NEWSLETTER APRIL 2018

TWINSHOCK NEWSLETTER APRIL 2018

Well hello again lovely people,just a wee update and race review from last Sunday at Lochgilphead. What super weather we had at round 2 on Sunday last at the great Achnashellach track which was prepared to perfection the previous week by that great ambassador for the sport ,Sean Doherty, Sean spent a few days re-doing parts of the track and generaly making things more user friendly for us old codgers .He did a grand job as the track was in superb condition and the weather which held up till the end of the last race made for a great weekend for all that made the pilgrimage to the stunning venue ,thanks Sean and also to Stewart Campbell the track owner for having us for round 2,we can only hope for more of the same next year.

The meeting got off to an early start with the race 1 boys showing how it should be done,in the pre 77 class it was the resurgent Gary Britton that cleaned up here with 3 consistent rides culminating with a win to claim the top spot from new boy to this class big John Fullerton in second and another Britton the sex god Ewan in 3rd.                               The fourstroke class was dominated by Keith Stanford who seems to produce a super turn of speed at this track to take the 3 wins in this class just in front of Sam Sibbald and ex champ Rick Caldwell in third after some great racing. The 125 evo class was dominated by Willie Penrice who seems to get faster every time he sits on a bike with the minor placings taken by Damien Carter in 2nd and Ewan Campbell 3rd. The youths gave a great display of riding skills and a good turn of speed to please the massive crowd of spectators that had turned up at this event .It was young Kyle Mcclure that took top honours from Harrison Grossett in 2nd and Conor Paton in 3rd.                                                         Next on the agenda was the over 50s class and John Crawford seems determined this year to win this crown but current over 50 champ Jim Grieve who had a brief swarree into the twinshock class but realised it was too fast for him made a storming comeback into the slower over 50s class with 2 wins and a 2nd to claim the overall from John who will take a bit of catching this year now and in 3rd with a great score was John Lamont who rode out of his skin at this track and a mention must go to Robbie Allan in 4th after a mega long lay off from moto x he still shows plenty skill and determination from his previous experiences on motorcycles . The super fast Twinshock class just seems to grow and grow at this club,with Brian Alexander continuing his winning ways with 3 wins from the multi talented Gordon Morrison with 3 2nds and the long time Twinshock hero of the club Paul Chiappa in 3rd and in joint 4th was Craig Smith and the classic nobber fisherman Walter Bonkmore who both rode well but the top men were gone.  The 250 Twinshocks again produced some great close racing and new kid on the block Callum Kilgour again scored a hattrick of wins to claim the overall from poor old Richie Mcfadden with 3 seconds and Lewis Hart just pipping David Stanford to 3rd. Richie caught his foot in a rut near the end of race 3 while leading and thought he had twisted his ankle but still managed to finish 2nd,his leg swelled a bit on the way home so his travelling buddy ,Grant took him to the local A and E where an X.Ray showed a broken Fibula ,amazing ,well anyway we wish him a speedy recovery and he tells me he hopes to be back in the saddle at round 4 at the superb Duns Motocross Tack on the 10th June, he can always volunteer to Marshall at round 3 at Powmill on the 27th May ,the easiest earned £50 on the planet ,yes that is what we now pay our Marshalls and we appreciate the work they do as it is and always has been a thankless job and a thorn in the side of many motocross clubs but we are sorted now on that front. Conspicuous by his absence from this class was the music guru Graham Miller but I hear he was pumped up the rear in the early hours of the Sunday morning ,I hope it was not too sore and you should go to the Doctor for some cream if you haven’t already been creamed and we hope you are back soon. Enough of my rantings and back to the race report. The Evolution open class just goes from strength to strength in this great club,it was good to see my old team mate Tam Grant back to his fast charging riding style and he looks to be just about back up to full speed but he could not hold off the special skilled Paul Johnston who was flying and took the 3 wins from Tam in second from youngblood Roy Potts who took the 3rd rostrum spot . Bryan Colligan was the top scorer overall in the 2 stroke open class after a hard fought tussle with Gregor Campbell and Andrew White with new boy to this class David Simmonds in 4th Peter O,Neill who had a puncture free day in 5th . The Monoshock open class was won by the fast and steady riding Des Halewood from Greg Maxwell in 2nd and the super fast John Adamson who suffered a broken chain in race 1 that spoiled his overall result but he showed great skill in winning race 3 on Sean Doherty,s old evo Yamaha but it wasn,t enough as Des and Greg had done enough in the earlier races for the overall 1,2. So to round up,it was a great meeting with plenty action and close racing in all the classes and we now roll on to round 3 at Powmill on the 27th May.If we have any budding track builders who think they can lay out a decent track at Powmill, come along on the Wednesday before the event and show us your skills ,you might even get paid for the effort.On the subject of payment ,we used to pay Monty £60 per event for doing the race report but I have not seen or heard from him since last October so I have been doing it for nothing in the meantime,if any budding reporter wants the job let me know and if Monty is absent you might get the job.I don’t know if Monty will be a Powmill but if he is he will be doing the report.

As some of you may have heard we are running a 25 year celebration event at Powmill in August. This will be a 2 day affair but only normal racing on the Sunday.The Saturday will be a recreation of our first event and will be Twinshock only .If your bike has one yes 1 shock absorber on the rear it will not be allowed to race on this day with one exception which will be any pre 77 yamaha ,yes pre 77 only as these were allowed back in the day at our first event .So are we clear here,no Monoshock bikes on the Saturday event apart from pre 77 Yamaha,s . Your Chairman and his floozy promise a programme of nice things for the Saturday, Le Mans starts,past masters parade ,a big tent with a band called Duke Street .Guests of honour include Mr Twinshock Bill Brown, multi champion Paul Chiappa ,Graham Ferguson and representatives for all our sponsors. Due to the cost of putting on such an event everybody will pay £5 at the gate ,if it is in your vehicle and is breathing it will be £5 that includes animals,kids ,anything that is living even the goldfish if you bring it .If you want to argue about this just don,t come as we don,t have the time to argue ,plenty warning even if you are racing it is a fiver to get in, but the good thing for Saturday riders is the entry fee to race will only be £20 plus membership ,day or full ,the club will cover any licence costs on Saturday only .Adults only pay at the gate on Sunday again only £5 to include a big juicy programme ,is this the cheapest club in Scotland ,oh aye joe oh aye I hear you say .Entry forms for the Saturday 25th August are included with this newsletter . As the club wants all members to be aware of our sponsors a programme has been mailed to all current members and if possible it would be great if you could use our sponsors as they are great people and it pays them to pay us to help you with discounts and great service so everyone is happy. Please support and use our Sponsors as without them we may not exist,thanks.

Dance tickets went on sale on Sunday and big Rick reports a massive amount sold so if you missed him last week be sure to catch him at Powmill as the amount of tickets is limited and when they are gone there will be no more, £15 per Adult on the 3rd November at Strathaven Hotel ML10 6SZ.No refunds .Rick and Gaz promise a night of unadulterated fun,fun,fun.

Team Challenge latest points are as follows . ONESTOP Racing have extended their lead and are now on 394 points In second with having hopped up the leader board are Dial-A-Tow with 282 points .                                                                   In third with 257 points are Colin,s kings and making steady progress up the board are TEAM ARGYLL with 255 points.

Graham will have sorted all the championship points and results and they can be seen on mylaps via the club forum or farceboak.Also plenty and I mean thousands of cracking photos by our regular photographers at Lochgilphead,we thank you all as without you all things would be dull.

Could you have a wee read of the club rules at the back of your free programme , we don,t have many rules so please adhere to them it saves us time and hassle.

That’s aboot it this month ,cheers joe

Friday, March 29, 2024
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