Melville MCC winter series Rd2 15th Jan 2012

McLean Win for Ryan

How does the Melville do it? Another beautiful day at Lochhouses Farm near Dunbar for the second round of the Melville Motor Club winter motocross series. Just short of 180 riders arrived to a track that had more in common with Ice Racing in Alaska than a motocross in East Lothian but as the sun came up the sand thawed and racing could commence.

Three times Scottish Champion Ross Rutherford was riding at Lochhouses for the first time and nearly missed the first race and had to push through the pack finish second overall. It was Ryan McLean that was on fire all day, he came out swinging from the first race and won the first two races topping the points taking the overall. Jake Boyes was another rider who definitely had his Weetabix in the morning although a technical fault cost him dear in race two resulting in third overall for the day. Returning to Lochhouses for the first time in a while Neil Flockhart finished fourth and enjoyed his start to the New Year. Neil Chatham had a couple of races with Ross Rutherford as he raced through the pack but a damaged rear moose slowed him in race two. David Houston was another man in the mix of top riders all pushing very hard finally finishing sixth. Craig Trew damaged his knee in the first race and was not able to take part for the rest of the day, the Melville Club hopes that he has not done any damage in his preparation to compete in the Le Touquet Beach Race.

In the Adult B class there were three winners Ivan Williamson, Paul Chatham and Dean Reid although there can only be one winner and Dean took the honours as he won the last race that determined the overall tie for points with Ivan.  Paul Chatham finished third just six points behind with Robin Bertram fourth, Steven Lambie fifth and David Wheatley sixth.

John Moody won the Adult C class with Dylan Annand second overall following a big crash on the last lap of the last race and was lucky to walk away and still take the win in that race. Gavin Lowes rode consistently all day taking third with Kevin Ritchie fourth, Chris Ketchin having the ride of his life finishing fifth and Chris Walker sixth.

The most dominant display of the day went to John Adamson in the Youth MX2 Class. John ran away with every race and you could hardly see the next rider as he was so far in front. Second overall Fraser Pohlen had a tough first race but charged on in the other two and was even starting to make in roads toward John Adamson in the final race. Kieran Marr led the best of the rest to third with Douglas Campbell fourth, Kyle Mc Nicoll fifth and Steven Lennie sixth.

Reece Wilson won the Big Wheel 85 Class although he did falter in the second race crashing and dropping down the order. Reece would not be denied and charged through the pack and was catching Lewis Campbell until a second fall saw him having to accept second in that particular race. Lewis had looked good all day and second overall was his reward. Robert Smith had also been mixing it with Lewis and Reece taking the final step on the podium as his reward. Lewis Smith finished fourth with Callum Carter fifth and Alex Grant sixth. The Small Wheel 85 class was won by Bradley Mann completing three straight wins followed by Dylan Carnegie in second with Scott Russell third. Reece Robertson finished fourth with Kai Thompson fifth and Jordan Gill sixth.

The cold start to the day saw Daniel Chisholm finish second in the first race but two wins in the next two races saw him take the overall for the day. Ryan Thomson won the first race and was looking very promising but he could not match his first race performance finishing second overall. Andrew Pohlen finished third with Domonic Stevenson fourth, James Haddow fifth and Lewis Mitchell sixth.

It was great to see the enthusiasm for the Melville winter motocross series and such a large turnout. The weather rewarded us all once more and for the third time no major injuries. Diana McLuckie and Wenda Bryce braved the cold weather to lap score all day and the event would not be possible without the Jack family, thanks to everyone who helped on the day. The next Melville event is the motocross on the 5th February, you must be the member of an SACU club and ideally have and SACU licence although this event will allow one day licences for adult entries and are available from www.melvillemc.co.uk. There will also be a Scottish Championship Hare and Hound on the 19th February at Lochhouses including a motocross class but you must have a full SACU Licence to compete, no one day licences for this one, entries are available electronically online from www.entrycentral.com

Finally a big thank you to Robert Dale of Lochhouses farm for allowing us to enjoy such a fantastic area.