Sand Racing Report 12/06/2021

For the first time this season the GMC&CC achieved a full programme of practice & 32 races (4 races for each group of competitors) all within the time allocated. Providing half the entry but split in to 2 groups the 19 MX riders are the main stay of this season & provide the closest racing in both groups. In the B group which started the afternoon’s proceedings newcomer to beach racing Josh Ballard is the man to beat & though both Luke Bush & Nathan Pinchemain were close on his tail neither was able to get in front of him. Sand Race chairman Kevin Rumens had a string of 4^th places but will have to watch out as Stephanie Best was never far behind him on her lower 125cc powered bike. Gemma Le Page is improving as she acclimatizes to her new bike whilst newcomer James Smith rode at a constant speed as he grapples with learning the art of sand racing. The most exciting racing comes when the A group is out on track either with 2 races on the twisty course which winds its way on the infield between the exit of the slip bend & the entry to the wet bend or on the full blown oval course for another 2 races. There is a tight group of 4 riders riding for the top places whilst the remainder are have their own little battles down the field. For the first race the battle for race honours was between Owen Waddingham, Billy Russell & Mark King as one of the favourites Billy Rive had had to practice on Ben Le Prevost’s 125cc Kawasaki as his own 500cc Honda refused to fire up & when this could not be fixed used Mark King’s spare Honda 250 cc bike for the afternoon. Having finished lower in the order in the first race for the following 3 races Billy Rive put out a marker as he then won them all on the borrowed bike leaving Owen the other Billy & Mark to sort out the order for second & third.

Leading the races but knowing that Bob Teed was just behind her waiting to pounce when the opportunity arose Erin Ogier was putting on her best ever performance on her 500cc slider only dropping behind as the course got rougher as the afternoon progressed stating that her bike’s suspension needs attention. The junior/intermediate’s had an increase in numbers as besides the usual 4 slider bikes which ran in the familiar order of Thomas Vining, Lewis Le Blancq& the battling Walker brothers the MX section had also 4 riders. Whilst Ben Le Prevost showed what can be achieved the fairly recent newcomers Eve Guille & Finn Bogle was joined by first timer Zak Guymer who was quite quickly up to speed battling with Eve for 2^nd spot. Loneliest rider out there had to be cadet Digby Cleal who had to ride the last 3 races all on his own as during the first cadet race leading rider Tyler-James Savident had the misfortune to have the engine seize on his bike. Fortunately Tyler will be out at the next meeting on a borrowed bike whilst his parents have to consider if to have his current bike repaired or to be replaced with a larger engine bike moving him up to the juniors after a birthday in July. Another lonely pairing were Clint Blondel&Kev Bennett out on their own with the sidecar but still going as fast as possible.

This meeting saw another demise in the number of cars as only 6 were entered with Eric Trump production over 1800cc & Sam De Carteret modified having no competition in their classes. A car making its return to the beach was the road registered Mazda MX5 formerly driven by Paul Heyler but now in the hands of Richard Le Feuvre who had quite a few wayward moments as the rear of the car tried to overtake the front end thus leaving Matthew Board to clear off into the distance to gain maximum production up to 1800cc points. A third different buggy also appeared on the beach this one a Honda Blackbird in the hands of Richard Valpied.

Paul Stanford