Tombs and Murfitt take victory as they claim Eastern ACU Motocross Titles – Race Report, Results and Standings

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The final round of the 2021 Eastern Centre Motocross Championships, sponsored by Instanda and Stebbings Car Superstore, was held at Lyng, Norfolk, on Sunday.

Report from Charlie Ralph – Images courtesy of Max Leveridge – Narna Productions

Hosted by the Norwich Vikings club, the Cadders Hill circuit was in prime condition, and a bumper entry of 200 riders competed at the iconic hillside track.

After the timed qualification sessions, the fastest 40 riders competed in the premier class, with the remaining competitors separated into four support groups.

Current champion, Suffolk’s Lewis Tombs, came to Lyng with a 24 points advantage over Norfolk ace, Luke Parker, in the experts’ class, but with 75 points up for grabs, everything was to be decided on the day. Race one saw Tombs leading, chased hard by Parker throughout the twenty-minute-long race. Kings Lynn’s Calum Mitchell was pushing hard in third place, followed closely by former champion, Luke Benstead, and Newmarket youngster, Sam Nunn. At the finish, Tombs took the win, with Parker only yards behind. A mistake by Mitchell had dropped him to fifth place, with Benstead crossing the finish line in third, just ahead of Nunn. Tom Murphy rounded out the top six.

With the junior grade riders scoring separately, series leader, Callum Murfitt, increased his championship lead. The seventeen-year-old was the leading junior rider, finishing in 11th place, therefore collecting maximum points in his class. His nearest rival, Ryan Gardiner, had earlier had machine problems, which effectively meant that the junior title was settled after the first race. Chelmsford teenager, Liam Bennett, was the second junior to finish in 13th place, just ahead of the young Norfolk ace, Bayliss Utting.

Race two of the premier group saw local ace, Parker, charging to the front on his Kawasaki, this time Tombs was the chaser, and the crowd witnessed some very fast close racing at the front. Tombs made his move on lap six to take over the lead, and despite a strong challenge from Parker, held on to record his second win. Behind them, Benstead held third place for ten laps, until Tom Grimshaw made a strong pass with two laps remaining. Ben Cole and Sam Nunn were involved in a battle for fifth place, with Nunn getting the verdict at the finish. Murphy rode consistently again to take 7th, with Todd Ritchie just behind him.

Murfitt was again the leading junior grade rider in a fine 10th place, after a closely fought battle with Bennett. Ben Gillett rode well for third best junior, just ahead of two more up and coming youngsters, Thomas Harris and Jake Rackham.

The third premier class race saw Parker taking victory, leading each lap. Tombs held second place, content in the knowledge that he had held on to his title, and Grimshaw held off his under 21 British teammate, Sam Nunn, for third place. Mitchell was fifth, chased by Tom Murphy. Murfitt celebrated his junior title win with a fine 9th place, with Adam Reeve next best junior in 11th, followed by Harris and Rackham in 12th and 13th places.

The supporting A group saw overall victory going to lady rider, Kathryn Booth, who was second in the first two moto’s, and made sure of the overall by winning the third race. Local rider, Robert Baldry won the first race, followed by a 4th and 3rd place to claim second on the day, with Joshua Deadman putting in three good rides for third overall.

Charlie Dormer won the first two races in the B group, but struggled in his third race for third overall. Consistent riding from Bailey Jackson, and veteran Steve Atkins saw them 1st and 2nd on the day.

In the C supporting group, Nathan Moulton won all three moto’s, chased home each time by fellow Norfolk rider, Scott Goodson. Ty Atkins was third each time, for 3rd overall, and three wins by Andrew Webster in the D group saw him easily the overall winner.

Results

Experts

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Lewis Tombs	72	25	25	22
2	Luke Parker	69	22	22	25
3	Sam Nunn	52	18	16	18
4	Tom Grimshaw	47	7	20	20
5	Thomas Murphy	44	15	14	15
6	Todd Ritchie	40	14	13	13
7	Benjamin Cole	39	10	15	14
8	Luke Benstead	38	20	18	–
9	Ben Burridge	36	13	11	12
10	Wiliam Farrow	33	12	12	9
11	Calum Mitchell	32	16	–	16
12	Benjamin Alexander	30	9	10	11
13	Philip Burton	27	8	9	10
14	Jason Morland	11	11	–	–

Premier Class Juniors A

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Callum Murfitt	75	25	25	25
2	Thomas Harris	56	18	18	20
3	Adam Reeve	50	13	15	22
4	Ben Gillett	47	16	20	11
5	Jake Rackham	46	12	16	18
6	Liam Bennett	44	22	22	–
7	Archie Fisher	38	9	14	15
8	Finley Jarvis	36	7	13	16
9	Benjamin Parry	36	14	9	13
10	Connor Bunkle	35	10	11	14
11	Sam Cornwell	30	6	12	12
12	Joe Phillips	21	4	8	9
13	Simon Daniels	21	11	10	–
14	Bayliss Utting	20	20	–	–
15	Lewis Holmes	18	3	7	8
16	Sean Wright	15	5	–	10
17	Perry Galloway	15	15	–	–
18	Kieran Ryan	8	2	6	–
19	Kai Brown	8	8	–	–

Support Class A

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Kathryn Booth	131	43	43	45
2	Robert Baldry	125	45	39	41
3	Joshua Deadman	115	31	41	43
4	Craig Heslop	113	37	37	39
5	Benjamin Watling	111	34	45	32
6	James Rowsell	109	41	34	34
7	Shane Brown	102	39	26	37
8	Harry Smith	98	33	32	33
9	Paul Aldridge	88	29	31	28
10	Charlie Roper	86	16	35	35
11	Archie Cockerill	84	28	30	26
12	Freddie Wyard	81	35	21	25
13	Roger Frean	77	26	27	24
14	James Jackman	74	15	28	31
15	Aaron Smith	73	10	33	30
16	Jack Whitlam	72	32	11	29
17	Cullen Hawkins	68	25	25	18
18	Marcus Smith	63	24	23	16
19	Lewis Bond	61	23	16	22
20	Oliver Gaut	61	22	29	10
21	Luke Nolan	57	12	22	23
22	Josh Sturman	57	18	20	19
23	Lloyd Goldstraw	53	20	12	21
24	Charlie Baker	53	21	18	14
25	Gareth Lane	51	–	24	27
26	Lee Keyton	51	14	17	20
27	Ethan Cone	47	13	19	15
28	Alby Smith	38	11	10	17
29	Sam Rogers	36	27	9	–
30	Henry Cox	33	9	13	11
31	Marc Nickerson	31	19	–	12
32	Archie Fremel	30	30	–	–
33	Mark Goodson	28	–	15	13
34	Danny Palmer	17	17	–	–
35	Rupert Graver	14	–	14	–
36	William Jurgens	8	–	8	–

Support Class B

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Bailey Jackson	115	39	37	39
2	Stephen Atkins	115	41	41	33
3	Charlie Dormer	110	45	45	20
4	Sam Browning	107	19	43	45
5	Paul Hubbard	106	33	32	41
6	Oakley Harrison	106	37	35	34
7	Teddy Howard	104	28	39	37
8	Philip Waldron	97	43	11	43
9	James Taylor	97	35	31	31
10	Joe Scillitoe	93	29	34	30
11	Bradley Allen	88	24	29	35
12	Zak Roberts	85	32	27	26
13	James Gadd	83	31	25	27
14	Daniel Wright	77	30	19	28
15	Gareth Cushion	77	22	30	25
16	Steven Bennett	76	16	28	32
17	Karl Sturman	71	21	33	17
18	George Stark	70	34	12	24
19	George Reeves Furness	64	25	16	23
20	Luke Clifton	63	23	18	22
21	Scott Blazey	55	15	21	19
22	Jak Young	53	20	15	18
23	Andrew Cattermole	52	26	26	–
24	Vincent Snell	51	27	24	–
25	Lee Kirkpatrick	46	–	17	29
26	Matthew Wright	44	13	10	21
27	Max Monk	44	14	14	16
28	Justin Dennis	44	9	22	13
29	Jonathan Finch	40	17	23	–
30	Christian Drane	38	10	13	15
31	Joshua Warren	32	18	–	14
32	Ryan Hooks	31	11	20	–
33	Jesse Eaves	20	12	8	–
34	Daniel Lawlor	14	5	9	–
35	Aidan Weston	8	8	–	–
36	Morgan Flockhart	7	–	7	–
37	Robert Bond	7	7	–	–
38	Michael Kester	6	6	–	–

Support C

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Nathan Moulton	135	45	45	45
2	Scott Goodson	129	43	43	43
3	Ty Atkins	123	41	41	41
4	Kevin Gore	111	39	37	35
5	Jay Peperell	106	28	39	39
6	Ryan Goode	103	37	32	34
7	Brett Hellyer	94	30	35	29
8	Charlie Starsmoore	89	26	31	32
9	Craig Page-Baker	88	32	26	30
10	Lewis Saunders	88	27	33	28
11	Alex Buckenham	82	33	18	31
12	Jonathan Nudds	80	25	29	26
13	Dean Suckling	78	24	27	27
14	Chris Gaut	76	31	24	21
15	Tavis Coulson	72	23	16	33
16	Haydon Jarvis	71	34	–	37
17	Aaron Holden	70	15	30	25
18	Tony Rooke	70	18	28	24
19	Samuel Cook	69	29	23	17
20	Matthew Lovelock	69	35	34	–
21	John Smith	60	17	20	23
22	Tom Starling	58	16	22	20
23	William Mcrae	54	11	21	22
24	Evan Brown	52	21	13	18
25	Jason Turner	49	13	17	19
26	Tom Garnham	47	22	25	–
27	Thomas Davies	36	8	14	14
28	Troy Brumpton	35	12	12	11
29	Ashley Reeve	31	5	11	15
30	Jody Cutler	31	19	–	12
31	Graham Muff	30	7	10	13
32	Liam Lewis	29	10	19	–
33	Adam Groom	24	9	15	–
34	Dylan Wilby	20	4	–	16
35	Ryan Preston	20	20	–	–
36	Robert Green	14	14	–	–
37	Damian Taylor	6	6	–	–

Support Class D

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Andrew Webster	135	45	45	45
2	Shaun Copland	119	41	43	35
3	Nicholas Seabright	109	35	41	33
4	Matthew Herring	108	33	32	43
5	James Hendry	108	30	39	39
6	Kai Ryder	104	39	31	34
7	Jason Eaves	101	32	37	32
8	Carl Hood	97	31	29	37
9	Christopher Bickley	85	22	33	30
10	Mark Shelton	84	26	27	31
11	Adam Baker	81	25	28	28
12	Joshua Chappell	77	24	26	27
13	Aaron Richardson	69	34	35	–
14	Michael Blaxell	63	–	34	29
15	Ian Fisher	57	27	30	–
16	Daniel Allen	48	23	25	–
17	Wayne Fulcher	43	43	–	–
18	Mark Hegarty	41	–	–	41
19	David Homan	37	37	–	–
20	Haydon Newton	29	29	–	–
21	George Lummis	28	28	–	–