Lilly Bence took victory in the 2023 ACU E-bike Gold Cup on Saturday at the Formula Grasstrack’s 7th round of the H&N Supplies Ltd. Championship.
Race Report and Images by Ross Wharton
Bence would only drop 2 points during the afternoon as she went on to win. The girl from Kingswinford adds this to her 2022 FGA title in the new class. Thames Levi Collins was the only one to get the better of Bence in their 4th outing. Collins went on to finish 2nd overall whilst newcomer Cooper Jax rode superbly to take 3rd place. Dalton Wright would Get the better of Kobi Gutteridge for 4th place.
Dakota Wright would take victory in the Auto cadet category, getting the better of Alfie Shipp in 4 of the 6-point scoring heats. Shipp wound finish 2nd overall whilst 2022 champion Charlie Dowd finished 3rd. Lucas Astley snatched 4th place from the improved Kaylem Bourne who was unlucky to lose a chain in his 5th ride.
AJ Bence looks to have got the hang of his cadet machine, taking 6 wins from 6 to head home Chloe Davis who is currently leading the cadet championship.
Finley Theobald continued his brilliant form in the cub category. Theobald was never troubled, taking a full maximum. Logan price was consistent in finishing 2nd in all his races whilst Jessica Cox has improved brilliantly in the 2 months break to take a fantastic 3rd. Newcomer Roman Ratcliffe was 4th and received youth rider of the day.
Bristol’s Max Derrick continued his winning ways. Derrick took 3 wins and 3 seconds to take 1st place whilst Joe Crewe edged out brother Jack by 1 point to take second place. Jack would take 2 victories in the heats and Joe Crewe would take the honours in the Junior Final.
It was very much as you were in the Senior class. Wayne Broadhurst once again Dominated the afternoon taking 6 heat wins before going on to take victory in the Jonathon Rodgers memorial final. Graham Thomas only dropped 2 points on his was to 2nd overall and would take 2nd in the final too. Before the final, Kevin Gwillam and Max Broadhurst were equal on points for 3rd, so the final was a decider for them. Gwillam would lead young Broadhurst for all the race before Max made an outside dash for the line, pipping Gwillam by a tyre’s width. Phil Thomas was 5th overall but would sit the final out. Colin How and Adam Hawker were tied for 6th, but Hawker would get the better of How in the Final. Sam Hall would be left wondering what if after stalling on the line in his 4th ride meaning he could only manage 3 points from that heat, relegating him to 8th overall.
Round 8 takes place on the 9th of September at Arscott, near Shrewsbury. More information on www.formulagrasstrack.com & our facebook page.
Results
E-Bikes – 1st L.Bence 70, 2nd L. Collins 62, 3rd C. Jax 54, 4th D. Wright 48, 5th K. Gutteridge 42
Auto cadets – 1st D. Wright 46, 2nd A. Shipp 44, 3rd C. Dowd 36, 4th L. Astley 26, 5th K. Bourne 24
Cadets – 1st AJ Bence 48, 2nd C. Davis 42
Cubs – 1st F. Theobald 48, 2nd L. Price 42, 3rd J. Cox 36, 4th R. Ratcliffe 30
Juniors – 1st M. Derrick 45, 2nd Joe Crewe 41, 3rd Jack Crewe 40, 4th I. Collins-Bullock 21, 5th L. Cox 20, 6th C. Arthur 20, 7th M. Alexander 12
Seniors (Top 10) – 1st W. Broadhurst 48, 2nd G. Thomas 46, 3rd M. Broadhurst 45, 4th K. Gwillam 45, 5th P. Thomas 41, 6th A. Hawker 38, 7th C. How 38, 8th S. Hall 37, 9th D. Edwards 33, 10th A. Rowson 32
