Irwin conquers Doune! 2022 ScotMX SACU Scottish Motocross Championship Round 5 Day One – Race Report & Results

Doune is more than just the mecca of mid-week motos. Riders come from far and wide to ride Central Scotland’s sand-pit and it’s one of the highlights on the Scot MX calendar.

Report and Images by Raymond Thomson – Madmaxmedia

Scott Gardner always has the track in prime condition, and the riders would benefit from all the hard work that the Scot MX team and Scott put into the track. The riders had to keep their cool in the searing heat as summer finally arrived. The penultimate round at Doune was split over two consecutive Saturdays due to local restrictions. This meant that the normal 4 races for the Kids/Rookies would be curtailed into 3 to ensure the meeting could be run in one day.

2 Stroke / Adult Support (Combined)

The normal schedule was reversed at Doune, so the Two Stroke Championship was up first. The race was combined with the Adult Support, and overall numbers were limited to suit the race schedule. The two-strokes were on the gate first to give the championship riders the benefit of a clear track. Dylan Carnegie and Fraser Norrie would battle it out for the overall with Dylan coming out on top. Norrie pushed him all the way, and the racing was frantic at times. The nature of the two-stroke racing always makes for real ding dong duals throughout the class. The Hendry brothers had a battle for third, and Owen only very recently got himself a bike just to race the class, but he couldn’t outdo his younger brother Logan, who has raced the entire series. Ewan Kermack managed to blast out front in the third race and run upfront as he split Greg Maxwell and George Stewart to grab 5th behind Greg. The pair are usually inseparable, but Ewan relished riding the deep sand.

The Adult support had a great number of fast riders making up the gate who would ultimately catch the two-stroke riders and get in the mix for the overall race wins. The staggered start behind the two strokes would see Billy Mackenzie push hard as he had his work cut out to fend off Ben Kennedy and Ryan Mawhinney as the youngsters did their utmost to match his speed. All three riders would take a race win each and hunt down their 2 stroke counterparts. It must have been hard for the spectators to work out who was winning at times, but for the neutral observer, the racing was hectic and exhilarating.

Youth / Rookies

Another thrilling class is the Youth / Rookies. Charley Irwin was on a mission to continue his dominance in the class, and the deep sand of Doune suited his riding style perfectly. Charley had to push through the pack in race one to beat Lee Cameron who was riding a borrowed bike as his race bike developed a terminal fault in qualifying. Luckily, he got to grips with the bike very quickly and did his best to maximise his points even after he cased a jump and damaged his ankle in race 1. Kyle Peel got the final podium with some great consistent riding and did enough to stay ahead of Logan Ferguson, who had a disappointing first race dropping from third to sixth and limiting his chances of a podium. Graham Haddow also had a poor first race, but his return from long-term injury shows promise as he managed a third in race 2. I’m sure he’s happy to break into the top 5 and will continue to improve. Benas Blazevicius rounded out the top 6 and showed some real speed throughout the day.

85 Small Wheel / 85 Big Wheel

Another rider coming back from injury was Jaden Anderson. He sustained a serious head injury riding his BMX bike a few weeks ago, but he was back doing what he does best. His best wasn’t good enough though, as Malachi Allan had other ideas. It was another master class from Malachi as he would dominate all day, winning all three races by a mile. Another good ride from Robbie Scott got him the final podium place as Kyle Graham and Jamie McKee fought it out for 4th. Jamie’s third in race 2 wasn’t quite enough to overhaul the wee Irish lad. Jay Baker had some thrills n spills on his way to sixth.

In the BW class, Ryan Haddow rode like a demon in race three after he picked the bike up at the first corner and rode hard through the pack to take the overall. Charlie Macdonald couldn’t match Ryan’s speed at Doune, but he did enough to stay ahead of James McGowan. Robbie Peace and Aaron Tait had good solid performances and broke into the top 6; Harry Nunn has been making steady progress throughout the year.

65’s

Bali Black took his first-ever race win in race two at Doune and showed there’s more to come as his consistency was rewarded with a great win as he lead every lap and never looked threatened by Aaron Todd in that race. Aaron has had the best record in the 65’s all season, and he showed why he’s the lad to beat in race 1 and 3 as Alfie Lawrie had a quiet day by his standards. Charlie Casselden was only a point behind Alfie, but his final race let him down as he couldn’t recover enough places after a bad start to overhaul Alfie. George “Doodle” Dryden day started off with a second corner crash which meant a hard slog to battle through to 8th. His day did improve as he showed some good speed, but overall 5th was the best he could muster. Liam Everard matched Doodle on points but finished behind him in the final race, which meant 6th overall for the day.

Autos

Cole McAuley enjoyed another visit over to Scotland with a 2,1,1 for his efforts. Although Jack Martin edged race 1, Cole would dominate the next two races as Martin blew the chance of the overall with a first corner crash in the last race. Aiden Anton secured the final podium with two great 3rd places in the first two races and just managed to outdo Hunter Haldane by a single point as his last race didn’t go to plan. Harris Curran pipped Liam Hannah to 5th as Liam’s third in the final race just wasn’t enough to improve his result.

Round 5 of the ScotMX Championship, powered by Milwaukee, continues next week at Doune Motocross 16th. Entries are open and available www.scotmx.com

Results

Adult Support – 2 Stroke Open

Adult Support 2T – 150

Rookies

Big Wheel 85

Small Wheel 85

Junior 65

Auto