rode her heart out to claim a good twentieth.
Landing in a nice Twenty first with some super starts was Vinnie Legg, Auley Luxton kept it pinned for a solid twenty-second, Keyan Parry made a welcome return with a good twenty-third, Reuben Scrivens rode well for twenty-fourth, and Billy Plummer in twenty-fifth and James Rock in Twenty Sixt both showed good speed in their one day of racing.
In the super competitive Auto E3 class, Kaylum Clark was on the gas and powered to five wins out of the six races for a magnificent Round 1 win. Kaylum’s only defeat came at the hands of Hunter Dunstan, who started his weekend with a superb victory, which helped him claim a fantastic second overall and made sure that Kaylum couldn’t back off in each and every race.
Martha Gill made it a hugely successful debut in this class with a tremendous third overall, showing great style and skill on her first time out. Aurora Young was another, making her first appearance in the E3s, but it didn’t look like it was. She railed her machine to a super fourth overall.
Also making their debuts were Apollo Newton, who finished a great fifth; Reggie Herring, who finished a superb sixth; and Theo Hancock, who finished a good seventh.
Apart from a Race one blip Oakley Jones had a faultless weekend on his way to victory in the Auto E5 class where he will looking to claim the title to add to his Oset 12.5 and Mini E ones he has already bagged. Oakley had to do it the hard way a couple of times too but EXGP round one would be his.
Raife Western never gives up, and had to come through the pack on a number of occasions but did so with style and would take a great second position overall. The ever-smiling Ortus Simons had a fabulous weekend and would fend off the hard-charging Alfie James, with these two taking a great third and fourth, respectively.
Presley Purchase, on his debut in the E5 class, would make some storming starts and would ride well for fifth, Rupert Foden battled hard for a fantastic sixth, and the busy Charlie Masters had some great races for seventh.
EXGB would like to thank everyone who came out, raced, watched and supported our event… massive thanks to the Laming family for welcoming us to their venue, Colin Ayles and the Thorntons for all of their help and, of course, our amazing team for all that they do.
Round 2 is on the 13th and 14th of July at LDR in Gloucestershire. Entries are available. >>CLICK HERE for the full info<<
For the Full Round 1 Results >>CLICK HERE<<
