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All content © Bob MuIIins | ||
 
Fast Eddy Original Weekend at Hawkstone Park. The long Easter weekend gave plenty of opportunity to travel to Hawkstone Park for Paul Edmondson's annual Fast Eddy Original event and riders seized the chance in no uncertain terms. The event got off to a cracking start with a packed FED practice session on Saturday morning around a track in pristine condition. Salop Motor Club members know their business and the whole venue was in perfect order for a great weekend of racing.
The Sprint began and he posted the fastest time by five seconds over fellow Pro class rider Jack Edmondson, on a Leisure Trail KTM 150SX in the first of six runs. Jacko had a slow start by his high standards and fought back to win four of the six tests but couldn't quite do enough to pull back the initial deficit. Jamie took the win by around three seconds after the final run. The leading two riders were head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the field as Lewis Belfield took the Expert win and third overall while Billy Bolt commandeered the final step of the Pro class podium. Joel Gowan and Elliot Bradshaw filled the Expert top three behind Belfield. Amazingly, the top non-Pro or Expert was Sam Nunn in the Youth 13-16 class, beating all the Clubman, Vets and Sportsman at a single stroke. Henry Yardley's good run of form continued as he powered to second in the Youth class with Jacob James some way behind in third. Ex-MX star Rick De Feu showed he still has a tidy turn of speed as he claimed the top Clubman Veterans spot ahead of Mark Houson and Neil Croston in second and third. Houson hung in there for a while but his 56 years were outweighed by the mere stripling De Feu at 41. The Clubman class was pretty close. Andrew Ellis and Ryan Phillips finished just seven seconds apart, just over a second a test. Ellis was fastest on three tests as Phillips claimed the other three and there was virtually nothing between the pair on the final test but Ellis maintained his lead to take the class. Dolton Shannon was a way behind in third. Andy Harvey claimed top spot in the Sportsman Vets ahead of Shaun James and Dave Brookes while Ben Key took the top Sportsman slot followed by Ethan Pugh and Paul Thomas. Frankie White-Edwards nailed the Novice class win with Matt Bryant and Dylan West filling the remaining two podium positions. Sam Davies had a great ride to win the Under 13 class, closely followed by George Yardley and Sion Hughes. A torrential downpour at the end of the Sprint had everyone running for cover but it only lasted a few minutes and the Salop MX team were soon hard at work returning the track to perfect condition although the woods kept the ruts and berms from the days racing. Fast Eddy should change his name to Lucky Eddy as the weather remained fairly reasonable throughout Sunday with only a couple of scattered light showers, not the heavy downpours that were predicted.
The first adult race of the day was the Steady Eddy race but there was nothing steady about it. It was packed. The Youth 12-16 class was first off the line and Henry Yardley clearly took the holeshot although Jacob James was within a couple of bikes lengths followed by Callum Sedgwick and Sam Nunn, still buzzing from his excellent Sprint performance. Within a lap Nunn had taken the lead and never looked back throughout the entire race. He was posting lap times of just over eight minutes and over the two hours managed to pull some four-minutes clear of Yardley in second place. Third placed Jacob James fended off a strong challenge from Cole Cookland as the Youth pack led the field throughout the two hours. Sportsman Veterans Andrew Watkins and Keith Staines were locked in battle throughout the race. Stainer's annual day out dressed as a dustman saw him ride as if he was in a GP but eventually Watkins took the class win by four seconds as Karl Greenhall landed safely in third.
By the end of the race the MX track was showing signs of wear, as were parts of the woods but the in several places in the woods there were massive berms and great lines for the Pro Expert, Clubman and Clubman Veterans lined up for the main event of the weekend; The Original Fast Eddy race. Jamie McCanney had been pushed hard in the Saturday Sprint and he now faced his first two and a half hour race for over four years, at Hawkstone Park of all places! The Pro class bulged with quality riders; Jack Edmondson keen to get going and Billy Bolt still on a learning curve and getting to grips with the tough Hawkstone course and enjoying every minute. As the flag dropped it was balls-out for the Pro class to the first corner and Jack Edmondson was surprised to find himself alongside Derek Bawn going into the turn at a rapid rate. Jacko just sneaked the holeshot and the pack disappeared, just as Jamie McCanney got to the first corner. Not a great start by anyone's standards but he soon got into the fray and within half a lap he was catching frontrunner Edmondson, but not by much. Jacko turned up the heat and it wasn't until his first fuel stop that McCanney overtook him. Four fuel stops later Edmondson had the lead as McCanney held second but the length of the race had taken its toll on the Yamaha rider who has the opening round of the EWC next weekend, as does Jack Edmondson. They were the only two riders to achieve 20 laps. Josh Spinks was a lap down in third place and had spent most of the race with Billy Bolt snapping at his heels. Bolt provided great entertainment as he tried his hardest to turn the event into an extreme outing but he finished in fourth. D3 Racing's Rich Ely had his best ride for quite a while and took a well-deserved fifth. The Experts were plentiful and gradually a contest between Charlie Frost and William Hoare saw the pair emerge at the front of the class and circulate at high speed til the flag was waived. Joel Gowan nailed third, just ahead of Jack Ditchfield and Biff Smith. The infamous Ginger Dad, Mark Houson, made his presence felt in the Clubman Veterans, he battled with Ryan Griffiths until Griffiths retired, his two broken ribs from a couplke of weeks ago were playing up. Houson took a comfortable victory although Alex Owen had been pushing hard to catch him in the closing stages. Chris Wagstaff, always a Veteran contender, took third. Jordan Kendrick-Jones had the ride of his life to win the Clubman class, especially so against such stiff opposition. Jake Morgan and Joe Sargent took second and third to complete the podium line up. To say the event was a success would be a gross understatement. It was excellent in every aspect. Salop club maintained the track fantastically well and Fast Eddy, along with his trusty crew made sure everything ran to schedule as always. McCanney's Sprint win was impressive but star of the show across the whole weekend was Jack Edmondson. He was on fire and if he takes this form to the EWC then great things can be expected. Well done to all concerned in organising the best weekend of the season so far.
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Saturday
afternoon saw another terrific turnout for the GBXC Sprint, a
non-championship event but very well attended all the same. Topping the bill
was World Champion Jamie McCanney, Yamaha's E1 EWC Factory rider for his
first competitive outing on the WR250. A long recovery from a collar-bone
injury saw him on the bike at the start of March but the Fast Eddy weekend
was his first competitive outing. Spannered by Lee Edmondson the bike was in
top order and Jamie looked on his game as he clocked a few laps in the
practice session to bed the bike in. He was joined by the ever-improving
Jack Edmondson, extreme specialist Billy Bolt and a host of top notch Pro
and Expert riders.
The Youth riders kick-started the day into life at 9.00am. Richard
Moorhouse grabbed the holeshot in the BW85-150 class, always important for
bragging rites at Hawkstone, closely followed by Harrison Holdcroft who soon
went on to take control of the race. Sam Davies, although not on a BW85-150
wanted to run in the higher class and was eventually rewarded with second
spot for his superb efforts. Charlie Chater charged into third spot in class
but was pipped to the flag by George Yardley at the head of the SW85's.
Hawkstone is a tough place for any rider but the youngsters on the smaller
machines deserve plenty of credit for their combined efforts. Francis Davies
made the runner-up spot in the SW85's as Sion Davies took third. Adam James
was flying in the 65cc class, the only 65cc rider to clock nine laps as Cory
Cookland grabbed second and Lucas Holdcroft third.
The gap between the top three Sportsman riders was equally close. Ryan
Hughes pulled a minute and a half lead and clung on to it as Luke Owen and
Lee Richards did their best to track him down to no avail. Ben Martindale
shone in the Novice class and deservedly so as Liam Belfield followed him
home with Dave Simpkin in third.
