July 19th, 2018.

British QX Championship, round 4, Sunday 15th July, Cusses Gorse, Wiltshire


George Callaway took his first-ever overall British Championship victory at a sun drenched and perfectly prepared Cusses Gorse in Wiltshire on Sunday and in doing so hauled himself up to third in the points table.

Yamaha-mounted Callaway was in his element on the fast, wide, hard pack Cusses track opening his account with a fourth in the opening 25-minute race, a fine win in race two, then rounding it off with runner-up spot in the last race.

Meanwhile defending British Champion Paul Holmes ended up in sixth overall, his worst result for two years, yet actually extended his points lead in the series from seven to 33!

Holmes’ relatively lowly finish came after he and Mark McLernon were involved in a collision in the third race. As a result of the incident, and the riders’ subsequent behaviour, the Clerk of the Course excluded Holmes from the third race and excluded McLernon from the meeting.

Teenager Harry Walker set the pace in qualifying with the fastest lap of 1 min 42.2 s. Just 0.34 seconds separated the top three riders. Meanwhile, Callaway was down in 10th spot, a two whole seconds off pole.

In race one fast starting Dafydd Davies took the holeshot, followed in by Ireland’s Leon Rogers. Rogers soon took the lead and set the early pace, before disaster struck for him on lap two as a mechanical issue forced him out of the race. Davies took up the mantle and led until lap seven, when McLernon and Holmes surged forward to commence their battle. McLernon held on to the flag to take the win (which he was to later lose) half a second ahead of Holmes. Walker came through strongly to take third from Davies.

Race two saw a determined Rogers blast off the line for the holeshot, this time with Callaway and Wildcard, George Day, giving chase. Some quality fast racing between the trio ensued until on lap seven Dutch Wildcard Joe Maessen joined the battle. Eventually Maessen, usually more a sand man than a hard pack specialist, overcame Rogers for second place, with Callaway pulling away to grab the win by five seconds.

On to the final race of the day and, with all to play for, McLernon was at that time two points up on Callaway and Holmes a further four points back. However, it was Rogers off the line the quickest again and setting the pace ahead of early contenders Murray Graham and Tom Day. Graham and Day kept with Rogers for five laps before McLernon and Holmes came through the pack to join Rogers at the front. With three minutes left on the clock it was still Rogers at the helm, and then McLernon made his move, closely followed by Holmes.

The race looked to be heading for a battle between the pair before the aforementioned collision put them both out of contention. Rogers took full advantage, taking the race win, with Callaway second and Maessen third.

RESULTS
Cromwell Trucks British Championship:
1 George Callaway (Yamaha) 65 points, 2 Joe Maessen (Yamaha) 53, 3 Dafydd Davies (KTM) 48, 4 Sheldon Seal (YFZ Husky), 5 Leon Rogers (WSP Husky) 45, 6 Paul Holmes (Yamaha) 41.
Race one: 1 Holmes, 2 Harry Walker (Yamaha), 3 Davies, 4 Callaway, 5 George Day (Suzuki), 6 Emma McQuaid (Honda).
Race two: 1 Callaway, 2 Maessen, 3 Rogers, 4 Day, 5 Holmes, 6 Seal.
Race three: 1 Rogers, 2 Callaway, 3 Maessen, 4 Seal, 5 Tom Day (Suzuki), 6 James Bevan (Yamaha).
Championship points: Holmes 173, Rogers 140, Callaway 131, McLernon 125, Davies 119, Walker 117.
Under 21 Overall: 1 Dafydd Davies (2,1,3), 2 Tom Day (4,4,1), 3rd Dean Dillion (Honda) (6,2,4).

The British Championship now moves onto Dean Moor on the 5th of August.

Words: Pete Chell
Pics: John Cook