Braintree & District Motorcycle Club www.braintree-mcc.co.uk

TAIL LIGHT July 2017

OFFICERS OF THE CLUB FOR 2017 Chairman: Steve Butcher 01376 516051 stephenbutcher1376@tiscali.co.uk

Secretary: John Yearley johnyearley11@aol.com Treasurer: Chris Cook 01376 328602

Auditor: Andrew Thain Membership & EC Gazette Secretary: Stuart Penfold stuart.penfold@ymail.com

Competitions Recorder: Wes Butcher 07949 031343

Tail Light Editor: Wes Butcher 22 Newland St, Witham. CM8 2AQ wesley.butcher@atrium-uw.com EC Board Reps: Eddie Wass and Chris Cook

Committee: Andrew Thain 01376 339226, James Yearley 07734 801066, Wes Butcher, Adrian Parker 01371 850508, Allen Collier 01371 850609,

Chris Cook, Sam Cook 0777087643, Phil Read, John Yearley Trustees of the Club: Dave Clark, John Yearley, Eddie Wass Bob Maiden

DIARY

1st & 2nd July – National Rally passes through Bradwell.

Volunteers required for 2 hours stints – Call Eddie Wass on 01376 331111

22nd July – Summer Trail at Snaque Pit for everyone including beginners and wobblers – Junior Academy form 3.00 and main trial at 5.30.

6th August – Langford Museum of Power bike festival – Come and display your old bike. The Osets will

also be there.

It feels like the summer... Welcome to the 2nd edition of the year. The weather has been pretty good and for some of us riding motorcycles take a back seat to picnics and days at the beach. Thankfully we have some more committed riders and the likes of Richard and James have been flying the Braintree flag all over the show in numerous disciplines. This quarter has of course seen the successful running of our biggest event of the year – the Stisted MX. You can read all about it in this edition. This truly is a monumental effort on the part of the club and the army of volunteers – so thanks to every one of them. We’ve had tremendous feedback on the day which makes all the sweat and tears worthwhile. Thanks to everyone that sent me some news to include in this edition and wherever you’re reading this – enjoy the summer!

Stisted Scramble 2017 Perfect track conditions, fine weather, race dramas throughout, Braintree & District Motorcycle Club’s 62nd year of motocross at Stisted was celebrated in style on Sunday when local riders stormed to glory. Utilising an excellent new track layout designed and constructed by Club rider Aaron Smith, spectators and

riders alike voted the reverse direction format a winner. Highlight of the day was the tug of war for supremacy in the MX1/MX2 class between Cressing’s Jason Morland and newcomer to Stisted 16 year old top British Youth Championship contender Ben Clarke from Beazley End. Clarke was equally at home over the natural terrain of this traditional style circuit as for the larger modern national tracks he races on over the year. But evergreen Morland was having none of the potential threat from Clarke’s youthful energy and national level credentials – not only did MX1 expert Morland stick, as most do, to the one class of 4 legs of 15 minutes plus a lap, he borrowed a classic 550cc twinshock Husqvarna from event sponsor and local business man Steve Finch to compete in the Twinshock group, which ran with the NGR Over-30s races. Embarrasingly for the top NGR runners, Morland beat off the modern bikes to take the overall win across another 4 legs on the 33 year old machine! Event Manager David Smith introduced a “sudden death” style grand final to settle this year’s battle for the Jack Hubbard Trophy. The top 13 points scorers from each class came together for the last race of the day. With two MX1/MX2 leg wins apiece, first out from the elastic start gate was Clarke, on his smaller 250cc machine, with Morland caught behind a couple of other fast gaters. Over the space of 3 laps Morland got within clear sight of Clarke’s back wheel. The two edged away from the rest of the field and by the halfway point they were half a lap ahead of everyone else. By now the crowd was on its heels. Nobody thought the ultra-fit but tiring Morland – in this his 9th race of the day - could find the stamina to press Clark, but sheer determination and relentless pressure from the Jim Aim Racing sponsored expert pushed the young rider into a mistake at the ditch crossing on the very last lap. Morland crossed the finish line well clear of everyone to howls of delight from a crowd who had got caught up in this dramatic finale to the event. Runner-up Clarke said afterwards that he could have done with Jason’s 350cc engine….! Morland was delighted to get his name on the Trophy for a 4th time and both riders received special extra prizes from the family of the late Jack Hubbard for their day’s efforts. Meanwhile, other local riders had to cope with mishaps that would marr their hopes of success. Rayne’s Aaron Smith got caught up in the start gate elastic and after leading his first NGR leg for 3 laps, crashed at one of the middle field cambers to finish a creditable 7th overall even after failing to complete one of his four legs. Dad John hurt his shoulder in another and Halstead’s James Yearley lost a valuable placing when he went down at the top end chicane, finishing in 11th overall position on the Courtney Lang Enduro KTM. Braintree EVO rider Jordan Pasquale took 6th overall in the pre 1990s group after securing an excellent two 4th leg placings. The expectations of Stisted’s Will Hughes were denied. Still sporting a broken toe from an Enduro crash a month ago, he couldn’t take part. RESULTS MX1/MX2 1. Jason Morland 74 2. Ben Clarke 72 3. Sam Mitchell 62 4. Richard Roper 42 5. James Barker 42 Leg winners: Morland (2), Clarke (2) NGR Over 30s Championship/Twinshocks:

1. Jason Morland 72 2. Liam Walker 64 3. Timothy Clark 57

4. Ryan George 46 5. Mark Lloyd 29 Leg winners: Clark (2), Morland (2) Best Twinshock: Jason Morland Eastern Evo Championship (Pre 1990 machines): 1. Brad Tomlin 80 2. Robert Mead 68 3. Jacob Chambers 51 4. Ian Mead 36 5. Gary Gladwin 36 Leg winners: Tomlin (4) Jack Hubbard Trophy Final: 1st Jason Morland 2nd Ben Clarke

3rd Sam Mitchell 4th Mark Lloyd 5th Richard Roper

Richard Sillett

riders coming out from the elastic start gate in the first NGR over 30s race.

The start of the Jack Hubbard Trophy grand final - Ben Clark taking the lead.

Jason Morland aboard the 33 year old twinshock Husqvarna.

Aaron Smith – Without Aaron the event would not run so say thanks when you see him!

Halstead's James Yearley

Jason Morland with Jack Hubbard Trophy next to Ben Clarke runner-up on right, flanked by Susan Lee, daughter of late JH and families.

Glamorous Jobs Here is club unsung hero Dave Clarke spotted in action doing one of those jobs that people would rather not think about! Bogs don’t just appear by magic apparently. It was a revelation to me. Apparently Glastonbury are watching him closely with a view to headhunting him for the 2019 festival…

Junior Academy The club has been very busy with its Junior Academy initiative since the last Taillight. On the 8th April Paul Belton let us use his wonderful wood to host an Academy only day. The sun was shining and you cannot ask for a better venue so a great time was had by all. A couple of weeks later on the 23rd April young Finn Penny used the OSET16 to ride in the Castle clubs Thorrington trial. Castle had very kindly offered to put something on for the small electric bikes and Finn spent the day being shown the ropes by Jim Cammack alongside Jims grandson George. Big thank you to Jim and his riding buddy our very own Roy Palmer! Finn done tremendously well to get round the trial with the lap at Thorrington being one of the largest in the Eastern Centre these days. It was of course a first for the club in its history to have one of our bikes used and we hope this will be the first of many to come. On the 4th June Finn, Jack and Maya rode the bikes as a demonstration at the Scramble. Whilst only being on show for a short while it created a lot of interest amongst the large crowd watching the scramble and this could be something we build on for next year. Many in the Scramble crowd had little comprehension of trials so it really opened their eyes to these fantastic little machines. Finally on the 24th June we hosted another electric only youth trial at Adrian’s land in Beazley End. Here we had a big graded meadow to enjoy and 4 sections to test the youngsters. The sections were on the hard side but it’s a learning process for all of us involved and we will make sure we get them easier next time round. We have now had well over 30 young riders come and have a go at the Academy. These are youngsters that would not otherwise had the opportunity to ride and learn what our sport is all about. 6 months in to its launch I think the club should be very proud of its achievements so far…

Below – Stuart finds some time to read through my collection of 1960’s motorcycling magazines

Below – What a fantastic venue – plenty of room to learn on…

Below – Here is a bit of club history in the making with Finn riding an academy bike at the Castle Colchester trial in April:

Below – Everyone enjoying thmslves at Purls Hill at the beginining of April

Below – The young riders check out the latest challenge in store…

Below – My two enjoy the hospitality at the Scramble courtesy of James and Katherine (Looks like Mark is

enjoying it too!)

Below – Stuart checks over the 16 at the Scramble.

Below – Finn and Jack head back to base as the riders get ready for the post lunch racing.

Below – Finn, Maya and Jack collect their certificates.

Below – Just before wacky races commences at Purls Hill!

Remember to you ring Wes on 07949 031343 to book your place or for more details on future events.

Everyone is welcome as long as they can ride a pedal bike and those with their own electric bikes are

most definitely welcome and will have sections laid on that suit their ability.

Thank You Peter Clark

Belated shout out to Pete who very generously donated Ben’s old boots and helmets for our Junior Academy. It was much appreciated and they have already been put to good use. If anyone else would like to donate please get in touch with one of the committee.

SSDT 2017

Chairman and Ace enjoyed their annual pilgrimage to the highlands – Below are a few shots of them enjoying the glorious weather and scenery.

CLUB TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 Just two events counting towards the club championships have run since the last Taillight. First up was the John Kendall memorial Thorrington trial run by Castle. This was a nice day out with good sections plotted around the nice long lap. I had a pretty handy ride dropping 5 dabs to miss out on the Expert win by just a mark. The old man rode ok too finishing 3rd in the inters on 32. Richie Penfold was next up in 7th place on 69. Allen had a very good ride dropping just 8 on the hard route to finish 4th in the Twinshocks. Squeak wasn’t far behind on 14 putting him in 6th with Bat in 10th. Finn came 3rd in the Youth E. Roy was 2nd in the Pre 65’s. Next up was the Chelmsford run trial at Beazley End on the 6th May. Unfortunately I haven’t heard much about the event but I can see that Squeak got the Honda out and finished 2nd in the Expert B’s. Roy was 6th in the inters. Next round to count is our summer series trial at the Snaque Pit on the 22nd July. Hope to see a few more of you there!

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BRAINTREE COLCHESTER CHELMSFORD BRAINTREE BRAINTREE COLCHESTER BRAINTREE SPANSEY WOOD THORINGTON BEAZLEY END SNAQUE PIT

PURLS HILL ALPHAMSTONE BEAZLEY END

13/03/2016 23/04/2017 13/05/2017 22/07/2017 10/09/2017 08/10/2017 17/12/2017

Position at Thorington

Position at Beazley End Total Championship Points

Expert B Wes Butcher 1 n/a 50 Graham Palmer n/a 2 20 Inter Stephen Butcher 3 n/a 17 Richard Penfold 7 n/a 9 Sam Cook n/a n/a 20 Roy Palmer n/a 6 10 Inter B Chris Cook n/a n/a 10 Martin Baker n/a n/a 0 Barry Harber n/a n/a 0 Novice Paul Jefferies n/a n/a 25 Graham Corker n/a n/a 17 Mark Hale n/a n/a 0 Carl Turner n/a 0 Nathan Baily 0 n/a 0 Paul French 0 n/a 0 Craig King 0 n/a 0 Pre 70 Allen Collier n/a n/a 25 Phil Read n/a n/a 20 Roy Palmer 2 n/a 20 Twinshock Graham Palmer 6 n/a 24 Allen Collier 4 n/a 14 Kevin Palmer 10 n/a 16 Martin Baker n/a n/a 9 Roy Palmer 5 12 Youth Finn Penny 3 n/a 17