Race report and results: Ecosse Winter Series R4

The final of the four-round Rock Oil Michelin Ecosse XC Winter MX Championship went ahead as scheduled last Sunday, regardless of the chaos being caused across the UK by Storm Ciara

The hard-working Ecosse XC team sent the quads out first in practice to sweep the top layer off the track, producing a surface that even kicked up some dust at certain points … Each of the nine classes enjoyed a full three blocks of racing apiece, and the club managed to once again pack in a seamless programme of racing, ensuring all competitors and supporters were able to get away before dark.

Carlton Husband was back in the A-group. He and Ross Rutherford were stuck in a great start-to-finish battle in the opening moto, with Husband using all his skills to keep Rutherford at bay. Husband took the win, but then, thanks to machine problems, he was unable to compete in the second and third races which were both won by Rutherford. Jake Preston was second overall and Keith Noble third.

There was a new name out front in the Bs. Donald Draffan took a win and two seconds to secure the overall ahead of Michiel Graham, who took the second race win, and Stephen Watson, who won the third race, rounding out the podium. Dylan Grieve continued his winning streak in the packed-out C group, however, as he didn’t contest the opening round of the series, the championship win went to the consistent Barry Smith, who finished second overall, followed by Stephen Humphries with a third on the day, and second in the championship.

Tom Grant cleaned up in the Vets with three wins and, had it not been for a third in the last race of the third round, would have netted a full-house in the championship itself. Gordon Morrison did enough to take second and secure second in the series, while Craig Smith had his best overall result of the championship and enjoyed a third overall. Shay Page had his ninth successive win in the Rookies category with Logan Ferguson and Tony Hume chasing him across the line.

In the Youth sector, Hudson Roper and Jay Cheel were the ones to beat in the BW85 class. Roper took a win, a second and another win, with Cheel taking two seconds and the middle race win. Kerr Thomson took three solid thirds and third overall. Fully recovered from injury, a back-on-form Cristina Palmer delivered the goods in the SW85s with a second and two class wins, finishing inside the top six in each race in the combined BW/SW results. Overall runner-up Connor Smith took the other class win, a second and a third and, with two thirds and a second, Bradley Johnstone was third. Hayden Statt was on fire in the 65s with three wins to his credit, however, the championship went to second placed Jamie Prentice with another 120 points added to his tally. Ellis Nelson was third on the day.

Over on the quad front, Oli Sansom once again set the pace, getting the first holeshot and winning all three motos. With an impressive 12 wins from 12 starts he won the championship with maximum points – the only Ecosse rider to do so. Behind him Michael Brewis struggled with tyre choice on the first moto, but after borrowing wheels before moto two, he was back on form and able to defend his runner up position on the day and in the championship as well as getting the moto three holeshot. Young gun Robbie Wood’s day started well with a second place in moto one and third in moto two, but by moto three, his quad was playing up dropping him back to sixth, however, it was just enough for him to grab third overall on the day and in the championship.

Results
A-Group: 1. Ross Rutherford 132, 2. Jake Preston 124, 3. Keith Noble 118, 4. Matt Moffit 109, 5. Buster Hart 107, 6. Jason Martin 103.
B-Group; 1. Donald Draffan 129, 2. Michiel Graham 121, 3. Stephen Watson 114, 4. Jordan McDonald 114, 5. Lewis Evens-Yates 112, 6. Robert Smith 106.
C-Group; 1. Dylan Grieve 135, 2. Barry Smith 120, 3. Stephen Humphries 116, 4. Daniel Cook 107, 5. Gavin Lowes 107, 6. Harry Carmichael 105.
Vets; 1. Tom Grant 135, 2. Gordon Morrison 122, 3. Craig Smith 120, 4. Alan Thain 115, 5. John Crawford 108, 6. Ian Wilson 108.
Rookies; 1. Shay Page 135, 2. Logan Ferguson 126, 3. Tony Hume 116, 4. Thomas Bruce, 5. Jack Hunter 112, 6. Ben Fletcher 103.
BW85s ; 1. Hudson Roper 132, 2. Jay Cheel 129, 3. Kerr Thompson 120, 4. Mark Parker 114, 5. Jayden Jeffrey 108, 6. Riley Monteith 105.
SW85s; 1. Cristina Palmer 132, 2. Connor Smith 127, 3. Bradley Johnstone 122, 4. Zac Cheel 112, 5. Scott McPhee 106, 6. Lewis Bennet 104.
65s; 1. Hayden Statt 135, 2. Jamie Prentice 120, 3. Ellis Nelson 118, 4. James Lindsay 115, 5. Finley Easton 111, 6. Ryan Prentice 109.
Quads ; 1. Oli Sansom 135, 2. Michael Brewis 124, 3. Robbie Wood 117, 4. Gary Atkinson 112, 5. George Oliver 109, 6. Richie Cornett 103.

Words: Jenni Foulkes

Pic: Peter Greenwood