Round 2 Putoline Northern Counties Hare & Hounds Champioships

It was a fantastic day on Dirtbike-Traxs return to the popular Ellington Banks, Ripon for Round 2 of the Putoline & Eurotek-KTM sponsored Northern Counties Hare & Hound Championship. The team made the most of the beautiful sunshine in the build up to the event and designed a great, fast flowing track to test the stamina of all abilities around the MoD driver training area. Although the area was the driest anyone could ever remember, there was still some fairly deep standing water to contend with and a certain boggy section that that was catching out the odd tired rider, providing some spectacular entertainment to the masses of spectators. The good weather prior to the event and the promise of a fine weekend certainly brought out the riders and spectators, and with a full Sportsman Open class yet again, the line up was packed with eager competitors itching to get going for the main adult race. Hot off the line and leading the Expert and Over 40's class into the first tight right hand corner was Richard Dakin with two DBT regulars, Liam Eddleston and Andy Hackett hot on his heels. Through lap scoring after the first lap Dave Dudley, fresh from his escapades at the Tough One last weekend, had joined the challenge on his Gas Gas, passing Andy and pushing the leading pair hard. Andy didn't let the main challengers out of his sight for long, having only returned from holiday that night, soon shock off his jet lag and upped his pace and was soon setting so blistering lap times. Towards the final stages of the race, Liam was Andy's main challenge and he was matching him lap for lap time wise, but couldn't quite find the reserves to make any head way. As the race came to a close, it was Andy Hackett who crossed the line first with 19 laps, 2 minutes ahead of Liam Eddleston in second, also with 19 laps. Richard Dakin held on for the third place spot again on 19 laps. In the Over 40's class DBT regular, Chris Cooper was on a mission to get his championship challenge underway; Ashley Jones was out to spoil his glory by setting great early lap times. The lead chopped and changed throughout the race, but Chris managed to pull a lead towards the end and maintain it, crossing the line almost 2 minutes ahead of Ashley, both completing 18 laps. In third place another DBT stalwart, Paul Hamilton showed his pre-season training has started to pay off after notching up 17 laps. With the front row away, the Clubman E1 class was off and running, with Luke Gorse flying round the track on his brand new KTM 250f. Luke led the way for the majority of the race and had built up an impressive lead. Towards the end though, he started to tire and this let in Dirtbike-Traxs rider Jack Colley who managed to keep hold of the lead to claim the first place spot from Luke. Both riders notched up 18 laps. In third was James Allinson on 17 laps. In the Clubman Open class, there were three riders who managed 18 laps; the clear winner was Dave Williams, over 6 minutes ahead of Lee Stansfield, with another second place championship trophy. In third was Dean Johnson, a mere 15 seconds behind Lee. The Sportsman E1 class was won by Julian Holmes with fantastic result on his return to the sport after completing 17 laps. Ryan Bulman was a very close 2nd, only 48 seconds behind with 17 laps and James Heaney in third also on 17 laps. The massive Sportsman Open entry was a spectacle to watch, especially on the first lap through the bog section, with bikes coming stuck all over the place. But once the riders spread out and got going it was Karl Smith who persevered to claim top spot with 17 laps. Tom Leanord held Andy Johnson off for 2nd place, both also on 17 laps. In the newly named Hobby class there was only 3 finishers, Paul Sharples was first over the line with 13 laps, Robert Quarmby was 2nd with 12 laps and Darren Hope-Dilly was 3rd with 11 laps. Finally in the Senior A class Lee Sealey maintained his 100% championship record with a very impressive win, with the young rider giving the Sportsman riders a run for their money with 17 laps. Isaac Archer took the 2nd place spot from Dirtbike-Traxs girly rider Jade Gordon, who had a fantastic race to claim third, both riders finished with 16 laps. The morning Youth and Ladies race kicked off at 9am, with TGOR rider Dan Bewlay blasting off the line and setting some pretty amazing lap times. No one could catch the young rider who came over the line with 10 laps under his belt. In 2nd was Jamie Dilworth also on 10 laps with Robbie Wallace in 3rd on 9 laps. In the Ladies class surprised Angela Walters strolled up for the winner's trophy after completing 10 laps, a great result at her first DBT event. In 2nd was another star in the making, Nieve Holmes following her father's winning ways in the Sportsman class, in 3rd was Ellie Cooke also on 9 laps. To complete the festivities was the Quad race, as the only 1 Clubman rider Paul Robinson took home the 1st place trophy. The Sportsman/4x4 class was dominated by Dave Thornton on his huge 4x4 beast, how Dave managed to wrestle his machine around the track for 11 laps was a sight to be seen. In 2nd place was Ian Best with 10 laps and Scott Woodhead took 3rd also with 10 laps. The next round sees the team going to Ashby Motopark on the 2/3 April or round 3 of the championship. This is going to be a fantastic venue and a great weekend of XC racing, to book in see www.dirtbike-traxs.com or call Louise on 07914777534

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