Back on the weekend of August 6th & 7th the North Devon Atlantic Classic Motorcycle Club held their annual 2-day Classic & Twinshock event at the picturesque Sloley Park Nr Combe Martin in North Devon where they had received a big entry in all classes.
Race Report and Images by Dave Rich
Every effort had been put in to running the event smoothly with a lot of water been put down leading up to the event as well as Saturday evening and early Sunday morning, but as with many other venues the scorching hot weather was to make things very difficult to control the dust which was to cause a problem on both days to the club and in the interest of safety they were to only run two blocks of racing on each day.
In the Pre 60 unlimited class there was no stopping the 650 BSA of Peter Hollinshead who was to dominate the racing on both days beating Trevor Townsend who was second in all the races with Jeremy Lile who was having his first outing on his 650 Tribsa finishing third in all races to give him third overall on both days.
In the Pre 65 unlimited class there was a real tussle in both races Saturday with the 600 Jawa Cheney of Matt Fry leading the way in the opening race early doors, but right on his heels was Martin Coleman on his 500 Jawa Wasp who was to get the better traction going up the hill on the last lap and got pass Fry and took the win with Mike Jones on his 360 Cz taking third. The second moto saw Coleman and Fry battling it out again, but this time Coleman took the lead on the opening lap and had a clear track a head of him and went on to take the win from Fry with Jones again third, whereas on day two both Fry and Jones were nonstarters which saw Coleman carry on where he left off the day before and took the wins in both races ahead of Martin Kemp on his 650 Triumph Metisse but there was a real tussle for third in both races between Neil Hammersley on his 350 Hickie BSA and the 500 Jawa of Thorne Pett who ended the day tied on points but by virtue of the last race result Hammersley took third overall.
In the Pre 68 Unlimited class there was some good racing in the opening race on the Saturday between Matt Fry and the 441 BSA of Chris Hacker who was to push Fry all the way and literally lost out by less than a second to Fry at the line with Luke Hickie coming home third on his 500 Hickie BSA. In the second moto it was Hickie who won this one and with it took the overall with Hacker finishing second again to give him second overall and by virtue of the last race result third overall went to Ian Baldock on his 500 BSA Cheney Victor. On day two Hickie was to shine in both races taking both wins ahead of Baldock who was second in both races to give him second overall and by virtue of the last race result Mike Gillingham on his 500 BSA was to take third overall beating the 470 BSA of Mike Townsend in the last race.
The Pre 74 Under 250 class saw a fine display of riding from Gary Warr on his 250 Phantom OSSA on both days winning all four races with Stuart George on his 250 Pursang Bultaco second to Warr in all races and third overall on day one was to go to Jamie Evans with the better result over Pat Jackson in the second race, but it was Jackson who was to take third overall on day two with two third place finishes, whereas in the Pre 74 over 250 class it was Adam Butt on his 350 Hickie BSA was unstoppable on day one with Marcus Denham second to Butt in both races on his 380 CZ with fellow 380 CZ rider Paul Mollett taking third overall but on day two Butt won the opening race from Denham with James Tupman on his 500 BSA third but in the second race there was no Butt and it was Denham who took the win from Mollett with Mitch York third which was to give Denham the overall, Mollett second overall and York third overall.
The Twinshock A class as usual was to produce some exhilarating racing especially between local favourite Luke Hill on his 2-Stroke 500 Yamaha and Joel Hughes onboard the 510 Husqvarna so it was a 2-Stroke against a 4-Stroke battle. In the opening race on the Saturday, it was a flyer off the line for Hughes who was to miss the mayhem behind him as several riders were to go down including Tim Dallaway on his 500 Hickie BSA which put him right at the back of the field. Hughes was soon joined at the front by Hill who was all over the big Husky and on the second lap Hill forced his way to the front getting the better traction out of a righthander and from there was to go on to take the win from Hughes with Allen Waring coming through on his CR 500 to take third, but what a ride from Dallaway coming home in 9th from totally last.
In the second moto on Saturday the conditions had started to deteriorate with the dust and vision was starting to be a problem but that didn’t effect Hughes who was to lead from the front ahead of Hill who tried his best to stay with Hughes, but Hughes had a clear track in front of him and took the win which gave him the overall by virtue of the better result in the second race over Hill who took second and second overall with Dallaway with a better result in this one finishing in third which left him tied on points with Jack Booker but with Dallaway beating Booker in the last race Dallaway took third overall.
The two races on the Sunday saw Hughes again take the overall but again it was a battle royal as Hill won the opening race just ahead of Hughes with Booker on the big 570 Husqvarna taking third, but in the second moto Hughes led again from the off and was soon under pressure from Hill who knew if he wanted the overall, he had to finish a head of Hughes. Hill was all over Hughes going into the third lap and was to make his move going down the start straight, but too much speed going into the first corner saw Hill run wide and through on the inside came Hughes who regained the lead and from there went on to take the win and just as his did on the Saturday by the better result in the second moto he took the overall ahead of Hill and coming through to take third in the race was Booker after holding off Dallaway for several laps which was to give Booker third overall.
In the Twinshock B class Saturdays racing was all about consistency as the overall on the day went to Greg Pascoe on his 465 Suzuki as even though Greg didn’t win a race, he scored well in both races as did Paul Ford on his CR 250 taking second overall and Adrian Dark on the big 560 KTM third overall . Wins were to go to Kurtis Bence in the opening race and Stephen Fews in the second moto. On the Sunday there was a different winner overall in the shape of Alex Buckingham on his 490 Maico who won the opening race from Pascoe and Paul Winstone and Buckingham was to back his race win up in the last race finishing second behind Pat Jackson with Pascoe this time taking third but the overall was Buckingham’s ahead of Pascoe who took second overall with Winstone third overall.
The Twinshock C class saw Kelvin Day on his 465 YZ Yamaha take the overall with a second and a win with Mark Lapham taking second overall even though he was tied on points with Aaron Baker he had the better result in the second race whereas on the Sunday there was no stopping Lapham who won both races to give him the overall with Aron Baker and Richard Cross tied on points for second overall but with Baker beating Cross in the last race he took second overall.
The Twinshock D class the weekend belonged to Kevin Pettit on his 600 YZ Yamaha who won all four races, Nicholas Ponting and Neville Calby tied on points on the Saturday, but it was Ponting who took it beating Calby in the second race and on the Sunday Ponting and Colby took second and third overall again.
Results
Saturday
Sunday
