Nicholls claims victory at Blaxhall! ACU Eastern Centre Motocross Championship Round 4 – Race Report & Results

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Woodbridge MCC hosted round four of the Eastern Centre motocross championships, sponsored by Instanda and Stebbings Car superstore, on Sunday at their Blaxhall circuit.

Report by Charlie Ralph – Images courtesy of ImageRich Media

Held in fine, dry conditions, the circuit was, as usual, in prime condition for racing, and the spectators were treated to 15 action packed races.

Despite the appearance of several National grade riders competing, to get some useful track time in readiness for the August British Championship meeting at Blaxhall, first race victory in the premier class went to Eastern series leader, Lewis Tombs, (Banks Honda). Tombs led the twenty-minute-long race from start to finish, with Liam Knight, (Gabriel KTM), and Dan Thornhill, (Cabscreens Yamaha) battling for second place. They were joined by local ace, Jake Nicholls, (Crendon Fastrack Honda), and the crowd were treated to watch a great four-way scrap at the front of the pack. Nicholls fought through to second place, but it was Tombs, riding brilliantly, who took the win. Thornhill got the better of Knight to claim third place, with Nicholls’s young teammate, Jay Hague, taking 5th place, chased home by Tom Grimshaw, (Chambers Husqvarna).

Despite still not being 100% fit, following a shoulder injury, Nicholls stormed to the front in race two, with Knight and Thornhill once again disputing second place. Positions remained the same throughout the race though, with Hague having another good race to finish in 4th place. Norfolk’s Luke Parker, (Matt Pope Kawasaki), held 5th place for the first four laps, but was eventually passed by young Suffolk ace, Sam Nunn, (RHR Yamaha), and Tombs. After crashing on the first corner, Grimshaw was in 36th place at the end of the first lap but fought through to 10th at the finish.

It was Thornhill’s turn for victory in the 3rd race. Grabbing the lead at the start, Thornhill was chased hard by Nicholls, and with a lap left, Nicholls closed the gap dramatically to within a bikes length as they crossed the finish line. Knight rode well in a lonely third place, with Grimshaw getting the better of Tombs for 4th. Luke Benstead, (GH Husqvarna), had bike problems in the first two races, but had better luck in race three, finishing in 6th place, after a high-speed battle with Sam Nunn.

The 14 junior grade riders, who had qualified to race the premier class, certainly did not disgrace themselves, and there were some good battles amongst themselves further down the pack in each race.

Callum Murfitt topped the overall premier class juniors, with Liam Bennett having three good rides for second. Murfitt’s main opponent in the series, Ryan Gardiner, was third overall, with Tommy Clark just ahead of Joseph Leeks, Connor Bunkle and Archie Fisher.

The Group A Support races were dominated by Lewis O’Sullivan, who easily won all three moto’s. Local rider, Ben Alexander, was 2nd in race one, after a good battle with Jack Youngs and Ollie Brader.

With O’Sullivan in a commanding lead again in race two, Sam Arbon led the rest home in 2nd place. Connor Baldry fought through to 3rd, chased home by Arnis Paberzs. O’Sullivan romped home for a third win, leaving Baldry to claim 2nd place in race three, after a spirited battle with Brader, Alexander and Paberzs.

There were three different winners in the B Support races, Zac Roberts won the first leg, after passing early race leader, Lee Kirkpatrick. Veteran Paul Hubbard took his Herts MX Honda to victory in race two, closely followed by Shaun Palfrey and Roberts, and Alex Truslow won race three, with Roberts in 2nd place, which was enough for the overall win.

Vince Snell, coming back from retirement, won all three legs in the C support group, with the consistent Alfie Self in second place in each race, and Overall victory in the D group went to Shaun Tacey, however youngster Henry Cox had cruel luck. After winning the first two races, bike problems when leading the third leg, caused his retirement.

Round five of the Eastern Championships will be held on August 1st at Lyng, hosted by the Norwich Vikings club.

Results

Premier Expert

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Jake Nicholls	69	22	25	22
2	Daniel Thornhill	65	20	20	25
3	Liam Knight	60	18	22	20
4	Lewis Tombs	56	25	15	16
5	Tom Grimshaw	44	15	11	18
6	Sam Nunn	41	11	16	14
7	Luke Parker	38	14	14	10
8	Ben Franklin	34	8	13	13
9	Jay Lewis Hague	34	16	18	–
10	Declan Whittle	29	10	8	11
11	Shaun Southgate	24	–	12	12
12	Jack Brunell	22	13	9	–
13	Thomas Murphy	20	4	7	9
14	Max Broadbelt	18	5	5	8
15	Jake Preston	18	7	6	5
16	Benjamin Cole	16	6	10	–
17	Luke Benstead	15	–	–	15
18	Will Farrow	13	3	3	7
19	Steven Clarke	12	12	–	–
20	Brad Woodroffe	11	1	4	6
21	Josh Peters	10	9	1	–
22	Stephen Wade	6	2	–	4
23	Jason Morland	4	–	2	2
24	Brad Thornhill	3	–	–	3

Premier Junior

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Callum Murfitt	69	22	25	22
2	Liam Bennett	67	25	22	20
3	Ryan Gardiner	61	18	18	25
4	Tommy Clark	58	20	20	18
5	Joseph Leeks	44	14	14	16
6	Connor Bunkle	42	12	16	14
7	Archie Fisher	42	15	15	12
8	Matthew French	39	13	13	13
9	Finley Jarvis	31	16	–	15
10	Harry Smith	31	10	10	11
11	Lewis Holmes	27	8	9	10
12	Benjamin Parry	23	11	12	–
13	Joshua Deadman	20	9	11	–

Support A

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Lewis O’sullivan	135	45	45	45
2	Oliver Brader	117	39	37	41
3	Benjamin Alexander	117	43	35	39
4	Connor Baldry	114	30	41	43
5	Samuel Arbon	111	37	43	31
6	Arnis Paberzs	110	34	39	37
7	Harrison Forde	101	35	33	33
8	Robert Baldry	99	33	31	35
9	Daniel Willis	89	27	30	32
10	Joseph Hall	78	29	19	30
11	Bailey Jackson	75	26	27	22
12	Jack Youngs	70	41	29	–
13	Oliver Gaut	69	25	20	24
14	Joe Phillips	66	13	26	27
15	Freddie Wyard	66	32	34	–
16	Jack Klimowicz	65	19	18	28
17	Elliot Cook	63	31	32	–
18	Craig Heslop	62	–	28	34
19	Luke Nolan	57	17	17	23
20	Scott Claydon	57	16	21	20
21	Archie Cockerill	54	20	13	21
22	Charlie Baker	54	21	15	18
23	Aaron Smith	52	9	24	19
24	Marc Nickerson	49	24	25	–
25	Thomas Mustard	47	–	22	25
26	Stephen Atkins	46	22	10	14
27	Sean Wright	38	–	12	26
28	William King	37	12	9	16
29	Rupert Graver	37	14	23	–
30	Jay Peperell	32	7	8	17
31	Henry Rogers	32	18	14	–
32	John Hall	31	15	16	–
33	Joshua Deadman	29	–	–	29
34	Max Whittley	29	8	6	15
35	Shane Brown	28	28	–	–
36	Alby Smith	23	23	–	–
37	Oliver Hill	21	10	11	–
38	Callum Lake	18	11	7	–
39	William Jurgens	13	–	–	13
40	Michael Kester	10	5	5	–
41	Ciaran Poulter	6	6	–	–

Support B

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Zak Roberts	129	45	41	43
2	Alex Truslow	125	41	39	45
3	Paul Hubbard	121	39	45	37
4	Lee Kirkpatrick	111	43	34	34
5	Shaun Palfrey	108	32	43	33
6	Lloyd Goldstraw	103	37	35	31
7	Paul Aldridge	99	28	32	39
8	Ethan Cone	93	31	21	41
9	Fynn Ellis	87	34	26	27
10	Karl Sturman	85	35	24	26
11	Mitchell Beagrie	83	29	22	32
12	Joe Scillitoe	83	25	29	29
13	Scott Blazey	83	33	31	19
14	Luke Clifton	78	15	28	35
15	Daniel Wright	77	22	25	30
16	Josh Sturman	73	20	33	20
17	James Gadd	70	18	30	22
18	Lee Keyton	67	30	37	–
19	Scott Goodson	60	19	27	14
20	Joshua Warren	57	13	20	24
21	Max Monk	54	17	16	21
22	Jacob Carter	52	26	3	23
23	Samuel Cliff	50	27	13	10
24	Sebastian Millbank	48	5	15	28
25	Jonathan Finch	47	11	11	25
26	George Reeves Furness	47	12	19	16
27	Thomas Clarke	47	24	23	–
28	Katie Stock	45	16	14	15
29	Edward Pegram	40	10	17	13
30	Henry Utting	38	8	18	12
31	Craig Page-Baker	37	7	12	18
32	Daniel Dyer	36	14	5	17
33	Mark Gardner	29	21	8	–
34	Jake Lane	25	9	7	9
35	Danny Palmer	23	23	–	–
36	Ty Atkins	22	2	9	11
37	Robbie Blaxell	21	4	10	7
38	Dave Edwards	18	6	4	8
39	Robert Green	9	3	6	–

Support C

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Vincent Snell	135	45	45	45
2	Alfie Self	129	43	43	43
3	Luke Jordan Pharoah	112	30	41	41
4	Aaron Holden	105	31	39	35
5	Aaron Saunders	104	41	24	39
6	Brenton Clarke	103	34	32	37
7	Justin Dennis	101	35	35	31
8	Charlie Starsmoore	100	37	34	29
9	James Day	93	39	28	26
10	Dean Suckling	91	33	25	33
11	Samuel Cook	84	19	33	32
12	Maciej Pietraszek	82	18	30	34
13	Jake Pearce	82	25	27	30
14	Alfie Arnold	81	26	31	24
15	Kara Quinn	70	28	19	23
16	Andrew Smith	67	22	18	27
17	Tom Starling	67	21	21	25
18	Troy Brumpton	62	23	17	22
19	Thomas Clarkson	61	20	20	21
20	Ollie Denyer	61	24	37	–
21	Jesse Eaves	61	32	29	–
22	Alfie Hunt	54	–	26	28
23	Dylan Wilby	52	29	23	–
24	Oliver Roeton	51	15	16	20
25	Jack Noon	51	17	15	19
26	Lewis Abel	49	27	22	–
27	John Smith	48	16	14	18
28	Robert Ward	27	14	13	–

Support D

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Shaun Tacey	131	43	43	45
2	Tony Rooke	117	37	37	43
3	Toby Souchotte	112	34	39	39
4	Chris Gaut	106	41	41	24
5	Mark Hegarty	105	39	35	31
6	Jason Turner	101	35	34	32
7	Andrew Webster	100	28	31	41
8	Robert Bond	100	32	33	35
9	William Mcrae	99	30	32	37
10	Ashley Stiff	91	29	29	33
11	Adam Groom	90	33	30	27
12	Henry Cox	90	45	45	–
13	Damen Harris	86	31	27	28
14	David Homan	85	25	26	34
15	Carl Hood	79	21	28	30
16	Damian Taylor	75	24	25	26
17	Shaun Griffiths	74	27	22	25
18	Matthew Herring	70	26	23	21
19	Jason Eaves	60	17	20	23
20	Kai Ryder	59	20	19	20
21	Michael Blaxell	58	22	18	18
22	Evan Brown	53	–	24	29
23	Graham Muff	53	15	16	22
24	Adam Baker	52	18	15	19
25	Christopher Bickley	44	23	21	–
26	Liam Ryland-Pye	33	19	14	–
27	Nick Hunton	31	14	–	17
28	Gene Barfield	17	–	17	–
29	Ashley Doggett	16	16	–	–