2012 Race Reports & Results

Sat 31st March / Sun 1st April

Wyre Forest Youth British Championship

Rnd 1 & 2

Lea Castle Farm, Wolverley, Kidderminster.

Endaf Owen - 3rd & 4th

George Betton - 5th & 3rd

click here for a more detailed report

17th March

Wyre Forest Youth Winter Series

Rnd 2

Coney Green Farm,  Stouport on Severn

Endaf Owen - 1st

A great venue saw a perfect track graded ready for the race. Endaf had a great start in 4th behind Kyle Hawkes, Miles Woodward and Brandon Holm. Lap 2 and Endaf had passed Brandon, Lap 3 and another position passing Miles and lap 4 Endaf took the lead from Kyle. Lap 5 saw Kyle an expert rider re pass Endaf for the lead. Endaf continued to chase Kyle following him for the whole race with the 2 of them consistantly pulling away from the other riders. Endaf came 2nd in the race but 1st in class. This result helping to secure him 2 wins and a 4th in the championship equal on points with Brandon Holm who finished with 1 win 1 2nd and 1 3rd. This gives both riders equal first in the Wyre Forest IOPD British Winter Series.

11th March

DQR UKGNCC

Rnd 1

Saints Wells, Bwlch-Y-Sarnau, Mid Wales

Expert+ - Martin Benbow 2nd, Adam Shanahan 3rd, Geraint Jones 5th

Clubman - Tom Jones 5th, Aled Jones 9th

Youth 250cc Expert - Endaf Owen 9th

Youth 250cc Clubman - George Betton 14th

A great day saw Martin Benbow take the lead and hold it for the entire race until he lost the lead on the final lap. Martin was missed to be shown his position on the pit board and was taking it easy without realising that 2nd was catching fast. He didn't realise until it was too late and lost the lead without having time to react before the flag dropped wo end the race. Geraint led a fantastic race running in 2nd for a lot of the race until his rear shock gave up and he had to nurse the bike home for a finish. Adam Shanahan run as ever a calculated smooth and consistant race finally finishing in 3rd behind Martin. A Great battle in the Clubman class saw Aled Jones almost holeshot taking 2nd for the first few laps until his thumb throttle worked loose forcing a pitstop, loosing a lot of places, the dreaded arm pump cost him more time. when the arm pump cleared Aled was on a mission lapping at Expert plus pace and this saw him pick up places lap after lap finally finishing in 9th. Tom Jones on the other hand had a smooth race with very little issues finishing in 5th. A bad day for both Endaf and George in the youth classes saw them finish in uncharacteristic positions

29th Jan

MWTRA Winter Cross Country Forest Challenge

Rnd 2

Colstey Wood

Geraint Jones 1st / Andy Mellor

The best conditions ever seen for the Colstey saw a reasonable turn out of quads for this event which saw for the first time the quads run in their own event. An 8.30 start caught Geraint out who missed the start, had to run to his bike to catch up. A wrong turn on track by almost the whole field allowed Geraint to catch up and take the lead which he held right through to the final laps. A small mechanical fault caused Geraint to have to slow and nurse the bike home. 2nd was catching fast but a big enough lead built up allowed Geraint to finish the race before he was caught taking the win. 

Andy who won the first round of this championship held in the Kerry woods in November rode a steady race finishing comfortablly in the top 10 retaining him the lead in the championship.

7th January

Wyre Forest Youth Winter Series

Rnd 2

Coney Green Farm,  Stouport on Severn

Endaf Owen - 4th

A wide start line on this track funneled into a very narrow bottle neck between two trees. Endaf had a poor start and entered the first corner mid pack. A rider in front got stuck sideways between the trees in the bottleneck holding the rest of the pack up until marshalls cleared the track, 3 bikes later another rider managed the same thing but worse. By the time the track was cleared Endaf was down in 17th or 18th with the leaders nearly 3 mins clear. A Hard race saw Endaf move through the pack to catch to within 15 seconds of the 2 leaders Miles Woodward and Jack Naylor only to lose time to backmarkers letting the leaders pull away again. 2-3 laps from the finish Endaf suffered his first ever flat tyre in a race and had to nurse the bike home for a finish eventually losing 3rd on the last lap to Brandon Holme finally finishing in 4th.

2012 Update

The 2012 season is nearly upon us with most champioships holding their first round in March.

2011 Pro Class champion Martin Benbow has got his race bike back at Dirtwarz for a rebuild ready for the new season and has added to his bike collection with a 2nd Honda trx that is also having the Dirtwarz treatment and will be used as a spare / practice bike.

Endaf Owen's bike has had some major surgery this winter with a full rolling frame rebuild by Jaks Quads who continue to help and support Endaf with the race bike that they built. The Engine has also had a rebuild by Johnny Wilden with a replacement barrel and piston to keep it fresh for the new season ahead. 

Geraint Jones has updated his Honda TRX for a newer model and has already picked up his first win in a local pre season winter event

Aled Jones has also updated his bike swopping to a 2011 Yamaha 450r.

Youth rider George Betton has now had a year on a 250cc raptor using last season as a practise year getting used to the bigger bike and class. Winter improvements to his bike will see new shocks and other parts on his bike for the new season.

Stephen Williams is determined to race again this season. Work commitments and a lack of bike have seen him not compete for over 2 years but this wily old fox has plenty of tricks up his sleeve and will scare a few races when he makes his return. The only thing we can say as a team is that it will be a welcome return to the racing for the veteran racer but we will all have to wait and see when and where and on what he will appear on. Talks are he will return to the 450cc pro class to compete against many of his old friends, though rumours also talk of a return to his championship winning class on board a 4x4 !

Adam Shanahan will once again return to the 450cc pro class to try to improve on the 4th place he has achieved the last 2 seasons. This will be a tough year with a number of riders moving up into this class but we are sure this rider who has made massive progress moving through the classes with lightning speed will once again prove how crafty he is with his ever reliable speed and reliability picking up the points for another good result. We just hope work commitments don't take over for Adam that interfere with his race season.

Tom Jones has been out practicing this winter in preperation for his move up from the novice class into the clubman class. This will see him lined up in the biggest class in the championship and alongside team mate Aled Jones. This will be an interesting battle between team mates and friends. Just remember to keep it clean lads !

Best wishes are also sent out to other local riders Reece Morris, Reece Jones and Ryan Gethin who are also going to race the championships this season .