After a great opening day of the 2026 Wimborne Whoppa Grasstrack, with the British Youth Championship, GT140 and Clubman Sidecars, it was now over to the big boys contesting the ACU 500cc British Masters sidecar championship, Whoppa 500cc solo and Whoppa 1,000cc Right-Hand sidecar titles. And on a glorious sunny Sunday, the crowds simply flocked in, lining the Uddens circuit four and five rows deep, proving that GB grasstrack is still very much alive and kicking!
Race Report & Images by Mike Wood
Topping the bill on day two was the race for the 2026 ACU 500cc sidecar British Masters championship, and the first heat of that one saw Mitch Godden/Paul Smith take the win from the defending champions Josh and Scott Goodwin with Barrie Bennett/Rowan Lucas in 3rd. Heat two, and the fast-starting Richard Webb/Ant Goodwin were first past the post as Jordan Smith/Joe Page got home in a great 2nd despite not having competed for two years. Then in legs two and three, Godden and Webb both recorded a brace of impressive wins, with Smith also proving that he was right on the pace and up for the challenge.
Leg four and the maximum men of Godden and Webb finally met, and it was the latter who was to make a big statement by stylishly holding off his rival for a super win. So going direct to the decisive final were Webb, Godden, the very impressive Smith and Goodwin. In the LCQ, Bennett stormed to success after passing Paul Whitelam/Liam Brown. Taking 3rd in that one was the Australian crew of Jason Blackshall/Kate Barnes who were having their first outing on a grasstrack! Blackshall/Barnes actually quickly adapted to the new alien surface, getting more competitive as the meeting progressed, and in the LCQ did very well to hold off Shane Freeman/Tobi Vere and Chris Neame/Zoe Pay.
In the title-deciding final, it was Webb who was quickest away, producing another lightning start, as Godden, mid-pack, produced a stunning first turn to blast from 4th up into 2nd. The chase was now on, and gradually Godden narrowed the gap on the flying Webb, who was riding a brilliantly tactical race. Resisting the close attention of his rival, Webb took the title, punching the air in delight as he crossed the finishing line, his first 500cc sidecar crown after previously being a left-hand sidecar championship winner on no less than four occasions. There was, though, drama after the race when it was announced that Godden had been excluded for going outside the track marking! So that meant it was instead Goodwin taking 2nd with Bennett 3rd and Smith 4th whilst Whitelam did not finish.
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Well, what about the big 500cc Whoppa solo class? In that one, defending champion Chris Harris started with a typically classy win, chased by Jake Mulford, Paul Cooper, Mickie Simpson and Dutch visitor Niek Meijerink. In the first leg of action, James Shanes and Zach Wajtknecht had also proved victorious. After starting with a win in leg one though, leg two did not go quite to plan for ‘Bomber’ as his bike shed a chain whilst leading. Although he was having his first 2026 UK outing on the grass at the Whoppa, Wajtknecht was showing great form and class by winning his three remaining qualifying heats, a feat copied by the equally classy Mulford.
After his earlier chain issue, Harris responded in the best manner possible with a couple of wins for himself, with the always competitive Darryl Ritchings also proving victorious by being first past the chequered flag in a leg two heat. So, with totals calculated, it was a very competitive class: Wajtknecht, Mulford, Shanes, Ritchings, the very consistent Danish rider Jacob Buckhave and Charlie Wood, showing great form, who had progressed directly to the final. That meant ‘Bomber’ had to tackle the LCQ, but he made light work of that one by blasting to a comfortable win as Paul Cooper produced a great ride to join him in the big final, as Simpson just missed out finishing 3rd with Meijerink 4th, Ryan Ashcroft 5th and Tim Curnock 6th as both John Cox and Jason Prynne fell.
At the first attempt of running the Whoppa final, Harris was quickest away only for the contest to be red-flagged as Shanes, Ritchings and Wood all went down on turns three and four. With Shanes excluded, Harris again led the rerun, only for this time Buckhave and Wood to fall on that same turn three and four. Unfortunately, though, on this occasion Wood, who had ridden so well throughout the day, was to require medical attention for a foot injury; hopefully he will be back in action soon! After those two incidents and following discussion, it was decided that with the low sun creating major vision issues for the riders entering that troublesome turn, there would be no further action in this class! So, the results were declared based on the riders’ qualifying heat scores, which meant that Wajtknecht was the 2026 Whoppa winner with Mulford in 2nd and Shanes 3rd. You’ve got to feel a little though for ‘Bomber’ who after leading the first two attempts to complete the final then missed out on a podium place!
The final title to be decided was the 1,000cc Right-Hand sidecar Whoppa, and in the first leg of that one, Terry Saunters/Liam Brown, Tom Cossar/Ryan Wharton and Mark Cossar/Wayne Rickards started the competition with wins. With Mark Cossar defeating the Masters champions Gareth Winterburn/Frankie Courtney, the day, though, did not start well for Dale Fish/Jordan Fish as Jordan came off the chair on turn one of their first heat. Showing the same top form that he had displayed at the recent Masters, from here onwards Saunters then reeled off another three impressive wins to thus make sure that he would progress directly to the final.
Joining Terry in the decider would be Mark Cossar, Tom Cossar and Winterburn. Just missing out on final qualification was Simon Beaney/Brook Fowler, who had earlier recorded a heat win, whilst John Hand/Adrian North was also on course for the final stages before crashing on turn one of their last ride. Unfortunately, John required medical attention, so let’s hope he’s back racing soon! In the LCQ, Will Penfold/Ricky Pay caught and passed Neal Owen/Jason Farwell to ensure that both crews would make it into the Whoppa decider, as Will Offen/Conor Measor, Clint Blondel/Lewis Davis and Steve Smith/Gareth Little just missed out.
In the winner-takes-all final, Mark Cossar just about beat Saunters in the sprint race to turn one before a potentially verdict-deciding moment. As Saunters went for the big inside switch to try and pass Cossar, he temporarily locked up with Winterburn literally right on his tail and going for it! The Masters champion did remarkably well to avoid collision, but in taking action he was to finish up on the infield and his race over! At the front, Mark Cossar led all the way, as Saunters, who had regained forward momentum, chased hard to get home in 2nd with Tom Cossar in 3rd after reeling in and passing Penfold.
Many congratulations to the Champions and a very big well done to the Wimborne MCC on their professional promotion of what was a grasstrack classic.
Results
ACU 500cc sidecar British Masters Championship FINAL 1 Richard Webb/Ant Goodwin 2 Josh Goodwin/Scott Goodwin 3 Barrie Bennett/Rowan Lucas 4 Jordan Smith/Joe Page 5 Paul Whitelam/Liam Brown DNF 6 Mitch Godden/Paul Smith EXC. Other finishers 7 Jason Backshall/Kate Barnes 8 Shane Freeman/Tobi Vere 9 Chris Neame/Zoe Pay 10 Trevor Heath/Sam Heath 11 Mike Skelding/Louis Skelding.
500cc solo Wimborne Whoppa 1 Zach Wajtknecht 32 points 2 Jake Mulford 31 3 James Shanes 29 4 Darryl Ritchings 27 5 Jacob Bukhave 26 6 Charlie Wood 25 7 Chris Harris 24 8 Paul Cooper 23 9 Mickie Simpson 23 10 Niek Meijerink 22 11 John Cox 21 12 Ryan Ashcroft 16 13 Tim Curnock 14 14 Jason Prynne 14 15 Will Thurlby 14 16 Ollie Binns 14 17 Liam Ashcroft 13 18 Max Perry 11 19 Luke Tuck 10 20 Jody Hodgson 10 21 James Laker 7 22 Ben Ilsley 5 23 Sanne Meijerink 5 24 Thomas Vining 3.
1,000cc RH Sidecar Whoppa Final 1 Mark Courtney/Wayne Rickards 2 Terry Saunters/Liam Brown 3 Tom Cossar/Ryan Wharton 4 Will Penfold/Ricky Pay 5 Neal Owen/Jason Farwell 6 Gareth Winterburn/Frankie Courtney DNF Other finishers 7 Will Offen/Conor Measor 8 Clint Blondel/Lewis Davis 9 Steve Smith/Gareth Little 10= John Hand/Adrian North and Simon Beaney/Brook Fowler 12 Stef Blyth/Morgan Blyth 13 Andrew Minard/Michelle Minard 14 George Penfold/Carl Pugh 15 Mick Stace/Terry Madley 16 Dale Fish/Jordan Fish.
