2014 R5 Garelochead
Round 5, Glen Fruin, Garelochead. Sunday the 6th of July 2014
It’s hard to imagine they are now halfway through their 2014 race calendar already as the Scottish Twinshock Scramble Club headed to the picturesque location of Garelochead on the west coast of Scotland to hold Round five of their ten round championship.
Every round thus far in 2014 has been blessed with excellent riding conditions thanks to the superb summer weather the UK is currently enjoying. And the track at Garelochead was in top form for this halfway point encounter.
The track of course at Garelochead is all prepared and fettled by none other than Sean Doherty, Gordon Forbes and their little west coast band of elves who had worked tirelessly for almost a fortnight getting the course in tip-top shape.
It was yet another superb Saturday evening for camping, lighting the barbeque and chatting away with a few beers and taking in that breath- taking view over the picturesque Ardentinney hills. Many revellers of course took the opportunity for a sly bit of practise on the newly constructed course and come Sunday raceday the track looked like we had already had a 15 race meeting on it before the first bikes went to the line.
First to the starting gate were of course the vintage Pre 77 class. Many of these riders took full advantage of our club secretary’s gesture to pay (YES YOU HEARD ME RIGHT . . PAY) all Pre 77 class club members their entry fee for this round five event, “wow things are looking up”! These vintage class riders paid back the club’s generosity by providing some fast and entertaining racing on their antique classic bikes .Dunoon man Ritchie McFadden’s yellow wheeled Maico took maximum points with the overall win from John Fraser second and another excellent show from Albert Britton in third.
In the Over 40’s class “Sparky” Davie Watson got wired in and showed the rest of the pack a clean pair of heels as he romped home to the class win. Local rider Gordon Forbes was equally quick on his big Maico but could not match the speed of Watson’s Honda on the day. Another Dunoon local Grant McClure filled the last podium spot in third whilst Ian Clark brought his “Maico Only” 490 home to fourth.
In was another battle royal in the Garelochead dustbowl as title contenders Davie Pullar and Graham Naismith bashed bars in the Over 50’s class. Big Graham got a huge start off the line in race one although Pullar soon reeled him in to take the chequered flag and the overall win on the day. Naismith was still happy with second place overall and was first to admit he was beaten fair and square by the faster man on the day. Scott Napier was also very quick over the three legs and he would take a well-earned third position when the eventual points were calculated.
Peter O’Neil notched up another round five victory in the Pre 1990 Evo 125 formula and this puts him in a very commanding lead in the points table in this particular class. Brian Colligan pecked away at O’Neil’s heels for most of the three moto’s although this runner-up spot was still a decent consolation for all his efforts come the final whistle. John Howard filled the last podium spot to take a third place finish.
Possibly though the best racing of the day was served up by the big guns in the Twinshock Open class. In race one Craig Smith bolted straight from the gate into an early lead with Paul Chiappa hot on his tail. Chiappa tried in vain but the pint sized Dunfermline gas fitter held on for a very rare but worthy race win. In race two Smith again was on the gas taking an early lead from Chiappa. On the final lap Smith stalled his machine on the downhill section of the course letting Chiappa take race two. In race three Smith got off to the best possible starts although Chiappa did not come out the gate as quick and was further down the field, it looked like Smith was heading for the overall win until Chiappa stormed through the field and passed Smith for the eventual victory.
The Twinshock 250’s class were fast and furious with another maximum points score for enduro rider Graham Smith on that very quick I.T Yamaha. Graham Miller is slowly making a name for himself in 2014 as he took the runner-up spot with yet another superb result on his flying Husqvarna. Alec Joiner took third prize for his days efforts from Ayrshire man Gary Whyte in fourth.
The very quick Evolution class riders loved the fast flowing layout of the extremely dusty Garelochead race-track, although the racing was still some of the best seen in the current 2014 campaign. Anyone of four or five riders could have taken the overall on the day but Tom Grant was the most determined over the three legs and he would finish the eventual victor from Davie Ross second and wee “Bobiss” Alan Reid in third. Ross did a lot of the early front running in this class and put in some spectacular holeshot’s from the gate, although Grant’s dogged determination was what eventually won him through on the day. Mind you Round 4’s Evo winner at Stirling Gordon Morrison could have done better over the course of the three legs had it not been for me deciding to mount a camera on his bike to record him blasting past Tom Grant at breakneck speed. Although the curse of the Monty’s soon put paid to that idea as he hit the Garelochead dust while lying in about third place. “I always f***ing fall aff when I put one of those f***ing things on” came the reply. Sorry Gordon point taken . . . . . by the way anybody want to be fitted with a camera at Lochgilphead?.
Big Findlay White was the man to beat in the Fourstroke class although Calum Wilson tried to improve on his second position overall by hounding White to the eventual chequered flag. Alan Tweedie stood on the last step of the podium in third with Twinshock club chairman Rick Caldwell in fourth.
The brand new for 2014 Two-Stroke class laid on some good racing for the sun soaked but stoorie spectators, and it was Jimmy Harley who finished top dog from Dougie Garden in second. Young “Tarzan” or John Kenny was fast from the gate over the piece although a third place finish is still worthy of the effort he put in over the three legs.
There was another good turnout of modern machines in the Monoshock support classes, and these were divided into two individual race groups the Mono A‘s (Championship Registered riders) and Mono B’s (Day Members).
In the Monoshock B Class it was Alan Deans who dominated with the overall win on his Kawasaki, and in the Monoshock A Class it was Ross Fitzsimmons who was the eventual victor.
If the remainder of the season is as good as the first five rounds then this could be the season to surpass all that has gone before, especially if the weather continues to co-operate. Our next event will be Round 6 at Achnashelloch in Lochgilphead on the 3rd of August, this is a cracking track and well worth camping out for the weekend if the weather is good.
The DVD from the Graelochead event will be ready soon and it will have almost every race on it that took place on the day, (that is of course minus the first two monoshock races), this was due to a slight technical malfunction and the many cleg bites I was receiving at the time, but the remaining 1 hour 25mins of footage is well worth the pittance of the £10 asking price. Pictures from the Round five event at Garelochead are also now on the club website Forum listed under “Past Events”, and if you see any you fancy just call or text me on 07733 130 300 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I will sort you out.
See you soon (Monty)
Results
Over 40’s
1 D Watson
2 G Forbes
3 G McClure
4 I Clark
5 T Reid
6 W Pentland
Over 50’s
1 D Pullar Jnr
2 G Naismith
3 S Napier
4 J Rutherford
5 D Bruce
6 D Penrice
Pre 77 class
1 R McFadden
2 J Fraser
3 A Britton
4 B Robertson
5 G Britton
6 C King
Fourstroke class
1 F White
2 C Wilson
3 A Tweedie
4 R Caldwell
5 A Adair
6 D McKell
Pre 1990 Evo 125 class
1 P O’Neil
2 B Colligan
3 J Howard
4 G Meechan
5 W Penrice
6 D Lamont
Twinshock 250 class
1 G Smith
2 G Miller
3 A Joiner
4 G Whyte
5 I Rennie
6 D Kilgour
Twinshock Open Class
1 P Chiappa
2 C Smith
3 J McLean
4 B Allardyce
5 C Robertson
6 A Aitken
Evolution Class
1 T Grant
2 D Ross
3 A Reid
4 G Morrison
5 M Hannah
6 M Kenny
Monoshock B Class (Day Members)
1 A Deans
2 I Wilson
3 P Rennie
4 C Laird
5 D Williamson
6 R Laird
Monoshock A Class
1 R Fitzsimmons
2 A Shields
3 S Doherty
4 R Potts
5 C Rennie
6 I McQueen
Two Stroke Class
1 J Harley
2 D Garden
3 J Kenny
4 D Allan
5 J Birse
6 W Rodman
Grand National
1 A Reid
2 M Hannah
3 G Morrison
4 D Pullar
5 C Smith
6 I Wilson