Report Ken O'Brien
Sunny but cold weather greeted 93 riders plus officials for this 2nd round 2022 Ixion championship with four laps of ten to be ridden.
Standlake Pit Woods was the venue a notoriously wet course although on this occasion dust would prevail on most sections as the winter rains had virtually no impact on the going.
Cambers Hills Ditches Gullies Roots and loose drops were about to be attempted by riders of different class and ability.
An easy starter section 1 saw eventual Expert class winner Kevin Nolan 250 Vertigo clean with ease on three occasions but a lapse of concentration on his third visit culminated in a five on the undulating gentle cambers with a splash of water that eventually dragged up the banks to make for a slightly harder time later on in the event.
Kevin went on to lose fifteen in total with Ben Owen Beta a close second on seventeen marks lost.
Marcus Haynes Sherco was best Intermediate riding the hard route with a tally of sixty-seven section 2 a brutal drop over a fallen tree with soft loamy turn then a Vee tree gap to conquer took many marks from all classes Marcus had a couple of superb two's here.
Mark Elms Beta mounted for the day ran out a five point winner in the 50/50 class over Sam Cave TRS losing twenty-two.
Section 9 was no problem for this pair a tree stump and rooty turn then a splash though the sheep dip bomb-hole and a nagery turn just before the ends cards.
The yellow middle route had around fifty Clubman Novice Twinshock and Youth class riders.
Best Clubman was Toby Luce Gasser riding for the Jersey Mcc just edging out Reynard Norris Beta on a most cleans tie-break both losing nine marks.
Toby had four great cleans at section 6 a series of gravelly cambers drops and climbs that slowly deteriorated as the day panned out.
Dale Caswell over from the Peterborough Mcc aced the Novice class with thirty-four returned on his card but Ed Gardener Mont was only one behind with both showing skilled clutch and throttle control at section 7 a fiercely steep drop then skirting the lagoon before a thirty yard cambered climb out.
Kayleigh Rich piloted the Beta to a Youth B win with Aaron Watson also Beta mounted taking best Youth C.
In the Twinshock class it was Paul Meader who stole the show ripping the aging Bultaco around for a miserly seventeen point tally.
The old Bully was gripping like a good thing on the slick loose climbs of section eight.
The white easy route had a thirty plus entry ranging from welcome new to the sport and experienced older riders.
Best performance for the Sportsman class went to Pete Haines running out a clear winner with a loss of fifteen best Sportsgirl was Steph Tombling whils Zak Jones and Kasia Pekala-Dayment Oset 24 were also youth class winners.
Britbike top dog Wayne Hutton persuaded the Tigercub around for a loss of 23 with Kevin Allen Snr 185 Bantam 5 adrift.
A superb performance was applied by Steve Clements on the big Triumph Twin.
Steve opted for the Britbike 50/50 today and with a tally of twelve this was one of the rides of the day.
Steve had plenty of power to hand for the short sharp climbs of sections 4 and 5.
Many thanks to all the people on hand to assist today in the smooth running of the event.
Expert Kevin Nolan Vertigo 15
Ben Owen Beta 17
Chris Wickham Beta 22
Inter Marcus Haynes Vertigo 67
50/50 Mark Elms Beta 22
Sam Cave TRS 27
Yellow Middle Route
Clubman Toby Luce Gasser 9 m/c
Reynard Norris Beta 9
Keith Jenkins KTM 12
Alan Taylor Beta 16
Novice Dale Caswell Beta 34
Ed Gardener Mont 36
Michael Maslin Mont 57
Twinshock Paul Meader Bultaco 17
Steve Chandler Honda 99
Youth B Kayleigh Rich Beta 31
Youth C Aaron Watson Beta 21
White easy Route.
Youth A Zak Jones Beta 51
Youth B Kasia Pekala-Dayment Oset 24 110
Sportsman Pete Haines Beta 15
Scott Brown Gasser 21
Sportsgirl Steph Tombling Beta 46
Sandra Cotton Gasser 55
Britbike Wayne Hutton Tigercub 23
Kevin Allen Bantam 28
Britbike 50/50 Steve Clements Triumph 3TA 12