Report and Images by Raymond Thomson – Madmaxmedia
This meant that the traditional two-day meeting took one week to resolve. Of course, not ideal for some, but it gave ScotMX the opportunity to re-run the popular Super Mini-Cup along with the normal adult races and give the young guns an audience to display their talents. They would have to ride impressively to match their big brothers as the Carnegie Fuels MX1, and Safe Access MX2 promised to be the race of the season so far. The list of names was growing throughout the week as a few seasoned riders dusted off their boots. They would have a hard slog as some of the nation’s brightest talents had travelled from far and wide to race one of the best tracks in the UK let alone Scotland. With another hot day being forecast, track owner Scott Gardner had a busy time preparing the sand track to be able to handle the hot temperatures. Having a sprinkler system that gives 100% track coverage was a major bonus and proved to be invaluable as the afternoon temperatures started to soar.
Vets
Newcastle-based Vet Micky Graham had his first race at ScotMX this season after running in another series down south. He admitted he had missed running at the club and relished riding at one of his favourite tracks. Having won the ScotMX Vets championship last year, he would be the man to beat on the day and Brian Alexander did just that in race 1. Brian was fastest in Qualifying and turned that into a race win. Micky got his overall back on track by beating Brian in the next two races although Brian was waiting to pounce on any mistake. The final podium in the O40’s class was Kevin McBride. In the O50’s, Tony ‘Mad Dog’ Whitelaw made a winning return to ScotMX after a season-ending injury last year kept him out. He scuppered Gordon ‘Montana’ Morrison’s ideas of AMD Holeshot to race win as the pair would battle it out over the three races. Mad Dog versus Montana, there could be only one winner, and as we know, every dog has its day, and it was a mad one at Doune! The final podium went to Ian Wilson. His consistency paid off as he managed to fend off Craig Smith by a single point. With O60’s rider Paul Chiappa missing the meeting due to an injury, this left the door open for Douglas Garrick to grab the overall ahead of Davey Dick in the O60’s.
Adult ‘C’ Class
Another strong display by Louis Tobin saw the diminutive teenager breeze past the fast-starting Dale Hynd in each race. Dale would grab the AMD Holeshots but was soon passed by the super quick kid. Dale managed to maintain second in each race but finished 20+ seconds behind the leader in every race. Jordan Kerr’s first race was poor as he could only finish 8th but his two second places in the remaining races were enough to secure third overall as the pack took turns to chase him. Series leader John Kenny was best of the rest as the fast fifer just needs to sort out his starts to improve his overall results. Martyn Lyell was a point behind John as somehow, he managed to do a whole race with his holeshot device engaged. David Murray and Brian Anderson fought it out for the top 6 spot. Solid result for Brian as it was his first race in over a year, but David’s higher placing meant he beat Brian on countback.
Adult ‘B’ Class
No easy races for championship leader Myles Reid at Doune. The three races had a different winner each time, but it was Myles that managed the better results on the day. Euan Watson showed he had some great speed and loves riding sand, but he was pipped by Matty Fry who had a worthwhile trip over from Ireland by grabbing all three AMD Holeshots and never out of the top three all day. Myles never look flustered, though, as he kept the young riders at bay on his way to the overall as Matty narrowly missed out. There were only four points between the top three; it was that close! Rusty Robertson had a tough day as Ryan Garthwaite, and Jake Hall finished ahead of him in 4th and 5th.
Super Mini Cup
The second running of the popular Super Mini Cup saw Lewis Spratt make the journey across from Ireland to Scotland this week as he had been racing all season in England. It was a good day for him as he won both Super Mini Cup races. Malachi Allan did his best to push but just couldn’t match Spratt. The rest of the pack were someway back but enjoyed some close racing. Jaden Anderson’s return from injury was on track with a third in race one, but Charlie MacDonald and Robbie Scott finished ahead of him in the second race to push him back to overall 5th. Charlie and Robbie swapped race positions in both races, which ultimately meant Charlie would end up with the final podium position. Great result for Robbie Scott finishing fourth as the lads all grouped together on the finish line to bump fists and show their mutual respect on and off the track. Great to see some spirited racing and friendship off track.
MX1 / MX2
The line up alone on paper was mouth-watering. There was a lot of anticipation not only with the fans, but you could feel the buzz in the paddock as the riders were mingling and exchanging the customary banter. When the gate drops, the bullshit stops, and that’s exactly the way it panned out in the races. Fat Cats the week before had seen some tight racing, and it carried over to Doune for a few of the riders. Shaun Simpson was the obvious fans favourite as the popular Scotsman can still beat the best of them on his day but having matched Shaun last week (on points) John Adamson had other ideas. Shaun, John and Billy MacKenzie all qualified within 1s of each other, and all three were in the mix for the AMD Holeshots. In the first race, Shaun and Jay Hague got wheels tangled at the first corner, which led to both of them having to charge through the pack to minimise the potential points loss. Hague, now on a 450 Honda, followed Simpson through the pack, but neither of them could catch and pass Tristan Purdon and John Adamson, who edged the win. Incredible effort from Simpson but he ran out of laps. He did manage to catch Billy MacKenzie, who ran in third all race until Shaun got past. In race 2, Adamson passed Simpson on the second lap and ran at the front all race. He won by 2 seconds as Simpson looked like he would put on a late push, but Adamson held him off. Tony Craig was running in third, until a 6th lap crash ended his race. Tristan Purdon had to come through from mid-pack after a bad start to take third as Billy Mac proved he still had plenty in the tank to keep pushing. Ross ‘Bunga’ Rutherford, riding a brand new YZF450, came from 12th through to 5th. Simpson finally got the reward of a race win in the final race as he looked strong and won by 5s. Adamson suffered from a leaking exhaust manifold but still held on just ahead of Purdon as Billy Mac got another 4th. Hague finally broke in to the top 5 as he had shown promise all day. John Adamson had the bragging rights this week ahead of Simpson as the impressive Purdon continued his solid riding. Billy Mac was a clear 4th and Ben Edwards battled with Jay Hague all day and took the 5th place ahead of the Honda rider.
MX1 MX2 Start
The MX2 race was just as manic as the two northeast of England riders showed they were up in Scotland to do some serious racing. Carlton Husband and Sam Atkinson travel and race together most weeks and loved the short drive north. It would be Sam’s day as he would finish ahead of his elder race teammate as the pair ran 1,2 all day. Wildcard rider Bryan MacKenzie chose Doune as a warmup race for his upcoming VMXdN race later in August for Team Scotland. Having not turned a lap since the last VMXdN in August 2021, he had two impressive 3rd places. Suffering with some serious arm pump, he faded in race three but had done enough to beat local rider Andrew Pohlen. Pohlen finished 1 point ahead of David Plank, who had his first foray at ScotMX having favoured racing in England for the past few years. He was suitably impressed by the racing and enjoyed a third in the final race. It’s hard to believe Ayden Smith was racing in the Youth / Rookies last year, but the championship winner proved he has potential by taking the top 6 place ahead of series leader Steven Craig.
2 Stroke / Adult Support (Combined)
The normal schedule was reversed at Doune, so the Two Stroke Championship was up first. The race was combined with the Adult Support, and overall numbers were limited to suit the race schedule. The two-strokes were on the gate first to give the championship riders the benefit of a clear track. Dylan Carnegie and Fraser Norrie would battle it out for the overall with Dylan coming out on top. Norrie pushed him all the way, and the racing was frantic at times. The nature of the two-stroke racing always makes for real ding dong duals throughout the class. The Hendry brothers had a battle for third, and Owen only very recently got himself a bike just to race the class, but he couldn’t outdo his younger brother Logan, who has raced the entire series. Ewan Kermack managed to blast out front in the third race and run upfront as he split Greg Maxwell and George Stewart to grab 5th behind Greg. The pair are usually inseparable, but Ewan relished riding the deep sand.
The Adult support had a great number of fast riders making up the gate who would ultimately catch the two-stroke riders and get in the mix for the overall race wins. The staggered start behind the two strokes would see Billy Mackenzie push hard as he had his work cut out to fend off Ben Kennedy and Ryan Mawhinney as the youngsters did their utmost to match his speed. All three riders would take a race win each and hunt down their 2 stroke counterparts. It must have been hard for the spectators to work out who was winning at times, but for the neutral observer, the racing was hectic and exhilarating.
Youth / Rookies
Another thrilling class is the Youth / Rookies. Charley Irwin was on a mission to continue his dominance in the class, and the deep sand of Doune suited his riding style perfectly. Charley had to push through the pack in race one to beat Lee Cameron who was riding a borrowed bike as his race bike developed a terminal fault in qualifying. Luckily, he got to grips with the bike very quickly and did his best to maximise his points even after he cased a jump and damaged his ankle in race 1. Kyle Peel got the final podium with some great consistent riding and did enough to stay ahead of Logan Ferguson, who had a disappointing first race dropping from third to sixth and limiting his chances of a podium. Graham Haddow also had a poor first race, but his return from long-term injury shows promise as he managed a third in race 2. I’m sure he’s happy to break into the top 5 and will continue to improve. Benas Blazevicius rounded out the top 6 and showed some real speed throughout the day.
85 Small Wheel / 85 Big Wheel
Another rider coming back from injury was Jaden Anderson. He sustained a serious head injury riding his BMX bike a few weeks ago, but he was back doing what he does best. His best wasn’t good enough though, as Malachi Allan had other ideas. It was another master class from Malachi as he would dominate all day, winning all three races by a mile. Another good ride from Robbie Scott got him the final podium place as Kyle Graham and Jamie McKee fought it out for 4th. Jamie’s third in race 2 wasn’t quite enough to overhaul the wee Irish lad. Jay Baker had some thrills n spills on his way to sixth.
In the BW class, Ryan Haddow rode like a demon in race three after he picked the bike up at the first corner and rode hard through the pack to take the overall. Charlie Macdonald couldn’t match Ryan’s speed at Doune, but he did enough to stay ahead of James McGowan. Robbie Peace and Aaron Tait had good solid performances and broke into the top 6; Harry Nunn has been making steady progress throughout the year.
65’s
Bali Black took his first-ever race win in race two at Doune and showed there’s more to come as his consistency was rewarded with a great win as he lead every lap and never looked threatened by Aaron Todd in that race. Aaron has had the best record in the 65’s all season, and he showed why he’s the lad to beat in race 1 and 3 as Alfie Lawrie had a quiet day by his standards. Charlie Casselden was only a point behind Alfie, but his final race let him down as he couldn’t recover enough places after a bad start to overhaul Alfie. George “Doodle” Dryden day started off with a second corner crash which meant a hard slog to battle through to 8th. His day did improve as he showed some good speed, but overall 5th was the best he could muster. Liam Everard matched Doodle on points but finished behind him in the final race, which meant 6th overall for the day.
Autos
Cole McAuley enjoyed another visit over to Scotland with a 2,1,1 for his efforts. Although Jack Martin edged race 1, Cole would dominate the next two races as Martin blew the chance of the overall with a first corner crash in the last race. Aiden Anton secured the final podium with two great 3rd places in the first two races and just managed to outdo Hunter Haldane by a single point as his last race didn’t go to plan. Harris Curran pipped Liam Hannah to 5th as Liam’s third in the final race just wasn’t enough to improve his result.
Round 6 of the ScotMX Championship, powered by Milwaukee, continues on 13th/14th August at Clayshant Motocross. Entries are open and available www.scotmx.com
