Terrific Tom steals the show – 2024 Eastern Centre Motocross Championship – Race Report, Results & Highlights

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On Sunday 7th of April, the Halstead & district mcc hosted the first round of the ACU Eastern centre motocross championship. Backed by sponsors, Stebbings car superstore and Norton way group, the 2024 season burst into life at the well-prepared Wakes Colne circuit.

Words by Stefan Hicks – Images courtesy of Max Leveridge – Narna media

The sunny but windy conditions made the track a completely different prospect from the start of the day compared to the end. A stacked expert class headed out for their practice/qualifying session, and it was Apico Honda rider Tom Grimshaw who edged out Sam Nunn (John Banks Honda) to head to the start gate first, ready for race 1.

The first premier class race of the day saw Shaun Southgate aboard his GH Motorcycles Yamaha take the holeshot ahead of the chasing pack, with Lewis Tombs and Tom Grimshaw close behind. Sam Nunn didn’t get the best of jumps out of the gate, but certainly made up for that by making his way through traffic and onto the rear wheel of Grimshaw by the end of the first lap. Nunn then made the move on Grimshaw and Tombs, and while the top 5 were fighting amongst each other, Nunn created a comfortable gap that he could maintain to the finish. Tombs held on for second place ahead of Grimshaw in third.

In the second premier race, reigning champion Luke Parker (MPM Kawasaki) came out of the gate quickest but was unable to hold onto the lead as Nunn and Grimshaw once again came to the front and had a fantastic battle for the win in front of the eagerly anticipating spectators. The lead swapping hands multiple times before a costly mistake on the last lap from Nunn, allowed Grimshaw to power his Honda home in first place. Nunn settled for second and Tombs third.

The third and final premier class race once again saw Parker take the holeshot, and Nunn having to battle through the top 10 on the opening laps. Lewis Tombs then stormed to the front early on but was unable to match the pace of Nunn and Grimshaw, who were both on fine form all afternoon long. After another battle at the front, it was Grimshaw who again stole the race win from Nunn’s hands on the penultimate lap, and in turn took the overall expert victory. Nunn took second overall and Tombs third. In the junior class, Tim Warnes took the overall win, ahead of Matthew Pope and Jamie Cox.

Support A class overall was taken by Jack Whitlam with a 2-1-10, ahead of Gareth Lane and Charlie Roper in third.

Support B class was won by Edward Jary with results of 1-2-2 ahead of James Taylor in second and Ethan Hayward in third.

Finally, the support C class honours was taken by Harry Sobkowiak with results of 4-1-1 ahead of second place Katie Stock and in third Sam Whittred.

Results

Expert Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Tom Grimshaw	70	20	25	25
2	Sam Nunn	69	25	22	22
3	Lewis Tombs	62	22	20	20
4	Luke Parker	51	15	18	18
5	Shaun Southgate	49	18	16	15
6	Benjamin Cole	40	11	15	14
7	Luke Benstead	39	16	7	16
8	Joseph Leeks	39	13	14	12
9	William Farrow	38	14	13	11
10	Todd Ritchie	36	12	11	13
11	Benjamin Hayward	29	10	10	9
12	Brad Woodroffe	26	6	12	8
13	Harrison Forde	22	4	8	10
14	Callum McCaul	18	8	5	5
15	Shane Lock	16	7	2	7
16	Oliver Brader	13	1	6	6
17	Finley Jarvis	12	5	3	4
18	Cullen Hawkins	12	9	–	3
19	Charlie Nudds	12	3	9	–
20	Carl Hayward	8	2	4	2
21	Ben Parry	1	–	–	1
22	Sean Ottway	1	–	1	–

Junior Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Tim Warnes	75	25	25	25
2	Matthew Pope	66	22	22	22
3	Jamie Cox	54	16	20	18
4	Harry George	52	20	16	16
5	Jae Jeffries	51	13	18	20
6	George Foames	47	18	15	14
7	Jordan Andrews	44	15	14	15
8	Joe Phillips	38	14	11	13
9	Oliver Gaut	36	12	12	12
10	Leyton Turner	35	11	13	11

Adult Support A

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Jack Whitlam	119	43	45	31
2	Gareth Lane	118	41	34	43
3	Charlie Roper	117	35	37	45
4	James Rowsell	112	32	41	39
5	Joshua Deadman	110	34	35	41
6	Scott Claydon	102	33	32	37
7	Vinnie Snell	98	37	29	32
8	George Ray	95	29	33	33
9	Mark Gardner	91	31	26	34
10	Mitchell Murfitt	89	30	31	28
11	James Suckling	87	39	39	9
12	Harrison Fittchett	84	45	12	27
13	Shane Brown	81	25	21	35
14	Paul Hubbard	79	26	27	26
15	Robbie Pearmain	77	23	30	24
16	Henry Cox	72	14	28	30
17	Joshua Andrews	67	28	25	14
18	Jenson Whitehall	67	24	43	–
19	Harry Peck	64	27	16	21
20	Scott Howlett	62	20	19	23
21	Luke Nolan	61	19	22	20
22	Will Jurgens	59	17	24	18
23	Aaron Smith	52	4	23	25
24	Sam Rogers	51	22	–	29
25	Ty Atkins	48	15	14	19
26	Stephen Atkins	48	18	13	17
27	Ben Last	44	11	20	13
28	Robert Bond	37	–	15	22
29	Callum Lake	36	10	10	16
30	Cole Taylor	35	7	18	10
31	Adam Wilson	34	12	7	15
32	Edward Pegram	33	16	17	–
33	Brad Watts	30	9	9	12
34	Louis Dutton	25	21	4	–
35	Sam Hilton	24	13	11	–
36	Jake Cazey	21	5	5	11
37	Cameron Parrish	14	6	8	–
38	Kieran Jessett	8	8	–	–
39	Justin Wyatt	6	–	6	–
40	Zack Carter	3	3	–	–

Adult Support B

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Edward Jary	131	45	43	43
2	James Taylor	127	37	45	45
3	Ethan Hayward	116	41	41	34
4	Alfie Self	109	39	33	37
5	Lee Anderson	105	43	27	35
6	Luke Pharoah	104	32	39	33
7	Cory Smith	96	35	32	29
8	Luke Reeve	92	29	35	28
9	David Farrant	90	26	25	39
10	Harry Hawes	90	27	31	32
11	Dale Brinkley	81	31	20	30
12	Sebastian Millbank	77	15	37	25
13	Taylor Saunders	76	28	34	14
14	Lee Keyton	74	33	–	41
15	Russell Snowling	73	21	30	22
16	Sam Philpott	72	19	29	24
17	Lee Faulkner	60	11	26	23
18	Marcus Smith	57	30	–	27
19	Charlie Starsmoore	56	25	–	31
20	Darren Eastall	54	18	28	8
21	Trevor Brinkley	52	17	18	17
22	Lewis Wells	52	13	23	16
23	Rudi Carter	48	8	19	21
24	John Smith	43	9	22	12
25	Jason Turner	41	4	24	13
26	Jake Lane	39	20	–	19
27	Troy Brumpton	38	12	–	26
28	Craig Page-Baker	36	16	–	20
29	Darren Watts	36	5	21	10
30	James Colclough	34	34	–	–
31	Conor Bardwell	33	24	–	9
32	Chris Gaut	32	14	–	18
33	Casey Carter	23	23	–	–
34	Richard Ingram	22	22	–	–
35	Teddy Clark	18	7	–	11
36	Shane Redgewell	15	–	–	15
37	Jacob Carter	10	10	–	–
38	Trevor Buckley	6	6	–	–

Adult Support C

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Harry Sobkowiak	129	39	45	45
2	Katie Stock	127	41	43	43
3	Sam Whittred	117	35	41	41
4	Gareth Robertson	116	45	39	32
5	Jake Robertson	109	37	33	39
6	Damian Flack	105	33	37	35
7	Perry Fiddy	101	34	34	33
8	Nathan Gotts	87	30	30	27
9	Matthew Herring	85	29	25	31
10	Josh Faulkner	83	24	29	30
11	Toby Henderson	81	25	28	28
12	Ryan Christmas	77	27	21	29
13	Finlay Whitlam	75	14	27	34
14	Shaun Tacey	75	43	32	–
15	Jake Faulkner	75	26	24	25
16	Zack Kingshott	72	–	35	37
17	Daniel Allen	65	19	22	24
18	Robert Green	63	32	31	–
19	Mattheew Goodger	61	17	18	26
20	Maisie Hockney	59	16	20	23
21	Colin Booker	48	15	13	20
22	Jason Eaves	47	11	14	22
23	Anna Groves	47	21	26	–
24	Ryan Crump	43	12	12	19
25	Jake Sims	41	18	23	–
26	Stephen Hood	39	22	17	–
27	Nick Hunton	36	–	15	21
28	Aiden Payne	36	20	16	–
29	Adrian Brewer	32	13	19	–
30	Hayden Martin	31	31	–	–
31	Geraint Hubbard	28	28	–	–
32	Andrew Smith	23	23	–	–
33	David Maddison	19	8	11	–
34	Harley Lee Buckley	10	10	–	–
35	Jonathan Boreham	9	9	–	–