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Half way through the six rounds of the Putoline Fast Eddy XC Series, the superb Culham venue in Oxfordshire hosted a quality field of riders in both the Morning and Afternoon races for Round Three of the series. Set on an airfield, the 1.8km course was mostly flat. The course was fast and flowing, the moto-x riders really took to it. Several wooded sections, with open fields in between, saw fast lap times in both races. The woods were not too tricky, but a few natural hazards caught out the unwary, fallen trees, roots, natural whoops plus concrete access roads crisscrossing the area, meant most of the course couldn't be ridden flat out but there were very few places to cruise and rest during the race. The weather was kind on the day of the event although on Saturday, a short but torrential burst of rain and a mini hurricane took a heavy toll on the paddock. Genus Motorsport lost two large awnings and several nearby vehicles still bear the scars. The rain left the course in perfect condition and the dreaded dust never raised its head during either race. The Morning session for the Novice and Clubman class got underway and a light rain shower added to the fun but by lunchtime the sun was shining brightly and the Experts and Pro's felt the heat. The Novice/Clubman class saw 130 riders lined up and they blasted off just after 9.30am for two hours of racing. Mike Willis, in the Clubman 4T, got a flying start and was well ahead of the field on his 450 Yamaha by the end of the first lap. Dave Livesey, on a 250 Yam, had not such a good start but proceeded to hunt down Willis, but Willis maintained his advantage and finished nearly two minutes ahead of Livesey at the chequered flag. Sean O'Neill in third place, on yet another Yamaha 450, was just over a minute behind Livesey but well clear of Stuart Keedwell in fourth. All four riders clocked up 11 laps. Greg Ogilvie took fifth on 10 laps with Rob Lewis sixth. The Clubman 2T saw Darren Pyne, on the DP Plant KTM 250, take the class win just 15 seconds ahead of Dennis Harrison in second place, they were the only two riders to make the 11 lap mark in the class and battled throughout the two hour race. Honda mounted John Wheeler took third on 10 laps eight seconds ahead of Darren Bedford in fourth. Simon Stebbins was two minutes down on the top four fo fifth spot with Jason Fowler in sixth, less than a minute behind him. In the Clubman 125/250f PAR Homes Honda's Jason Rowlands was well on his way to his second race win when disaster struck and he bounced off two trees on entering one of the woodland sections. A broken femur ended his race. He didn't seem in too much discomfort and the care and attention from the on site medical team was outstanding. Genus Motorsport's Daren Phillips was also flying and went on to take the win just ahead of Chris Griffiths, eight seconds down in second place. Simon Mountford was just over a minute down in third place with Ian Norman, on his Ardens Transport Yam 125, 23 seconds behind in fourth. Ross Mogford was a lap down in fifth with James Harvey two minutes behind in sixth. The Novice line-up was by far the biggest class and saw Sean Renvoize take the win on 9 laps, over a minute clear of Brian Welby is second. Mark Heyes came close to taking second but couldn't make up the 26 second gap and had to settle for third. Shaune Corley nearly pipped him to the post but ended up in fourth just two seconds down with Mark Sherry fifth, a further two seconds behind.. Justin Evans took sixth finishing eight seconds behind Sherry in what was a very close finish. Special mention must go to Jay Littler who finished in 10th spot in his first Enduro and Danielle Woollaston who finished in 15th spot in her first Enduro. More at home on a moto-x track, Danielle stuck at the task and finished well, if not a little knackered. The Pro/expert race lined up and there were some fast runners in both classes. Daryl Bolter was back from injury and the flowing track looked to suit his riding style but as the flag dropped it was PAR Homes Honda's Fast Eddy himself who took the hole-shot and never looked back. It was surprising to see he had really stretched his lead after one lap. The course wasn't too technical and the faster riders were expected to give him a run for his money at this event.
Daryl Bolted on his Husky Sport 250 moved into third spot, he went well but is still has a way to go to full race fitness. Darren Carter,1stmx Honda 250, was only two seconds behind in fourth place with Chris Tett of Genus Motorsport fifth. Chris had a small off at one point and took over 90 seconds to restart his Genus/Honda 480 which just dropped him down a lap to 15. Chris Hockey followed Tett in 30 seconds lated to take sixth place. Brad O'learys second Putoline outing once again didn't end well. He was really going for it when he lost the use of his rear brake and despite efforts to repair it, retiredfrom the race. The Expert 4T went to Lewis King on the Midwest Racing Husaberg 450. King was the only rider in this class to clock 15 laps. Steve Bing nailed second spot just over 10 seconds ahead of Jon Hayman in third. The top three were all over a minute clear of fourth place Anthony Dean while Dave Livesey, in his second race of the day, finished a creditable fifth. Quite an achievement to complete four and a half hours of fast and furious riding, and finish in the top five! Ben Swambo was only half a minute behind in sixth and gaining ground over the final lap.
The venue, the event, the organisation and the close competition were all superb. This was the best of the Putoline XC Series so far. Undoubtedly the rainstorm helped conditions but even without help from the weather the event would have been very good. Well planned and well executed. The series moves to Mid-Wales for the fourth round in two weeks time, on August 6th, using part of the Welsh 2 Day course and it is hard to imagine that there will be many flat sections there! Results Novice 1 Sean Renvoize 2 Brian Welby 3 Mark Heyes 4 Shaune Clorley 5 Mark Sherry 6 Justin Evans 7 Steve Sheldon 8 Neil Trewen 9 Ryan Hunt 10 Jay Littler Clubman 125/250f 1 Daren Phillips 2 Chris Griffiths 3 Simon Mountford 4 Ian Norman 5 Ross Mogford 6 James Harvey 7 Joe Martin 8 Andy Taylor 9 Jason Box 10 Tim Stoddart Clubman 2T 1 Darren Pyne 2 Dennis Harrison 3 John Wheeler 4 Darren Bedford 5 Simon Stebbings 6 Jason Fowler 7 Dave Gooch 8 Derek Grant 9 Lee Owen 10 Stuart Smith Clubman 4T 1 Michael Willis 2 Dave Livesey 3 Sean O'neill 4 Stuart Keedall 5 Greg Ogilvie 6 Rob Lewis 7 Dan Plant 8 Dave grimshaw 9 Alan Reese 10 Rich Lewis Expert 2T 1 Rich Warner 2 James Jackman 3 Ash Woods 4 Rich Main 5 Derek Bawn 6 Colin James 7 David brick 8 Gary Baker 9 Keith Jones 10 Anthony Ayrton Expert 4T 1 Lewis King 2 Steve Bing 3 Jon hayman 4 Anthony Dean 5 Dave Livesey 6 Ben Swambo 7 Alex Innocent 8 Michael Reece 9 Dean Hodgkins 10 Stephen Grimshaw Pro 1 Paul Edmondson 2 Simon Wakely 3 Daryl Bolter 4 Darren Carter 5 Chris Tett 6 Chris Hockey 7 Darren Wheeler 8 Lee Edmondson 9 Jason Fraser 10 Brad O'Leary
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Putoline XC Series Round 3 at Culham
Edmondson was as silky smooth as ever and, on his final lap of 16,
clocked the fastest lap of the day to maintain his unbeaten record in the
series. Team mate Si Wakely took second spot just over two minutes down on
Edmondson with Mike Kock third. Kock was eventually disqualified on a
technicality when he ran out of petrol, pushed his bike back to the pits
to refuel and didn't go back to where he left the track originally.
The Open 2T class saw a three way battle develop between Rich Warner,
James Jackman and Ash Woods. Warner's faultless performance saw him slowly
stretch out a 10 second lead over Jackman to give the pair first and
second in the class. Wood tried hard to close the gap but finished over
two minutes down on the leading pair, but all three finished on 15 laps.
One lap down in fourth came Rich Main who held position just two seconds
ahead of Derek Bawn in fifth and Colin James in sixth.