Last weekend saw the golden sands of Barmouth Beach carved into the ever-challenging track that is Barmouth Beach Race. The fast, technical layout and dense sand would prove to be a test of the fastest riders and challenge both man and machine.
Race Report and Images by Joe Martson
It wasn’t only the track that impressed as the Welsh gem welcomed a record entry of riders to the town, and Wilden Motocross Club set out a tantalizing schedule including quads and some of the country’s top experts in an ever-competitive pro class… A near full gate in the Junior group also grabbed the eye with a mixture of capacities and ages taking to the beach. As the sun rays broke through on the opening day the crowds lined the promenade, and the riders lined the gate ready for the band to snap.
First on the rostra was the highly anticipated junior group; from the off Zane Deakin and Rees Jones had the edge on the field, with both riders flowing smoothly around the deep corners and negotiating tricky corrugations around the course. Only beaten once, it would be Deakin that would take the overall, a trio of wins on the opening day put him in good stead for the Sunday, and he didn’t disappoint, adding another win in the final outing. Jones held on for second at times, looking like he had the pace to edge Deakin, but traffic and an ever tougher track halted his advances. A win in the opening race on Sunday was a huge boost to his 213 total points, and the strong pace shown was confidence-boosting. Cailden Griffiths was best of the rest in third, displaying impressive pace and stamina throughout the weekend with a scorecard of 3-3-3-3-4th. Mixing in with the junior class was a tough trio of 65cc riders. Arron Jones, Harry Jones and Terry Challinor managed to complete all five outings, with Arron topping the class in an impressive 20th overall. Harry Jones ended a further 2 points back in 21st overall and Challinor rounded off the weekend in 24th with 81 points to his name.
Next up was the always-tight 125cc class. Charlie Griffiths was the dominant force throughout the weekend, taking all 3 wins on the Saturday. A challenging Sunday saw Griffiths settle for second and third, but his strong opening day secured the overall on 217 points, 6 clear of his rivals. Clinching the second overall was an extremely impressive Jake Davies, the Gasgas rider was returning from injury and showed a strong pace throughout the weekend. The battle for the final step on the podium was one that would last all weekend with several riders holding the spot throughout. Ashton Brightmore had the pace to grab the spot, but a DNF in race two hit his overall hard, he would however end on a high as he took the final race win. With Brightmore falling short, it was left for a pair of Wilden MXC regulars to fight out the third overall, Jack Dando and Alfie Davies would switch around countless times, but it was Dando that ended on top with 190 points. Davies hung onto fourth overall, just short of Dando at the close.
The adult open class saw an enormous entry of 68 riders line up for the opening race. A talent-packed entry set the scene for some fantastic racing. Ashley Beniston struck first, dominating the opening race, using his 450cc power to carve his way through the sand. The opening race win may have gone to Beniston, but Mitch Brightmore would be the dominant force for the remaining four races, using his enduro skills to good effect. Beniston would end his weekend in second, just 2 points off the overall, but a third in the final race ended his overall assault. Rounding off the overall podium was Stu Owen. A tough Sunday for Owen almost saw him knocked off the podium, but a strong opening day would see him hang on by just 3 points from Matt Hockernhill. Coming on strong on Sunday Jordan Wright would end his weekend with a second spot, but a DNF in his opening race pushed him down to 6th overall. Ben Wainwright was another rider showing great pace, leading the opening race briefly. A couple of poor starts and small falls meant fifth was the best he could muster.
This years Saturday club was another full gate, with 38 riders opting to take on the one day of the Barmouth Beach Race. Kicking off strongly was Gethin Humphreys, a dominant performance saw Humphreys cruise to the opening race win. A DNF in the final race would rule him out of the overall opening the door for Dion Lewis to step in and clinch the overall with a pair of wins in the final two races. Second overall was a much closer affair, with just one point separating Ash Cotterill and Rich Evans. Consistency would prove key, with two second-place finishes proving enough for Cotterill to edge out Evans for second overall. Tim Foreman would fall just short of a podium spot in fourth, just four points back from Evans.
The Expert class was action-packed as ever and full of talented pro riders. The fireworks started early as the riders piled into the first corner, Lewis Hall edged the field whilst behind him Brad Thornhill, Adam Wells and Gavin Stevenson tangled, hitting the ground. Fortunately, all three riders rejoined, but the damage was done, and Stevenson would ultimately lose out on the overall by one point to Hall. Stevenson bounced back from his race-one drama with a fantastic show of pace in his remaining rides, taking a pair of wins that helped secure his second spot.
A fast-charging George Simmuten threatened the overall at times throughout the weekend, stealing the race 4 win from Stevenson. Simmuten would wrap third overall after a heavy tumble in the final race saw him score a fourth-place finish, he would be 6 points back at the close. Jamie Law had a consistent weekend scoring a trio of podiums on the opening day and capitalizing on others’ mistakes he would go on to take fourth overall, two points clear of a ruthless reigning Barmouth champion, Jamie Wainwright. A fast pace and all-in approach saw Wainwright challenge in every race, but ultimately he fell short of the overall as small mistakes added up, hindering his progress. A second place finish in the final race was a good way to end the weekend for Wainwright whose pace showed so much promise early on.
Oli Sansom was king of the quads for a third year running, dominating the class with four race wins and a second in the final outing. Challenging Sansom on the opening day, Karl Bunce looked like he would threaten Sansom’s dominance but two DNF’s on Sunday meant 8th overall for Bunce. Stepping up onto the podium in second overall was Iestyn Rowlands, digging in and finding good pace on the Sunday Rowlands managed to secure a race win and a strong overall. Rounding off the quad podium was the KTM of Marco Zaffino whose strong Sunday saw him climb above of Scott & Jack Evans, respectively.
Results
Juniors
1. Zane Deakin
2. Rees Jones
3. Cailen Griffiths
4. Ashton Phillips
5. Frankie Jubb
6. Jenson Severn
Open
1. Mitch Brightmore
2. Ashley Beniston
3. Stu Owen
4. Matt Hockernhill
5. Ben Wainwright
6. Jordan Wright
Expert
1. Lewis Hall
2. Gavin Stevenson
3. George Simmuten
4. Jamie Law
5. Jamie Wainwright
6. Jack Beniston
125’s
1. Charlie Griffiths
2. Jake Davies
3. Jack Dando
4. Alfie Davies
5. Ashton Brightmore
6. Joe Wright
Quads
1. Oli Sansom
2. Iestyn Rowlands
3. Marco Zaffino
4. Scott Evans
5. Jack Evans
6. Luke Brown
Saturday Club
1. Dion Lewis
2. Ash Cotterill
3. Rich Evans
4. Tim Foreman
5. Roger Holland
6. Andrew Edwards
