Finally, the long-awaited round 2 of the ScotMX Scottish Championship had arrived at Duns Motocross. Situated on a beautiful hillside 2 miles outside of the town of Duns near Berwick on Tweed, the scenery was a welcome sight. The ScotMX Team in conjunction with the SACU had been working hard on making sure the event could go ahead. With only Riders, Organisers and the support of their families, it was a credit to all involved that it all ran like clockwork. The event had a good turn out in most classes and near full line ups in the Adult classes. They had come from near and far from all over the UK including a few riders from Northern Ireland.
Listen to The Live Motocross Podcast here
Saturday 29th August
It was a busy day for the kids, youths and adults. A full program of 4 blocks of races concentrated on the younger riders. Considering there had been some torrential rain prior to the meeting, the track was in great condition. The weather didn’t play a major part in the weekends proceedings and the track was a maintained throughout the weekend to make sure the younger riders coped with the deep ruts that formed in the Adult races.
Auto’s
After a tough practice, first up, the Auto’s had their usual thrills n spills closely supervised by the ever-present mum’s and dads. The was no let off for the Auto’s track wise as the full circuit was utilised. This made for some great racing as their skills were tested to the maximum. It was Jay Cooper who dominated the entire weekend. Leading from the front in every race, 4/4 wins. Freddie Box had a great outing as well with only one hiccup in race 3 but came home a clear second. Ivan Williamson and Zak Hendry were split by one point for third with Ivan taking the final podium place.
Rounding off the top 5, a spirited ride by Lyall Rutherford showed he has more to come.
65’s
Liam Bell got a great start by winning the first race and looked set to threaten but a bad result in race 2 saw him only collect 2 points and led to an overall third. It was Hayden Statt that benefited, and he recovered from a 5th in the first race to win the next three. Keeping him honest was Alfie Heron who had a very consistent ride finishing 2nd or 3rd in all four races. Malachi Allan had a bright start with a 2nd place in race 1 and rode steady the rest of the day to finish fourth. Jaden Anderson missed out on 4th by 2 points as he pushed to make the top 5.
85’s SW/BW
The combined SW/BW race saw some great racing action, in the SW, it was Cole McCulloch that dominated with 4/4 wins with some strong riding but pushed all the way by Rhys Whyment who had four second places. Torren Husband grabbed the podium just ahead of Scott McPhee as the two riders split the places over the four races. Making up the top 5 was Robert Wood who grabbed 5th place by a point.
In the BW, the was no match for Jack Fletcher who simply disappeared from the field every race. Jack pushed every lap and it was an impressive display from him all weekend. Bert Kelly was the best of the rest as he improved on his 4th in the first race to take 2nd in the remainder. Jayden Jeffries, Declan Taylor and Reilly McKenzie fought hard for the remaining podium place, but it was Jayden who came out on top with the third spot with three race podiums. Declan Taylor took a spill in the third race which could have cost him a lot more places, but he picked himself up and fought hard.
Rookies
There was a faultless performance by Ben Kennedy in the rookie class as he strolled all four races. Current Scottish champion Logan Hendry charged hard, but Edwards had a convincing win. Lewis Glynn came within two points of Hendry but a 5th in the first race sealed his fate of an overall third place. Reece Dawson did challenge for the overall third but a disappointing third race saw him come in down the order and an eventual 4th was his reward. Rounding out the top 5, Logan Ferguson had some thrill and spills along the way but deserved his spot.
Adult Support
The “senior” race of the day saw some hard fought battles for places right down the order as the adult support gave the youths some respite. One less race on the day but the action was certainly condensed into what would be a 9 lap dash each race. It was John Adamson that would edge out George Simmutch in the first race by pushing him all the way until he finally grabbed the front nearing the end of the moto. Gary Gibson kept the pair honest all day but as he chose not to ride the third moto, dropped himself to an overall 7th. This meant that Adamson and Simmutch would battle it out and as Adamson showed his class, he pushed every lap to take the three wins. Neil Chatham, returning from a long term injury, showed he still has the speed on the day by keeping the upcoming Ryan Thomson at bay for the fourth spot. The two swapped places all day but race craft and determination saw Neil edge Ryan. Not easy to beat a 450 with a 250 in some places on the track but he did his best to try and grab third. It was a good ride by Seth Moir to round off the top 5 as he rode smoothly.
Words & Images Credit – Raymond Thomson / Madmaxmedia
