With the fetid flood generated by last weekend’s Hilton Park poonami finally starting to subside there was a choice of races this weekend – jet off to the Motor City to catch some AMA supercross, lead-foot it up the M6 for the opening round of the Michelin MX Nationals at Preston Docks or head to FatCat Moto Parc in Yaaarkshire for round one of the Scott Amateur Nationals.
Superbike editorial budgets are tighter than a heron’s heinie which meant Detroit was out of the question so a coin toss later I was on my way to FatCat. Yep, it was Dirt Doc does Doncaster but, sadly, without the XXX content.
Saying that, the racing was pretty explicit with full gates, some seriously quick men and women and more two-smokers than I’ve seen at a race since sometime around Y2K. Admittedly this was helped by a couple of two-stroke classes but, remember, this is grassroots racing and pre-mixers are still the weapon of choice for a lot of riders.
Just like Preston Docks 100-odd miles away, FatCat is a beast of a sand track and there were some ruined riders in the packed paddock by close of play. Opening a series there is like losing your virginity to Jenna Jameson. And Belladonna. In an awesome threesome.
After failing to score points at the first round of the Maxxis the previous Sunday, 17-year-old West Country wonder Todd Kellett gave the Michelin MX Nationals a swerve and elected to race instead at FatCat for ‘fun’. Just to crank the level up to 11 he rode the 250cc two-stroke class on a ’98 CR250 (which was stuck in third gear all day), then had to leg it straight to the startgate where his 2015 CRF250 was waiting for the MX2 moto that was next up.
And that to me pretty much sums up the spirit of the Scott Amateur Nationals.
Winners on the day were Stacey Fisher (Ladies), Damon Strydom (250cc 2T), Todd Kellett (MX2), James Lassu (MX1), Brandon Rollin (Junior Open), Brian Wheeler (Vets) and Jimmy Margetson (125cc 2T).
Whatley – Double race winner and 450 supremo
Over in Preston the Pro MX1 and MX2 classes raced together but were scored separately and it was Kristian Whatley (Buildbase Honda) who ripped to a pair of moto wins to score maximum points. K-What is a master of line choice and can find his way around a track on his 450F in ways no other rider would ever consider.
Frenchman Steven Lenoir (Dyer & Butler) ran 2-1 in the MX2 class to top the 250F podium.
American news now and after sweeping the last three rounds of the AMA SX series, the Red Bull KTM pairing of Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin st-st-st-stuttered in Detroit.
Dungey, the runaway leader of the 450SX class, took an early lead but was chased down and passed by Eli Tomac (Geico Honda). Still, Dungey held on for second and with closest rival Trey Canard (HRC Honda) suffering a suspected fractured arm in his heat race his lead is stretched to 67 points with five rounds to go.
The 250SX East Region final was won by defending champion Justin Bogle (Geico Honda) from Marvellous Marv who still leads the series by 13 points with three to go.
Words: TDD Images: Nuno Laranjeira