Happy days at Westwood as Brewster wins!
Round 2 GNCC Westwood 20th March
The Ride XC crew unearthed a gem of a venue when they discovered Westwood near Barnsley. The venue has just got better over the last 18 months and Sunday’s event surpassed all previous ones. The ground conditions were ideal and in the warm spring weather for once Wellingtons were not the order of the day! A challenging 10 minute loop had been laid out by the experienced Ride XC track building crew led by Justin Wilson including flowing woodland trails, stream crossings, logs, climbs and descents, parts of the motocross track, all combining to make an excellent course for the riders to enjoy. Once again the Ride XC team had carefully picked the choice venue for round 2 of the Grand Northern Cross Country Championship.
Race 1 The Youth's
Events got under way at 8:30am with the Youth race. The senior B’s led the group away with Archie Flack leading them around the mx course and into the woods. After a tense wait it was Harry Driver-Smith who was back to lap scoring first followed by Archie Flack and Dolton Shannon. Archie and Dolton passed Harry on lap 2 with Archie taking the lead. But this was short lived as Doltan Shannon pushed to the front into the lead which he would maintain for the rest of the race. Dolton Shannon won, followed by Archie Flack second and Harry Driver-Smith. Meanwhile in the juniors Sol Coburn dominated as he did in the 2010 series winning the juniors by 2 laps from Oliver Dougherty second and Toby Flack third. A big thanks to all the Senior B and Junior riders that took part judging by the smiles on there faces they all had a good time!
Race 2 Adult's Solo
With a short interval while the Ride XC track building crew were putting in the necessary course changes for the adult route ready for the start. With a good line up of northern Experts including Graham Jarvis, Andy Cripps, Biff Smith, Lincoln Brewster and Dave Wilson just to name a few. Starter Wilson gave the safety brief to the riders and at 10:45am flagged the riders away. Graham Jarvis took the hole shot looking resplendent in the latest Klimb racing gear as he led the riders into the woodland for the first time. Once again the spectators’ eyes were focused on time control and Jarvis emerged from the woodland with a commanding lead from his rivals. Jarvis continued to build an impressive lead through the first hour putting on a masterful display of controlled riding. During this time Biffstar, Brewster and Cripps were battling it out. At the 90mins mark Graham Jarvis dropped out, Brewster then took up the lead still looking good after a 3 month layoff. Brewster pressed on for victory with Biff Smith second and rapidly improving Declan Helliwell third all finishing on 19 laps.
In the clubman class Luke Copperstake was in the lead through the early stages closely followed by Anthony Tempest and Billy Robinson. This was a close race with riders switching positions all the time. On the Second lap Billy Robinson passed Luke Copperstake to lead with Luke Flack and Glen Broadhurst hot on the leaders heels. As the race continued with the top 5 positions switching it was going to be close. The end result showing there was only 2 mins between them. With Stuart Waterhouse taking a hard fought win over, Glen broadhurst in second with Lee Hattersley third.
The Over 40’s which had a high calibre field, Kev Hipwell was back first to race control with John Bradford second and Ian Coburn third. While Bradford and Coburn tried to stay in touch with factory Kev, factory Kev on his Gas Gas just kept pulling away. This
did not change throughout the race and Kev Hipwell won By 1 lap over John Bradford in second with Ian Coburn third
In the well supported Sportsman class, Gary Morley led early on with Spike gilby Second and Joe Webster third. But it wasn’t long before Spike Gilby hit the front. The young man from Bedale dominated on his KTM 125 lapping everyone in the class to take a well deserved win with 17 laps, with Joe Webster finishing in second and Steve Furr in third.
Race 3 Quad's
As the solo riders waited for the presentation the Ride XC track crew were already putting in the changes for the third and final race of the day the Quads At 2pm starter Wilson for the final time set the last race of the day in motion. The quads were off and Expert Andy Warren got away first. After a brief change of places with Matt Alberti, Warren on board a Honda started to build a commanding lead. The small Honda nipped through the woodland with ease and Warren eased off in the final stages to take a comfortable win over Alberti. Paul Ranson won the Clubman class from Gary Hodgeson, while Dave Plant was the best Sportsman with Barrie Swaine second. The 4x4 class victory went to Andrew Kelly, Tim Clarke second and Katie Hodgeson third.
