Sand Racing Report 29^th/30^th July 2022

The sand racers were relived to be back on the sands of Vazon after a prolonged summer break, as the previous meeting had to be cancelled due to reasons beyond the club’s control, leaving a gap of over 2 months since they had been able to race. There was even more pressure on the racers as this meeting was a two day event for the majority of the competitors. Adding to the MX riders thoughts was the knowledge that not only were they riding for points in the twisty & oval championships but over the 2 days each race including the handicap races were scoring points for the covered title of King of the Beach. In the A group Brett Pierce making a rare appearance on the beach took top honours in this class winning all 5 races so gaining maximum King of the Beach points. This was not to say this was easy as Billy Russell often led the races only for Brett to pip him to the line whilst not far behind where Owen Waddingham & Josh Ballard. In the B group there was a 4 way battle for top honours with Marcus Crittell being the highest scorer from a very close George Bourgaize, Tom Wood & Olly Driscoll. There being no incidents everyone left the beach on Friday looking forward to Saturday’s racing. Unfortunately a nasty tumble by Billy Russell in the A groups first race left him needing medical attention so was unable to continue racing but Brett found he had a different rider to contend with as Owen Waddingham had swapped back from the Honda 250cc bike he used on Friday to his more powerful Husqvarna 450cc on Saturday but though Brett did not win every race by coming second he still gained enough points to claim the title of King of the Beach. In the B group the different beach lay out, a simple horse shoe shaped inner section on the twisty course on Friday compared to a much longer & tighter twisty course on Saturday may have been Marcus’s undoing as the other contenders pushed him further down the field.

Two new cars appeared for this meeting with father & son Gary & Jamie Le Page sharing an old Honda which originally housed a 1500cc automatic engine but they have managed to cram in a 1998cc type R motor, this car was over 3 seconds a lap quicker then any of the other saloons. Making her 1^st appearance at Vazon was Sophy Harvey in a very smart looking 2000cc Honda Civic who just has to improve her consistency as she started off slow but then as she built up her speed she was hunting for higher placings. Karl Marshall had the misfortune to break his chain at the start of practice and had to leave the beach to find a new chain link only to get the wrong size so had to go away again making it back for the last 2 races on Friday, Saturday’s racing was better but again only after leaving the beach to do a spot of welding before the scrutineer would pass his car fit to race. Also overnight Linda Jones & the Le Page’s had exhausts to repair whilst Eric Trump had to replace a brake pipe. Unfortunately Saturday ended with bodywork damage to Andy Rosamond’s & Steve Marquis’s cars when a diminishing gap got tighter as the cars rounded the wet bend.

On Friday Digby Cleal, Thomas Vining & Lewis Le Blanq had the course to themselves in the junior/intermediate slider class but come Saturday Sam & Charlie Walker joined this group of very enthusiastic young riders. Due to being the only junior MX rider Tyler-James Savident on Friday he had the track to himself but on Saturday he had some competition as 15 year old Tylar Cox (hoping to ride in the MX B group but not allowed due to ACU age regulations) had to ride in this class. Though Tyler-James was on a smaller bike he has more sand racing experience so just able to pip Tylar on his larger bike to the line on 3 occasions. Likewise Erin Ogier was the only slider on Friday (she was also riding very well in the MX B group) but come Saturday Pierre Pinchemain was out on Erin’s older 250cc slider bike for only his second meeting.

Paul Stanford