March 23 2015.

Round 1, Sunday 15th March 2015, Tain
Report: Ann Wood

BEDA IS BACK!


Leon Beda took top honours at the opening round of the 2015 Quad Racing Scotland Championship at Tain - no mean feat considering the club enojoyed one of its strongest starting grids for years. Beda was just one of several championship riders making a welcome return to QRS, ready to take on defending champion Murray Graham, rising star Dean Colhoun and a dozen or so other powerful riders.

Colhoun won the first race but the deep sand left him with a broken axle in race two and his day was over. Graham fared even worse, with problems right from the start, he earned only a DNF in race one, and his day was over too. Riding a 14-year-old machine, Beda took second place in race one, then made it difficult for himself in the second race when he got caught on the gates at the start. He got the win though and did it again in race three, leading that one from start to finish. Happy with his victory after several seasons away from the sport, he said; “It was an excellent day’s racing. Race two - hitting the gates and having to ride through the pack - was great. David Vass didn't make it easy for me though!”

Vass, last year’s Over-40 Scottish Champ, did indeed give the others a run for their money. Announcing that he wanted “to be in the thick of it this year” he proved he could be, finishing second overall with a fourth, second and third in the races. Satisfied with his day, he quipped to one rider who failed to start, “You missed a good event … but on the plus side, you will be able to walk tomorrow whereas I will be in pain!”

Young Taylor Gibb with in the thick of it too, taking a measured approach to his racing and running the newly built Atkinson Motorsport reverse cylinder 450 Yamaha. He took fifth, third and then second to finish third overall, and only two points behind Vass.

Michael Brewis showed the crowd what he’s capable of, finishing fourth overall, though he probably would have been placed even higher, had he taken on-board enough fuel to avoid a mid-race refuel on the second run of the day, after leading the race for several laps.

And topping off the top five Champs was the youngest lad in the class, Lawrence Whyte, who is only just old enough to be eligible. He’s made a big leap straight into the Champs class after winning the youth 250cc open class last year and, from the off, he proved he’s up to the job.

A couple of Whyte’s 2014 contemporaries - Nash Singer and Stuart Kirchacz - also became age-eligible for the adult classes and made the more conventional jump into the Adult Support class for the 2015 season. Singer was outstanding, leading the class from start to finish in all three races, and keeping ahead of the Over-40s and Evos running in the same group. Kirchacz didn’t fail to impress either; both his results and his racewear ensuring he stood out from the crowd. With a combination of two thirds and a second netting him third overall, he commented afterwards; “I need to work on my starts!”

Sandwiched between Singer and Kirchacz on the podium, was another name new to the Adult Support class, namely Lee Disberry, who put in a very late entry when he unexpectedly got the chance to borrow a quad from Vass. Reflecting on his day, local-man Disberry posted; “Well I had an amazing day at the track today. Turned up to watch the boys race, ended up entering the quad race and got second overall! Big shout out to David for lending me his quad - legend!!”

Rounding off the top riders in the Adult Support class were Callum Wright in fourth and Davey Nixon in fifth. If there was a trophy for furthest travelled within the mainland, it may well have gone to Nixon, one of the NETT Championship regulars, who is planning to do both QRS and NETT, following the announcement of several joint rounds this season.

But the final word goes to James Murphy in the Champs Class, who collected the least number of championship points despite lightheartedly being tipped to win by the legendary John Watson. Murphy said of the day; “Well done guys, a great event. Was a good buzz around the racing and this year looks to be the best season for a long, long time!”

CLASS WINNERS
Championship: Leon Beda
Adult Support: Nash Singer
Over 40s: Paul Davie
Evos: Iain Clark
250cc 4-stroke Geared: Lorne Sinclair
200cc Standard: Aaron Swan
100cc 4-stroke Geared: Robbie Wood
100cc Modified: Louis Tobin
100cc Standard: Rory Wood
50cc Modified: Lee Peters
50cc Clubman: Katie Cornett
Adult Solos: Kyle Burnett

Full results of all QRS 2015 Quad Racing Championship classes are available on www.mylaps.com

Pictured: Leon Beda