O’Hare wins Upright Championship at EWR

53-year old Gary O’Hare continued his dominance of the country’s upright class by going unbeaten in the second running of the Upright Northern Riders’ Championship at Scunthorpe Speedway’s Eddie Wright Raceway on Saturday 29th April. The six-time British Veteran Champion was never headed but behind him there was quite a battle for the other podium positions. In the end Nathan Morton gained revenge on Lee Coleman in the ‘A’ Final, after losing to him in qualifying, to repeat his second place finish in 2016 whilst Max Pankhurst defeated last year’s bronze medallist Graham Knowler in the ‘B’ Final to claim 4th overall in the ‘A’ Final.

After the meeting O’Hare declared “I put even more into preparing for the event this year, both physically and mechanically, because the other lads are definitely stepping things up. There were a few riders with two bikes in the pits which shows it is being taken seriously and I was very pleased to retain the championship. I just hope that we can carry on building the class. I do all I can to publicise it and it has proven that creating the Northern Riders’ Championship is attracting riders from further afield”

Whilst there were an impressive thirteen riders in the UNRC the largest field on the day were the pit bikes where sixteen riders competed in an ever-growing class. Through qualifying Wayne Carter was undefeated in the five races he started but in the ‘A’ final it was Jack Bell who raced to victory ahead of Carter and Alfie Collett. Bell also won the Youth 125/150 speedway class.

Another class that is growing in popularity is the Road Bike Class where a record entry of twelve riders took to the track. With all manner of bikes on show it was Tim Henson who headed the field from Scott Speed and Mike Johnson. Other class winners were Luke Whitehead (Support Class), Chris Timms (Novice Class), Kieron Holt (Youth 500) Leon Flint (Youth 250), Mikey Robbins (Junior 110), Aaron Tuttlebee (Flat Track) and Joe Hodgson (Quad Bikes).

The remaining summer meetings, for all twelve classes, take place on Saturday 3rd June, Saturday 1st July, Sunday 27th August and Sunday 8th October. Anyone wanting to book places or help out at the meetings should, in the first instance, text Richard Hollingsworth on 07832-402167.

Upright Northern Riders’ Championship
Qualifying scores: Gary O’Hare 15, Nathan Morton 13, Lee Coleman 12, Graham Knowler 11, Paul Timms 11, Max Pankhurst 9, Shaun Bickley 8, Eddie Rouse 7, Phil Kynman 4 (3 rides), Dave Patten 4 (4 rides), Glen Belcher 4, Adrian Harden 4, Mike Cowley 3.

C Final: Rouse, Patten, 69.1
B Final: Pankhurst, Knowler, Bickley, Rouse, 67.8
A Final: O’Hare, Morton, Coleman, Pankhurst, 64.9

Summer Championship points: O’Hare 20, Morton 19, Coleman 18, Pankhurst 17, Knowler 16, Bickley 15, Rouse 14, Timms 13, Patten 12, Kynman 11, Belcher 10, Harden 9, Cowley 8.

Heat winning times: 45. Knowler 71.9, 46. O’Hare 69.8, 47. Coleman 75.3, 48. Morton 70.4, 51. O’Hare 64.3, 54. O’Hare 65.4, 57. Coleman 67.6, 60. Morton 68.2, 63. Knowler 69.3, 66. Coleman 66.7, 69. Morton 68.9, 72. Pankhurst 68.8, 75. Coleman 66.3, 78. O’Hare 68.8, 81. Pankhurst 68.4, 84. Timms 73.9, 87. O’Hare 65.9, 90. Timms 73.1

Support Class
Qualifying Scores: Luke Whitehead 13, Lloyd Ditchburn 11, Sheldon Davies 10, Tom Spencer 6, Bartek Langner 5.

B Final: Spencer, Langner, 67.9
A Final: Whitehead, Davies, Spencer, Ditchburn, 66.6

Summer Championship points: Whitehead 20, Davies 19, Spencer 18, Ditchburn 17, Langner 16.

Heat winning times: 2. Davies 70.9, 7. Ditchburn 64.8, 13. Ditchburn 64.0, 19. Whitehead 62.9, 24. Whitehead awarded, 29. Ditchburn 66.1, 34. Whitehead 64.1

Novice Class
Qualifying Scores: Chris Timms 15, David Pye 12, Mick Sutton 11, David Chiles 7, Stuart Foster 4, Simon Gale 3, Gareth Clough 2.

B Final: Chiles, Foster, Clough (fell), no time – awarded
A Final: Timms, Pye, Chiles, Sutton, 71.1

Summer Championship points: Timms 20, Pye 19, Chiles 18, Sutton 17, Foster 16, Clough 15, Gale 14.

Heat winning times: 49. Timms 75.9, 50. Sutton 77.9, 55. Timms 70.2, 62. Sutton 77.3, 67. Pye 72.0, 71. Timms 71.6, 80. Pye 72.0, 85. Timms 73.1, 89. Timms 72.5

Youth 500 Class
Qualifying scores: Kieron Holt 15

A Final: Holt 71.3
Summer Championship points: Holt 20

Heat winning times (all Holt): 6. 74.6, 12. 72.2, 18. 69.1, 26. 69.2, 32. 70.4

Youth 250 Class
Qualifying scores: Leon Flint 14, Jordan Palin 11, Jason Edwards 10, Kean Dicken 4, Jacob Clayton 0 (1 ride)

A Final: Flint, Edwards, Palin, Dicken, 63.4

Summer Championship points: Flint 20, Edwards 19, Palin 18, Dicken 17, Clayton 16

Heat winning times: 3. Flint no time, 8. Flint 62.7, 14. Flint 61.7, 20. Palin 62.8, 25. Edwards 61.9, 30. Flint 61.8, 35. Palin 62.8

Youth 125/150 Class
Qualifying scores: Jack Bell 15, Mikey Robbins 10, Finley Dimmock 5

A Final: Bell, Robbins, Dimmock, 69.9

Summer Championship points: Bell 20, Robbins 19, Dimmock 18

Heat winning times (all Bell): 56. 72.1, 64. 71.8, 73. 71.5, 79. 72.3, 86. 71.4

Flat Track
Scores: Aaron Tuttlebee 34, Joe Burden 32, Odgie Danaan 24, Jack Pitt 16, Luke Gardner 14, Nigel Wilson 2 (2 rides).

Summer Championship points: Tuttlebee 20, Burden 19, Danaan 18, Pitt 17, Gardner 16, Wilson 15.

Heat winning times: 5. Burden 117.3, 11. Burden 108.6, 17. Tuttlebee 112.4, 23. Tuttlebee 108.2, 31. Tuttlebee 104.6, 40. Tuttlebee 104.9

Road Bikes
Scores: Tim Henson 68, Scott Speed 54, Mike Johnson 49, Rob Gardner 49, Gary Clayton 45, Odgie Danaan 35 (3 rides), Darren Brook 33, James Boddy 32, Luke Brackenbury 32, Jon Lawson 28, Lucia Aucott 21, Denise Lawson 15

Summer Championship points: Henson 20, Speed 19, Johnson 18, Gardner 17, Clayton 16, Danaan 15, Brook 14, Boddy 13, Brackenbury 12, J. Lawson 11, Aucott 10, D. Lawson 9

Heat winning times: 4. Henson 87.4, 10. Danaan 79.8, 16. Henson 78.4, 22. Henson 77.3, 28. Danaan 74.2, 39. Speed 72.0

Quad Bikes
Scores: Chris Wright 29, Mark Hooker 21, Joe Hodgson 20, Ian Russell 15 (4 rides), Nick Wright 10 (3 rides), Ross Fullerton 9 (4 rides), Sam Hodgson 3 (2 rides)

A Final: Hodgson, C. Wright, Hooker, Russell, Fullerton, 63.5

Summer Championship points: Hodgson 20, C. Wright 19, Hooker 18, Russell 17, Fullerton 16, N. Wright 15, Hodgson 14

Heat winning times: 1. N. Wright 69.1, 9. C. Wright 66.4, 15. C. Wright 65.0, 21. Hodgson 64.7, 27. C. Wright 62.5, 33. C. Wright 63.1

Pit Bikes
Scores: Jack Bell 55, Alfie Collett 54, Tom Schmitt 51, Wayne Carter 50 (5 rides), Lee Carter 37, Stuart Avery 34, Jeff Robinson 33, Craig Nightingale 33, Stuart Foster 32, Adam Waller 30, Kean Dicken 21, Nick Thorp 21, Adrian Snowden 18, Arron Brannan 12, Alex Render 8, Lee Dicken 0 (0 rides)

B Final: Foster, K. Dicken, Waller, Thorp, L. Dicken, Snowden, Brannan, Render, no time
A Final: Bell, W. Carter, Collett, Foster, Schmitt, L. Carter, Robinson, Avery, K. Dicken, 71.1

Summer Championship points: Bell 20, W. Carter 19, Collett 18, Foster 17, Schmitt 16, L. Carter 15, Robinson 14, Avery 13, K. Dicken 12, Nightingale 11, Waller 10, Thorp 9, L. Dicken 8, Snowden 7, Brannan 6, Render 5.

Race winning times: 52. Collett 80.9, 58. W. Carter 77.3, 61. W. Carter 75.5, 65. Collett 77.4, 70. W. Carter 75.1, 74. Bell 79.0, 77. W. Carter 70.6, 83. Bell 73.7 88. Carter 71.8

Junior 110
Scores: Mikey Robbins 37, Max McGurk 34, Ryan Ingram 27, Jack Franklin 26, Louie Walker 20, My Harris 12, Kyron Worster 10.

Summer Championship points: Robbins 20, McGurk 19, Ingram 18, Franklin 17, Walker 16, Harris 15, Worster 14

Race winning times: 53. McGurk 93.4, 59. Robbins 87.9, 68. McGurk 84.9, 76. McGurk 82.4, 82. McGurk awarded, 97. Robbins 80.6