Classic Mud Bath! 2024 Classic British Motocross Championship Round 1 – Race Report

On Sunday, 28th April, the Bath Classic Motorcycle Club hosted its first Scramble of the year at Yatton Keynell Nr Chippenham in Wiltshire, which included the opening round of the 2024 Classic British Motocross Championships.

Words and Images by Dave Rich

The track had been nigh on perfect leading up to the event, but unfortunately heavy rain had fallen Saturday evening and in the early hours of Sunday morning which was to make things very slippery, and a bit of track maintenance had to be done before practice and racing could get underway and because of the conditions the decision was made to only run two blocks of racing.

Club Secretary No 78 Philip Nicholls gets a flyer out of the gate in the opening over 60’s Championship race.

In the Over 60’s British Championship class it looked as if the Secretary of the meeting Philip Nicholls on his 380 Cz was going to get the holeshot award but he was to lose out to the 500 Triumph Metisse of Martin Perrett who shot through on the inside and was to lead for most of the race including going into the last lap but closing in on him all the time was the 250 Cz of Keith Best so we had a battle royal on the last lap between a four stroke and a 2-stroke and with just a quarter of a lap remaining Best found away pass Perrett and went on to take the chequered flag with Nicholls a well deserved third, whereas in the second moto it was Chris Collins on his 500 BSA who was to take the win who had been put under pressure from Perrett mid race who fell while challenging for the lead and later had his clutch go. Nicholls had a solid race and came home second just ahead of Best who didn’t have the best of starts, but third for Best was enough to give him the overall with Collins second overall and Nicholls just one point adrift of Collins taking third overall.

The Pre 60 British Championship class numbers were a bit low, but that didn’t stop Karl Waite on his 600 Norton who was to take the overall winning both races with the 500 Jawa of Thorne Pett second overall and Ian Lovelock on his 650 Trisba taking third overall.

Tim Dallaway was on a mission on his 500 Hickie Racing BSA

In the Pre 65 Championship class there was no stopping the big 650 Triumph Metisse of Tim Dallaway who put together two excellent races and took the win in both with Chris Smith who was holding on for his life at one stage on his 350 BSA taking second overall with two second place finishes and third overall went to Sam Pocock on his 650 AJS.

The Pre 68 British Championship class saw Wayne Partington on his 380 Cz Twinport show his class by winning both races beating Sam Pocock this time was on a 500 BSA with third overall going to the 500 BSA Victor of Paul Webb.

Keith Best giving his all in the slippery conditions.

In the Pre 74 British Championship class in the opening race, it was Adam Butt who was to control the race from the front on his 350 Hickie BSA for the first couple of laps before backmarkers came in to play which saw Butt come off while trying to go around the outside of one of them when his rear wheel just went away. Rhys Walker was to eventually take the win from Andy Hinchcliffe on his 380 Cz with Kristian Marshall who also went down mid race bringing his 400 Maico MX home in third. In the second moto it was Welshman Andrew Gillett who was having his first ride in this Championship on his 412 XL Honda who was to win by literally half a second from Walker with Marshall again having to settle for third. Walker took the overall from Gillett and Marshall.

Because of the conditions unfortunately not many competitors came down to the pit box for the opening memorial race, so the club only ran the one race which was won by Richard Palmer.

Again, with the Pre 60 / Pre 68 under 350cc support classes there wasn’t many riders on the line which saw Dave Bell on his 650 BSA Trisba win both the Pre 60 races and in the Pre 68 class there was a win for Steve Billot on his 250 BSA who took the overall and the other race winner was Ben Green on the 350 BSA.

Steven Thorne in action on his 350 BSA Metisse

In the Pre 74 over 250cc class it was Keith Rice who rode his 380 Cz to victory in both races with Nathan Jones on his 400 Cr Husqvarna taking second overall with third overall going to the 380 Cz of Neil Aldridge, whereas in the Pre 74 under 250cc class there was no stopping Dan Evans who rode his 250 Honda Elsinore to win both races beating Glenn Morgan in both races who took second overall with third overall going to Robbie Wilson on his 250 Yz Yamaha.

In the Clubman class it was James Humphreys who was to win both races beating Chase Thomas on both occasions who took second overall and finishing third overall was David Simpson.

The Twinshock class saw a fine display of riding in the tricky conditions from Tim Dallaway on his Hickie 500 BSA who was to dominate the opening race straight from the start and took the win by some 51 seconds from Chris Stone who was to take second overall at the end of the day with Ed Spear on his 540 Yamaha HL taking third overall.

For the Results >>CLICK HERE<<