Locke and Loaded! Somerset Scramble Club Best in the West – Race Report and Results

Back on Sunday October 10th the Somerset Scramble Club hosted their last meeting of 2021 with the Best in the West Les Pidgeon Memorial Scramble which included the final rounds of the Twinshock and Evo Under and Over 40’s Championships which was back at Cotley Nr Chard by popular demand.

Report and Images by Dave Rich

The track was in prime condition with a lot of thought being given to the layout and a new section through the wood had been added and with many spectators in attendance, there was some good racing to be seen in all classes.

Brian Ayres took third overall in the Pre 65 under 350 class 

The Classic category was a combined race that had been well supported and consisted of four different classes. In the Pre 65 Under 350cc class, it was the 350 Hickie BSA of Colin Hickie who was to dominate all three races ahead of Neil Hammersley also on a 350 Hickie BSA who finished second to Colin with Brian Ayres taking third in all three races.

In the Pre 65 over 350cc class, there was no stopping Matt Fry on his 600 Cheney Jawa who notched up a clean sweep of wins, but the battle was on for runner up spot between Matty Taylor on his 550 MTS Jawa and the 600 Norton of Karl Waite with both ending the day tied on points, but with Taylor beating Waite in the last race he took second overall.

Adam Butt turning on the power on his 350 BSA and took the overall in the Pre 74 over 250 class

The Under 250 Pre 74 class saw Neil Aldridge win the opening race on his 250 Husqvarna with Marcus Denham winning the other two races after a DNF in the opening race, but at the end of the day, consistency was to pay off for Andrew Burgess who took a hattrick of seconds and with it took the overall by one point from Aldridge.

In the Over 250 Pre 74 class we saw some good battles with Adam Butt on his BSA 350 winning the opening two races, but he was denied a clean sweep in the last one by the big 500 BSA of Luke Hickie.

The Evo under 40’s class it was a welcome return to this venue for Jake Shipton on his CR125 who was dominant in all three races taking the overall from the YZ250 of James Kensington with Lee Skinner who was back competing after breaking his wrist earlier in the year ending the day third overall, whereas in the Over 40’s class there was a fine display from Steve Locke who took a hattrick of wins with Kevin Butcher taking second overall by just two points from Ben Braddick.

James Samson in action in the Under 40’s Evo Championship class 

In the Twinshock A class it was one of the Southwest Twinshock winning Team members at the recent VetsMXDN Wayne Butt on his 490 Maico who had a blistering start in the opening race, but as Wayne entered the new section in the woods on the opening lap he went down and emerging in the lead was now Adam Butt who was riding as a wildcard, and it was Adam who went on to win the opening race from leading Twinshock rider Lee Skinner on his 250 Red Rocket with Wayne coming back through the field taking third.

In the second race, it was Scott Reed who had the best start and led for most of the opening lap before losing out to Wayne who made no mistakes in the woods in this one who was to pass Reed down over one of the jumps and from that point, he was to ease away for a comfortable win and it was much the same in the last race as Wayne took the win by some 21 seconds and with it took the overall with Jordan Ridgeway second overall and James Bartholomew third overall.

Ashton Butt took his first ever overall in the Twinshock D Class 

The Twinshock B class was probably one of the best classes on the day as it produced three different winners with the opening race being won by Shaun Church by just over a second after passing Paul White on the last lap with Matt Holcombe less than a second behind taking third. In the second moto this time it was White who took the win from Holcombe with Church literally one-hundredth of a second behind Holcombe taking third. The last race saw Holcombe dominate once he hit the front in this one with White taking second with Adrian Frampton just holding off Church for third, but at the end of the day, it was White who took the overall by two points from Holcombe with Church four points further back taking third overall.

No 516 Paul White and No 30 Shaun Church battling it out in the Twinshock B Class.

In the Twinshock C class again it was to produce three different winners with Jamie Evans winning the opening race with Guy Biddle taking the chequered flag in the second moto to add to his second-place finish in the first race and was looking good to take the overall but a DNF in the last race put an end to that and it was Adam Tabrett who won the last race, but it was Bradley Griffiths who even though didn’t win a race he put together three good rides and with it took the overall from Tabrett with Daniel Morley ending the day third overall.

Wayne Butt in action in the Twinshock A Class 

In the Twinshock D class, it proved a good day for Ashton Butt who was back riding competitively after a lapse of seven years as he won the opening two races only to be beaten into second in the last race by Colin Ayles but with two wins and a second, it was Butt who took his first-ever overall win ahead of Ayles with Robert Coleman taking third overall.

Results