Back on the weekend of 28th & 29th August the final round of the 2021 UK Evo Mx Championships took place at Ford Nr Chippenham in Wiltshire.
Report and Images by Dave Rich
On the Saturday there were three races each with a further two races for each class on the Sunday to determine who was overall winners in each class. The track was in prime condition on the Saturday with the sun out which meant that it was to dry, and water had to be put down on Saturday evening in readiness for Sunday’s racing.
In the Evo 125 class, there was a dominant display of riding by Jake Shipton on his CR Honda in the opening two races winning both from fellow CR rider John May with Daryl Bolter taking third on both occasions, but in the third race, it was Bolter who led early doors from May and Elliot Barrs with Shipton this time back in fourth after a bad start. May was to pass Bolter by the end of the opening lap and was to gradually ease away and Shipton was soon on Bolter’s tail after passing Barrs with Shipton eventually getting past Bolter on lap 3 and was now closing in on May at the front who knew Shipton was coming, but unfortunately for May he was hampered on the last lap after picking up a rear-wheel puncture which was to gift the win to Shipton with Bolter again taking a close third. Shipton continued to shine on the Sunday winning both races in style to give him a clean sweep over the weekend, May took a comfortable second place in both races to finish second to Shipton in all five races. Barrs didn’t have the best of a weekend-only managing to finish 13th overall but he had done enough to become Champion just nine points ahead of Tom Moore and Dean Batchelor.
The Evo 250 class saw a return from Jamie Skuse who unfortunately missed the last round at Marshfield due to other commitments and he showed that he hadn’t lost his way on the CR Honda as he was to win all five races over the weekend, but he had to deal with the YZ Yamaha of Ben Milward on several occasions who did lead two races momentarily and was to match the speed of Skuse especially in the opening race on the Saturday where he finished just two seconds behind Skuse at the line and in the second moto on Saturday Skuse had to deal with no back brake for most of the race, but the Championship was to go to Ben Milward who had been there or thereabouts including winning some races through the series and took it by 12 points ahead of James Kensington with Ben Hodgkins taking third in the Championship just 8 points behind Kensington.
In the 500 Evo class, there was no stopping George Gough on the KX Kawasaki on the Saturday who notched up a hat trick of wins but there were some good battles behind him between James Price on the KX and Arron Poolman and the CR Honda of Adam Plant who was giving his all. Sunday was to welcome Leighton Holmes on the scene on his CR Honda who was to have a long hard battle in both races with Gough, but it was Holmes who won both races with the CR Honda of Philip Peaster taking a well-earned third in both races, but the consistency was what wins Championships and that was what James Price had done to become the 2021 Champion ahead of Thomas Sorrell and Alfie Rimell who finished second and third respectively.
The Super Evo under 45 class was dominated by Welshman Andrew Gillett on the Husqvarna who once he hit the front was to ease away from the rest of the field and took the chequered flag in all five races and with it became the 2021 Champion, but there was a good battle for second overall at the weekend between the two CR 500’s of Gary and Lee Brown as they went into the last race with the same points, but it was Lee who took it after beating Gary by literally a second but it was Gary who finished runner up in the Championship ahead of Lee.
In the Super Evo over 45 class as with other rounds, it was the CR 250 of Laurence Wiltshire who was the rider to beat as he was in fine form on both days winning all five races by some margin with Jason Morris on his CR 500 scoring well in all three races to take second overall ahead of Mark McGill, but the Championship was to go to Max Hendy literally by 5 points from Wiltshire with Dave White ending up third in the Championship.
In the Vets over 45 class, it was the YZ 250 Yamaha of Phil Lewis who took the overall, but he didn’t win all five races as the KX 500 Kawasaki of Dean Warren was to deny him a clean sweep of wins in the last race on Saturday, but Lewis had been in the points all through the series and he had done enough and was the new Champion with Gary Henson ending up second in the Championship beating Dean Warren by just five points in the standings.
The Twinshock under 50’s class saw the CR 250 of Matt Nash dominate the proceedings on both days winning all five races and with it was crowned Champion ahead of Richard Benham who even though he missed a round he still took second in the Championship by three points from James Reeves who missed the last round.
In the Twinshock Over 50’s, it was Terry House on his Fasthouse/Butler 490 Maico who was triumphant in every race winning some of them by some margin from Cornishman Mark Roberts who did holeshot two of the races on his CR 480, but at the end of the day there was only one Champion and that was House with Graham Challis ending up runner up ahead of Mark Taylor.
The Under 50’s Twinshock 4-Stroke class wins were split between three riders with Mitchell Griffin on his Ktm 560 taking two wins as did Brad Perrett with Nigel Davies taking the other one but taking the overall by three points from Davies and the Championship was Griffin with Keir Tett and George Wolff who only competed at a round each ending up second and third in the Championship respectively.
The Over 50’s Twinshock 4-Stroke class again saw three different winners over the weekend with Martin Coleman on his 510 Husqvarna taking two wins with Paul Bennett winning the other race on the Saturday, but both Bennett and Coleman were missing on Sunday and the race wins went to Shaun Church on his 560 Ktm but the overall went to Paul Clarke on his 600 Ktm who had been consistent all weekend just as he had at the other rounds and he was rewarded with his effort as he was declared 2021 Champion.
In the Modern 2-Stroke Under 50’s class, it was four wins out of five for the YZ 250 Yamaha of Tony Griffiths only to be denied a perfect weekend by three-hundredths of a second in the last moto on Saturday by Jordan Barrs, but it was Griffiths who was crowned Champion ahead of young 18-year-old Callum Neate and Josh Crewe.
The Over 50’s Modern 2-Stroke class saw Richie Vincent on his Husqvarna 125 take four wins out of the five which gave him the overall with Jason Morettes on his YZ 250 second to Vincent in four races and then denying Vincent a clean sweep of wins in the last race, but Morettes was the Champion with Darren Shortt runner up ahead of Adrian Jennings who ended the series third.
The WME Pre 85 class proved very popular with a fair entry and produced some good racing especially between Phil Newman, Jake Chamberlain, and Matthew Hitchman with Newman winning two races to Hitchman’s three, but with Hitchman only finishing seventh in the third moto after a bad start it was Newman who took the overall by one point.
Results
Saturday – Round 7 >>CLICK HERE<<
Sunday – Round 8 >>CLICK HERE<<
Final Standings
