Luke who’s won?!
Report by Kay Kennedy
Swanmore – Rd 12 Summer
Images courtesy of click466.co.uk
Portsmouth MX Club rounded out their summer series at the perfectly prepped and res-designed Swanmore circuit on Sunday, a fitting end to what has been a hectic but successful season.
Brilliant numbers in all classes, with some exceptional racing from the off. The MX1 boys were extremely rapid, and after a successful season in the MX2, Brad Wheeler carried on where he left off, at the front, taking two race wins and the overall, missing out on a straight set but Nicky Watts totally dominated race three to take the final moto win. A pleasure to have Tom Moore back with his old club, and he certainly showed us what we’ve been missing, battling his way into the top three in each moto, going 2-3-3 to finish in second overall. George Purchase kept everyone on their toes, despite fading in race two, his third and fourth rewarded him with third overall.
Thomas Casbeard proved his worth in the big wheel class, rounding out his season with three perfectly executed race wins! Not putting a wheel wrong in any race, he romped home comfortably with the overall. A battle pursued between Tobias Sammut, Harvey Cashmore & Robert Storer, with Sammut getting clean out of the gate as usual. Three consistent thirds rewarded him with second overall, as Storer’s luck ran out in race three to slip him down to fourth overall. Cashmore was ready to pounce, and after chasing the top three home in the opening motos, he stepped up a gear, romping home in second place to take third overall on the day.
James O’Mara took control of the smaller wheeled 85 class, narrowly missing the chance to bag all three race wins, a commanding performance in races two and three earned him top spot. Joshua Bassett gave the Pompey boys a run for their money and started off the day in perfect style, grabbing the opening race win. Going 1-2-3 he ended the day in the runner up spot. Jake Cappa pushed himself to the limit, improving as the day wore on, ending up in a brilliant second in race three to grab third overall.
What a way to end his first season in the 65 class?! Charlie Richmond had a job to do, and did in perfect style, unchallenged all day, three comfortable race wins to add to his already high tally, and another overall win to finish his season off on a high! Kieran Paget was hot on the leader’s heels, keeping Richmond’s back wheel in his sights, making light work of the track in the opening moto to take second place. Connor William’s has certainly stepped up to the mark toward the latter part of the season, and showed his true colours again this weekend, finishing in an impressive second place in his final race on the 65, he secured third overall.
There was no stopping the little Auto’s who blasted around the circuit, super speedy and so impressive!! Jacob Collins was back to his winning ways, despite a rampaging Fabian Junior Morrison chomping at his back wheel, but Collins kept his cool, and despite just being pipped at the post in the final race, he took home the overall win, with Junior a close second. Former Shaun Simpson Rider of the Meeting Jake Webb continued to impress, a solid performance throughout the day, and working his way into third spot in the closing races, he finished the day in third overall.
Charlie Razzell dazzled the spectators with his skill and speed and didn’t look phased at all with the challenge of Lewis King London behind him. Razzell finished off a great season and in his last meeting as a Rookie, he went 1-1-1 to take the overall. King London stayed hard on the gas in each moto, not giving Razzell an inch, but settled for runner up spot, second in each moto. Brandon Hickman showed everyone what he is truly made of, and going 3-4-5 proved what he is capable of. A brilliant end to his year finishing in third overall, finishing just ahead of Jesse Wren who put in the performance of his season to finish in fourth overall!
The biggest class of the day – the Premier Class! All these riders definitely showed that age is just a number and provided the spectators with an amazing show of speed, finesse and true grit, with the Chairman Martin Bradbury even putting the 450s to shame on his 125 for the day! But despite the track being his least favourite, Darren King romped home to overall victory on his new steed, ensuring he came first on each occasion …. King Conquers All! Paul “Finesse” Spacagna did give the King a run for his money, taking the lead, but worked so hard to come second – sign of a true champ!! Second overall on the day for Spags. Tony “Four Times” Hale didn’t let the leaders get away from him, and was a stone’s throw from Spags’s back wheel in all three motos, third overall in his final race of the season.
Finally the MX2 took to the line, with Luke Kennett unstoppable from the drop of the gate. A flawless performance, and super rapid speed rewarded Luke with the overall win on the day, going 1-1-1. Olivier Cook wasn’t far behind and put in the best performance of his season. An outstanding ride secured him the runner up spot, three second places his reward for a great day on the track. Great to have George Smith back in amongst the MX2 boys and girls. He certainly didn’t seem to have been away, blasting straight into the top three, going 4-3-5 he secured third place overall.
Well that’s the summer done ………….. onto the Winter series!!!
The Club would like to thank everyone – riders, spectators, families, officials, committee – for their support of the club throughout the 2017 series – it’s been a long one but we got there!!!
Results:
VMX: 1 Darren King, 2 Paul Spacagna, 3 Tony Hale, 4 Mark Morris, 5 David Freestone, 6 Matt Lewis.
MX2: 1 Luke Kennett, 2 Olivier Cook, 3 George Smith, 4 Ricky Humphrey, 5 Craig Cartwright, 6 Beth Farmer.
MX1: 1 Bradley Wheeler, 2 Tom Moore, 3 George Purchase, 4 Nicky Watts, 5 Carl Turner, 6 Craig Daffin.
Rookies: 1 Charlie Razzell, 2 Lewis King London, 3 Brandon Hickman, 4 Jesse Wren, 5 Liam Brosnan, 6 Sonny Kember-Smyth.
BW85: 1 Thomas Casbeard, 2 Tobias Sammut, 3 Harvey Cashmore, 4 Robert Storer, 5 Charlie Nightingale, 6 Luke Southern.
SW85: 1 James O’Mara, 2 Joshua Bassett, 3 Jake Cappa, 4 Leo Skinner, 5 Harrison Hopwood, 6 Jack Driver.
Juniors: 1 Charlie Richmond, 2 Kieran Paget, 3 Connor Williams, 4 Finley Yorke-Williams, 5 Mitchell Woodward, 6 Max Hoare.
Autos: 1 Jacob Collins, 2 Fabian Junior Morrison, 3 Jake Webb, 4 Arash Deering, 5 Blu Kinch, 6 Archie Edwards.