First to the Flagg! Bradley takes the win at South Somerset opener.

South Somerset ran their first race event of 2010 at the superb Tiverton track this weekend, it was also their first event run under the banner of the MC Federation. The committee had worked hard at the circuit to ensure that everything ran smoothly and were rewarded with a good covering of snow and rock hard frozen ground on Sunday morning! But the hard worked put in beforehand paid off ensuring that a quick run around with a power harrow left a track in good enough condition to at least get two full blocks of racing before it deteriorated.

With practice out of the way it was all systems go with the open adults lining up at the freshly refurbished red, white and blue start gate for their first race of the day. As the pack charged in to the first turn it was old hand Greg Hanson that came out in the lead.

It set the tone for the rest of the day as Hanson was never seriously challenged. Leighton Holmes and Brad Cavill fought it out for second and third overall with Holmes eventually claiming it with the better second race.

The first AMX start saw Ryan Redwood take the holeshot but by lap two a hard charging Luke Hill aboard a 1991 250cc two stroke Honda had taken the lead. Reports were that Luke had only finished putting the bike together on the Saturday and it was beginning to sound a bit flat by midrace allowing the pack to close in! Nick Philips and Shaun Kersey took up the chase behind Hill but could not stop him taking the win from Philips with Kersey in third. Hill took the second moto after coming through after a poor start. Kersey grabbed second overall behind Hill with a consistent Matt White in third.Jake Alsop took an early lead in the first Rookie race but had slipped outside the top three by the end of lap one.

Harry Sellwood took up the reins at the front and was never headed before reaching the chequered flag. Tommy Alba and Zac Alsop duked it out for second with the latter taking it at the flag. Sellwood took off at the front in moto two and again it was the battle for second that was the one to watch. This time Alba had his hands full with both Jake and Zac Alsop but managed to keep them at bay and in doing so claimed second overall with the better second race result.

A good and keen line up of 85cc Big Wheel riders was headed by Dylan Baynton in the first moto but Ayrton Fiorenzio and James Harrison soon slipped by. Harrison then took the lead on lap 2 and dominated as he also did for the second moto with a wire to wire win. Fiorenzio bagged two seconds while there was a three wsay tie for third. Josh Ebbutt took it on his higher finish final moto over Olly Jones and Dylan Baynton.

With the bikes getting smaller by the class and the ruts deepening the going was tough for the 85cc Small Wheels as Henry Ebbutt took the lead ahead of Jamie Harris and Luke Williams in the first moto. Williams soon moved the Suzuki up to the front for the win ahead of Ebbutt and Harris. Harris grabbed the holeshot again in moto two in front of Jack Perkins but Williams burst through from third to take the lead and stay there leaving Ebbutt, Luke Oldfield and Harris battling for the remaining podium spots. Ebbutt held on with Harris eventually getting by Oldfield.

Bradley Flagg pulled out a huge lead in the first 65cc Junior group but made a mistake on lap two allowing Jack Booker to take the lead who built up a big gap of his own eventually taking the win. Flagg recovered from his mistake and managed to claim second on the last lap with Lucy Calvert in third. Lucy holeshot race two but was soon down the field after a crash as Flagg moved into the lead and started to pull away. Booker then put on a late charge but couldn’t quite close it back and the pair tied on points but Flagg took the win with the better second moto. Jordan Allen and Lucy Calvert also tied on points but Allen claimed third overall.  

Unfortunately only four Auto’s had braved the elements and Joe Garlick, James Rowe, Thomas Darlow and newcomer Chelsea Maher lined up to attack the challenging hills of the Halberton circuit. It was obvious early on that James Rowe was the class of the field and disappeared off in to the distance. Although running on a shortened course the autos were struggling with the going and it was newcomer Maher that was sitting in second position until her bike boiled up. Unfortunately the circuit won this race with only Rowe making it to the finish. In the second moto Rowe once again was head and shoulders above the competition and set off to make light work of the circuit. Thomas Darlow was running second ahead of Chelsea Maher whose bike once again expired leaving Rowe to take the win ahead of Darlow in second.The club were really pleased that they managed to get this event under their belt and staff from the MCFederation was on hand to lend a hand if it was required.

Roy Barton, General Manager of the MCF said “If the club can run a good quality event in these difficult circumstances it can only set them in good stead for the season ahead. It was really good to see that the committee have made good use of the event starter kit supplied and it was encouraging that the club didn’t require my services on the day, other than for a spot of marshalling. I think that South Somerset will have a good year with the MCF and with the enthusiasm they show, the club will go from strength to strength”

  Results:

Open: 1 Greg Hanson 2 Leighton Holmes 3 Brad Cavill 4 Frank Fleischer 5 Tom Salt 6 James Poltimor 7 Pete Barns

8 Nathan Baker 9 Andrew Parter 10 Dave Saunders.

AMX: 1 Luke Hill 2 Shaun Kersey 3 Matt White 4 Ben Brewer 5 Ryan Redwood 6 Ben Griffiths 7 George Pascoe

8 Andrew Wardwillis 9 Mike Goldsworthy 10 Jason Evans.

Rookies: 1 Harry Sellwood 2 Tommy Alba 3 Zac Alsop 4 Ross Churchill 5 Liam Brown 6 Harry Lawrence 7 Ben Denison

8 Jack Stevens 9 Jake Alsop 10 Pete Knowles.

BW’s: 1 James Harrison 2 Ayrton Fiorenzio 3 Josh Ebbutt 4 Olly Jones 5 Dylan Baynton 6 Tommy Dorran 7 Jason Brooke

8 Daniel Gibbons 9 Alex Tarr 10 Jarrad Perkins.

SW’s: 1 Luke Williams 2 Henry Ebbutt 3 Jamie Harris 4 Jack Perkins 5 Luke Oldfield 6 James Ford 7 Charlie Page

8 Callum Warren 9 Ross Parkinson 10 Matthew Clarke.

Juniors: 1 Bradley Flagg 2 Jack Booker 3 Jordan Allen 4 Lucy Calvert 5 Callum Gordon 6 Ross Kersey 7 Sam Chorely

8 Casey Williams 9 Moreland Smith 10 Jordan Bryant.

Autos: 1 James Rowe 2 Thomas Darlow 3 Chelsea Maher 4 Joe Garlic.