Back on Easter Sunday, the Devon Classic Scramble Club hosted their first Scramble of 2026, which was the Badger Goss Trophy at Smeatharpe on the Blackdown Hills. It was a bitterly cold morning, and with rain, it made the track very tricky and slippery for practice, but as the grass was torn off, and believe it or not, the sun came out, it produced some good racing in front of many spectators who were in attendance.
Race Report and Images by Dave Rich
In the combined classic classes, it was the 650 Trisba T110 of Jeremy Lile who took the overall in the Pre 60 class, only to be denied a hat-trick of wins in the last race by Alfred Busby on his 350 Velocette Viper. There was a fine performance for Steve Iles Jnr on his 610 Matchless Metisse in the Pre 65 over 350cc class as he was to dominate all three races whereas in the under 350cc class it was the 350 Hickie BSA of Ian Baldock who took the overall but he was denied a clean sweep of wins in the opening race as that was won by the 350 BSA B40 of Mike Poperwell. The Pre 68 class saw Luke Hickie win the opening two races on his 500 Hickie BSA, but he had no answer in the last race to the 360 CZ of Neil Aldridge, who took the win, but with Hickie second, it was enough to give him the overall.
The Combined Pre 74 under and over 250cc classes saw a hat-trick of wins in both classes as it was the 250 CZ Mx of Steve Dagger who won all three races in the under category and Martin Stephens on his 360 Yamaha Mx with the same results in the overs.
In the Pre 78 class there was no stopping Thomas Layton who once he hit the front on his 450 XL Honda he was to take the chequered flag in all three races to give him the overall, but there was a good battle for second overall as both Will Clack on his 400 CZ and Colin Ayles on his 250 Maico were to go into the last race tied on points, so it was a battle royal in the last race with Ayles beating Clack to give him second overall with Clack third overall.
The Twinshock A & B classes were run together, and it was Jason Alba who had the holeshot in the opening race, but he struggled to stay there and was soon to drop down the field a bit, and hitting the front was the George Bowerman on his 490 YZ Yamaha, followed by Kristian Marshall on his 440 Maico and Marcus Clare on his 500 Honda. These three eased away at the front and were close together for most of the race, but Bowerman had the upper hand at the front with a clear vision and held on to take the win from Marshall by two seconds, with Clare third.
In the second race, it was Bowerman this time, straight from the off, but in second this time was the 490 Maico of Jack Alderton, who had a better start in this one, who was to push Bowerman right to the end and literally was less than a second behind Bowerman at the flag and taking third again was Clare. In the last moto, Bowerman led early doors before being passed by Scott Faulkner on his 500 CR Honda, who was really in a hurry at the front. Alderton also found away pass Bowerman on lap three and was closing in on Faulkner as the last lap flag was shown, but time was against him as Faulkner took the win by a whisker from Alderton, with Bowerman coming home in third nine seconds back, but that was enough to give Bowerman the overall from Clare and Faulkner, who took third overall. In the B class there were three different winners as it was Ben Braddick who took the opening race win on his 480 CR Honda with fellow CR 480 rider Zeb Dexter winning the second moto and the last race went to Steven Matthews on his 250 Red Rocket Honda which was enough to give Matthews the overall by three points from Neil Jones with Charley Pavitt taking third overall.
In the Twinshock C class Chris Stone led initially for a couple of laps under pressure from Steve Atkins who was to pass Stone in the closing stages to take the win, but in the other two races they were both won by Mik Hill which put him and Atkins on the same points after three races, but with Hill having the better result in the last race he took the overall from Atkins with Nick Saunders taking third overall.
The Twinshock D class saw Craig Ruck win the opening two races on his 490 Maico, But he had to settle for second in the last race by the 250 YZ Yamaha of Chris Brown, but it was Ruck who took the overall, Brown took second overall with Jake Bristow third overall.
In the Twinshock E class, there was a good battle in all three races between Ross Gould and Alfred Busby, with Gould taking two wins to Busby’s one. Gould took the overall from Busby, with Toby Davies taking third overall with three consistent rides.
The Ladies class was also well supported, but at the end of the day, there was only one winner, and that was Mia Milsom, who took all three race wins. Danielle Miller was second overall with a hat-trick of second-place finishes, and with a hat-trick of third-place finishes, Freya Pavitt was third overall.
The Novice class was good to see, with many riders just getting into the sport and having their first competitive ride. Ashley Brammall took the overall with two wins and a second, with Colin Rattigan taking second overall with a fifth, second and a win in the last race, and third overall went to Peter Clift with a second and two thirds.
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