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2011 ACU Goldspeed
British Quad Championship
Round 3 -Tinkerhill MX
Tinkerhill, Northern Ireland
July 2, 2011
By: Alistair Plant
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ATV World's
John Mitchell Wins Overall at Tinkerhill
Paul
Holmes & Mark Watson Round out ATV Pro Podium
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ACU
British Quad Racing
Round 3 - Tinkerhill MX
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Scotland-
Holmes has the pace but Mitchell takes victory at
Tinkerhill
Goldspeed ACU British Quadcross Championships Round
Three, July 2nd 2011
Words and Photography by Alistair Plant
John Mitchell made it three out of three wins as
he extended his lead in the Goldspeed ACU British
Quadcross Championships this weekend. Paul Holmes
certainly had the pace but unfortunately not the
luck, finishing second overall with Mark Watson
taking another consistent third place finish. Held
at the extensively modified Tinker Hill motocross
track, Quadracing Ireland had clearly put a lot
of effort into making the track more exciting,
with many changes including the removal of 400
tonnes of rock to widen the track. This allowed
for an action packed day’s racing with an
excellent turnout from the clubman riders and
spectators.
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| Paul
Holmes claimed the fastest lap times in
practice and took race 1 holeshot |
Paul Holmes took the fastest time in free practice,
followed closely by John Mitchell and Mark Watson
in a lineup of 25 riders. On board his Holmes
Racing Yamaha 450, Holmes gave a show of blistering
pace to take the holeshot in race one and began
to pull away from the chasing Watson, Winrow and
Mitchell. Riding hard, Holmes had given himself
an impressive 10 second lead, that was until he
suffered a flat tire with only six laps remaining.
Meanwhile, Mitchell had passed Winrow but wasn’t
able to get close enough to KTM UK rider Mark
Watson.
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| John
Mitchell makes his move on Paul Holmes &
Mark Watson to take the lead |
“It was the penultimate lap and Paul Holmes
was battling to keep Watson from passing him. Watson
went round the outside of Holmes and I managed to
nip in on the inside and take the lead.” A
delighted Mitchell reflected as he snatched an unexpected
first win victory. Watson, feeling frustrated after
a very close finish took second place and Holmes
was happy to settle for third with a flat tire.
The gates dropped for race two and the holeshot
was taken by a flying John Mitchell on board his
ATV World Yamaha 450. However, it wasn’t
to be quite the perfect start he had hoped for
as he hit a burn in turn three and was passed
by the on-form Holmes. They instantly made a break,
leaving a big gap between themselves and Watson
in third place.
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John
Mitchell lead Race 2 six seconds aboard
his Yamaha YFZ450R ATV |
“I didn’t get a good start, Holmes
and Mitchell were gone. I tried to close them
in but was making no headway and settled for third.”
said Watson. That’s how the positions remained
- with Holmes taking the win six seconds ahead
of Mitchell and Watson a further 30 seconds behind.
“I was fastest in qualifying and in both
races, also got the holeshot in race one. It’s
been a nice weekend for me except for the puncture.”
commented Holmes as he summed up his day’s
racing.
It was also a good day for Watson’s fellow
KTM UK team mate James Hellewell, as he took ninth
and a well fought fourth place, giving him maximum
points in the Under 21 Championship ahead of SMR/Nora
MX’s Stef Murphy and Cian Rodgers on board
his Kawasaki 450.
In the British Quad Masters, a superb performance
from Paul Harkness gave him the overall win after
a second and first place finish which saw both
Harkness and McConway in a tense race one battle.
Anthony Barrett took second overall while McConway
took third overall with the win in race one.
In the Grade A Quads, Reece Boal took the overall
win ahead of Emma McQuaid and Andrew Walsh, while
Chris McLaughlin won the Clubman Class six points
ahead of Sean Maguire and Shane Hunter.
The next round of the championship will be at
Dean Moor, Cumbria on the 24th July and will be
organised by N.E.T.T’s, including all classes.
For more details, please visit www.acuquadracing.co.uk
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