Over the weekend of 2nd & 3rd August the North Devon Atlantic Classic Motorcycle Club hosted its second Scramble event of 2025 at the ever-popular Sloley Park, Berrynarbor Nr Combe Martin in North Devon and as with previous year’s the club was supporting two charities and this year’s charities were Prostate Cancer and Mind with a special race being held to support these causes.
Race Report and Images by Dave Rich
This event, as always, attracts many competitors, and this year’s event had an even bigger entry than normal, with over 230 entries on the first day. A lot of effort had been put in to running the event and every effort was made to try and keep the dust down but with the sun out on the Saturday and with it being abit windy the track was soon to dry whereas on the Sunday after the track had been graded from the previous day there was a drizzly rain in the air and mist which made the track abit tacky and slippery but it was still to produce some good racing.
Entries in the Pre 60 class saw only one rider and that was Jeremy Lile on his 650 Trisba but in the Pre 65 class there was a fine performance from Kristian Marshall on his 350 Cheney BSA who took a clean sweep of wins on the Saturday and the first race on the Sunday but a few problems with the bike after the race forced him out of the proceedings and it was the 350 Hickie Racing BSA of Colin Hickie who was to win the last two races to add to his quad of second place finishes to give him the overall with Chris Hacker on his 650 Triumph Metisse taking second overall with Kelvin Day being consistant all weekend taking third overall on his 350 BSA, whereas in the Pre 68 class it was Lee Kelly on a borrowed BSA who took a clean sweep of wins on the Saturday even after having no clutch in the last race which was to deem him a nonstarter on the Sunday with Ben Green on his 500 BSA taking a win and the other two wins going to Luke Hickie on board his 500 Hickie Racing BSA which was to give him the overall from the 440 BSA Victor of Mark Lapham with Green taking third overall.
In the Pre 74 class there was some close racing especially between the 500 BSA of Tim Dallaway and Marcus Denham on his 380 CZ but it was Dallaway who was to win all three races on the Saturday and the opening race on the Sunday, but Dallaway had no answer to Denham in the last two races who took the wins, but Dallaway had done enough to take the overall from Denham by six points with Nathan Jones on his 400 Husqvarna who was consistant in all six races taking third overall. Also competing in this class was Martin Coleman, who, believe it or not, was having his last competitive ride after competing for several years and has now decided it was time to hang up his boots. (Watch my interview I had with Martin).
The Pre 78 class saw a fine display of riding both in the dry and the wet from Chris Woodward on his 400 YZ Yamaha, who took all three wins on the Saturday, and with him being the only competitor in this class on the Sunday, he took the overall from Philip Whetren, with Wyn Morgan taking third overall.
In the Twinshock A class, expectations were high as returning to this venue after cracking his casing in practice last year was former GP rider Brian Wheeler, but there was plenty of other talent on the line, including Kristian Marshall, Marcus Clare, Young George Hopkins, George Bowerman, plus many others. In the opening race, it was Wheeler who had the better start and led early doors before being passed by Marshall, who was to set off at the front and was looking good at the front, but unfortunately for Marshall, due to an accident, the race was red-flagged, and they had to all go again. Luckily for Marshall, he had time to change his bike after his top end nipped up and he came out on his spare bike. Wheeler again had the holeshot into the first corner and was soon to set off with a clear track in front of him, but after not the best of starts Marshall was soon up into second giving chase and did catch Wheeler and managed to pass Wheeler after two laps but Wheeler hadn’t given up and on the last lap he closed right up on Marshall and went to go around Marshall on a lefthander, but Marshall blocked his line and did hold off Wheeler again on the last corner to take the win with Archie Hicks who was really kicking up the dust taking third. In the other two races, Wheeler was to dominate from the off and took the chequered flag on both occasions from Marshall, with George Bowerman taking third in the second race and young George Hopkins, who was out on a standard 250 Red Rocket, taking third in the last race on the Saturday. On the Sunday, conditions were a bit different, and it showed as Marshall took the win in the opening race from Hopkins with Jack Alderton taking third, but not such a good race for Wheeler, who had a terrible start and had to claw his way from the back and could only manage to come home in fifth. Wheeler was a nonstarter in the other two races, which saw two different winners in the shape of Bowerman and Hicks, but after all six races, it was Marshall who took the overall from Bowerman, with Hopkins taking third overall by two points from Hicks.
The Twinshock B class was to produce some good racing on the Saturday and with it there was three different winners as Jason Alba took the chequered flag in the opening race with Ben Dyer taking the win in the second encounter and the last race on the Saturday the win went to Dan Roberts, but Sunday where the conditions were abit different there was no stopping Billy Saunders who seemed to relish in the wetter conditions who took all three race wins which was to give him the overall over the weekend by one point from Roberts with Dyer taking third overall.
In the Twinshock C class it was a battle royal taking place between Glenn Whittock and Steven Matthews with it going down to the last race on the Sunday as Matthews had taken three wins to Whittock’s two wins and as they went in to the last race Whittock had a one-point advantage over Matthews so it was all to play for which was exactly what took place as Matthews had the lead going into the last lap and pushing him was Whittock looking to find away pass but Matthews held strong and took the win by three seconds in the end to give him the overall by two points from Whittock with Steve Atkins after a consistant weekend taking third overall.
The Twinshock D class was probably the best racing of the weekend, with Saturday producing three different winners in the shape of Shane White, Joe Pavitt and Alex Hollaway. Sunday saw Hollaway win the opening race, with White winning the second race, and the last race was won by Alan Payne, but it was Hollaway who took the overall from Payne, with Adrian Toy, who finished well in all six races, being rewarded with third overall.
In the Twinshock E class there was a win each for Ashley Brammall and Oakley Hooper with two wins a piece for both Louis Butt and Martin Haggerty but at the end of the weekend consistency was the name of the game and the overall went to Butt with Lee Mason even though he didn’t win a race taking second overall just ahead of Hooper who took third overall.
In the Ladies class, this was totally dominated by the RM Suzuki 125 of Mia Milsom, who won all six races over the two days, with second overall going to Emma Griffiths, and third overall went to Paige Carby.
The Pre 83 125 class saw a fine performance from Ryan Allen on the Saturday who took a clean sweep of wins, but Allen wasn’t there on the Sunday which saw a win for Jack Biddle with Stuart Spalding winning the other two races which was to give Spalding the overall with Biddle second overall with Dave Russell with six good rides taking third overall, whereas in the Twinshock 125 class it was Paul Winstone on his CR Honda who was in fine form taking the overall from Alan Thomas with Graham Cross taking third overall.
The last race on the Saturday was the charity race in support of Prostate Cancer and Mind, which was well supported with all the competitors donating £20, and as the race got underway, spectators were also digging deep into their pockets and kindly helping these causes. As the gate dropped it was Brian Wheeler who flew out of the gate and was soon into a rhythm at the front ahead of Marcus Clare with Kristian Marshall close in third, but by the end of the opening lap Marshall had got the better of Clare and now had his sights set on Wheeler and was cheered on by the spectators.
Clare had a problem on the second lap and up into third was now George Hopkins, but all eyes were on the two at the front as Marshall had caught Wheeler and too much applause, he forced his way pass Wheeler to take the lead and was soon to ease away and from that point Marshall kept a good distance between himself and Wheeler and took the Chequered flag to a roar of approval, Wheeler second and Hopkins took third.
Results
