East Kent tradition the first round of the Summer Championship Newnham 22nd February 2009

In true East Kent tradition the first round of the Summer Championship was held at the clubs founding track at Newnham in Faversham this weekend.

A Strong line ups, fantastic track preparation and race conditions provided a taster of the year to come, 5 maximum scores does not give a true representation of how fast and close the racing was in each group.

The AMX group saw 3 winners which always adds to the excitement. Wildman Paul Willis showed the boys the way home in the first race with Graham Heasman, fresh from his south west adventures showing him how it was done in the second. East Kent favourite, Louis Waugh took the third race. Wildman Willis took the overall from Waugh in second and Heasman in 3rd. Kit Delaney returned to the group after a year long injury and claimed 5th overall.

Shaun Springer (pictured) dominated the senior group with 3 straight wins. Piers Skinner took 2nd place with two second place finishes and George Foames taking 3rd in the first race of the day and the overall. Adam Cooper took a third in the last race of the day following clutch problems in the first two.

The Big Wheel 85 class saw the top two leave the pack trailing. Jordan Divall took the overall with maximum points from Lewis Dowsett in 2nd and Zach Peters in 3rd place overall. Jonathan Brighton made it into the top 6 with his debut in the group and Jack Eldridge looked like he might be able to match the pace of Divall and Dowsett, but his 3rd place finish in the 1st race was not repeated due to mechanical gremlins.

Anticipation in the Small Wheel 85 group was high, all looked at the former Junior front runners but Daniel Packman put the hype aside and took the overall with a smooth consistent ride taking all 3 races from Jack Wilson with John Waghorne taking the 3rd overall.

The overall in the Junior class went to Callum Heasman with yet another maximum. Albie Wilkie carried his success in the autos with a second overall and Aaron Ongley in 3rd.

Last to race were the Autos giving Reagan Brooks the chance to finish the finale of maximums with his own. 3 straight wins gave Reagan Brooks the overall from Gary Ashley in 2nd and Jack Leach 3rd.

With the debuts out of the way all eyes turn to Lamberhurst to see if the maximum trend will continue or if this technical track will throw up a few surprises.

AMX – 1st Paul Willis, 2nd Louis Waugh, 3rd Graham Heasman, 4th Brian Carter, 5th Kit Delaney, 6th Neil Midgley

Senior – 1st Shaun Springer, 2nd Piers Skinner, 3rd George Foames, 4th Harrison Utting, 5th Adam Cooper, 6th Rupert Douglas

BW85 – 1st Jordan Divall, 2nd Lewis Dowsett, 3rd Zach Peters, 4th Daniel Guy, 5th Oliver Clark, 6th Jonathon Brighton

SW85 – 1st Daniel Packman, 2nd Jack Wilson, 3rd John Waghorne, 4th Patrick O’Neill, 5th Mitchell Lewis, 6th Russell Cramp

Junior – 1st Callum Heasman, 2nd Albie Wilkie, 3rd Aaron Ongley, 4th Tom Lockhart, 5th Tom Borrett, 6th Nathan Turner-Whittle

Auto – 1st Reagan Brooks, 2nd Gary Ashley, 3rd Jack Leach, 4th Daniel Sultana, 5th Jack Nixon, 6th Lewis Cloud

Report by Anna Cornelius, Photos by Ann Cooper