2019 Club Champs Round 2

Report Ken O'Brien

Pictures by Gary Dowzall, others can be found at sliders.photography

Report Ken O'Brien

Pics Gary Dowzall

Sunny but cold weather greeted 55 riders and officials for this 2nd round 2019 Ixion championship with four laps of ten to be ridden.

Standlake Pits was the venue a notoriously wet course although on this occasion dust would prevail on most sections as the winter rains had virtually no impact on the going.

Cambers Hills Ditches Gullies Roots and loose drops were about to be attempted by riders of different class and ability.

An easy starter section 1 saw eventual Expert class winner Guy Kenyon-Bell 250 Gasser clean with ease the undulating gentle cambers with a splash of water that eventually dragged up the banks to make for a slightly harder time later on in the event.

Only two marks separated the top three positions with Bret Harbud losing twenty to take the youth A and Chris Wickham was Expert runner-up also on twenty.

Chris rode section 2 well although a steadying prod was required on his third attempt as a tricky camber started to break away as almost all of the entry were on the same line.

Ryan Tomkins took best Intermediate on the hard route showing good throttle control and balance at section 4 a bevy of steep rooted climbs thirty nine was his tally for the day.

The standard Yellow route was very competitive today and Pre-Race favourite Adrian Steele had to settle for second place overall this time but first in his class.

Alex Taylor 300 Montesa lost only a miserly four marks three of which went astray at section nine arguably the hardest of the day a steep climb to the begins then a series of tightish turns over low branches into loamy dried out swamp.

Alan Taylor Brian Tomkins and Mark 'Woody' Woodburn followed this pair to the next three places with respectable scores of fourteen fifteen and twenty one.

Woody was out on his new 250 Beta mount for the first time so a good ride although a spectacular get off at section 7 was to say the least crowd pleasing.

It was harder than it looked a sandy drop then a sharp steep climb before a slippery drop then a wall of death around a large Oak before a fourth gear blast to the ends three cleans here for him was no mean feat.

The ever popular well supported Sportsman White route where newcomers to the sport and the older riders who have done their bit on the harder routes over the years compete it is one big class for all any age any machine although the competition is still fierce for that top spot.

New welcome Ixion member Ian Homer was top dog today parting with nine marks it seems the 250 Beta was the perfect steed for the job.

Ian making short work of most sections with the exception of 'Axford's drop' this was steep and as the day progressed a narrow slot formed so was the only way down and you had to be on it to clean this tough one.

Once you had negotiated this part there were two really awkward low growing trees to tackle in a foot of was what to become slurry anything better than a two was epic as the younger generation might say.

Many thanks to all who supported our event and to the observers for braving the bitterly cold afternoon winds.

Class	Rider	Bike	Points
Red Route
Expert	Guy Kenyon-Bell	250 Gasser	18
Intermediate	Ryan Tomkins	Beta 300	39

Youth A	Brett Harbud	Beta 125	20
Yellow Route
Clubman	Adrian Steele	250 Beta	9
	Alan Taylor	250 Beta	14

Intermediate	Alex Taylor

White Route
	Ian Homer	Beta 250	9
	Steve McHugh	TRS 280	12
	Mark Davidson	200 Fantic	19
	Matty Rudge	Beta 250	25

Full results can be found here .