Mid Wales XC at Saints Well |
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The opening round of the Mid Wales XC series finally got underway last Sunday following a reschedule due to bad weather. The Saints Well course was in perfect shape, the landowners had put in plenty of hard work over the last few months in preparation for the 2010 season. |
Weather conditions were spot on, clear blue skies, no wind and grippy ground made for an excellent day of racing. Lee Edmondson stated that if the day was successful it was all down to his hard work and if it was a disaster then it was brother Paul’s fault.
No need to worry on that score. The schedule for the day saw a 90-minute youth race in the morning followed by a two and a half hour adult race in the afternoon with all riders on transponders which made lap scoring a doddle. In a very laid back and relaxed atmosphere the youth riders lined up for their blast and Jon Hill looked strong right from the start but Harland White fought his way to the front of the pack and the pair yo-yoed between the two leading spots until Hill eventually made a break and put 40 seconds between himself and White to take the 125cc class win and the overall win.
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White took second in the 125’s with Liam Phillips some three minutes behind in third, clocking up 12 laps to match the leading pair.
Ted Bailey nailed the 65cc class win with an emphatic victory, a lap clear of Ryan Rowlands in second spot and four laps clear of Shaun Jones in third place.
Billy Jones managed a creditable eight laps on his auto to take the Auto class win ahead of Harry Edmondson who had been plagued with mechanical problems throughout the race.
Adam James delighted his family of followers by finishing as the top BW85 rider and taking fifth place overall, an impressive result. |
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Daffyd Evans took second place in the class with Ryan Phillips in third.
Both riders were a lap behind the winner.
Jack Edmondson rode very well to get to sixth place overall and win the SW85cc class by three clear laps but even this impressive performance didn’t escape the critical eye of Fast Eddy who had more than a few tips to pass on to his eldest son.
The boy done good Ed, leave it!
Dan Gibbons grabbed second place ahead of Kieron Watkins in third in what proved to be a great race to start this new series.
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The Expert line up for the afternoon race was impressive, not so much by its size but by the quality of riders. All the way from New Zealand came Rory Mead, getting a few laps in to acclimatise himself for the Tough One this coming weekend.
All eyes were on the Kiwi to see what he could do but it was an old favourite who made the initial running as the pack left the start line. Tim Foreman set a blistering pace for the first few laps around the 5km course with only Mead managing to keep in touch with the leader.
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A few laps of getting to grips with the Welsh hills and valleys saw Mead make his move at the top corner of the moto-x section of the course. The leading two riders approached the bermed corner catching a back marker in between them. Mead went wide and railed it whilst Forman cut tight. It looked as if Foreman had it but Mead kept the power on and exited the corner as leader of the race. |
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Jon Hinam, fresh back from his hols in Oz and still suffering from jet lag, gradually reeled the leading pair in with Jamie Paget hot on his heels. Hinam took the lead as Mead stopped on the hour mark to re-fuel and the pair continued to orbit the course with a consistent two seconds between them.
With 30-minutes to go Mead stopped again for fuel and Hinam seized the moment, putting some 40 seconds between himself and the Kiwi. It looked as if the race was over but Hinam also needed a quick splash of fuel and Mead closed the gap to 20 seconds but Hinam had the bit between his teeth and continued to pile on the laps finally taking the Expert win by nearly 50 seconds.
With an average of six minutes a lap it was always going tio be difficult to close the gap on such a fast course.
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Jamie Paget eventually managed to get the better of Tim Foreman for third spot although the pair had been wheel to wheel for over an hour and matched each other crash for crash and lap for lap.
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AMCA multiple sidecar champion Simon Bradford looked half the man he usually is aboard his Bradford racing KTM. It had taken Dad Bill hours to hacksaw the chair from the outfit and Simon made his hard work worthwhile with an impressive win in the Clubman class and 12th in the overall standings.
Chris Pryce and Luke Williams kept pace with Bradford and all three banged in 23 laps with Price taking the runner up spot and Williams third in class.
Mark Hillier-Rees managed to gain a lap on closest rival Ieuan Brooks in the Sportsman class with Paul Hughes a minute and a half behind Brooks in third place. The Vets saw Wyn Hope three laps clear of the competition, winning the class and getting into the overall top ten.
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A great performance from this veteran rider. Martin Jones took second spot just three minutes ahead of Ian Barnett who had chosen to ride his TM 250 2T instead of his KTM and realised he had made the wrong choice of bike for this course. |
Sneaking into fourth spot was another Bradford, the old man of the team, Bill who was riding just to keep an eye on his boy. Bill likes solos but picked sidecars for a career because of his short legs, sidecars rarely fall over at the start!
For a first event Mid Wales XC put on a great show so obviously Lee Edmondson wanted to take all the credit but he had considerable help from Tom Sagar and Fast Eddy. Well done to all, an excellent event for starters. |
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