Back over the weekend of August 16th & 17th The Best In The West held its annual Badgers Bash Scramble at Cotley Nr Chard in memory of the legend that was Bryan Goss which also incorporated on the Saturday the final round of the Matthews Roofing South West Classic Scramble Championships and had attracted not just a big entry but was well supported on both days with many spectators in attendance and they were rewarded with some excellent racing on what was a fast track. As with most other events in the South West a lot of work had to be done to try and keep the dust minable which proved very hard to do at Cotley on Saturday with it being a scorching hot day and with safety in mind not just for the riders but for the marshals as well the decision was made to cancel the last block of racing.
Race Report and Images by Dave Rich
In the Classic Championship class it was the 500 BSA of Tim Dallaway who was to dominate both races and took the chequered flag on both occasions with Martin Stephens taking second overall with two second place finishes on his 360 MX Yamaha with third overall going to Ray Hooper on his 380 CZ, but as far as the Championship went it was Michael Townsend who was declared Champion who had been there or there abouts at every round.
CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
1st Michael Townsend (Champion) 59 points
2nd Ray Hooper 74 points
3rd Andrew Maddox 81 points
4th Steve Dagger 95 points
5th Tim Dallaway 133 points
The Twinshock A Championship it was Luke Hill who was sitting pretty at the top of the standings going in to the final round and Luke was out on a different bike which was a 250 Red Rocket which he was riding for the first time but he was up against it as fellow Red Rocket rider George Hopkins was in fine form and took the chequered flag in the opening race from the YZ 490 Yamaha of George Bowernan with Hill third and in the second encounter it looked as if Hopkins was going to take the win in this one but a mistake was to cost him and Bowernan took over at the front and from that point went on to take the win with Hill coming home in second and Matthew Nash another rider on a Red Rocket taking third. Bowerman took the overall from Hill, with Ryan Hooper taking third overall, but it was Hill who was the 2025 Twinshock A Champion.
TWINSHOCK A CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
1st Luke Hill (Champion) 15 points
2nd Ryan Hooper 56 points
3rd Shaun Atkins 85 points
4th George Bowerman 128 points
5th Marcus Clare 231 points
In the Twinshock B Championship class it was the current Championship leader Derek Adams on his 540 Honda who was to take the opening race win from the 604 KTM of Ben Dyer who just held off the YZ 250 Yamaha of Jonny Orchard who was a close third, where as in the second moto it was a battle at the front between Adams and Dyer with Dyer eventually getting pass Adams which was to give him the win and the overall by virtue of the better result in the last race and third overall was Harmer, but the Champion was Adams.
TWINSHOCK B CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
1st Derek Adams (Champion) 37 points
2nd Ben Dyer 80 points
3rd James King 92 points
4th Harvey Lowe 119 points
5th Jonny Orchard 186 points
The Twinshock C Championship class, Charley Pavitt continued his winning ways and took both race wins on his 490 Maico with Neil Jones taking second overall, just pipping Mike Goddard, but it was Pavitt who was to clinch the Championship and was 2025 Champion.
TWINSHOCK C CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
1ST Charley Pavitt (Champion) 26 points
2nd William Lester 88 points
3rd Jason Knight 102 points
4th Steven Ramshaw 157 points
5th Neil Jones 161 points
In the Twinshock D Championship class, there was a win each for both Adrian Toy and Adam Tabrett, with Toy taking the overall from Tabrett, who took second overall by one point from Phil Hunt, but it was Tabrett who had done enough and was the Champion.
TWINSHOCK D CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
1st Adam Tabrett (Champion) 36 points
2nd Shane White 60 points
3rd Greg Stephens 62 points
4th Adrian Toy 111 points
5th Chris Vile 193 points
The Twinshock E Championship class there was some good racing with Sean Cook winning the opening race but unfortunately for Cook he picked up a Dnf in the second race which was won by Perry Scott who took the overall by one point from Colin Rattigan with Lee Watts third overall, but as far as with the Championship it was all about consistency as both Mark Mead and Lee Watts were tied on points, but by virtue of the most race wins it was Mead who took the Championship.
TWINSHOCK E CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
1st Mark Mead (Champion) 78 points
2nd Lee Watts 78 points
3rd Oakley Hooper 122 points
4th Laurence Ball 154 points
5th Kori Lilley 191 points
In the Evo Under 50’s Championship class, it was Carl Luke who was to go into the last round leading the Championship, and barring any serious mistakes, he looked for sure to win the Championship. Keiren Genge won the opening race with Matt Holcombe winning the second race, which gave Holcombe the overall from a consistent Dave Anthony, with one of many female riders Tanisha Thomas taking third overall, which was to give her second in the Championship at her first attempt, but with Luke fourth overall he had done enough to be the Champion.
EVO UNDER 50’s CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
1st Carl Luke (Champion) 26 points
2nd Tanisha Thomas 56 points
3rd George Bowerman 74 points
4th Will Cawley 183 points
5th Tom Paulley 183 points
The Evo over 50’s Championship class it looked as if Jason Alba was going to win the opening race before a late charge from Kevin Butcher saw him pass Alba and take the win, but Alba made no mistakes in the second race and took the chequered flag and with it took the overall from Butcher with Nick Lane third overall and taking sixth overall was Richard Tapscott who had done what he had to do and was to become the 2025 Evo over 50’s Champion.
EVO OVER 50’s CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS
1st Richard Tapscott (Champion) 28 points
2nd Greg Pascoe 78 points
3rd Ashley Underhill 150 points
4th Nick Noble 156 points
5th Jason Alba 176 points
On the Sunday there were many other competitors in attendance and a few missing from the Championship round the previous day. The track had been heavily watered on the Saturday evening, and every effort had been made to try and keep the dust down as much as possible.
In the Classic class Lee Kelly was in attendance on his 440 BSA Victor, who was to win the opening encounter from Luke Hill who was out on a classic bike for a change in the shape of a 500 BSA, but Luke was soon to get to grips with the BSA in the second race and took the win from Kelly. So they were tied on points going in to the last race and it was Hill who had the better start and soon hit the front and with a clear track in front of him he was to use it to his advantage and took the win which gave him the overall and winner of the Dave Wilde (Grandad) Memorial Trophy from Kelly who took second overall and third overall was to go to Martin Stephens with a scorecard of 3, 3, 4 on his 360 MX Yamaha.
The Twinshock A class was probably to produce the best racing of the day, especially in the second race between George Bowerman on his 490 YZ Yamaha and George Hopkins on his 250 Red Rocket. Hopkins was to win the opening race comfortably, but there was a good battle going on for second between Bowerman and Marcus Clare, with virtually nothing between them as they went into the last corner, but Bowerman held the line and took it by less than half a second. In the second race it was Bowerman who was on a mission from the off and set a blistering pace at the front, Hopkins didn’t have the best of starts but was soon up in to second giving chase and managed to pass Bowerman on the second lap before Bowerman took the lead back powering up the fast uphill which gave the spectators something to cheer about. Hopkins was to stay with Bowerman and was looking to go back to the front, which he did on a righthander, and with backmarkers soon to be in play, he looked to be getting away. Bowerman was shaking his left arm (which was arm pump) and was struggling now to stay with Hopkins, but Hopkins turned the power on too quick and was to go down and through came Bowerman who went on to take the win from Matt Nash and Tom Paulley. In the last race, Hopkins was to hit the front from the second corner and was to power away at the front, but there was a good tussle going on for second between Bowerman and Ryan Hooper, with Hooper eventually finding a way past Bowerman and went on to take second behind Hopkins, with Bowerman taking third. Hopkins took the overall from Bowerman, with Hooper third overall.
In the Twinshock B class, it was very competitive and was to produce three different winners with Derek Adams winning the opening race, Ben Dyer was to win the second encounter, with Kurtis Bence taking the chequered flag in the last race, but it was Dyer who took the overall from Bence with Nick Moores taking third overall.
The Twinshock C class saw a dominant display of riding from Neil Jones on his CR 250 Honda, who was to take a hat-trick of wins to give him the overall, with Jack Courtenay second overall, and third overall went to Steven Matthews.
In the Twinshock D class again there was no stand out rider with a different winner in all three races, Adrian Toy won the opening race with a win for Kevin Spiiler in race two and winner of the third race was Phil Hunt who had finished second in both race one and two which was to give him the overall, second overall went to Spiller with Thomas Plume taking third overall.
The Twinshock E class saw Scott Perry in fine form, who was to blitz the rest of the field in all three races and take a convincing hat-trick of wins to claim the overall, with Chris Brown taking second overall, and Vaughan Watts taking third overall.
In the Evo Under 50’s Ryan Allen was on the line having not rode on the previous day and he was in fine form in the opening two races and took the win on both occasions, but in the last race it was George Hopkins who was out on a borrowed bike who took the chequered flag ahead of Allen and Bowerman who had a real tussle to the line, but at the end of the three races it was Allen who took the overall from Bowerman with Tom Paulley with three consistant rides taking third overall.
The Evo over 50’s class saw Nick Lane back on a KX 500 rather than his normal KX 250. Nick hadn’t ridden a 500 for five years, but he soon got to grips with it and was to win the opening two races, but he was up against it in the last race after not the best of starts and it was Cornishman Andrew Annear who took the chequered flag ahead of Alex Buckingham with Lane third, but this was enough to give Lane the overall ahead of Buckingham who had a 3, 2, 2 scorecard to take second overall with third overall going to Annear.
For the Full Results >>CLICK HERE<<
