18:18Last Sunday the Premier MX team made the trip over to Pontrilas Nr Hereford to run round 5 of the Phoenix Tools Ifly Premier motocross Championship. A lot of motocross events had been cancelled prior to the weekend, but on arrival to Pontrilas on Saturday the track was in prime condition and was thought would make some excellent racing on the Sunday. However Sunday morning saw a bit of a difference to the track as rain had fallen early morning and was to continue drizzling which made things a bit slippery. The entry had been pretty good in all classes, but with many riders not turning up and some deciding not to compete on the day in the treacherous conditions it made some classes very small and with the track deteriorating even more as the day went on the decision was made to cancel the rest of the meeting after the first block.
In the Pro Expert race it was wildcard Luke Dean on the Meredith MX Suzuki who seemed to get the better grip of the line with the holeshot from Championship leader on the Oakleaf Motorsport Honda Shane Carless (Pictured No 68), but it wasn’t the best of starts for second place rider in the standings Jamie Skuse on the Tony Maunders Racing Suzuki who got stuck behind his gate. Dean seemed to relish in the tricky conditions and with a clear track in front of him tried to get away from the Welshman Carless, but Carless was to stay within striking distance and on lap 5 closed right up on Dean out the back and emerged at the front when they reappeared and from there Carless gradually pulled away and went on to take the Chequered flag from Dean with Skuse after his bad start coming through the field to take a well deserved 3rd.
In the Expert race there was no stopping the D S C Cornwall Kawasaki of Ben Butler who totally blitzed the rest of the field and took an early lead and within no time started to pull away at the front. David Keet on the Danger UK Husqvarna was to get the better of Wildcard Ben Milward on the Inchains KTM at the second corner and moved in to 2nd and these two were to have a real battle for a couple of laps, but Milward was to make a mistake on lap 4 and up in to 3rd was now James Kensington (Pictured) on the 2-stroke Rocket World/M D Tony Maunders Racing KTM. Butler was to lead the race until lap 6 when he took a nasty tumble and up in to the lead was now Keet, but his lead was to come to an end 2 laps later when he slid off on a right hander which now put Kensington leading who was to ride the 2-stroke all the way to take the Chequered flag with Championship leader Charlie Putnam on the Phoenix Tools Ifly Husqvarna with a smoking bike coming home in 2nd just a head of Keet who took 3rd.
In the combined Over 35, Over 40 and Over 50’s race there were very few riders on the line, but one that was on the line was Chris Brown on the Cheddar MX Store Honda who was like a duck on water as he handled the conditions really well and took a convincing win from the Crescent New Milton Tyres Suzuki of Terry House with Justin Gibbs on the Gibbs Performance/Tyremarks KTM taking a well earned 3rd.
In the Junior Championship race this was well supported with a full line up. Championship leader Jamie Carpenter on the Phoenix Tools Ifly Husqvarna had put in a stunning qualifying lap some 11 seconds quicker than anyone else and he was to continue this form in the race with the holeshot and from there he was to race away and took the win by over 3 minutes from wildcard Joshua Canton who was the only rider that Carpenter didn’t lap.
Report & Picures by Dave Rich