2015 GH Motorcycles/G&B Finch Race Team

Round 2 of the 2015 Eastern Centre Motocross Championship took place this Sunday at Blaxhall mx track.The track was prepared very well for the huge amount of rain that fell on Saturday evening all the way through to the morning. Fortunately the rain stopped just in time for qualifying at 9 30 AM. The riders took to the track which ended up being perfect with one or two soft spots around the circuit, knowing it would be no problem come race time. The youngest of the GH Motorcycles/G&B Finch team Connor Hughes set the fastest time of all 3 riders early in qualifying leaving him in 11th with a  01:53.522. Right behind him was team mate Brad Woodroffe in 12th with a 01:53.570 after crashing through a banner and not riding the way he did 2 weeks ago. In 14th was Brad Tomlin with a time of 01:54.328 and Brendon Mayers in 19th with a best time of 01:55.236.

 

Race 1 came around and all the riders made it to the staging area knowing the start was going to be tricky with the circuit featuring a relatively unpopular concrete start. Brad Woodroffe had a great start in the first race getting the hole shot and leading for the first 2 laps where he then rode too stiff and developed arm pump and put on a massive fade, all the way back to 13th by the end of the race which was very disappointing for all involved. Brad Tomlin had a good start down the straight but was nearly involved in a few pile ups through the first few turns which shuffled him back outside the top 10.He then put on a solid ride to work his way back up to 10th passing riders on the last lap and charging. Connor Hughes was always going to have a difficult task all day of getting starts on his smaller Husqvarna FC250 machine and had to fight all race to secure the last points paying spot in 20th place across the line. Brendon Mayers had a nightmare of race 1 as he rolled onto the start gate another rider pointed out that he had a oil leak. He then had to cut his transponder off and run back to the pits to get on a spare bike and started the race half a lap down and worked his way back to 25th.

Race 2 was another Hole shot for Brad Woodroffe and into the lead early where he rode a lot more like himself and ended up finishing 4th after picking up a puncture with 2 laps to go. Brad Tomlin struggled with rear brake issues in race 2 where a brake pipe line came loose, so he raced most of the race with only a front brake and finished 11th. Connor Hughes had to again fight his way from far back off the starts to get himself up to 18th place by race end. Brendon Mayers didn’t  have a great ride in race 2 and only ended up with a  22nd but was atleast back on a familiar bike.

Race 3 saw Brad Woodroffe nearly getting his 3rd straight Hole shot to just be edged out by Southgate leaving him in 2nd. Woodroffe dropped back to 4th and was comfortable there until a front brake issue developed forcing him to stop to fix it leaving him to finish in 6th. Brad Tomlin was consistent again and picked up another 10th in race 3 to get him 10th overall on the day. Brendon Mayers saved his best for last as his father said after race 3. He had a good strong race and ended up in a much better 12th place across the line. Connor Hughes had a difficult race 3 ending up not even finishing the race.

 

The overall results for the day were as follows :

Brad Woodroffe    – 7th

Brad Tomlin         – 10th

Brendon Mayers  – 20th

Connor Hughes    – 23rd

Full results

Round 1 of the 2015 DB Motorcycles Two Man Eastern Centre Enduro Championships took place this weekend at Hawkedon. Team riders Aston Bird and Carl Grantham teamed up to race the event. Aston Bird set the fastest special test time of the day of  06:57.146. Setting the team duo up for a good day and trying to avoid any time penalties along the way. Aston Bird completed 8 laps in the morning and 9 in the afternoon session. Carl Grantham then went on to complete 8 laps in the morning and then followed by 7 in the afternoon. It left the team with a total of 32 laps and only picking up 1.17 laps of penalties. The final total of laps after penalties was 30.83 giving the team the win to start off the two man enduro series in the right direction.

• We have since found out that unfortunately the team of Aston Bird and Carl Grantham have been disqualified on a technicality of outside assistance, after Granthams wheel broke 10ft from the finish line and was pushed across the line after asking for permission. Unfortunately there was a complaint later on Monday which forced the decision to be enforced.

All in all it was a successful weekend of racing for the GH Motorcycles/G&B Finch race teams.

Pictures provided by Sophie Brinkley ,Paul H-Payne & Ashley Bryant from Bryant Photography.