GH Motorcycles G&B Finch Race Team Update

Round 4 of the Eastern Centre Motocross championship took place this past weekend at Mildehall Motoland mx track. The track was its usual lay out except the owners decided to bring a lot of soft beach sand and throw it onto the track which covered almost 60% of the lap. The track took a lot of rain over the days leading up to the event but the new soft surface held up well making the conditions just about perfect for race day, as the weather was kind and the rain held off for race day.

Qualifying took place for the 3 expert riders Brad Tomlin, Brad Woodroffe and Brendon Mayers shortly after 10am, of which Brad Tomlin got on with the job straight away and showed some fantastic pace early setting a lap time of  01:39.798 leaving him 4th fastest for the session and giving him a great gate pick for the day. Brad Woodroffe didnt have his best qualifying session of the season and only ended up 10th fastest with a time of 01:41.043. Brendon Mayers was back on his own bike for this weekend and looked much more comfortable and seemed happy with his 2015 Suzuki RMZ 450 setting a time of 01:42.283 putting him in 13th position for the session.

Race 1 had Woodroffe sneak into the lead early and lead for two laps and then getting passed by Nev Bradshaw, Southgate and Woodroffe were left to battle for 2nd place where they traded positions twice but Woodroffe just edging him out for 2nd place in race 1. Tomlin got off to a fairly decent start and was working his way through the pack until he had a small tip over in a sandy turn which cost him some time leaving him finishing 9th. Mayers had his best ride of the season so far really showing that he has adapted well to the Suzuki and got involved in some big battles through the race to finally end up 7th at the flag.

Race 2 Had Brendon Mayers shoot off to a fantastic start and into 2nd place early. He was holding his ground well there too before he caught a bump wrong and went down mid race. He manage to get up quickly and uninjured to to still finish 8th in the race.  Brad Tomlin got a decent start again which had him in 5th place but the same corner that caught him out in race 1 claimed him again with almost the same crash. that pushed him down the order to 9th place at the finish. Brad Woodroffe got tangled with riders out the start gate and nearly went down. He started the end of the first lap in 15th place and charged through the field to end up 6th at race end on a track that was difficult to pass on.

Race 3 had Brad Tomlin show the absolute power of the Yamaha YZ450F and pulled a massive hole shot over the rest of the field. He then lost two positions and settled into 3rd where the race was unfortunately red flagged early for a downed rider so he grabbed the last podium spot for race 3. Brad Woodroffe was right behind him in 4th place. Brendon Mayers had a terrible start in race 3 and had worked his way up to 7th place until the red flag stopped the race but how the rules work the take the results from a lap back so that unfortunately pushed him back a place to 8th as he only made the pass on the lap the race was stopped.

Overalls on the day 

Brad Woodroffe – 3rd

Brad Tomlin – 5th

Brendon Mayers – 7th

Championship Standings

Brad Woodroffe – 2nd

Brad Tomlin – 3rd

  Brendon Mayers – 12th

 

Pictures supplied by Ashley Bryant from Bryant Photography

Round 4 Eastern Centre Enduro championships

Round 4 of the Eastern Centre Enduro championships also took place this weekend at Little Hadham. The event was put on by the Sudbury Motorcycle Club and the weather played a big part in this event as the area recieved a bunch of rain leading up to the event and on and off during the event. Which played into the hands of the core enduro riders as throttle control,technique and great line choice was going to pay off massively this weekend.

 

GH Motorcycles G&B Finch team riders Aston Bird and Steve Mason took part in the championship class. It wasn’t Aston Birds usual performance of all out winning, as the slippery tricky conditions didnt suit his riding style coming from a motocross back round of flat out or nothing but he still did well and managed to get a 4th for the day. Steve Mason put in his general solid performance and showed he can never be forgotten about as he is always right there and waiting to capitalize on any opportunities that may come his way as he ended up 5th on the day. In the expert class the team had Will Hughes riding for the team and he powered his Husqvarna to a convincing win in his category.

In the Experts Vets class Gavin Hockey used his crafted knowledge and experience to get around smoothly in the slippery conditions, although he did find the 450 being a bit too much power but none the less he still got 2nd on the day and kept the championship race still on in his class. In the super vets Gary Drage took the win making it two wins total for the GH Motorcycles G&B Finch team on the enduro side

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enduro Photos Supplied by Anthony Ridge

 

Tom Murphy British Youth Nationals

Round 3 of the British Youth nationals also took place this past weekend just inside the Welsh Border at a circuit called Pontrilas. Just to keep up tradition of this blog update it was also unfortunately a wet weekend for the little TC85 rider Tom Murphy. Heavy rain fell leading up to the weekend and then constantly showered on and off throughout the weekend, making the track really difficult to ride on let alone race against the best youth riders in the country. It wasn’t Tom’s best weekend this season but the conditions would have been treacherous for a small wheel 85cc machine and from past experience myself i know how difficult that track is to ride in the mud. Tom qualified 27th in the first session on the track and then went on to have his best result of the weekend with a 19th place in race 1.Race 2 and race 3 on Saturday were a bit more trying as he could only manage a 28th and a 25th respectively. Sunday was a new day and hope of better results but unfortunately it was another long day of fighting his way around a now completely ruined circuit leaving him with his 3 race scores of 33rd,26th,and 25th giving him 27th overall for the weekend out of 46 other riders.

Tom Murphy still sits 18th in the small wheel 85cc championship in the British Youth National series.