July 22 2016.

Pontrilas, Herefordshire, July 17th 2016
Words: Rob McDonnell
Pictures: Paul Ervine

Northern Ireland’s Mark McLernon is the new leader of the ATVs Only British Championship after round four of the series at hot and dusty Pontrilas in Herefordshire on Sunday, where the title defence of series leader Paul Holmes hit the buffers.


Luke Cooper (69) and Mark McLernon dominated proceedings at Pontrilas

McLernon arrived 21 points adrift of Holmes, but left with a ten-point lead after taking overall victory on a day when Holmes slipped to seventh overall, one of his worst days in recent times.

The scene had been set in qualifying when McLernon led the field by over one and half seconds, with George Callaway and David Cowan next, with Holmes an uncharacteristic ninth. However, in race one, it was tenth qualifier, Luke Cooper, from just over the border in Wales, who took the Putoline Holeshot, which he was to repeat in all three races.


Justin Reid (14) seen here going wheel-to-wheel to Paul Holmes (1) took the final podium place on Sunday

A good start was essential because, despite heavy overnight watering, dust was already a problem. During the opening laps the Clerk of the Course considered halting the race, however, as the field spread out conditions improved enough to continue, though several top riders who had been caught in the pack now faced working back through the field, including Holmes.

Up front, four riders namely Cooper, George Callaway, McLernon and the Wildcard, George Day, had broken the field and were rarely more than a few seconds part in a highly entertaining battle. McLernon though made the decisive move to take the lead from Cooper just after three quarters distance, and held on to win by half a second. Callaway was two and half seconds further back, and Day a further two seconds behind. Carl Bunce had seen off a few attacks to eventually come home fifth, with Holmes grinding out a sixth place, four seconds behind Bunce, after a tough battle in the closing laps to overcome Cowan and another Wildcard, the local favourite Simon Hammersley.


Luke Cooper (69), seen here flanked by George Day (29), George Callaway (89) got all three holeshots

Heavy watering before race two ensured the dust stayed down but meant mud in the opening laps was an issue for any rider who did not get a good start. This time Cooper led early on from Reid, Hammersley, McLernon and Sheldon Seal. Holmes however was even further down the pack then he had been in race one!

Holmes, with a machine set up for drier going, mounted a furious charge back though the pack that eventually resulted in a tangle with tenth placed Lindsey Duke and a chestnut-paling fence. On restarting Holmes rejoined the track in the wrong place, missing out a small loop, and was penalised 30 seconds by the Clerk of the Course, which resulted in him being classified in 15th at the finish. Up front, Cooper was in impressive form stretching a lead, which was out to ten seconds at the flag, despite the best efforts of Reid to stay in touch. McLernon was third.


Multiple British Champion Paul Winrow (113) fends off young guns, Jake Smith (114) and James Bevan (222)

The highlight of the race though was Hammersley, a former British Under 21 champion who rarely races outside his native Wales now. First he and Seal engaged in an epic battle, then as Hammersley got a sniff of a possible third he set the fastest lap on the final circuit. He was just half a second behind McLernon at the flag!

In the final race a determined Holmes briefly took the lead from Cooper on lap two, but was soon re-passed, before becoming involved in a fine four-way battle at the front which also included McLernon and Reid.


Popular Wildcard Simon Hammersley notched up the fastest lap in race two

As the race evolved it developed into two separate battles – the first between Cooper and McLernon, with the latter edging ahead with a few laps to go to take victory by a second and half, and Reid getting the better of Holmes after they swapped places a couple of times in the closing laps.

Cooper’s fine performance ensured he dominated the Willcock Holeformers Under 21 Championship, with three wins. That moved him from fourth in the series up to second. However Sunday’s runner up, Leon Rogers, stretched his series lead from 28 to 35 points, after his two nearest challengers were both absent. Lithuanian, Domantas Vaznys, was ruled out by a fever and Dean Colhoun has been forced to retire on medical grounds.

Dafydd Davies was third in the Under 21s, plus the absence of Vaznys also ensured he ended the day as top Komfort Services Rookie. Reid won the award for best Vet.


Sheldon Seal bounced back from injury to score a solid fifth in race two

Results:
ATVS Only British Championship Overall: 1 Mark McLernon (Honda) 70 points, 2 Luke Cooper (KTM) 69, 3 Justin Reid (Can-Am KMX) 54, 4 Carl Bunce (Suzuki) 45, 5 George Day (Suzuki) 44, 6 Simon Hammersley (Yamaha) 43.
Race One: 1 McLernon, 2 Cooper, 3 George Callaway (Yamaha), 4 Day, 5 Bunce, 6 Paul Holmes (Yamaha).
Race two: 1 Cooper, 2 Reid, 3 McLernon, 4 Hammersley, 5 Sheldon Seal (KTM), 6 Bunce.
Race three: 1 McLernon, 2 Cooper, 3 Reid, 4 Holmes, 5 Rogers, 6 David Cowan (Yamaha).
Championship points: McLernon 251, Holmes 241, Reid 210, Bunce 195, Rogers 151, Callaway 135.


Harry Walker had three good rides to take sixth in the Under 21 category

Willcock Holeformers Under 21: 1 Cooper, 75 points, 2 Leon Rogers (Kawasaki) 66, 3 Dafydd Davies (KTM) 54, 4 James Bevan (Yamaha) 53, 5 Jake Smith (Honda) 47, 6 Harry Walker (Yamaha) 45.
Championship points: Rogers 252, Cooper 217, Davies 173, Walker 169, Bevan 158
Komfort Services Rookie Cup: 1 Davies, 2 Kyle Murphy (Yamaha), 3 Jamie Morgan (Honda)
Komfort Services Vet Cup: 1 Reid, 2 Bunce, 3 Paul Winrow.


Adam Robinson sliding his Suzuki out of the trees


Paul Holmes – checking on the opposition or posing for the camera?


The winner’s podium – from left Luke Cooper, Mark McLernon and Justin Reid