Saunders starts season in good form
March 10, 2008
With reigning AMCA Superclass champion Phil Mercer deciding not to defend his title,there will be a new name on the trophy for 2008.Following the opening meeting of the two round series at Polesworth on Sunday,Ben Saunders could well be the man to take top honours for this year.With a 2nd/1st/1st scorecard,Ben topped the podium joined by Clinton Barrs and Charlie Hollis.In the annual contest where the top Open class AMCA championship riders lock horns with the best 125cc AMCA championship pilots,invariably the big bike racers generally dominate proceedings.Indeed at Polesworth they filled the top nine overall positions with Lee Dunham being the highest placed 125cc class rider on the day in 10th spot.
For most riders,Sunday’s event was their first race meeting of the season,however despite this fact they still attacked the first corner of moto one with tremendous determination,speed and aggression.Leading the way was triple AMCA 125cc champion Brad O’Leary aboard his new 450F KTM followed by Aaron Poolman,Ben Saunders,David Campbell,Aaron Crowder and Jamie Powell.Whilst Poolman was to suffer clutch problems and slip back to an eventual 7th,O’Leary held on for a stylish win despite coming under some intense late pressure from Saunders.Taking 3rd in the opener was Campbell who openly admitted that he found the going rather tough,this being his very first outing on a bike since October 2007 !!.Following Campbell home was Barrs in 5th,Hollis 6th and Lee Dunham,first 250F rider home in 8th.
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Despite his lack of ‘bike time’,Campbell still made a brilliant holeshot in Superclass moto two only to then fall on the second turn,handing race leadership to fellow fast-starter Poolman.For three laps Poolman remained in control before being passed by Saunders.Any hopes that Poolman held though of holding that 2nd spot were to be evaporated by a fall which further relegated him down the leaderboard behind runner-up O’Leary and a hard charging Barrs.With Hollis 5th,Crowder 6th and Tom Fish 7th,it was 250F riders Lee Payne,Owen Delaney and Dunham filling the next three places.Early faller Campbell was to take 15th at the flag.
Switching back to his beloved 250cc two-stroke machinery,Yorkshireman Danny Blakeley briefly led the final Polesworth Superclass charge before first Hollis then Saunders took control of proceedings.Following his lightning holeshot,Blakeley then fell in an incident which also saw O’Leary and Dunham both bite the dirt.Desperate to get back in contention as he chased the overall verdict,O’Leary crashed again,eventually finishing 16th at the flag,one place ahead of Dunham who was fighting a Kawasaki front wheel minus some of its bearings !!.Meanwhile at the front end of the contest,Saunders,Hollis and the very impressive Barrs aboard his new 450F KTM were producing a great scrap for the race leadership.At the flag,Saunders was again the victor with Hollis 2nd,Barrs 3rd,Crowder 4th,Fish 5th,Powell 6th and Andy Marchant the first 250F pilot home in 7th.The deciding round of Superclass championship action now moves to Tirley on April 6th.
In the Polesworth support action there was overall victories for Jonathan Slesser,Andy Parker,Aaron Paskin,Jay Rumbold,Sam Winter,Daniel Lister and Lewis Ashby.For Ashby,Lister and Rumbold this was a particularly pleasing start to the season as they recorded maximum points from their three races contested.
Results
MOTO ONE 1 Brad O’Leary(Direct CCTV/AMS 450F KTM) 2 Ben Saunders(Delkevic 450F Kawasaki) 3 David Campbell(450F Honda) 4 Aaron Crowder(Sandiford 450F Honda) 5 Clinton Barrs(JB Racing/S.A Fletcher 450F KTM) 6 Charlie Hollis(Mission Control 450F Honda) 7 Aaron Poolman(MotoExtreme 450F Kawasaki) 8 Lee Dunham(MotoExtreme 250F Kawasaki) 9 Tom Fish(Murray Harper International Transport 450F Suzuki) 10 Lee Payne(Malin Floors 250F Yamaha) 11 Stephen Tillotson(450F Honda) 12 Andy Marchant(250F KTM) 13 Aran Agius(Thornbury MX 250F Kawasaki) 14 Scott Mathia(Wulfsport 250F KTM) 15 Shaun Pearce(250F Honda)
16 Carl Benjamin(Thornbury MX 250F Kawasaki) 17 Steve Bailey(450F Honda) 18 Simon Lane(Sutton MX 250F Honda) 19 Danny Blakeley(Silvesters 250cc Yamaha) 20 Craig Chamberlain(450F Honda).
MOTO TWO 1 Saunders 2 O’Leary 3 Barrs 4 Poolman 5 Hollis 6 Crowder 7 Fish 8 Payne 9 Owen Delaney(T+W Racing 250FYamaha) 10 Dunham 11 Jamie Powell(Stevens 450F Yamaha) 12 Agius 13 Tillotson 14 Pearce 15 Campbell 16 Blakeley 17 S Lane 18 Benjamin 19 Mathia 20 Marchant.
MOTO THREE 1 Saunders 2 Hollis 3 Barrs 4 Crowder 5 Fish 6 Powell 7 Marchant 8 Campbell 9 Tillotson 10 Mathia 11 Agius 12 James Lane(Sutton MX 250F Honda) 13 Bailey 14 Pearce 15 Richard Meakin(450F Honda)
16 O’Leary 17 Dunham 18 Benjamin 19 Blakeley 20 Dan Hill(250F KTM).
Overall
1 Saunders 72 points 2 Barrs 56 3 Hollis 53 4 O’Leary 52 5 Crowder 51 6 Fish 42 7 Campbell 39 8 Poolman 32 9 Tillotson 30 10 Dunham 28 11 Agius 27 12 Powell 25 13 Marchant 24 14 Payne 24 15 Mathia 20 16 Pearce 20 17 Delaney 12 18 Benjamin 11 19 J Lane 9 20 Blakeley 9.
SUPPORT RACE RESULTS
EXPERTS UNLIMITED 1 Jonathan Slesser 2 Ryan Morris 3 Simon White. MX1 SENIORS 1 Andy Parker 2 Steve Atkins 3 Ian Copson. MX2 SENIORS 1 Aaron Paskin 2 Arran Nelson 3 Russell Hewitt. MX1 JUNIORS 1 Jay Rumbold 2 Martin Creaney 3 Stuart Hipkiss. MX2 JUNIORS OVER 18 1 Daniel Lister 2 Mitchell Perry 3 Craig Ulliott. MX2 JUNIORS UNDER 18 1 Sam Winter 2 Grant Thomas 3 Aiden Starkey. INTER JUNIORS 1 Lewis Ashby 2 Chloe Currien 3 Parm Allmark.
Report and Images by AMCA MOTO Reporter Mike Wood - more of Mikes images can be found here
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