Three Championships one great days racing was the headline on all the posters and the crowds which flocked to sunny Upton Court  on Sunday where not disappointed. Kinver Autos pulled out the stops yet again to host the Sidecars, two stroke and vets championships with support races from all other groups of riders.

With only limited access to the track  Wednesday the club had to work extra hard Saturday finishing off the circuit ready for Sundays racing. Disaster struck early evening when the farmer rolled his tractor and water bowser while trying to water one of the steep hills, luckily he managed to crawl from the wreckage but needed hospital treatment and was released in the early hours of Sunday morning with the addition of a few stitches and lots of bruising much to the relief of the club.

Sunday saw a very misty start which had disappeared before practice, the track heavily watered long into the early hours was in first class condition and the sun started to shine perfect ingredients for a great days racing. The track held up very well throughout the day but dust became a bit of a problem during the second block in the sweltering conditions but light winds eased the problem with the club deciding against watering with all the associated problems, the third block of racing was cut short to a three lap dash for the support classes  due to a nasty accident in the sidecars moto three to Kinvers own Duncan Coley who needed a stay in hospital with broken ribs and other injuries not confirmed at the time of writing this report after rolling his machine whilst chasing the pack after a slip on the start straight.

The sidecars started the day, this was the first outing at Upton Court for the sidecars and judging by the faces of the pairings after moto three they had a enjoyable but very exhausting day. The pairing of Jamie Stevens and Scott Graham maxed out with three out of three wins for 180 points, they didn’t have all their own way chased home  by the pairing Steven France and Lee Machin finishing the day with a 2-2-2 and 162 points, third overall on the day went to Tony Graham and  Neil Frary with a 5-3-3 for 145 points.

In the two stroke class championship leader Tino Rizzi maxed out in style  thirty eight points clear of second place rider    Alan Jones finishing the day with a 3-4-5 and 142 points. Barry Goodman claimed third place with a 6-5-3 and 138 points.

The vets class saw some very competitive racing with Mark Hawkins finishing the day with a 1-1-2 for 174 points, Dave Livesey chased him all the way with a 2nd in moto one then a disastrous second moto gate which saw him in 23rd place on lap one fight back to 5th place finish, then finish the day in style with a win in moto three end up on 159 points.

In the support classes Kinvers Dan Hill and Craig Chamberlain went head to head in the expert unlimited class, Dan posting the fastest time of the day couldn’t overhaul Craig who came home with a 2-1-1 for 174 points to Dans 1-2-2 and 168 points. third pace went to Sam Kirby with 5-4-3 for 142 points.
The seniors unlimited went to Kinvers Paul Jones who carded a 1-2-1  ahead of Lee Kelly in second place with a 9-5-4, third went to Rob Shelton.
Juniors group A went to Liam Husselbee maxing out with ease, Stephen Wheatley claimed second spot with a 3-2-2 and Jordan Morris picked up third with a return of 2-3-4.
Juniors group B saw a closer battle with Mark Hancocks scraping to victory with 157 points in front of  Vince Evans on 151 points, two riders tied on 144 points but Wayne Lees edged out Luke Storey for third place on the result of the last race result.
Last but not least in the inters class brothers Ben and Jamie Wainwright went head to head with Ben maxing out with 180 points ahead of Jamie who claimed three second places for 162 points, third place went to Kyle Davis who finished with three third places for 150 points.

Last  weekend saw another split in the Kinver camp with some riders attending the MX1 and MX2 championships at Culham,  the Vets and two stroke championships at Sandbach Raceway and a normal group meeting at Bromsberrow.
With glorious weather the week before all meetings suffered at some point with dust, causing visibility problems and a few red flags to boot.
Kinver had three riders at the MX1 and MX2 championships in the form of Craig Chamberlain, Matt Gordon and Dan Hill.
Craig top scores in the MX1 with 64 points three in front of Matt on 61 points, both riders only completed two out of three motos, with Craig suffering a twisted Knee. His injury is being assessed this week ahead of this weekends second round of the championship, Craig and Matt are currently lying 19th and 20th respectfully.
In the MX2 class Dan Hill had three steady rides by his standards scoring 53 points leaving him in twenty third place overall
Ricky Chamberlain travelled to the meeting with brother Craig and scored 59 points in the expert unlimited class.
The Sandbach meeting had Kinvers largest number of entrants, in the two stoke championship Sam Price to scored for Kinver with 83 points un fortunately Jake Chamberlain crashed out in moto 1 suffering a broken foot joining his brother Ben on crutches after a similar injury two weeks ago at Mallory Park.
In the   Vets group Neil Williams top scored with 103 points finishing 8th overall ahead of Jim Shand in tenth place on 99 points. Experts unlimited saw James Shand narrowly miss out on a trophy for the second week running scoring 128 points for 4th overall, Josh Williams finished in 8th place with 104 points. Zac Hackett and Gareth Williams found it hard going in the very competitive inters group finishing in 13th and 15th places respectfully. It was another nearly week for Michael Hudson in the junior class scoring 99 points from 2 motos Michael had to pull out from moto 2 with a missing lever while running third, enough points to give him a podium finish.
The Bromsberrow circuit is on of the AMCA’s “premier tracks” unfortunately the only watering system available to the track is mother nature so dust played a major part from practice. The Mosley club did all they could to contain the problems but with no water available they were facing a loosing battle from the off. The meeting was finally called off one block and seven races down with only the MX2 experts getting one ride.
Jamie Williams having his first ride this year finished 6th overall with 84 points in MX1 experts,
Adrian Hodgkins finished 4th overall in the MX1 juniors equal on points with third place but given 4th on the result of the last race.
Luke Griffin finished 5th in the under 18 juniors class with 88 points  to Paul Jones’s 82 points in the MX2 seniors who also finished 5th.
This week along with the championships and 2 stoke championships Kinver is holding its first meeting of the year with a entry of over 270 riders already booked we are all looking to a fantastic days racing.

Full results,
Culham
MX1 championship
Craig Chamberlain                                                    64  points                          19th
Matt Gordon                                                                61 points              20th

MX2 experts
Dan Hill                                                                       52 points             23rd

Experts
Ricky Chamberlain                                                    59 points

Sandbach
Vets
Neil Williams                                                               103 points             8th
Jim Shand                                                                    99 points              10th
Nigel Hackett                                                               64 points             20th
Mick Hudson                                                               41 points             28th
John Williams                                                              35 points             30th
Steve Chamberlain                                                    17 points             36th

2 stroke
Sam Price                                                                    83 points              13th
Jake Chamberlain                                                    0 points

Experts
James Shand                                                                128 points
Josh Williams                                                               104 points

Inters
Zac Hackett                                                                 86 points
Gareth Williams                                                            83 points

Juniors
Michael Hudson                                                            99 points

Bromsberrow
MX1 experts
Jamie Williams                                                 84 points

MX1 juniors
Adrian Hodgkins                                                         104 points

Juniors u 18
Luke Griffin                                                                88 points
Harry Allport                                                               76 points

MX2 seniors
Paul Jones                                                                    82 points
Dan Charles                                                                 74 points

MX2 experts
Louis Hill                                                                    39 points
Tom Weston                                                                33 points
Matt Watson                                                                31 points

Last week Kinver riders made the short journey to Boraston for a meting held by the Teme Valley club. As ever this was a well attended meeting with fantastic weather to go with a excellent prepared track helped by the midweek rain.
With Dan Hill injured it was James Shands turn to step up to the plate in MX2 experts which he did in style by winning moto three in a very competitive field just missing out on a trophy by three points.
Craig Chamberlain top scored yet again in MX1 experts with a 1-1-2 for 174 points as did Tim Morgan in the MX1 juniors. Dan Charles in the under 18 juniors earned his promotion into the senior ranks with 151 points and first overall ahead of Michael Hudson having his first outing of the year picking up 132 points despite finishing moto 1 with a collapsed rear wheel bearing.
The rest of the riders put in good performances making the most of the weather and conditions.
A special mention for Josh Bate in MX2 seniors, Josh has been unfortunate lately falling off his bike more than he has been on it, his latest dismount came in moto 3 just after the first bend a fall which saw him out cold for a short while but luckily he walked away unscathed.
On a down side Steve and Jake Chamberlain had to leave the meeting early after the sudden death of Steve’s brother in law. Condolences and best wishes to Julie, Steve and family from all at Kinver Auto.

Last weekend also saw another round of the sidecar championships at Airfield farm Hosted by Midland Social club. Kinver had one and a half entrants in this class in the form of the Duncan Coley,  Adam Capewell outfit and Ian Griffin who is riding passenger for Stephen Evans from the Bridgnorth club.
Both outfits had a good day with the Evans/ Griffin team picking up 96 points and 10th overall to the Coley/Capewell score of 87 points and 12th overall.
Luke Griffin rode in the support junior UNDER 18’s race and scored 74 points.

Full results from Boraston.
Inters
Gareth Williams                                                             129 points
Zac Hackett                                                                        121 points

Juniors under 18’s
Dan Charles                                                                        151 points 1st overall
Michael Hudson                                                            132 points
Harry Allport                                                                         69 points

Juniors mx2 over 18’s
Louis Priddey                                                                        92 points

Mx1 juniors
Tim Morgan                                                                        172 points 1st overall
Adrian Hodgkins                                                            123 points
Stephen Parry                                                                        56 points

Mx2 seniors
Paul Jones                                                                        78 points
Jack Price                                                                        60 points
Josh Bate                                                                        34 points

Mx1 seniors
Gary Bate                                                                        118 points
Mick Hudson                                                                        70 points
John Williams                                                                        61 points
Matt Greening                                                                        61 points

Mx2 experts
James Shand                                                                        144 points
Louis Hill                                                                        87 points
Tom Weston                                                                        82 points
Matt Watson                                                                        73 points

Mx1 experts
Craig Chamberlain                                                            174 points 1st overall
Matt Gordon                                                                        103 points
Ricky Chamberlain                                                            96 points
Andy Jenkins                                                                        79 points
Sam Price                                                                        71 points
Josh Williams                                                                        61 points
Nigel Hackett                                                                        57 points
Gareth Williams                                                            53 points

Airfield farm
Side cars
Evans/ Griffin                                                             96 points
Coley/ Capewell                                                            87 points

Juniors under 18’s
Luke Griffin                                                                        74 points 

With the promise of part of the GP track to ride on Kinver members booked in to ride the Mallory Park hosted by the Burton club. Unfortunately late Friday night the club was informed that the club would only have use of the practice track.

The circuit to say the least was hard pack which after early morning watering was very slick for practice but soon dried out to leave a good racing surface for the first block, due to the close proximity of the Mallory racing circuit the Burton club had to have a short break midday to water again to cut down on the dust drifting across the track.

Craig Chamberlain in the MX1 experts top scored yet again maxing out with 180 points and first overall, Craig was pushed all the way by Matt Gordon who picked up 108 points from moto’s 2 and 3,  Matt unofficially finish moto one in third place but a un charged transponder left him not reregistering on the new lap scoring system. Josh Williams after his class change this year had his best finish to date scoring 105  points.

Dan Hill in the MX2 experts had a good day finishing third overall with 149 points  twenty in front of James Shand who had a excellent day finishing with 129 points. most of the rest of the riders had a good day having their own personal battles with fellow team mates, on a down side Kinver lads didn’t come away unscathed,  new lad Matthew Knowles broke his wrist during practice to complement his brothers injured arm acquired after a fall at Abbotts Bromley the previous weekend, Josh Bate made it to the first race before falling and twisting his ankle ending his days racing. Finally the ever lucky Ben Chamberlain suffered a broken foot in three places after a coming together during his final moto on the start straight getting his foot caught in a fellow riders wheel.

The rest of the riders wish them all a speedy recovery and hope to see them back on their bikes soon.

With the West Midlands region still to host a home meeting this year Kinver Autos had the choice of Abbotts Bromley with the Cannock Club or Long Lane with the Newport Club.

Two thirds opted for Abbotts Bromley which also saw the first round of the MX1 qualifiers, sunny skies and a excellently prepared made for a great days racing only marred by a few red flags mainly due to a faulty start gate.

Despite there best efforts Ricky Chamberlain and Andy Jenkins in the qualifiers found it hard to live with the continuously fast pace eventually finishing twenty seventh and twenty ninth respectfully.

In the experts group 1 Craig Chamberlain finished second overall with 162 points, Matt Gordon suffered bike troubles and called it a day after two races one more than James Shand who suffered the same fate after a excellent first race.

In the experts group 2 Sam Price was the highest placed  Kinver rider finishing in ninth place with 98 points in front of Neil Williams with 82 points.

Gary Bate top scored in the MX1 seniors with 125 points finishing a respectable sixth overall.

While Matt Knowles and Zac Hackett had their own battle in the inters scoring 85 and 83 points finishing thirteenth and fourteenth respectively.