Cool FAB-Racing British Minibikes Championship: Round 3 – Clay Pigeon

The CoolFab Racing Minibikes Championship returned this weekend for the third round of the 2019 season.

The riders were met with a different challenge compared to the previous two rounds. The small and technical Clay Pigeon Raceway in Wardon Hill, Dorchester – provided great racing as the riders fought for every inch on the technical circuit.

MiniGP70

Ollie Walker took his first pole position of the season, on bike number 48, ahead of Evan Belford and Eddie O’Shea.

The racing was fraught but fair in Race 1. Evan Belford found himself at the head of the field in the early stages after a great start but was chased hard by Walker. Exiting the final turn and along the main straight, Ollie Walker made use of the fast turn 1 left-hander to make his way into the race lead on lap 5. He would soak up pressure from James Cook on the final couple of laps to take his first win of the season and his first podium of 2019. He would continue this form and pick up two more third places on the Sunday.

The race pace was hot and saw the previous lap record, a 39.025 set by Bailey Stuart-Campbell, broken 5 times with James Cook eventually taking it with a 38.304.

Evan Belford would break the record once again in Race 2, setting a 38.297 on his way to his 3rd win of the season after pulling a gap at the front of the field. He repeated this result in Race 3, just holding off James Cook. The new championship leader putting Belford under serious pressure in the closing stages.

Cook left Clay Pigeon as the new championship leader, taking over from Eddie O’Shea who had a challenging weekend after finishing 12th in race 1 but finished inside the top 5 in Races 2 and 3. Bailey Stuart-Campbell continued his strong form, picking up 2nd in Race 2.

MiniGP50

The closest racing of the weekend arguably came from the MiniGP50 class with Josh Bannister taking pole position for the three races at the weekend.

It was the usual suspects that would battle it out at the top of the field (Josh Bannister, Ryan Hitchcock, Harrison Crosby, Lucas Brown and Kyle Payne) giving the fans a great show. With lots of hard racing action from start to finish, the MiniGP50’s provided some heart in your mouth overtaking with late braking manoeuvres and brave passes round the outside.

The mighty fast left at turn 1 would see a lot of action as riders found speed out of the final turn along the straight and if there was a gap, like a shark smelling blood would charge up the inside sitting up the rider they had just overtaken.

Harrison Crosby took the spoils in Race 1 after passing Josh Bannister round the outside at turn 5 on the final lap. Bannister pushing the limits into the final turn, pushed too hard and slipped off the bike an into the gravel leaving Lucas Brown and Kyle Layne to take 2nd and 3rd.

Crosby would repeat his Race 1 win with victory in Race 2 after a red flag stopped the race, after a fall for Lucas Brown at turn 4 with two laps remaining. However, in Race 3 of the weekend Crosby was chased down in the final stages by Ryan Hitchcock. In the end Hitchcock made a brave move round the outside into turn 5 on the final lap to take the lead and would hold on to take his 3rd win of the season.

Minimoto Classes

The Junior LC40 Elite’s were once again dominated by championship leader Johnny Garness, he took a hat trick of wins, winning 8 out of 9 races in the 2019 season, he extended his lead of championship over rival Mason Foster.

Foster continued his form in the AC40 Pro’s taking 3 wins from three races to extend his championship lead but was chased hard in Races 2 and 3 but soaked up all the pressure to hold off the pursuing pack.

Archie Gibbs took away two race wins from the weekend closing down the championship leader Ollie Sims, although Sims took the win in Race 2.

With all championships heating up, the racing is fast and ferocious. Round 4 comes up on the 21st – 23rd of June from our first of two visits to Tattershall in Lincolnshire.

Saturday Races (See top of the page)

Sunday AM Races

Sunday PM Races

Commentary by Chris McCarthy & Liam Hodgins.

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