2011 Master of Midshires

The 2011 and third running of the Masters of Midshires took place at Tedstill House Farm, Middleton Scriven – a new venue for the club – on Sunday 11 September.

There were a number of top names in attendance and they included, in the Solos Daniel Winterton, Tom Perry 2009 250cc champion, Tim Nobes 2009 500cc winner, Paul Cooper, Charlie Saunders, Phil Ashcroft, Jason Handley and 2010 Pre 75 champion Tim Curnock. The 500cc Sidecars included Nick Radley, Scott Dunn and Sean Harvey and in the 1000cc Right-hands chairs were Rod Winterburn winner in 2009 & 2010, Mark Cossar, Steve Smith, Colin Blackbourn, Richard Thomas, Rob Bradley and Paul Whitelam.

After a minutes’ silence for the tenth anniversary for 9/11, the meeting got under way with a bahnrecord for the Solos and the Right-hand Sidecars. Nobes took the Solos from Tom Perry and Jason Handley (on a 350cc). The Sidecars saw a tie for first with James & Dave Goudge and Rod Winterburn & Liam Brown. Richard Thomas & Jason Barry took third.

The 500cc Sidecars were first to the line and in heat one Nick Radley & Adam Young led home Simon Beard & Emily Coglan and Sinead McLaren & Graham Tizard. The second heat saw Shaun Harvey and Danny Hogg take the win from Scott Dunn & Paul Smith and Dave Carvill & Richard Phillimore. The second round of heat saw wins again for Harvey & Hogg and Radley & Young. The third leg’s first heat gave us Harvey up against Radley with Dunn thrown into the mix. As it happened, that was the finishing order with McLaren taking fourth. Only Carvill & Phillimore made an appearance in the final heat and they duly did four laps. The Final was contested by the five remaining teams. Dunn & Smith led from the gate but were passed by Radley & Young on lap three. Ultimately Radley & Young were put back a place having cut inside the track markers and for making contact to pass Dunn & Smith. Carvill & Phillimore took a well-deserved place on the podium with Harvey & Hogg unbeaten in the heats coming in a disappointing fourth. McLaren & Tizard trailed in fifth.

The 250s were out in heat three. The experienced Rob Bradley just beat ‘up and coming’ Jed Collins with Steve Mildoon third. Race four saw another youngster Sam Radley-Smith taking the win from Colin Bird and Teri Massingham. Round two saw Radley-Smith lead home Bradley, and Bird taking his first win of the day ahead of Justin Woolley. Radley-Smith took a hat-trick of wins in Race twenty-nine from Woolley and Lee Cutler. Jed Collins then took a win from Bradley and Chris Bird. In the Final Radley-Smith took a well-deserved win from Jed Collins and Bradley. Other finalists in finishing order were Colin Bird, Chris Bird, Ben Worrall, Steve Mildoon, Teri Massingham, Joe Stephens and Justin Woolley pushed home.

John Priest led home Tim Curnock and Calvin Palmer in the first Pre 75s heat. Priest and Curnock came first and second in the second heat with Ian Gutteridge taking third. A repeat of the first heat came in Race thirty-one, and Race forty-three had the same result as the second heat. The overall result saw Priest take first with four wins, Curnock second with four seconds and Ian Gutteridge third.

The 350s saw three heat wins for Jason Handley, two wins for Tom Perry and one win for Josh Dingle. The final was missing Perry who had to leave to fulfil a Speedway fixture and Handley retired with machinery problems. Dingle went on to take the win from Christopher Johnson and Mark Taylor. Other finalists in finishing order were Andrew Mellish, Josh Birkett, Richard Guest, Martin Wrathall and Darren Drew who took a nasty looking fall on the line.

The Right-handers again put on a fantastic show with a who’s who of sidecar racing. The first heat saw a win for the talented Goudge brothers beating Steve Smith & Darren Wilce. Mark Cossar & Carl Blyth won Race two beating putting Colin Blackbourn & Carl Pugh into second. Race three was taken by 2011 Masters Champions Rod Winterburn & Liam Brown leading home Cornish boys Richard Thomas & Jason Barry. The fourth heat was taken by ‘back to form’ Paul Whitelam & Alan Elliott ahead of Joe Mogg & Jack Cutler. Whitelam & Elliott took another win in Race twenty-one ahead of Blackbourn & Pugh and in Race twenty-two Winterburn & Brown beat Simon Heal & Terry Madley into second. The following heat saw James & Dave Goudge take a win from Peter Lloyd & Darren Whetstone, and then Cossar & Blyth took a second win from Thomas & Barry. The final round of heats saw wins for Winterburn & Brown, James & Dave Goudge, Cossar & Blyth, Blackbourn & Pugh. Thomas & Barry led from the tapes in the ‘B’ final, but Blackbourn & Pugh won to take the final place in the ‘A’ final. The other ‘B’ finalists in finishing order where Lloyd & Whetstone, Heal & Madley, Gareth & Nathan Winterburn – who were in with a shout until spinning on the pits bent – and Tris Winterburn & Sam Fumarola who retired. In the Final Cossar & Blyth sped off from the gate, Paul Whitelam & Alan Elliott and Winterburn & Brown battled all the way, with the former getting the nod at the tapes. Thomas & Barry and Blackbourn & Pugh took fourth and fifth respectively whilst James & Dave Goudge came in last after a poor start.

In the 500cc Solos Tim Nobes showed what a talent he is with some spectacular racing. He took the first heat from Charlie Saunders and Tom Perry. Daniel Winterton then took a win from Phil Ashcroft and John Cox. The second round of heats saw Saunders take a win from Perry and Ashcroft, and Nobes took another from Winterton & Scott Cresswell. In the final round Perry beat Nobes and Winterton, and Paul Cooper – another rider looking back to his best – beating Saunders and Ashcroft. In the final Perry again was on Speedway duty and Time Nobes fell on the pits bend and was excluded with Cooper & Saunders battling toe to toe. In the re-run Cooper got the drop and led Saunders home with Winterton taking the final podium place of the day. Other finalists in finishing order were Ashcroft, Oliver Greenwood, Cresswell, Dave Rowlands and Jody Hodgson.

The Dave Harris Memorial Trophy was presented to Andrew Mellish.

The Solo Bahn Record was won by Tim Nobes.

The Sidecar Bahn Record was won jointly by Rod Winterburn/Liam Brown and Dave & James Goudge.

Report with thanks to GSP

Results

250cc Solo
1st Sam Radley Smith, 2nd Jed Collins, 3rd Rob Bradley, 4th Colin Bird, 5th Chris Bird, 6th Ben Worrall

500cc Sidecars
1st Scott Dunn/Paul Smith, 2nd Nick Radley/Adam Young, 3rd Dave Carvill/Richard Phillimore,
4th Shaun Harvey/Danny Hogg, 5th Sinead McLaren/Graham Tizard, 6th Brian Canning/Steven George

Pre 75 Solo
1st John Priest, 2nd Tim Curnock, 3rd Ian Gutteridge, 4th Calvin Palmer, 5th Eddie Rouse,
6th Geoff Jones

350cc Solo
1st Josh Dingle, 2nd Chris Johnson, 3rd Mark Taylor, 4th Andrew Mellish, 5th Josh Birkett,
6th Richard Guest

500cc Solo
1st Paul Cooper, 2nd Charlie Saunders, 3rd Daniel Winterton, 4th Phil Ashcroft, 5th Oliver Greenwood,
6th Scott Cresswell

1000cc RH Sidecars
1st Mark Cossar/Carl Blyth, 2nd Paul Whitelam/Alan Elliott, 3rd Rod Winterburn/Liam Brown,
4th Richard Thomas/Jason Barry, 5th Colin Blackbourn/Carl Pugh, 6th James Goudge/Dave Goudge