Back on the weekend of June 13th & 14th, the South Coast Scramble Club held its second annual Paul Hardy Memorial Scramble at East Stour, Nr Shaftesbury in Dorset.
Race Report and Images by Dave Rich
A lot of hard work had gone into running this event with a well-laid-out track which was to be very technical, but nevertheless was to produce some excellent racing in all classes. Before racing commenced on the Saturday, as a mark of respect, a minute’s silence was held for the legend that was Keith Thorpe, who sadly passed away in the week.
The classic classes were combined into one group and were to produce some good racing. In the Pre 65 class, it was the big 500 BSA Goldstar of Thorne Pett who was to take the overall after winning five of the six races, only to be denied a clean sweep by Kelvin Day on his 350 BSA in the first race on the Sunday, who took second overall, with third overall going to the 350 BSA B40 of Mike Popperwell.
The Pre 68 class was all about one rider who totally showed his class, winning all six races, and that was Mark Lapham on his 440 BSA Victor, but there were some good battles going on behind him between David Trowbridge on his 480 BSA B25 and the 500 BSA Victor of Mike Gillingham, with Trowbridge eventually taking second overall from Gillingham, who was third overall.
READ MORE: BRITISH MOTOCROSS NEWS
In the Pre 74 class, the weekend started well for Ray Hooper on his 380 CZ, who was to take the chequered flag in the opening race by less than a second ahead of Mike Townsend to claim the win. However, Hooper didn’t win another race on the Saturday as they were split between Townsend and Martin Farwell also on a 380 CZ. Sundays racing saw a few extra riders in this class and one of them was Philip Peaster on the 250 Can-Am who was to take all three race wins on the Sunday, but consistency was the name of the game at the end of the weekend and it was Hooper who took the overall by three points from Derek Stephens on his 400 Suzuki TM with Gerard Copping taking third overall on his 380 CZ.
In the Twinshock A class numbers were a bit low compared to other meetings this year, but it was still fast and furious and turned into a real good battle royal between Scott Faulkner on his 500 CR Honda and Matthew Nash on his 250 CR Honda. Marcus Clare took the opening win on the Saturday on his 500 Honda, with Faulkner winning the other two races, whereas on the Sunday it was Nash who won the opening encounter, but Faulkner won the other two races, which was to give him the overall from Nash, with Clare just four points adrift taking third overall.
The Twinshock B class saw a fine display of riding from Ryan Baker on his 650 XR Honda, taking four of the six race wins, which was to give him the overall with Steve Matthews on his 250 Red Rocket Honda who had been consistent on both days, taking second overall with Steven Ramshaw on his 490 Maico Mega 2 taking third overall.
In the Twinshock C class it was Malcolm Sansom who won the opening two races on his 250 Red Rocket Honda and did take another win on the Sunday, but a rider who took the overall without a win was Philip Whetren on his 400 RM Suzuki, but there was a tie for second overall, but by virtue of the better result in the last race second overall went to the 465 YZ Yamaha of Jack Pellow with third overall going to the 600 XL Honda of Phil Hunt.
The Twinshock D class was well supported and sorted the men out from the boys, as there were three riders who notched up two wins apiece over the two days in the shape of Chris Brown, Alan O’Brien and Nick Ponting who only rode on the Sunday, but in the end it was Brown who was most consistent and took the overall from Scott Perry and Rickie Burt.
In the Twinshock E class it was Jim Allwood who started the weekend off with an eighth place finish in the first race, but after that he was unstoppable and won all the other races to give him the overall, with second overall going to Sean Cook who pipped Julierme Bruniera by one point, who took third overall.
The Ladies class saw Kate McAuley win all three races on the Saturday, where on the Sunday all three race wins went to Mia Milsom, but with McAuley second to Milsom on the Sunday, she took the overall from Milsom, with Joanne Ball taking third overall.
The Evo class saw Terry House out competing in this one on his 490 Maico, who was up against it in the opening race as one of the top female riders in the shape of Tanisha Thomas on her 250 CR Honda was right with him for most of the race, ready to pounce on any mistakes should House make any, which he didn’t. House was leading again in the second moto, but this time he was being pressured by the 500 KX Kawasaki of Keirren Genge, but as with the opening race, House held it together and took the win. In the third race, House was a non-starter, and it was Genge who was soon to hit the front and was closely followed by Thomas, who was trying all the time to find a way to pass Genge, but it was to no avail. Sunday, and a few riders were missing, including House, but there were some new riders lining up, and one of them was Ben Milward on his big 500 WR Yamaha. Genge was to win the first two races on the Sunday, with Milward winning the last race, but there were some good battles going on behind them, especially between the 500 CR Honda of James Teenan and Thomas, which was thrilling to watch. Genge took the overall with a well-deserved second overall, going to Thomas with Teenan third overall.
The Paul Hardy Memorial race takes place every year in memory of Paul, who sadly passed away back in 2024 after various health battles. Paul was one hell of a commentator and a close friend to the MX community with his wit and many catch phrases. Unfortunately, this year, on the morning of the race, the club heard of the sudden passing of Bill Newman (Club chairman Jade Newman’s grandad), and Jade added a minute’s silence along with Paul in memory of both. Every rider who took part had paid or donated for this race, with all proceeds going to Prostate Cancer UK.
Initially it was Carl Luke on the 125 Honda who led early doors but was soon put under pressure after the opening lap by Ben Milward, who had a bit of an advantage going up the hills on the bigger bike and was to soon pass Luke and was into the lead and started to get away. Scott Faulkner had moved up into third and was all over Luke in the closing stages, but Luke held strong to finish second behind Milward with Faulkner third.
SEE THE FULL RESULTS >>HERE<<
