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British Sprint Rounds 5 & 6

Rounds five and six of the British Sprint Championship brought the top enduro riders back to Green Hall Farm, Llanfyllin for the second year in a row. This popular Welsh venue had been a resounding hit during 2017 season resulting in many riders looking forward to what was quoted by them as “the best sprint venue around”.

For the Fast Eddy track crew and regular riders this was also the second weekend on the trot after a successful final extreme round and club event the previous week. Using some of the harder sections from the extreme track, but in reverse, this added several “tricky” bits to this fast-flowing special test layout that proved to be challenging for some of the riders and exhilarating to for the spectators to watch.
The Championship class was bolstered by the addition of Beta mounted Steve Holcombe in the mix to keep current leader Danny Mccanney and second place Joe Wootton, who had had a superb win at the final Extreme round the previous Saturday beating newly crowned Champion Jonny Walker to the flag, on their toes for the two days.

Day 1, after a steady sighting lap, Test 1 saw Holcombe quickly show everyone he was keen for the win finishing 8.7 seconds ahead of Sherco mounted Jack Edmondson with current champion Alex Snow in third. Top expert went to Ricky Wiggins who proved that his recent change to 4 stroke Sherco looked to have been a good choice. The top clubman honour went to Chaz Chater, who continues to show his improving form, with Tom Knight hot on his heels only 2.19 behind him.

Test 2 again saw Holcombe at the front of the queue but Mccanney, who had not had a good first run, pulled back up to second only 2.9 seconds behind. Local rider, Jack Cadwallader took fastest expert closely followed by Harry Edmondson and top clubman was once again Chaz Chater with Tom Knight in second.

Test 3 saw Mccanney hit the top spot with Holcombe second and Jack Eddy third. Top expert changed again with Harry Eddy in front and Jack Cad second. The top clubman on this test was Tom Knight with Chaz second and Cole Cookland third.

Test 4, after a short lunch break, and the top spot swapped again with Holcombe first and Mccanney 4.5 seconds behind in second place, Joe Wootton third and Jack Eddy only 0.079 seconds behind in fourth. Top expert was once again Jack Cad with Harry Eddy in third. The clubman order stayed the same as in test 3.

Test 5 went to Holcombe, then Mccanney and third Wootton. The top expert changed once again with Henry Yardley taking the honour this time closely followed by Harry Eddy and the fellow Fast Eddy members Jack and Max Ditchfield in third and fourth. Top clubman went back to Chaz Chater for this run with Tom 1.15 seconds behind and James Palmer 1.75 behind in third.

The final test for the day, Test 6, went Holcombe by only 0.95 seconds from Mccanney and Wootton in third. Top expert was Jack Cad with Aaron Gordan second and Harry Eddy third. Expert championship leader, Gordon, was seen to struggle all day and he had a couple of crashes that kept him from his usual top spot in class only showing his true form in this final test of the day. Top clubman, and class winner, once again went to Chaz Chater.

The winning honours for day one went to Holcombe with Mccanney second and Jack Eddy a well deserved third, top expert went to Jack Cadwallader, with Harry Edmondson and Max Ditchfield in third. Top clubman was Charlie Chater, with Tom Knight second and Cole Cookland third.

As the top three classes contended for position the other classes were by no means not hard fought for. The vets class had a breadth of experience in contention with Andrew Reeves showing the likes of John Shirt Jnr and Jonanthan Tarr the way home. Honours on the day went to Andrew Reeves, with Jonathan Tarr second and John Shirt Jnr third. Current championship leader, Richard Cookland, continued his goal to take top spot at the end of the year with a steady run of placings and a fourth in class on the day.

The youth class again went as was expected with Alfie Webb a resounding first place, Josh Lucy second and Carwyn Rosser third. The depleted ladies class, with Emily Halls being injured, went to Kate Smith with Gemma Holtham, who was also struggling with her shoulder injury, second.

Top sportsman went to Tom Cadwallader who is just returning to form after a major injury last season with up and coming young Welsh rider Trystan Hopkins second and Kris Ankritt third.

After a bit of overnight rain and a very dull and damp atmosphere day two started a 9.00 with a sighting lap to check out any changes to the terrain. Test 1 Holcombe started strong with a 2.5 second win over Mccanney and Jack Eddy third. Back on form and with no mistakes Aaron Gordon took top expert spot closely followed by Max Ditchfield and Jack Cad with only four seconds in total between the three riders as they passed the finish. The clubman was set to be a repeat of day one with Tom Knight taking first blood closely followed by Chaz with George Yardley and Cole Cookland behind him.

Test 2 and all changed Mccanney was seen to come around with an excellent 8.07-minute time, followed by Joe Wootton, then Jack Eddy. Holcombe came in to the finish in 13th position a good 50 plus seconds behind. This one little mistake had now opened the field up widely putting Mccanney into the lead and Holcombe down in mid pack overall with it all to make up. Top expert was once again Aaron Gordon with Jack Cad second and Max Ditchfield third. Top clubman went back to Chaz with Tom second.

Test 3 and Holcombe rode an absolutely blinding lap pulling back his lost time with a win by 1.036 seconds from Mccanney. Joe Wootton and Jack Eddy continued their battle for third place honours with Joe in front of Jack on this test. Aaron Gordon took the expert top place with Harry in second and one again Chaz was top clubman finisher.

No lunch break today so straight in to test 4. Mccanney took top spot having found some smooth and flowing lines. Holcombe was second and Wootton third. The experts were as test 3, Gordon and then Harry, top clubman Chaz but second clubman went to Cole with Tom making a few mistakes on this lap in third.

Test 5 and Mccanney continued his form taking a small but sufficient 0.725 second lead on Holcombe with Jack Eddy third and Joe Wootton fourth. This test was the only test of the day that Aaron Gordon didn’t win finishing in fifth place. The expert honour went to Henry Yardley for this lap. Tom Knight took top clubman with Chaz second.

On the final lap of the weekend Holcombe showed Mccanney the way home by 2.5 seconds with Joe Wootton third and Jack Eddy fourth. Top clubman was Tom Knight and tope expert was once again Aaron Gordon.

The winning honours on the day went Danny Mccanney with Steve Holcombe second and Joe Wooton third. Top expert was Aaron Gordon, with Jack Cadwallader second and Harry Edmondson third. Top Clubman went to Charlie Chater with Tom Knight second and Cole Cookland third.

The somewhat smaller vets field for day two was still very well contended. Jonathan Tarr was overall winner, but second place honours went to Andy Daniels after Richard Cookland took a tumble in test 3 that cost him the overall position but still taking a well earned third on the day.

Once again, the youth class was dominated by Alfie Webb with Josh Lucy second and Carwyn Rosser third. The sportsman class was also won by day one winner Tom Cadwallader with Trystan Hopkins second and third on the day went to Dan Charles, one of our regular Fast Eddy track crew on one of his rare chances to have a ride on his bike.

This popular championship grows from strength to strength with good viewing for the spectators and excellent close times for the riders. Each venue brings different terrain and challenges to all, but the Fast Eddy Crew will always go the extra yard to give everyone the best event that they possibly can. With none of the championships yet being won we look forward to the final two rounds on September 29th and 30th at the all-weather track of Ashby Moto Parc, so mark it down in your calendar and we’ll see you there!