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Nicholls claims victory at Blaxhall! ACU Eastern Centre Motocross Championship Round 4 – Race Report & Results

Nicholls claims victory at Blaxhall! ACU Eastern Centre Motocross Championship Round 4 – Race Report & Results

Woodbridge MCC hosted round four of the Eastern Centre motocross championships, sponsored by Instanda and Stebbings Car superstore, on Sunday at their Blaxhall circuit.

Report by Charlie Ralph – Images courtesy of ImageRich Media

Held in fine, dry conditions, the circuit was, as usual, in prime condition for racing, and the spectators were treated to 15 action packed races.

Despite the appearance of several National grade riders competing, to get some useful track time in readiness for the August British Championship meeting at Blaxhall, first race victory in the premier class went to Eastern series leader, Lewis Tombs, (Banks Honda). Tombs led the twenty-minute-long race from start to finish, with Liam Knight, (Gabriel KTM), and Dan Thornhill, (Cabscreens Yamaha) battling for second place. They were joined by local ace, Jake Nicholls, (Crendon Fastrack Honda), and the crowd were treated to watch a great four-way scrap at the front of the pack. Nicholls fought through to second place, but it was Tombs, riding brilliantly, who took the win. Thornhill got the better of Knight to claim third place, with Nicholls’s young teammate, Jay Hague, taking 5th place, chased home by Tom Grimshaw, (Chambers Husqvarna).


Despite still not being 100% fit, following a shoulder injury, Nicholls stormed to the front in race two, with Knight and Thornhill once again disputing second place. Positions remained the same throughout the race though, with Hague having another good race to finish in 4th place. Norfolk’s Luke Parker, (Matt Pope Kawasaki), held 5th place for the first four laps, but was eventually passed by young Suffolk ace, Sam Nunn, (RHR Yamaha), and Tombs. After crashing on the first corner, Grimshaw was in 36th place at the end of the first lap but fought through to 10th at the finish.

Tom Grimshaw

It was Thornhill’s turn for victory in the 3rd race. Grabbing the lead at the start, Thornhill was chased hard by Nicholls, and with a lap left, Nicholls closed the gap dramatically to within a bikes length as they crossed the finish line. Knight rode well in a lonely third place, with Grimshaw getting the better of Tombs for 4th. Luke Benstead, (GH Husqvarna), had bike problems in the first two races, but had better luck in race three, finishing in 6th place, after a high-speed battle with Sam Nunn.

Dan Thornhill leads Jake Nicholls

The 14 junior grade riders, who had qualified to race the premier class, certainly did not disgrace themselves, and there were some good battles amongst themselves further down the pack in each race.

Series Leader Lewis Tombs

Callum Murfitt topped the overall premier class juniors, with Liam Bennett having three good rides for second. Murfitt’s main opponent in the series, Ryan Gardiner, was third overall, with Tommy Clark just ahead of Joseph Leeks, Connor Bunkle and Archie Fisher.

Top Junior Callum Murfitt

The Group A Support races were dominated by Lewis O’Sullivan, who easily won all three moto’s. Local rider, Ben Alexander, was 2nd in race one, after a good battle with Jack Youngs and Ollie Brader.

With O’Sullivan in a commanding lead again in race two, Sam Arbon led the rest home in 2nd place. Connor Baldry fought through to 3rd, chased home by Arnis Paberzs. O’Sullivan romped home for a third win, leaving Baldry to claim 2nd place in race three, after a spirited battle with Brader, Alexander and Paberzs.

A Group Winner Lewis OSullivan

There were three different winners in the B Support races, Zac Roberts won the first leg, after passing early race leader, Lee Kirkpatrick. Veteran Paul Hubbard took his Herts MX Honda to victory in race two, closely followed by Shaun Palfrey and Roberts, and Alex Truslow won race three, with Roberts in 2nd place, which was enough for the overall win.

Liam Knight

Vince Snell, coming back from retirement, won all three legs in the C support group, with the consistent Alfie Self in second place in each race, and Overall victory in the D group went to Shaun Tacey, however youngster Henry Cox had cruel luck. After winning the first two races, bike problems when leading the third leg, caused his retirement.

Round five of the Eastern Championships will be held on August 1st at Lyng, hosted by the Norwich Vikings club.

Jake Nicholls

Results

Premier Expert

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3
1 Jake Nicholls 69 22 25 22
2 Daniel Thornhill 65 20 20 25
3 Liam Knight 60 18 22 20
4 Lewis Tombs 56 25 15 16
5 Tom Grimshaw 44 15 11 18
6 Sam Nunn 41 11 16 14
7 Luke Parker 38 14 14 10
8 Ben Franklin 34 8 13 13
9 Jay Lewis Hague 34 16 18
10 Declan Whittle 29 10 8 11
11 Shaun Southgate 24 12 12
12 Jack Brunell 22 13 9
13 Thomas Murphy 20 4 7 9
14 Max Broadbelt 18 5 5 8
15 Jake Preston 18 7 6 5
16 Benjamin Cole 16 6 10
17 Luke Benstead 15 15
18 Will Farrow 13 3 3 7
19 Steven Clarke 12 12
20 Brad Woodroffe 11 1 4 6
21 Josh Peters 10 9 1
22 Stephen Wade 6 2 4
23 Jason Morland 4 2 2
24 Brad Thornhill 3 3

Premier Junior

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3
1 Callum Murfitt 69 22 25 22
2 Liam Bennett 67 25 22 20
3 Ryan Gardiner 61 18 18 25
4 Tommy Clark 58 20 20 18
5 Joseph Leeks 44 14 14 16
6 Connor Bunkle 42 12 16 14
7 Archie Fisher 42 15 15 12
8 Matthew French 39 13 13 13
9 Finley Jarvis 31 16 15
10 Harry Smith 31 10 10 11
11 Lewis Holmes 27 8 9 10
12 Benjamin Parry 23 11 12
13 Joshua Deadman 20 9 11

Support A

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3
1 Lewis O’sullivan 135 45 45 45
2 Oliver Brader 117 39 37 41
3 Benjamin Alexander 117 43 35 39
4 Connor Baldry 114 30 41 43
5 Samuel Arbon 111 37 43 31
6 Arnis Paberzs 110 34 39 37
7 Harrison Forde 101 35 33 33
8 Robert Baldry 99 33 31 35
9 Daniel Willis 89 27 30 32
10 Joseph Hall 78 29 19 30
11 Bailey Jackson 75 26 27 22
12 Jack Youngs 70 41 29
13 Oliver Gaut 69 25 20 24
14 Joe Phillips 66 13 26 27
15 Freddie Wyard 66 32 34
16 Jack Klimowicz 65 19 18 28
17 Elliot Cook 63 31 32
18 Craig Heslop 62 28 34
19 Luke Nolan 57 17 17 23
20 Scott Claydon 57 16 21 20
21 Archie Cockerill 54 20 13 21
22 Charlie Baker 54 21 15 18
23 Aaron Smith 52 9 24 19
24 Marc Nickerson 49 24 25
25 Thomas Mustard 47 22 25
26 Stephen Atkins 46 22 10 14
27 Sean Wright 38 12 26
28 William King 37 12 9 16
29 Rupert Graver 37 14 23
30 Jay Peperell 32 7 8 17
31 Henry Rogers 32 18 14
32 John Hall 31 15 16
33 Joshua Deadman 29 29
34 Max Whittley 29 8 6 15
35 Shane Brown 28 28
36 Alby Smith 23 23
37 Oliver Hill 21 10 11
38 Callum Lake 18 11 7
39 William Jurgens 13 13
40 Michael Kester 10 5 5
41 Ciaran Poulter 6 6

Support B

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3
1 Zak Roberts 129 45 41 43
2 Alex Truslow 125 41 39 45
3 Paul Hubbard 121 39 45 37
4 Lee Kirkpatrick 111 43 34 34
5 Shaun Palfrey 108 32 43 33
6 Lloyd Goldstraw 103 37 35 31
7 Paul Aldridge 99 28 32 39
8 Ethan Cone 93 31 21 41
9 Fynn Ellis 87 34 26 27
10 Karl Sturman 85 35 24 26
11 Mitchell Beagrie 83 29 22 32
12 Joe Scillitoe 83 25 29 29
13 Scott Blazey 83 33 31 19
14 Luke Clifton 78 15 28 35
15 Daniel Wright 77 22 25 30
16 Josh Sturman 73 20 33 20
17 James Gadd 70 18 30 22
18 Lee Keyton 67 30 37
19 Scott Goodson 60 19 27 14
20 Joshua Warren 57 13 20 24
21 Max Monk 54 17 16 21
22 Jacob Carter 52 26 3 23
23 Samuel Cliff 50 27 13 10
24 Sebastian Millbank 48 5 15 28
25 Jonathan Finch 47 11 11 25
26 George Reeves Furness 47 12 19 16
27 Thomas Clarke 47 24 23
28 Katie Stock 45 16 14 15
29 Edward Pegram 40 10 17 13
30 Henry Utting 38 8 18 12
31 Craig Page-Baker 37 7 12 18
32 Daniel Dyer 36 14 5 17
33 Mark Gardner 29 21 8
34 Jake Lane 25 9 7 9
35 Danny Palmer 23 23
36 Ty Atkins 22 2 9 11
37 Robbie Blaxell 21 4 10 7
38 Dave Edwards 18 6 4 8
39 Robert Green 9 3 6

Support C

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3
1 Vincent Snell 135 45 45 45
2 Alfie Self 129 43 43 43
3 Luke Jordan Pharoah 112 30 41 41
4 Aaron Holden 105 31 39 35
5 Aaron Saunders 104 41 24 39
6 Brenton Clarke 103 34 32 37
7 Justin Dennis 101 35 35 31
8 Charlie Starsmoore 100 37 34 29
9 James Day 93 39 28 26
10 Dean Suckling 91 33 25 33
11 Samuel Cook 84 19 33 32
12 Maciej Pietraszek 82 18 30 34
13 Jake Pearce 82 25 27 30
14 Alfie Arnold 81 26 31 24
15 Kara Quinn 70 28 19 23
16 Andrew Smith 67 22 18 27
17 Tom Starling 67 21 21 25
18 Troy Brumpton 62 23 17 22
19 Thomas Clarkson 61 20 20 21
20 Ollie Denyer 61 24 37
21 Jesse Eaves 61 32 29
22 Alfie Hunt 54 26 28
23 Dylan Wilby 52 29 23
24 Oliver Roeton 51 15 16 20
25 Jack Noon 51 17 15 19
26 Lewis Abel 49 27 22
27 John Smith 48 16 14 18
28 Robert Ward 27 14 13

Support D

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3
1 Shaun Tacey 131 43 43 45
2 Tony Rooke 117 37 37 43
3 Toby Souchotte 112 34 39 39
4 Chris Gaut 106 41 41 24
5 Mark Hegarty 105 39 35 31
6 Jason Turner 101 35 34 32
7 Andrew Webster 100 28 31 41
8 Robert Bond 100 32 33 35
9 William Mcrae 99 30 32 37
10 Ashley Stiff 91 29 29 33
11 Adam Groom 90 33 30 27
12 Henry Cox 90 45 45
13 Damen Harris 86 31 27 28
14 David Homan 85 25 26 34
15 Carl Hood 79 21 28 30
16 Damian Taylor 75 24 25 26
17 Shaun Griffiths 74 27 22 25
18 Matthew Herring 70 26 23 21
19 Jason Eaves 60 17 20 23
20 Kai Ryder 59 20 19 20
21 Michael Blaxell 58 22 18 18
22 Evan Brown 53 24 29
23 Graham Muff 53 15 16 22
24 Adam Baker 52 18 15 19
25 Christopher Bickley 44 23 21
26 Liam Ryland-Pye 33 19 14
27 Nick Hunton 31 14 17
28 Gene Barfield 17 17
29 Ashley Doggett 16 16