January 10th, 218.




The second of four stand-alone races running under the banner of the Ecosse XC Winter Series, again enjoyed a healthy turn out of quad riders on Sunday the 7th of January 2018.

Twenty-two quads entered for the event sponsored by Rock Oil, Drysdale Motorcycles and Wulfsport but just 14 turned out. However, they enjoyed dry and good, clean racing, with two Scottish champs in the mix, and the bonus of all the racing done and dusted by 4pm.

Reigning champ Michael Brewis got the opening race holeshot, but David Vass passed him on the first corner and led for the next two laps. As one of the elder riders out on track, he reckoned he didn’t just didn’t have the batter power he used to and couldn’t maintain that lead. Vass and Brewis were followed by Sinclair and Mitchell and were all very close at the beginning. By the end of the third lap though, Brewis and Mitchell were out front and maintained those positions until Mitchell, who had been all over the back of Brewis, and piling on the pressure, forced Brewis into an error and the former champ gently stretched his lead. He took the win but, as he crossed the finish line there was a huge puff of smoke and an engine issue put paid to the rest of his day. An on form Brewis, who had earlier raced in the solo C class, finished second. There was action mid-field with NETT regular Scott Pounder making a welcome comeback and riding steadily to take sixth ahead of Nash Singer, another former regular. Right behind was Nora and Nett young gun Ayrton Knowles making his debut in the Scottish Series.
1. Mitchell 2. Brewis 3. Sinclair 4. Vass 5. Mark Wilson.

With Mitchell sidelined, Singer took an impressive holeshot followed closely by Sinclair, Vass, Wilson and Brewis who were all bunched together. By the end of lap one, Vass had taken the lead and held it for the next two laps. His secret weapon was higher tyres, he reckon having been beached on a berm in the first race he needed a different strategy and it proved to be right. He got clear of the others and stayed well out front until Sinclair (a third of his age), took lead and win. Brewis stayed steady in second place behind Sinclair and was satisfied with clocking up some more points on the day. Behind the leaders Wilson and Knowles chased down, and passed, veteran Vass but he didn’t make it easy for them. Gary Atkinson reflected his number, finishing sixth and Pounder was seventh ahead of Singer. Current over 40s Scottish champ John Peters made a good showing too.
1. Sinclair. 2. Brewis. 3. Wilson. 4. Knowles. 5. Vass

The final quad race of the day was the final of the day and it got underway at 3.15pm whilst many of the motocrossers were streaming out of the pits heading for home. Meanwhile, 11 quads were lined up ready for a finale under a glorious sun set. Brewis was first away with the holeshot and led the whole way. Seventeen-year-old Sinclair was hard on the heels of Brewis. Brewis and Sinclair were closely followed by Singer and Knowles. Further back in the field Atkinson was steadily picking off riders as he climbed back up from last and he finished fifth in therface and fifth on the day. Meanwhile John Peters and Callum Wright were having their own race alongside Richie Cornett who made a successful last lap dash past Peters for his best finish of the day. Back at the front of the field Brewis and Sinclair kept on pushing on the worsening terrain and, despite a near head-over-handlebars-moment for Brewis when he tried to jump a ditch and landed badly, he still won the race and the day.
1. Brewis. 2. Sinclair. 3. Knowles. 4. Pounder. 5.Atkinson

Overall
1. Michael Brewis. 2. Lorne Sinclair. 3. Ayrton Knowles. 4. Scott Pounder. 5. Gary Atkinson. 6. Nash Singer.

Pictured: Reigning Scottish Champ Michael Brewis on his way to Ecosse win.

Image credit: Peter Greenwood Off-Road Photography