SAND RACING REPORT 24^th August 2013

Making his 1^st appearance at the penultimate meeting of this season did not deter Anthony Bougourd from proving he is still the fastest local on a slider at Vazon as he dominated the 1^st championship race then sitting out the 2^nd race as he prepared for the trophy race. This race is one that must local riders will inspire too as it bears the title King of the Beach & once again Anthony showed he was master of the sands. Unfortunately no other local ride got close to Anthony, veteran Bill Cohu did manage to get 3^rd place whilst Rob Teed had a poor start & could not make up much ground over the short 4 lap race. Anthony’s closest competitor was UK rider Steve Lomas making a first appearance on the beach riding a very quick Honda 500 which had a modified road going bike frame & modified road based engine. Also making a one off ride was ex car competitor & trials rider Steve Clark who though he should know it feels to ride a slider so that he could give better advice to his son Dan who he expected would be quicker on his little cadet 65cc powered Cherry Godfrey Kawasaki slider. Unfortunately the 3^rd championship race of the afternoon had to be red flagged as Mike Clarke parted company with his bike on the exit of the slip bend for which he required medical treatment, so with no replacement ambulance available the meeting was brought to an early halt. With a 2 day Motocross event also taking place entries in the remaining bike classes were lower than normal. Only 4 MX bikes took to the sands & with Billy Russell the only rider on his normal bike he managed to take all wins from Matt Le Gallez who moved up onto a new Honda 450. Tony Duquemin had to move down from his normal Suzuki 250 to a KTM 125 & likewise Paul Le Gallez had to go down to a Honda 125 20 were a little underpowered. The Intermediate class was brotherly rivalry between Billy Rive on a JRM 250 & a Honda 85 & Ricky Rive on a Honda 85, Billy proved he could win races on whichever bike he used. As mentioned Dan Clark took honours in the cadet class from Barnaby Queripel but the closest competition was between 3^rd placed rider Kieran Bennett who did have an engine size advantage from 4^th placed rider Ben Le Prevost on the little Honda CRF 50cc.

Gary Duquemin should not share his car with any other driver as this always seems to give him problems, firstly his new co driver Andrew Henry was taking the bike course on the wet bend during his practise laps then on the start of the very first race a driveshaft broke which put the car out for the day & means that Jack Sanders takes the racing car championship. With his daughter not well Steve Marquis took over driving duties in the modified Ford Escort but only took part in the first two races before putting the car back on its trailer due to concern over some of the other drivers driving standards. With 7 handicap trophies already won by 7 different drivers the handicapper managed to get an 8^th winner as Mick Bichard took the Moullin Challenge Trophy. Final meeting of this season is on 21^st September at 1pm.

Paul Stanford