Wulfsport British Masters Motocross Championship

  With just about every class oversubscribed and boasting a long list of reserves desperate to get the chance to compete for one of the biggest overall motocross prize funds in Europe,the 2010 Wulfsport British Masters is again proving to be the motocross series that everybody wants to be part of.For round one at Mallory Park on Sunday,over 350 riders of varying ability were present with competition naturally hot,all desperate to get their Masters campaigns off to a flying start.The only downside to a great weekend was that heavy rain in the area on Friday,followed by a sharp overnight frost left plenty of big soft areas out on track.With axle deep ruts forming,careful selection of racing lines was absolutely imperative,particularly when negotiating the Mallory jumps.Although conditions were a lot drier on Sunday,the rutted track still caught out several riders resulting in several unfortunate spills.Indeed on Sunday afternoon,a couple of late crashes meant that the on-site medical crews were stretched  to their limit and with a strict time curfew imposed on the Mallory site it meant that the plug had to be pulled on the final three programmed races of the weekend,the Pro MX1,Kawasaki Masters and Amateur Non-qualifiers.However the Masters organisers in apologising to the riders have already stated their intent to restage the cancelled moto’s during round two at Dean Moor on April 10^th/11^th.

     In the racing that was completed,Zach Osborne and Scott Elderfield were the stars of the Pro classes,producing some great action along the way.Having double entered in both the MX1 and MX2 classes,Osborne and Elderfield featured in an absolute classic MX1  race,battling side by side,banging handlebars and Elderfield eventually taking the win by just an incredibly narrow margin of just over one single second!!.In both MX2 races,Osborne reigned supreme by winning both clashes chased home by Elderfield and Alex Rockwell on each occasion.

    Showing that he was also quite prepared to mix it with the stars,current AMCA and IMBA champion Lee Dunham made a great start in the Wulsport Pro MX2 moto one,holding 4^th spot for the opening six laps until severe arm pump saw him slip back in the latter stages to an eventual 13^th .Jack Taylor and Shane Holmes also got off to a flyers by completing lap one in strong top ten placings.As the moto unfolded,Holmes dropped to 10^th but Taylor impressively charged on,earning a great 4^th at the flag.Upfront,Osborne’s eventual winning margin was just over 11 seconds ahead of reigning Masters Pro MX2 champion Elderfield with Nathan Rooks,Joe Dark,Edward Allingham,Shane Carless and James Dodd also featuring in the top ten.

     In the second MX2 clash,with Osborne again leading the way,Elderfield disposed Rockwell for the runners-up spot after just two laps whilst Rooks after gating 6^th slipped down to 16^th.Moving up the leaderboard though was Carless and Moffat with Carless eventually slotting into 4^th and Moffat just one position behind in 5^th.After making another strong start,Dunham was to be the top AMCA rider home in 9^th.

     Despite only one  Pro MX1 moto being completed,the riders out on track served up an absolute classic.A very determined Elderfield led the charge followed by Osborne,Evgeniy Bobryshev,Gordon Crockard,John May,Lewis King,Ashley Greedy and top AMCA rider Brad O’Leary.After just one lap though,Osborne took control only to then be repassed by Elderfield four circuits later.From here onwards the leading duo set a blistering pace as they locked horns in a super top class motocross confrontation.Eventually despite Osborne’s very best efforts to take the win,Elderfield just held onto victory with Bobryshev some 44 seconds in arrears!!.Fourth place went to Crockard whilst Gareth Swanepoel stormed through from 10^th to earn an eventual 5^th spot ahead of Jamie Lewis,Mel Pocock,May,Jamie Law and Wayne Garrett. Making his Wulfsport Masters Pro debut,O’Leary picked up a 13^th place with Rob Clitheroe 17^th and Lee Payne 19^th.

     Some of the best Masters racing of the weekend was supplied by the energetic,young men contesting the ultra-competitive Proppa.com MX2 youth class.In a weekend of high flying action,James Dunn won both of Saturday’s races before leaving to contest another meeting on Sunday.So in his absence,who would go onto earn the overall win?.

Well Damon Wales took moto three whilst the entertaining Luke Dean after failing to score a point in a disastrous day one then blasted his 125cc Yamaha to victory in the final clash of the weekend,but it was a consistent Dan Thornhill who was to take home the first place trophy.

     There was also youth racing for the Moto Pro Suspension Mini Masters class,catering for small and big wheeled 85cc riders.Respective overall victories went to Sterry in the big wheeled contest and Connelly in the small wheel class.

     With the chance to win the use of a brand new Kawasaki 250F complete with a £2000 spares budget,the 2010 Kawasaki Masters class for riders aboard the green 250F machines looks set to be another hot season long contest.At Mallory,Zac Stealey won the opening two motos on his way to overall victory.In the last clash of the weekend,Stealey had to settle for 2^nd spot behind Tom Watts.

     New for 2010 is the Michelin Masters class which is an unlimited contest for Amateur riders only.After Stephen Tillotson aboard his Suzuki 450F had took the opening race of the weekend ahead of Shaun Scrivens,the roles were then reversed for the remainder of the action.In all three clashes,Scrivens was first past the post with Tillotson in 2^nd place.

    In the Amateur classes,AMCA championship rider Jamie Dobson took the win in the Scott Leathers sponsored MX1 group whilst Daniel Brough won the GSP Race Products MX2 class.In the Amateur Non-qualifiers contest, Oliver Lisles on his Honda 450F took the overall victory ahead of Christopher Childs and Josh Hickinbottom.

  With just about every class oversubscribed and boasting a long list of reserves desperate to get the chance to compete for one of the biggest overall motocross prize funds in Europe,the 2010 Wulfsport British Masters is again proving to be the motocross series that everybody wants to be part of.For round one at Mallory Park on Sunday,over 350 riders of varying ability were present with competition naturally hot,all desperate to get their Masters campaigns off to a flying start.The only downside to a great weekend was that heavy rain in the area on Friday,followed by a sharp overnight frost left plenty of big soft areas out on track.With axle deep ruts forming,careful selection of racing lines was absolutely imperative,particularly when negotiating the Mallory jumps.Although conditions were a lot drier on Sunday,the rutted track still caught out several riders resulting in several unfortunate spills.Indeed on Sunday afternoon,a couple of late crashes meant that the on-site medical crews were stretched  to their limit and with a strict time curfew imposed on the Mallory site it meant that the plug had to be pulled on the final three programmed races of the weekend,the Pro MX1,Kawasaki Masters and Amateur Non-qualifiers.However the Masters organisers in apologising to the riders have already stated their intent to restage the cancelled moto’s during round two at Dean Moor on April 10^th/11^th.

     In the racing that was completed,Zach Osborne and Scott Elderfield were the stars of the Pro classes,producing some great action along the way.Having double entered in both the MX1 and MX2 classes,Osborne and Elderfield featured in an absolute classic MX1  race,battling side by side,banging handlebars and Elderfield eventually taking the win by just an incredibly narrow margin of just over one single second!!.In both MX2 races,Osborne reigned supreme by winning both clashes chased home by Elderfield and Alex Rockwell on each occasion.

    Showing that he was also quite prepared to mix it with the stars,current AMCA and IMBA champion Lee Dunham made a great start in the Wulsport Pro MX2 moto one,holding 4^th spot for the opening six laps until severe arm pump saw him slip back in the latter stages to an eventual 13^th .Jack Taylor and Shane Holmes also got off to a flyers by completing lap one in strong top ten placings.As the moto unfolded,Holmes dropped to 10^th but Taylor impressively charged on,earning a great 4^th at the flag.Upfront,Osborne’s eventual winning margin was just over 11 seconds ahead of reigning Masters Pro MX2 champion Elderfield with Nathan Rooks,Joe Dark,Edward Allingham,Shane Carless and James Dodd also featuring in the top ten.

     In the second MX2 clash,with Osborne again leading the way,Elderfield disposed Rockwell for the runners-up spot after just two laps whilst Rooks after gating 6^th slipped down to 16^th.Moving up the leaderboard though was Carless and Moffat with Carless eventually slotting into 4^th and Moffat just one position behind in 5^th.After making another strong start,Dunham was to be the top AMCA rider home in 9^th.

     Despite only one  Pro MX1 moto being completed,the riders out on track served up an absolute classic.A very determined Elderfield led the charge followed by Osborne,Evgeniy Bobryshev,Gordon Crockard,John May,Lewis King,Ashley Greedy and top AMCA rider Brad O’Leary.After just one lap though,Osborne took control only to then be repassed by Elderfield four circuits later.From here onwards the leading duo set a blistering pace as they locked horns in a super top class motocross confrontation.Eventually despite Osborne’s very best efforts to take the win,Elderfield just held onto victory with Bobryshev some 44 seconds in arrears!!.Fourth place went to Crockard whilst Gareth Swanepoel stormed through from 10^th to earn an eventual 5^th spot ahead of Jamie Lewis,Mel Pocock,May,Jamie Law and Wayne Garrett. Making his Wulfsport Masters Pro debut,O’Leary picked up a 13^th place with Rob Clitheroe 17^th and Lee Payne 19^th.

     Some of the best Masters racing of the weekend was supplied by the energetic,young men contesting the ultra-competitive Proppa.com MX2 youth class.In a weekend of high flying action,James Dunn won both of Saturday’s races before leaving to contest another meeting on Sunday.So in his absence,who would go onto earn the overall win?.

Well Damon Wales took moto three whilst the entertaining Luke Dean after failing to score a point in a disastrous day one then blasted his 125cc Yamaha to victory in the final clash of the weekend,but it was a consistent Dan Thornhill who was to take home the first place trophy.

     There was also youth racing for the Moto Pro Suspension Mini Masters class,catering for small and big wheeled 85cc riders.Respective overall victories went to Sterry in the big wheeled contest and Connelly in the small wheel class.

     With the chance to win the use of a brand new Kawasaki 250F complete with a £2000 spares budget,the 2010 Kawasaki Masters class for riders aboard the green 250F machines looks set to be another hot season long contest.At Mallory,Zac Stealey won the opening two motos on his way to overall victory.In the last clash of the weekend,Stealey had to settle for 2^nd spot behind Tom Watts.

     New for 2010 is the Michelin Masters class which is an unlimited contest for Amateur riders only.After Stephen Tillotson aboard his Suzuki 450F had took the opening race of the weekend ahead of Shaun Scrivens,the roles were then reversed for the remainder of the action.In all three clashes,Scrivens was first past the post with Tillotson in 2^nd place.

    In the Amateur classes,AMCA championship rider Jamie Dobson took the win in the Scott Leathers sponsored MX1 group whilst Daniel Brough won the GSP Race Products MX2 class.In the Amateur Non-qualifiers contest, Oliver Lisles on his Honda 450F took the overall victory ahead of Christopher Childs and Josh Hickinbottom.