Grasstrack racing in November, no way most people would say! Well, thanks to the Leamington Victory MCC, it did actually happen! They not only completed a very busy 56 heat programme, but it was done without very little incident and all wrapped up by 3.45pm, including a necessary track grade to remove a big surplus of loose material!
Race Report and Images by Mike Wood
Incredibly, despite the recent shift to wet, unsettled weather, ground conditions at Victory Moto Park were remarkably good and explained the Leamington MCC’s confidence that the event would always be able to take place. Once the Leamington Landslide meeting got underway, it was to be a day all about maximum scores and unbeaten performances as Kane Newby, Albie South, Luke Tuck, Thomas Vining, James Shanes, Tony Atkin, Richard Webb/Antony Goodwin and Mark Cossar/Dan Crawford, who all went through the card!
Starting with the Youth Juniors, and what a debut it was to be for Albie South. Having pretty much dominated the 2025 Cadets racing, Albie made the transition into the Juniors just about seamless! Although Rex Austin was consistently quickest out of the gate, Albie quickly took control before scorching to the win. On each occasion, Archie Whitelam got home in 2nd spot and was involved in the best Juniors race of the day when he just held off Harry Little, Austin and Brayden Blyth during heat two.
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The other Youth action featured the Intermediates, and in that one, what a performance Kane Newby was to produce. In scintillating fashion, Kane superbly cruised to all four heat wins. Joe Bain started strongly in the Inters, going 3/2 before crashing out in his third outing, a heat which also saw William Offen fall. With Bain not able to take his last ride, Jacob Phillips was to finish overall runner-up in the Inters with John Cox in 3rd.
Sunday’s 500cc Pre-75 class started with a super heat clash as Tony Atkin had to work very hard to move through from 3rd and pass leader John Weeks late on. After also winning the second clash, Atkin’s hopes of scoring an overall victory then disappeared when his bike stalled and refused to restart on the start line before heat three. In that one, Leamington Victory MCC Chairman Mike Dowling was to be first past the chequered flag chased by Weeks, Alun Bagshaw and Phil Spencer. Although Atkin then returned to winning ways in the last heat, fittingly, it was Dowling who grabbed the overall top slot.
Making amends for missing out on that top slot in the 500cc Pre-75, Tony did, though, win all four 500cc Upright heats chased home on each occasion by Jason Prynne and Dave Mears. The other class for older bikes at Leamington was the 350cc Classic, and in that one Luke Tuck dominated by winning all four heats with Giles Dismore and Roger Taylor his closest rivals finishing 2nd and 3rd each time out on track.
Some of the best racing of the day was certainly provided by the 250cc solo class. Although young Thomas Vining wrapped up his first season in Adult racing with a superb maximum, all day long, the action was red hot as battles raged behind him! Consistently, the combination of Luke Wicks, Dan Miller, Adam Hawker and Jake Breeze locked horns with the placings often not confirmed until the exit from the final turn. Three times Miller enjoyed his best meeting of the season, getting home in 2nd, enough to deservedly also finishing as the overall runner-up, as Wicks had to settle for 3rd.
There was certainly no doubt about the winner of the 500cc solos as James Shanes controlled all four heats from start to finish. James’ main challenge was provided by Martin Williams. This class also saw Thomas Vining having his first outing on UK soil aboard a 500cc mount. Thomas was to go on to earn 3rd overall, chasing home Shanes and Williams in each heat, with Jody Hodgson and Max Derrick next best.
The only other contest to be decided on heats and no final was the 500cc sidecars. In that one, it was total domination by the superb Richard Webb with Antony Goodwin in the chair. Storming to victory in his first three heats, the duo did suffer a slightly anxious moment before their last ride when their outfit did not initially fire into life. Once under power, though, it was back to full gas and another win. Barrie Bennett/Lucas Rowan took 2nd spot behind Webb in the opening three clashes before Trevor Heath/Adrian North were the final heat runners-up.
The first class to have heats and a final was the 350cc solo’s. After winning his opening two races, Luke Clifton then suffered mechanical issues on the start line of his third outing. Despite being unable to compete in that one, Luke did still qualify for the final along with the likes of Liam Ashcroft, Will Thurlby and Barry Powell, who had also recorded heat victories during the event. Like Clifton, another rider just about accumulating enough points for the final was Luke Harris. Starting with a brace of 3rd placings, Luke then suffered mechanical problems in his final heat, although crucially, he did manage to nurse his bike home. In the final, Clifton had cured his earlier gremlins to take the win despite being under intense pressure from Powell, as Harris got home in 3rd with Ashcroft, Tim Curnock and Thurlby next up.
After both Wayne Broadhurst and Ian Clark had scored a couple of GT140 heat wins apiece, they finally met in their third outing. And it was Broadhurst taking the victory from Clark, Darren Sargeant, Ron Steward and Lee Harding. So, with Broadhurst and Clark comfortably making the final, they were to be joined by the equally consistent Mark Scopes, who was an earlier heat winner. That dynamic trio were joined in the decider by the likes of Luke Wicks, Mark Collins, Isaac Collins-Bullock, Steward, Harding and co.
In the GT140 showdown, Clark was quickest away, with Broadhurst finding himself behind both Wicks and Scopes. Working the inside line, Wayne eventually got up into 2nd and started to reel in Clark. Gradually, the deficit was reduced to just a bike length, and it was now all about who could make the right line choice in the last turn of the contest. Coming out first, it was still Clark who just about held on for the win as Scopes took 3rd from Wicks, Collins, Connor Sargeant and Darren Sargeant.
So, what about the 1,000cc Right-Hand sidecars, well partnering multi–British Masters Champion Mark Cossar in this last outing of the 2025 season was Dan Crawford. And, that partnership certainly appeared to have instant chemistry as they recorded a hat-trick of heat wins. Also scoring a very impressive trio of victories was Mark’s brother, Tom Cossar, who had regular partner Ryan Wharton alongside him. Other heat victors on the way to the big final were Simon Beaney/Brook Fowler, Steve Smith/Gareth Little and Will Penfold/Connor Measor. Indeed, Smith and Penfold featured in arguably the best two races of the day in this 1,000cc class. First, Smith just held off George Penfold/ Carl Pugh, then Will Penfold caught and passed John Hand/Adrian North to snatch victory right on the line.
In the final, all eyes were focused on the Cossar boys, and it was Tom who made the cleanest start and thus led the pack into turn one. But on the exit, Mark Cossar, Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb and Will Penfold all exploited an inside gap to thus push Tom Cossar back. Whilst Mark Cossar then controlled all the way to the flag for victory, his brother Tom had to work hard to get the better of Penfold for 3rd. In the closing stages, he then set about challenging Whitelam, but despite trying just about every line possible to get close and make a pass, Nottinghamshire ace Whitelam rode a very clever race to hold onto 2nd. Getting home in 4th was Beaney, with the other finalists, Penfold and Smith, recording DNFs. That was a shame after they had both earlier featured in some epic battles throughout the day.
Well, that’s a wrap for the 20225 season. Who would have thought the campaign would end on the 2nd of November? The Leamington Victory MCC believed it, so massive congratulations to them and all the riders involved in Sunday’s event for getting it on and completed!
Results
Youth Juniors: 1 Albie South 2 Archie Whitelam 3 Harry Little 4 Rex Austin 5 Brayden Blyth.
Youth Inters: 1 Kane Newby 2 Jacob Phillips 3 John Cox 4 Joe Bain 5 William Offen.
Up to 350cc Classic: 1 Luke Tuck 2 Giles Dismore 3 Roger Taylor 4 Richard Hodgson 5 Mark Harris 6 Frank Iszard.
500cc Pre-75: 1 Mike Dowling 2 John Weeks 3 Tony Atkin 4 Alun Bagshaw 5 Phil Spencer 6 Andy Hislop 7 Rob Snow.
500cc Upright: 1 Tony Atkin 2 Jason Prynne 3 Dave Mears 4 Luke Tuck 5 Tim Mount 6 Phil Kynman 7 Rob Snow.
GT140’s FINAL: 1 Ian Clark 2 Wayne Broadhurst 3 Mark Scopes 4 Luke Wicks 5 Mark Collins 6 Connor Sargeant 7 Darren Sargeant 8 Kevin Bundock 9 Isaac Collins-Bullock 10 Lee Harding 11 Ron Steward 12 Daniel Edwards.
250cc solo: 1 Thomas Vining 2 Dan Miller 3 Luke Wicks 4 Jake Breeze 5 Jack Buzza 6 Adam Hawker 7 Shane Knight 8 Freddie Wood 9 Zak Batey.
350cc FINAL: 1 Luke Clifton 2 Barry Powell 3 Luke Harris 4 Liam Ashcroft 5 Tim Curnock 6 Will Thurlby 7 George Pardoe 8 Marcus Crutchington Karl Miles(fell) Chris Brook (DNF) Also competed 11th Sam Hall.
500cc solo: 1 James Shanes 2 Martin Williams 3 Thomas Vining 4 Will Thurlby 5 Max Derrick 6 Jody Hodgson 7 Liam Cox.
500cc Sidecars: 1 Richard Webb/Antony Goodwin 2 Barrie Bennett/Lucas Rowan 3 Trevor Heath/Adrian North 4 Paul Whitelam/Luca Whitelam 5 Chris Neame/Zoe Pay 6 Mike Skelding/Louis Skelding.
1,000cc Right-Hand Sidecars FINAL: 1 Mark Cossar/Dan Crawford 2 Paul Whitelam/Richard Webb 3 Tom Cossar/Ryan Wharton 4 Simon Beaney/Brook Fowler. Also, final qualifiers Will Penfold/Connor Measor (DNF) and Steve Smith/Gareth Little (DNF) Non qualifiers 7 Will Offen/Ricky Pay 8 George Penfold/Carl Pugh 9 Stef Blyth/Morgan Blyth 10 Peter Lloyd/Andy Wilson 11 Steve Adams/Johnny Childs 12 John Hand/Adrian North 13 Rob Heath/Sam Heath.
