With localised, heavy thunderstorms widely predicted in the days before their event, the Chaddesley Corbett grasstrack club were left facing a major dilemma! Should they continue to soak their circuit at Lodgeford Hill or instead rely on Mother Nature to produce the goods and provide the right conditions?
Race Report, Interviews and Images by Mike Wood
Well, the expected rain never materialised, leaving the ground far drier than anticipated. On what was another warm day. And breezy Raceday, the going after practice gradually became dusty, thus raising some concerns with the meeting stewards regarding visibility. Determined to still deliver the goods though, the Chaddesley club then worked very hard to quell that dust threat, their reward for endeavour being a completed programme of some 58 races culminating in a stunning 1,000cc Right Hand sidecar final.
Already this season, there’s been some thrilling action, but this final was arguably the best so far! Terry Saunters/Liam Brown led the high-speed charge to turn one before Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth came storming up the inside. Such was the pace of their challenge that both crews drifted out onto the wide line and seizing the unexpected gap that had suddenly appeared, Matt Fumarola/Andrew Wilson took full advantage to now hit the front. For the next lap, the proverbial blanket could have covered Fumarola, Cossar and Saunters before Cossar then edged a narrow advantage over Saunters and took 2nd place. Cossar, though, now had to find a way past Fumarola, who was riding a simply brilliant race, cleverly covering every move from his rival. Exiting the final turn, it was still Fumarola in charge but showing his true class, Cossar then somehow found an extra little bit of vital drive, enough to edge alongside Fumarola and snatch the win right on the finish line by the narrowest of margins, simply breathtaking! With Saunters close behind in 3rd, Bradley Reynolds/Connor Measor took a superb 4th with Clint Blondel/Reece Blondel 5th.
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Earlier in the day, both Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb and Will Offen/Ricky Pay had been excluded from the same heat in what was their first outing of the day for pegging. Those exclusions seriously hampered their chances of final qualification, but they were still right in the thick of the action next time out on track. Offen had a super battle with Reynolds whilst Whitelam locked horns with Tom Cossar/Ryan Wharton. Both Whitelam and Offen also recorded heat wins along with Mark Cossar, Blondel, Fumarola, Saunters, Reynolds, Michael Austin/Wayne Rickards and Neal Owen/Jason Farwell. Unfortunately for Neal Owen, his participation in proceedings finished early following a heavy crash in heat two.
The 500cc sidecars also produced some very tasty action at Chaddesley, the three heats resulting in victory for a trio of different crews. Shane Hughes/Louis Bennett, Phil Rowlands/Scott Gutteridge and Richard Webb/Anthony Goodwin all took wins, but the racing was feisty! In heat two, Webb gave Hughes a big nudge in turn one, thus hanging both crews out to dry! Quickly, both back on the gas, they then chased after leader Rowlands and almost caught him right on the finish line. Then in the final heat, Webb led with Hughes in pursuit and just as it was getting very close, Hughes spun out on the pits turn but still recovered brilliantly to take 3rd just behind Shane Freeman/Tobias Vere. In the overall reckoning, it was also very tight, Hughes bagging first place on the podium with 16 points as Webb finished 2nd on 15 and Rowlands 3rd on 14.
In the Old and New Sidecars, Mark Courtney/Leon Torres stormed to yet another maximum and overall win. During the opening two heats, Mark Seward/Sam Jakely chased Courtney home but their hopes of a podium ended with a final race exclusion. Going 4th/3rd/2nd, Brian Hatch/Lewis Wharton took the overall runners-up spot with Luca Whitelam this time having his Dad, Paul Whitelam, in the chair, turning on the style to earn a great 3rd.
For the second week running, it was great to see Youth classes incorporated into a meeting, and once again, they totally impressed. In the combined Autos/Cadets contest, the stylish Albie South stormed to all three heat wins and another overall victory. Producing identical results in each outing, Levi Collins got home in 2nd with Lilly Bence and Kobi Gutteridge chasing hard.
Eight very determined Juniors came to the start line at Chaddesley, and what a super opening heat they produced. Luton James McAlinney led it only to be pipped literally right on the line by Brayden Blyth, who had hounded him all the way. After that late defeat, though, McAlinney then bounced back in style by backing up another 2nd spot by winning his last ride, enough to also earn the overall victor’s trophy. Archie Whitelam also took a heat win, which meant 3rd overall behind Blyth, as Charlie Dowd bagged 4th overall.
Once again, the Intermediates were to serve up some rapid, jaw-dropping race action! Just like the previous weekend’s action at Dalton, Archie Rolph, with his spectacular, low, attacking on the gas style, was to take the overall win. In heat one, Archie led home Ollie Binns, Kane Newby, Finley Theobald, Jacob Phillips and Joe Bain. Binns then brilliantly headed home Rolph in the second clash before Rolph returned to winning ways in the last one. The end result was that Rolph was to be joined on the podium by Binns and Newby.
There’s no doubting the star of Sunday’s Adult solo classes as Jack Roberts earned top slot in both the 350cc and 500cc events. On his 350cc machine, Jack won all of his heats before heading the final just about from start to finish as Tim Curnock just saw off Barry Powell for 3rd. Earlier in the 350cc proceedings, there had also been heat wins for Curnock, Will Thurlby and Ryan Ashcroft. Whilst Thurlby went on to earn 4th in the final, Ashcroft was a non-starter.
Jack then followed up his 350cc win with top slot in the 500cc class. Contested over just three points scoring rides, Jack won two of his heats, with the other victor being Cameron Taylor. Following his impressive performance last week at Dalton, Jordan Derrick was again right in the thick of the 500cc action. In all three heats Jordan got home in 3rd place and certainly put Taylor under severe pressure in his last ride, taking the verdict right down to the chequered flag. Jordan deservedly also took home the 3rd overall trophy with Ryan Ashcroft 4th and Ellie Meadows 5th. On claiming the 500cc solo class win, Roberts also took home the Noel Clark Memorial Trophy.
At the third time of asking, the fast-starting Karl Beddingfield was to lead the first 250cc heat away. Indeed, Karl was to be always right in the thick of the action and in that opening heat, he disputed first place with Max Derrick, only for both of them to be passed right on the line by Austin Riches. With Riches then being excluded from his second ride for pegging, Graham Thomas dominated the remaining 250cc qualifying heats with three straight wins. Also impressing in the heats was Liam Cox, who finished 4th highest points scorer, thus safely confirming his place in the final. In that main race, it was Beddingfield again leading the charge, but on the exit from turn two, Thomas was through and on his way to victory. Following his rapid start, Beddingfield was coming under pressure from both Riches and Derrick. Eventually, they relegated Karl back and then even closed rapidly on winner Thomas as Shane Knight took 5th with Ledbury secretary Adam Hawker in 6th. In this class, the popular Steve Garside suffered a nasty crash in his opening ride, resulting in a concussion. Get well soon, Steve!
Young Max Broadhurst and the very experienced Ian Clark served up a classic opening GT140 heat in which Broadhurst had led all the way, only for Clark to snatch the win right at the death. Max, though, did take victory in his second ride whilst his Dad, Wayne, picked up a brace of heat wins. With Tony Atkin also being successful in the heats, it certainly promised to be a tasty final, although unfortunately, Max Broadhurst did not make the cut due to a last race exclusion! When the tapes went up for the big GT140 clash, Wayne Broadhurst was the first to show from Atkin, with Clark stuck in midpack traffic. Although trying just about every line possible, Clark had to settle for 4th place as Broadhurst scored a great win, leading all the way and chased home by Atkin and Mark Scopes, with Duncan Burton 5th and Mark Collins 6th.
Having taken 2nd in the GT140s, Atkin won all three of his points scoring rides in the Uprights before then leading the final all the way just ahead of John Cox. Earlier in the day, Cox had certainly pushed Atkin hard and also won his last heat. In the final, Glyn Drake battled hard to just about see off Eddie Rouse for 3rd. On what was a busy day of action, the final class was for Pre-75’s which was decided over three points scoring rides and saw victory for Rob Snow with a 4th/3rd/3rd scorecard. John Priest had won heat one before being excluded next time out in a heat which saw victory for Phil Kynman. John Webb took the last Pre-75 victory, so that meant it was a podium of Snow, Priest and Weeks.
Massive well done to the Chaddesley Corbett Club on completing the meeting despite the testing conditions. They now look forward to their next event at the same venue on Sunday, September 7th.
Results
Autos/Cadets: 1 Albie South 36 points 2 Levi Collins 30 3 Lilly Bence 27 4 Kobi Gutteridge 24.
Juniors: 1 Luton James McAlinney 32 points 2 Brayden Blyth 31 3 Archie Whitelam 29 4 Charlie Dowd 22 5 AJ Bence 17 6 Harry Little 17 7 Daisy Torres 14 8 Lucas Astley 12.
Intermediates: 1 Archie Rolph 34 points 2 Ollie Binns 32 3 Kane Newby 27 4 Jacob Phillips 23 5 Joe Bain 13 6 Finley Theobald 8 7 William Offen 7.
GT140’s FINAL: 1 Wayne Broadhurst 2 Tony Atkin 3 Mark Scopes 4 Ian Clark 5 Duncan Burton 6 Mark Collins 7 Luke Wicks 8 Charlie Hall.
250cc FINAL: 1 Graham Thomas 2 Austin Riches 3 Max Derrick 4 Karl Beddingfield 5 Shane Knight 6 Adam Hawker 7 Liam Cox 8 Jake Breeze.
350cc FINAL: 1 Jack Roberts 2 Tim Curnock 3 Barry Powell 4 Will Thurlby 5 George Pardoe 6 Chris Brook.
500cc: 1 Jack Roberts 34 points 2 Cameron Taylor 32 3 Jordan Derrick 27 4 Ryan Ashcroft 22 5 Eli Meadows 19 6 James Theobald 16 7 Will Thurlby 13 8 Joe Crewe 10 9 Mark Collins 9.
Pre 75: 1 Rob Snow 26 points 2 John Priest 22 3 John Weeks 12 4 Phil Kynman 12.
Uprights FINAL: 1 Tony Atkin 2 John Cox 3 Glyn Drake 4 Eddie Rouse 5 Tim Dixon 6 Luke Tuck.
Old and New Sidecars: 1 Mark Courtney/Leon Torres 21 points 2 Brian Hatch/Lewis Wharton 12 3 Luca Whitelam/Paul Whitelam 11.
500cc Sidecars: 1 Shaun Hughes/Louis Bennett 16 points 2 Richard Webb/Anthony Goodwin 15 3 Phil Rowlands/Scott Gutteridge 14 4 Shane Freeman/Tobias Vere 8 5 Nick Bull/Sam Hall 7 6 Mike Skelding/Louis Skelding 5.
1,000cc Right-Hand Sidecars FINAL: 1 Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth 2 Matt Fumarola/Andrew Wilson 3 Terry Saunters/Liam Brown 4 Bradley Reynolds/Connor Measor 5 Clint Blondel/Reece Blondel.
