September 11th, 2017.

2017 Nora-MX Quad Championship, Round 7, West Meon, Hampshire. Sunday 10th September 2017.


The scene was set for an electric final round of the Nora-MX 2017 championship as, with every round counting, there was all to play for across all classes.

Saturday evening’s rain made for a moist, but interesting, track and first out of the gate on the Sunday morning was the Pro-/ProAm class that featured no fewer than four of the riders who have been selected to represent their respective Countries at the Quadcross of Nations at Cingoli, Italy in less than two weeks’ time.

The day started with the leading three competitors close on points; George Day 380, Mark McLernon 361 and Dafydd Davies 336.

Scotland’s Murray Graham blasted off the line in the opening moto, to take the holeshot ahead of Carl Bunce. The pulled away from the field and Graham took the win over Bunce by 3.8 seconds. James Bevan grabbed a good third after overhauling Oli Sansom in the latter stages of the race. This race proved to be pivotal in terms of the overall, as the championship hopes of both Davies and McLernon were shattered. Davies suffered electrical problems taking him down to 19th and McLernon suffered a DNF after just five laps. Day, down in 10th was probably a happy man.

In race two, Sansom was fastest out of the blocks and held the lead for a few laps before Bunce made his move and took a comfortable win by 14 seconds over a very spirited Davino Bruneel in second place.

So to the final race, and Bunce was looking a cert to take the overall win on the day. He grabbed the holeshot over Day and then continued to battle it out at the front just behind Day. Unfortunately for Bunce though, an infringement had been spotted and he was demoted to last place which pushed him off the overall podium.

Pro overall-on-the-day; 1st George Day (10,3,1), 2nd Harry Walker (6,4,3), 3rd Davino Bruneel (8,2,7)
ProAm overall-on-the-day; 1st Davino Bruneel, 2nd Tom Day, 3rd Alex Bethell

Pro Championship; Winner George Day 580, 2nd Mark McLernon 515, 3rd Oli Sansom 503.

Elsewhere;
Luke Berlyn wrapped up a well-deserved 100cc title despite, unusually for him, not winning all three races on the day. Luke was second overall with a win and two seconds, behind overall winner Robbie Wood with a second and two firsts.

The 250cc British Championship was set to be a battle to the end between Zak Orchard and his PDV teammate Josh Birch, with Orchard starting the day a slender six points ahead. Josh’s chances were crushed with two DNF’s on two separate machines in the first two races. Orchard didn’t look back; he wrapped up the championship in style with three comfortable wins, all with margins of 20 seconds. Catrin Davies showed she is the girl to watch in the future as she grabbed a couple of seconds and a third and a credible second in the final championship standings. Thirteen-year-old Marcus Sprason took the final spot on the podium.

Ayrton Knowles, despite being out of Clubman championship contention following injury earlier in the season, took three strong wins to take the overall on the day and bagged a pair of goggles, in the process, for his long-awaited holeshot.
The hotly-contested Clubman/Elite class going to the wire with just 16 points separating Rhydian Owen and Iestyn Rowlands in the main championship and a mere seven in the Elite subclass. Rowlands beat Owen in all three races on the day, but by only one place each time. This meant he caught up by six points, and missed out by just one point in the championship itself. When you factor in the fact that Rowlands lost his seat in the final stages of the day, you get an idea of just how focused these riders are.

The Masters class on the day, with three wins, and for the year was again won by Ed Davies. Ant Barrett was the best of the rest with three second place finishes. In the Out of the Box sub class, Joe Williams again took the three race wins, two over Pete Bates and the other over Vassna Wilcock.

Geoff Otway entered the day in the Masters Support class just requiring one win to seal his Masters Championship. It was not to be though as he was beset by electrical problems in races one and two, and a chain came off in race three, taking him off the top spot, and leaving Mark Smith to be crowned champion.

Scott Berlyn and Michael Haydon battled it out in the Novice class. With two wins on the day, Berlyn took the overall and championship win. Haydon was a worthy runner-up.

Results on the day:
100cc/50cc: 1st Robbie Wood (1,2,2), 2nd Luke Berlyn (1,2,2), 3rd Jago Jackson (3,3,4).
100cc Sub class winner: Kieran Marriott
50cc Sub Class winner: Taylor Hyndman
250cc overall: 1st Zak Orchard (1,1,1), 2nd Catrin Davies (2,3,2), 3rd Alfie Walker (3,2,3)
250cc Standard Winner: Jack Evans
Masters "A": 1st Ed Davies (1,1,1), 2nd Ant Barrett (2,2,2), 3rd Ben Morgan (3,3,4)
Out the Box: 1st Joe Williams, 2nd Pete Bates
Clubman Overall: 1st Ayrton Knowles (1,1,1), 2nd Iestyn Rowlands (3,3,2), 3rd Sam Norris (2,2,4)
Clubman sub class winner: Dean Porter
Adult Novices: 1st Scott Berlyn (1,1,2), 2nd Michael Haydon (2,2,1), 3rd Joe Sharp (4,3,3).
Masters Support: 1st John Hall (1,1,1), 2nd David Marriott (2,2,2), 3rd Rick Jones (4,4,3)

And the final word goes to Nora-MX organiser Stu Walker;

“Unfortunately the rain came for the annual charity pit-bike race and mechanics quad race where we endeavour to raise money for ‘air ambulance’ and the ACU’s benevolent fund for injured riders

My personal thanks go out to all who, sitting under umbrellas, braved the weather and supported their club champions, staying on to watch the crowning and get further soaked in the champagne. Some chose not to attend, which was a shame after all the effort they have put into the championship throughout the year.

Roll on the 17th of February 2018 when we head to the official Nora-MX awards ceremony at the Oxford Belfry. It’ll be a chance to have the weekend off, catch up with everyone, get all dressed, have a laugh and talk about the upcoming 2018 season ahead.

Our thanks go to everyone for their continued support of the ‘Best Quad club in Europe’ – this is only possible because of you!

Remember to keep an eye on www.nora-mx.com for future news and also get your reservations in early for the awards evening, so your accommodation and trophies can be reserved.”

Words: Pete Chell/Stuart Walker
Pic: Stuart Walker

*Championship results to follow.