The fourth round of the Nora MX Championship was hosted by the Nora MX team at the West Meon track near Petersfield.
Report by Tracy Thacker – Images courtesy of Tracy Thacker and John Cook (feature Image by John Cook)
Again, it was a COVID secure event with no spectators, just riders, mechanics and officials with their family bubbles, this should be the last “no spectators” event and the restrictions lift on Monday and we will gradually be getting back to normal.
Rain was forecast, but “sunshine and showers” were expected, unfortunately, it was more than that. As practice started so did the rain, and despite it easing up a few times there were many heavy downpours which made the track very wet. Practice went ahead, and despite it being a bit challenging, there were no major problems. As the first group of races started the downpours got heavier and after just four races there was a riders meeting and it was agreed to stop the event.
The sidecar group was split into two classes, with GP riders racing without collecting any points.
Jake Brown / Joe Millard raced for the first lap, but quickly retired to the pits leaving Stuart Brown with stand in passenger Lewis Gray holding on for a safe win. Despite the difficult conditions, there were still more than twenty teams fighting for championship points, and many teams really looking like they were enjoying themselves, although that was clearly not the case for everyone as the skies emptied another downpour during the middle part of the race. James Whitt / Michael Curnow took second after finding a way past Rob Oldfield / Faye Barnes. Lee Foyle / Kevin Foyle held fourth the final few laps when they had problems and were left track side. Jack Etheridge with his new passenger Jim Kinge were looking good together blasting into fourth with Mark Stokes/ Luke Townsend just behind. Paul Pelling / Jack Wilkinson had a steady race taking sixth.
As usual for this Nora MC Championship event, there were six quad groups Pro / Pro Am, Clubman Elite / Masters A, Clubman / Masters B, Intermediates and Ladies, 250cc Open and Air Cooled, 100cc Geared, and 50cc Auto, 100cc Auto.
The Clubman Elite raced with the Masters A group, and they were the first race of the day. Michael Hodges dominated the race taking an early lead, and despite a few problems where he slipped back to third, he fought back to take a great win. Daniel Scott Evans fought hard to stay ahead but settled for second ahead of Sonney Ward back in third, trying to improve on his second position in the championship. Despite being the only lady in the race, Catrin Davies took advantage of a great start to take fourth place.
The 250 race was also held with Andrew Black leading from lap one and holding on for a great win, but when only five Pro / Pro am riders contested their race a drivers meeting was called which lead to the cancellation of the meeting.
The next round of the championship takes place at Cusses Gorse MX near Salisbury on the 13th June.
Results
Sidecars Race 1
| Pos | Competitor | Diff | Laps |
| 1 | Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | James Whitt / Michael Curnow | 41.752 | 7 |
| 3 | Rob Oldfield / Faye Barnes | 42.58 | 7 |
| 4 | Jack Etheridge / Jake Graham | 52.792 | 7 |
| 5 | Mark Stokes/ Luke Townsend | 55.38 | 7 |
| 6 | Paul Pelling / Jack Wilkinson | 59.457 | 7 |
| 7 | Adam Field / Darren Bishop | 01:41.1 | 7 |
| 8 | Ashlie Williams / Brian Gray | 01:51.5 | 7 |
| 9 | John Murch/ Tony Murch | 02:21.5 | 7 |
| 10 | Luke Rogers/ Owen Rogers | 1 lap | 6 |
| 11 | Taylor Whitt / Blake Stevenswood | 1 lap | 6 |
| 12 | Lance Marshal/ Vinnie Marshal | 3 laps | 4 |
| 13 | Tilo Maguire/ Guy Eastman | 3 laps | 4 |
| 14 | James Ferryman / Michael Curnow | 3 laps | 4 |
| 15 | Brett Wilkinson / Maxime Cuche | 4 laps | 3 |
| 16 | Luke Banks / Daniel Spencer | 5 laps | 2 |
| 17 | Lee Foyle / Kevin Foyle | 5 laps | 2 |
Clubman Elite Race 1
| Pos | Competitor | Diff | Laps |
| 1 | Michael Hodges | 7 | |
| 2 | Daniel Scott Evans | 0.833 | 7 |
| 3 | Sonney Ward | 27.288 | 7 |
| 4 | Catrin Davies (L) | 28.277 | 7 |
| 5 | Laurence Stopps | 30.309 | 7 |
| 6 | Luke Berlyn | 30.962 | 7 |
| 7 | Joe Pryke | 01:11.0 | 7 |
| 8 | Scott Berlyn | 01:12.1 | 7 |
| 9 | Tiago Caldeira | 04:09.5 | 7 |
| 10 | Callum Bray | 1 lap | 6 |
| 11 | Iestyn Rees (U21) | 1 lap | 6 |
| 12 | Zak Beevers (U21) | 3 laps | 4 |
| 13 | Ryan Walters | 3 laps | 4 |
| 14 | Dylan Mckenna | 4 laps | 3 |
Masters A
| Pos | Competitor | Diff | Laps |
| 1 | Edward Davies | 7 | |
| 2 | Chris Keitch | 43:12.0 | 7 |
| 3 | Paul Winrow | 38:52.8 | 7 |
| 4 | Gary Jones | 01:09.5 | 7 |
| 5 | Ben Morgan | 1 lap | 6 |
| 6 | John Hall | 1 lap | 6 |
| 7 | Darren Hurt | 1 lap | 6 |
| 8 | Johnathan Mcknight | 2 laps | 5 |
| 9 | Jasin Plank | 3 laps | 4 |
250 Race 1
| Pos | Competitor | Diff | Laps |
| 1 | Andrew Black (G) | 00:00.0 | 8 |
| 2 | Josh McKnight | 29:45.6 | 8 |
| 3 | Arthur McDonald (A) | 01:55.2 | 8 |
| 4 | Lewis Humphris | 01:14.2 | 8 |
| 5 | Aled Davies | 1 lap | 7 |
| 6 | Frank Marston (A) | 1 lap | 7 |
| 7 | Morgan Junge | 1 lap | 7 |
| 8 | Brooke Bunce (A) | 1 lap | 7 |
| 9 | Louie Holt (A) | 2 laps | 6 |
| 10 | Connor Yates (A) | 3 laps | 5 |
| 11 | Rylee Marshall | 4 laps | 4 |
| 12 | Logan Paxton | 4 laps | 4 |
| 13 | Shane Havard Evans (A) | 5 laps | 3 |
| 14 | Taylor Hyndman (A) | 5 laps | 3 |
