Hat Trick for Banks-Browne and Pope at Blaxhall Opener! Woodbridge DMCC – Race Report & Results
Sunday saw the Woodbridge DMCC club host their first race meeting of the year at the Blaxhall Circuit. With Covid restriction still in place the event was held without spectators at the venue, but a strong line of 160 riders enjoyed a great day’s racing.
Report by Richard Blyth – Images by Richard Blyth – Image Rich Media
The meeting featured the opening round of the NGR Championship for over 30’s along with 3 groups of Expert and Junior riders in a 12-race programme.
In the NGR Championship group it was Matt Pope on the Matt Pope Motorcycles Kawasaki who took the opening race win after moving forward to pass early race lead Will Kerry for the win, while Tim Clark took third ahead of Leon Woodford in fourth and Mark Hunt in fifth.
The second race once again saw Pope take the race win by over 20 seconds ahead of John Hinz and Will Kerry in third, with Sean Wright and Tim Clark taking fourth and fifth. Pope made it three out of three to claim the overall in the final race taking the win ahead of John Hinz, Tim Clark, Sean Wright and Will Kerry. Pope ended the day with the overall victory ahead of Will Kerry and Tim Clark.
NGR Winner Matt Pope
In the A Group a number of the Expert rider topped the entry list along with the fastest Junior riders on the day. It was the former two times British Champion Elliott Banks-Browne who was the fastest in qualifying and competing in his first race for over 15 months. The opening race saw Banks-Browne in a race long battle with Luke Benstead, with Banks-Browne taking the victory over Benstead, Lewis Tombs in third and Tom Grimshaw and Luke Parker taking fourth and fifth. The top Junior in the race was young Bayliss Utting in 14th as he competed in his first adult event.
The second race saw drama on the start when Banks-Browne stalled the bike going into the second turn and had to restart from almost dead last. At the front Tombs was in the lead and battling to stay ahead of the chasing pack, while Banks-Browne was moving forward at a very quick pace. Towards the end of the race Banks-Browne had moved into second and took the lead with a lap to go and claimed the win ahead of Tombs, Sam Nunn in third and Tom Grimshaw and Luke Parker in fourth and fifth. Once again it was Bayliss Utting as the top Junior in the race in 13th place.
A Group Start
The final A group race saw Banks-Browne make good start and take a start to finish race win to claim a hat trick of race wins and the overall. Second in the race went to Luke Benstead ahead of Lewis Tombs, Sam Nunn and Luke Parker rounding out the top 5. Bayliss Utting finished the race again in 13th as the top Junior.
The A Group overall saw Banks-Browne take the win ahead of Tombs, Nunn, Parker and Benstead making the top 5 overall.
Lewis Tombs
In the B group it was Jack Whitlam who took the overall victory ahead of Thomas Clarke and Ross Young in third. Richard Roper claimed fourth overall after taking two race wins but a DNF in the second race dropped him down the overall with Marcus Smith in fifth overall.
The C Group saw Lee Scott take the overall win ahead of Sam Cushion, Jonathan Finch rounding out the top 3 with Josh Sturman and Robert Green rounding out the top five overall.
After a successful day the Woodbridge DMCC will now prepare for their next meeting on the 30th May where they hope that the Government and ACU guidelines will allow the return of Spectators to the event.
Sam Nunn
Results
Group A
| Pos | Competitor | Points | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1 | Elliott Banks-Browne | 75 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| 2 | Lewis Tombs | 62 | 20 | 22 | 20 |
| 3 | Sam Nunn | 52 | 14 | 20 | 18 |
| 4 | Luke Parker | 48 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| 5 | Luke Benstead | 44 | 22 | – | 22 |
| 6 | Shaun Southgate | 43 | 13 | 15 | 15 |
| 7 | Benjamin Cole | 38 | 12 | 14 | 12 |
| 8 | Reece Martin | 37 | 11 | 13 | 13 |
| 9 | Thomas Murphy | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 |
| 10 | Tom Grimshaw | 36 | 18 | 18 | – |
| 11 | Kieran Clarke | 31 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| 12 | Samuel Arbon | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 13 | Declan Whittle | 25 | 15 | 10 | – |
| 14 | Bayliss Utting | 23 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| 15 | Robert Nicoll | 14 | – | 5 | 9 |
| 16 | Jack Youngs | 12 | – | 6 | 6 |
| 17 | Connor Baldry | 12 | – | 7 | 5 |
| 18 | Andrew Stephenson | 10 | – | 3 | 7 |
| 19 | Liam Bennett | 7 | 3 | 4 | – |
| 20 | Matthew French | 6 | 2 | – | 4 |
| 21 | George Ellis | 6 | 6 | – | – |
| 22 | Ryan Matthews | 5 | 5 | – | – |
| 23 | Benjamin Parry | 4 | 4 | – | – |
| 24 | Connor Bunkle | 3 | – | – | 3 |
| 25 | Callum Murfitt | 3 | 1 | 2 | – |
| 26 | Travis Frost | 2 | – | – | 2 |
| 27 | Jake Rackham | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 28 | Jordan Andrews | 1 | – | 1 | – |
Tom Grimshaw
Group B
| Pos | Competitor | Points | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1 | Jack Whitlam | 60 | 20 | 22 | 18 |
| 2 | Thomas Clarke | 57 | 18 | 25 | 14 |
| 3 | Ross Young | 48 | 15 | 13 | 20 |
| 4 | Richard Roer | 47 | 22 | – | 25 |
| 5 | Marcus Smith | 40 | 25 | – | 15 |
| 6 | Ben Gilbert | 36 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 7 | Lee Butson | 34 | 14 | 20 | – |
| 8 | Karl Sturman | 32 | – | 10 | 22 |
| 9 | Rupert Graver | 31 | – | 15 | 16 |
| 10 | Thomas Mustard | 30 | 2 | 16 | 12 |
| 11 | Oliver Gaut | 30 | 8 | 18 | 4 |
| 12 | Daniel Wright | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10 |
| 13 | Luke Clifton | 22 | 13 | 9 | – |
| 14 | Scott Goodson | 20 | 6 | 14 | – |
| 15 | Austen Feavearyear-Foster | 20 | 12 | 8 | – |
| 16 | James Gadd | 18 | 7 | – | 11 |
| 17 | John Hilton | 16 | 16 | – | – |
| 18 | Lloyd Goldstraw | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| 19 | Kieren Hibble | 16 | 9 | 7 | – |
| 20 | Fynn Ellis | 14 | – | 6 | 8 |
| 21 | Jay Peperell | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 22 | Sam Menzies | 11 | – | 11 | – |
| 23 | Scott Blazey | 7 | – | 1 | 6 |
| 24 | Daniel Lawlor | 5 | – | – | 5 |
| 25 | Edward Pegram | 5 | 5 | – | – |
| 26 | Tristan Hales | 3 | – | – | 3 |
| 27 | Sam Edwards | 2 | – | – | 2 |
| 28 | Henry Cox | 2 | – | 2 | – |
| 29 | Ty Atkins | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 30 | Max Monk | 1 | 1 | – | – |
[uam_ad id=”37537″]
Group C
| Pos | Competitor | Points | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1 | Lee Scott | 67 | 20 | 25 | 22 |
| 2 | Sam Cushion | 63 | 25 | 20 | 18 |
| 3 | Jonathan Finch | 50 | 16 | 18 | 16 |
| 4 | Josh Sturman | 48 | 9 | 14 | 25 |
| 5 | Robert Green | 41 | 12 | 9 | 20 |
| 6 | Aidan Weston | 41 | 14 | 12 | 15 |
| 7 | Ben Secker | 38 | 22 | 16 | – |
| 8 | Charlie Starsmoore | 33 | 15 | 15 | 3 |
| 9 | Craig Page-Baker | 29 | 11 | 4 | 14 |
| 10 | Lewis Saunders | 29 | 8 | 10 | 11 |
| 11 | Joshua Warren | 27 | 5 | 22 | – |
| 12 | Chris Gaut | 26 | 18 | – | 8 |
| 13 | Brenton Clarke | 23 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| 14 | Reece Horne | 22 | – | 13 | 9 |
| 15 | George Stark | 19 | 13 | 6 | – |
| 16 | Ollie Denyer | 16 | 1 | 8 | 7 |
| 17 | Kevin Rossiter | 15 | – | 11 | 4 |
| 18 | Tavis Coulson | 13 | – | – | 13 |
| 19 | Steven East | 13 | 3 | – | 10 |
| 20 | Thomas Clarkson | 13 | 7 | – | 6 |
| 21 | Michael Kester | 13 | 10 | 3 | – |
| 22 | Tom Sutton | 9 | 2 | 7 | – |
| 23 | Troy Brumpton | 7 | – | 2 | 5 |
| 24 | Andrew Rooke | 5 | 4 | – | 1 |
| 25 | Jesse Eaves | 3 | – | 1 | 2 |
NGR Championship
| Pos | Competitor | Points | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1 | Matthew Pope | 150 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| 2 | William Kerry | 133 | 47 | 45 | 41 |
| 3 | Timothy Clark | 131 | 45 | 41 | 45 |
| 4 | Sean Wright | 126 | 40 | 43 | 43 |
| 5 | Mark Hunt | 121 | 41 | 40 | 40 |
| 6 | Leon Woodford | 121 | 43 | 39 | 39 |
| 7 | Mark Goodson | 115 | 39 | 38 | 38 |
| 8 | Jason Aylett | 111 | 38 | 37 | 36 |
| 9 | Paul Hubbard | 106 | 37 | 36 | 33 |
| 10 | Tyrone Tugwell | 103 | 34 | 34 | 35 |
| 11 | Marc Nickerson | 95 | 36 | 25 | 34 |
| 12 | John Hinz | 94 | – | 47 | 47 |
| 13 | Aaron Smith | 93 | 27 | 29 | 37 |
| 14 | Oliver Macey | 92 | 32 | 30 | 30 |
| 15 | Tim Soane | 91 | 28 | 32 | 31 |
| 16 | Jake Morphey | 90 | 33 | 28 | 29 |
| 17 | Shaun Palfrey | 90 | 35 | 27 | 28 |
| 18 | Robert Reid | 85 | 29 | 31 | 25 |
| 19 | Stephen Atkins | 83 | 31 | 33 | 19 |
| 20 | Lee Keyton | 78 | 30 | 21 | 27 |
| 21 | Lewis Joyce | 75 | 25 | 26 | 24 |
| 22 | Steven Bottoms | 71 | 26 | 22 | 23 |
| 23 | John Hilton | 67 | – | 35 | 32 |
| 24 | Aaron Holden | 66 | 24 | 20 | 22 |
| 25 | David Farrant | 63 | 14 | 23 | 26 |
| 26 | Dean Suckling | 63 | 23 | 19 | 21 |
| 27 | Christian Drane | 55 | 21 | 14 | 20 |
| 28 | John Smith | 51 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 29 | Jason Turner | 50 | 17 | 16 | 17 |
| 30 | Samuel Cliff | 49 | 18 | 18 | 13 |
| 31 | Gene Barfield | 48 | 19 | 13 | 16 |
| 32 | Wayne Fulcher | 45 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 33 | Andrew Cattermole | 44 | 20 | 24 | – |
| 34 | Sam Appleton | 39 | 13 | 12 | 14 |
| 35 | Trevor Neave | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 |
| 36 | David Ward | 33 | 22 | 11 | – |
| 37 | Geraint Hubbard | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| 38 | Paul Neave | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 39 | Kai Ryder | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
| 40 | Christopher Bickley | 11 | 11 | – | – |
