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P.A.R.Homes Lmt. /Bache’s Bargains
2008 Welsh Open Motocross championship, Rd. 2
by Andrew James

Round two of the 2008 Welsh Open Motocross championships sponsored by P.A.R.Homes and Bache’s Bargains got off to a slightly dryer start than the opening round had some weeks earlier. The forecast for rain proved right however later in the evening and this no doubt had some effect in keeping a large percentage of the usual crowd away, still it was another good assembly of 1,000 spectators that saw the three blocks of action take place at Cwmythig hill, near Rhayader.

World Motocross Championships again affected the expert line up with many of the countries G.P. riders electing to stay away and prepare for the coming Irish G.P. What was missing in quantity was more than made up for by quality of racing however. Shane Carless took the P.A.R.Homes Honda to the holeshot in the opening expert class moto but his lead was brief as team-mate Ray Rowson took the lead up the first hill and into the whoops. The pack bobbed through the whoops and launched themselves off the ski jump into the big downhill section of track that leads to the wall of death. Rowson closed lap one with Carless, Kip Herring and Ashley Greedy in tow. Greedy got past Herring on lap three and joined the lead pair to make it a three horse race. The odds were stacked in Rowson’s favour though as his 450cc Honda seems very quick in a straight line and he used the pace to stay clear of Carless and Greedy. Moto two followed a similar vein in that Rowson took an early lead from Greedy and Herring. Carless had a poor start but it only took a couple of laps for him to work his way into fourth spot. The race developed into Carless holding a 3-4 second lead over Greedy while Herring and Carless had a ding dong battle for third spot that went to the line with Herring taking the final podium spot by half a wheel. Rowson set up his hat trick of wins by taking the holeshot in the third race, a position he was not to relinquish. Carless was the first to take up the chase from Greedy who then took over and moved right into Rowson’s roost. Herring took over in third as Carless had slipped back but on the second lap Herring left the door open at the end of the start straight and Carless re-took third. Herring decided he liked the position though and re-took third at the top of the hill.  The race spread out with around 4 seconds separating first, second and third which herring held on to.

The opening Senior and Junior class racing saw Gareth Hickey take the holeshot from fellow Dredgers MXC rider Kristian Jones and Wrexham’s Aled Bellis. Hickey pulled a lead as Bliss took over second spot with Phil Lloyd moving into third after a poor start. Lloyd’s luck turned again though in the third lap when he found the front of his Suzuki was out on the wall of death and lay its self down in the greasy earth. Hickey maintained his lead from Bellis while Lloyd put in a fantastic effort to regain third by the chequered flag. Moto two and Hickey was once again out in front at the start. Lloyd was right on his tail however with Lloyd Jones in third. Phil Lloyd took the lead on lap two and once out in front opened up a gap of some five seconds from Hickey and Jones with top Junior rider Luke Davies getting mixed up in the action. The race closed with Lloyd cruising to victory while Hickey and Davies went side by side over the finish line as the rain began to get heavy. Bellis picked up third spot in the Senior class while Eirwyn Roberts collected his second fourth placed finish of the night. Phil Lloyd picked up his second race win of the night in the final moto, the race following the pattern of moto two where Lloyd once out in front just had to contend with the track conditions which became slippery as the rain fell. No Worries for Lloyd though as he took the win once again from Hickey, Bellis and Roberts completing a hat trick of fourth spots. The Junior class was a tight affair with Luke Davies and Lloyd Jones taking a win and a second place apiece in the first two races, both riders giving the Senior class riders a run for their money. It was Davies who was on the pace in the final moto taking a big win and the overall with Kristian Jones getting second spot from Jones.

Craig Watkins took the 250cc “BPM Engineering” KTM to first place in opening two novice class races. Watkins had to battle for the wins though with Neath rider Wayde Parry and Local hero Andrew Evans from Rhayader taking second spot behind Watkins in races one and two respectively.  It went a bit off track in the final moto for Watkins as the by now slippery conditions started to make life hard for the novice class riders. Parry however seemed to relish the conditions and he broke clear to take the win from Llanwrin’s Gareth Davies, Watkins in third spot which was good enough for overall on the night.

In the local beginner class Rhayader based rider Aled Price was unbeatable as he took his 125cc Suzuki to first place in each of the nights three races. Kevin Bond beat fellow Rhayader local Ryan Jones for second spot in the opening race but Bound failed to finish races two and three.