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Berrynarbor burn up! 2023 British Classic Motocross Championships Round 2 – Race Report & Results!

Back on the weekend of August 5th & 6th the North Devon Atlantic Classic Motorcycle Club hosted their second Twinshock and Classic Scramble of 2023 at the picturesque Berrynarbor venue Nr Combe Martin in North Devon which also incorporated round 2 of the 2023 Classic British Championships.

Report and Images by Dave Rich

A lot of hard work had gone in to running the event and they were rewarded with a big entry over both days. Friday night prior to the meeting saw very high winds and it was lashing down which in tall made things a bit slippery early Saturday morning and the decision was made to delay the start of the meeting to see if the weather improved and it was a good decision. Practice got underway mid-morning with the big hill causing a problem for many riders but never the less as the track was drying all the time, they left the hill in which most of the riders agreed with before racing got underway. There were two blocks of racing on the Saturday for every class, but Sunday saw just two races for each of the British Championship classes with the rest of the competitors getting three races each on what was a regraded track after the previous days racing and with the sun out it was to produce some good racing to be witnessed by the many spectators who were in attendance.

No 831 Neil Aldridge and No 115 Nick Archer battling it out in the combined Pre 65 & Pre 74 British Classic Championship.

In the combined under 50’s British Classic Championships it was Stuart Smith who took the overall in the Pre 65 class on his 350 Cheney BSA who won three out of the four races only to be denied a clean sweep in the third race where he was piped to the line by literally just over a second by the 350 BSA of Chris Smith, whereas in the Pre 74 class there was no stopping the 350 Hickie BSA of Adam Butt who totally dominated all four races over the weekend with Kristian Marshall on his 380 CZ after a long hard battle with fellow 360 CZ rider Andy Hinchliffe all weekend taking second overall with Hinchliffe taking that third spot overall.

The over 50’s combined British Classic Championships were well supported in all three classes as in the Pre 65 class there was a fine display of riding from Nick Archer who was to take the overall on his 350 BSA winning all four races with Ian Lovelock on the big 650 Trisba consistant all weekend taking second overall ahead of Tim Austin on the 500 Trisba third overall where in the Pre 74 over 50’s class there was no stopping the 380 CZ of Wayne Partington once he hit the front who was riding with a fractured ankle, but he didn’t let it hamper him as he was to take a clean sweep of wins with Mark Stephens also on a CZ 380 second overall and Ian Stainton on his 520 CCM taking third overall, and in the over 65 class the weekend belonged to Philip Nicholls on his CZ 380 who took the overall with four wins out of four, but he was made to work for them as Mike Popperwell also on a CZ 380 was never too far behind him who was to take second overall with Mike Jones on his 360 CZ Twin Port taking third overall for a podium of CZ riders.

The Twinshock A class saw Luke Hill at his best even though he had to work hard in the opening race after not the best of starts on the Saturday as Dan Mundell led for three of the five lap race before Hill showed his intention and stormed around the outside of Mundell exiting a righthander with Hill going on to take his first win of the weekend. Hill showed his class in the second moto as well as he took the holeshot and raced away to his second win by some nine seconds, but there was a good tussle for second between Tim Dallaway on his 500 Hickie BSA and Mundell with Dallaway taking it by a second. Hill took the overall with Mundell second overall and third overall went to Dallaway. Sunday saw Hill back at his best and with the track now in a dryer state Hill was completing laps in under the two minutes and was thrilling the many spectators as he was to kick up berms in several corners and carried on where he left off on the previous day taking all three race wins to give him the overall but the battle was on to see who was going to take second overall on Sunday as both Scott Faulkner and George Hopkins were tied on points after the first two races and it was a battle to the line with Faulkner just holding off Hopkins in the closing stages which secured him second overall with Hopkins having to settle for third overall.

Greg Pascoe giving his all in the Twinshock B class

In the Twinshock B class there was a real good tussle in the opening race between Dan Roberts and Greg Pascoe with them swopping the lead on several occasions and it was a nail-biting finish as Pascoe led going in to the last corner, but he eased off too quick and through went Roberts to snatch the win by literally .209 of a second with Andy Muller taking third. In the second moto Roberts this time once he hit the front was to go on untroubled to take the chequered flag from Mark Slade and Alex Buckingham. Roberts took the overall with Slade taking second overall pipping Pascoe by two points who took third overall. Sunday to be fair belonged to Slade on his 490 YZ Yamaha who took all three race wins to give him the overall with Muller and Buckingham tied on points, but with Buckingham beating Muller in the last race Buckingham took second overall with Muller third overall.

Andrew Long Twinshock C overall winner Sunday

The Twinshock C class on Saturday saw Neil Jones take the overall with a second and a win with Paul Winstone second overall with a win and a third and third overall went to Ricki Brammall, whereas on the Sunday this class was to produce three different winners in the shape of Andrew Long, Alex Richards and Andrew Hobbs, but with a win and two seconds the overall went to Long with Neil Jones Saturdays winner taking second overall with a 2,4,3 scorecard with Richards taking third overall.
In the Twinshock D there was a dominant display on the Saturday from Steven Dyer who won both races to give him the overall with second overall going to Alan Obrien and Neville Calby took third overall and on the Sunday again it was Dyer who took the overall but he was beaten in the last race by Jack Wyatt who was to take third overall at the end of the day behind Buzz Goudie who took second overall with a 2,2,3 scorecard.

Tim Dallaway showed the power of the 650 Triumph Metisse in the Pre 65 Open Class

In the combined Saturday Pre 60 & Pre 65 Open class and Pre 65 under 250cc class there were no Pre 60 competitors in the opening race but in race 2 it was John Stocker who took the win from Trevor Townsend whereas in the Pre 65 class there was no stopping the 650 Triumph Metisse of Tim Dallaway who dominated both races and took the overall from Chris Hacker with Neil Hammersley taking third overall and in the Pre 65 under 250cc there was only one competitor and that was Ian Baldock on his 250 BSA Victor. Sunday with the track a lot dryer there were a few more riders in the Pre 6o class and it produced three different winners in the shape of Stocker, Jeremy Lile and Paul Arnold with Arnold at the end of the day taking the overall from Lile with Stocker third overall and in the Pre 65 class Dallaway was relishing the power of the Metisse in and out of the corners which gave the spectators something to cheer about as he took all three races on the Sunday by over 30 seconds in each race to take the overall but the question was who was going to take second overall as both Hacker and Thorne Pett were tied on points going in to the last race and it was Hacker on his 650 Triumph Rickman Metisse who took a comfortable second in the race to give him that second overall with Pett on his 500 Jawa MRD third overall. Baldock again as he was on Saturday was the only competitor in the Pre 65 Under 250cc class.

No 581 Kristian Marshall and No 224 Andy Hinchliffe tussling in the British Classic Pre 74 under 50’s championship.

The Pre 74 & Pre 68 Open class saw some quick racing especially in the Pre 74 class between Greg Speed on his 500 BSA Cheney and the 380 CZ of Marcus Denham with them both picking up a win and a second, but with Speed winning the second race from Denham he was to take the overall with Luke Hickie taking third overall. In the Pre 68’s there was a display and a half from Colin Hutton on his 380 Sidepipe CZ who won both races by over 50 seconds in each race. Sunday saw a few bike problems for Saturday’s overall winner Greg Speed who only finished in one race on the Sunday, but a rider who did compete in all three races was Denham who won two of the three races only to be denied a clean sweep by Kristian Marshall, but with two wins and a second Denham took the overall from Paul Mollet with Gary Warr taking third overall. In the Pre 68’s on Sunday Stocker was to take the win in the opening two races with Hutton who didn’t take part in the first two races winning the last race, but consistency was the name at the end of the day and the overall went to James Townsend with Colin Coley second overall and Stocker who dnf the last race was to take third overall.