QRS ROUND 1 REPORT

Sunday 6th of April was a date for the diary as there was no rain an Scotland just a small snow blizzard for the opening round of the 2008 SACU Scottish quad championships, hosted by Quad Racing Scotland and sponsored by Graham Construction at the Fife Community off road track in fife. We must be mad I thought, I was glad I had chosen not to race this year.

Walking round the pits everybody seamed to be full of high spirits and not of the alcoholic type. There were lots of huddles of racers letting everybody know what modifications they had made to their quads over the winter along with the strict training they had done in preparation for the new seasons racing. Sign on and scrutineering seemed to pass without any hick ups and with big Iain Clark walking up and down the pits with his megaphone keeping all informed of the mornings timings. With the snow still falling the riders meeting was delayed as the debating went on as to race or not race. The decision to race made, the slightly heaver adult quads went out to practice and to clear the track of snow which only took a couple of laps.

The 50cc riders kicked off the day’s proceedings on a shortened track with the standard and modified quads doing battle in the bitter cold. This made it hard for some of the riders to hold on but once they got competitive the cold was forgotten and only the bike in front of them became the target as they chased each other down, after the three races were over it was Thomas Tobin who took 1st place for the day in the standard class with Harry Carmichael 2nd and Aaron Swan 3rd.

The 50cc modified got under way with last years 50cc standard champion Ryan McLeish coming out ahead of Lawrence Whyte over the three races and not to be out down by the boys Abby Clark took 3rd place for her days racing.

50cc to 100cc open class saw AJ Third take wins in the 1st and 3rd races but a DNF in race two left him outside the top three on the day, although he did get the fastest lap time of 2:03. The battle for top dog for the day fell to Jamie Swan with a 4th in race 1 followed by a win in race 2 and ending his day with 3rd in race 3. Regan Carmichael in his first race in this class showed he would around for the year with placings of 2nd, 2nd, 4th giving him 2nd overall on the day. 3rd place was taken by Mark Meiklem who had two 3rd places and a 5th in race 3. This class will definitely be one to keep an eye on this year.

100cc geared who raced, along with the auto’s, had there own battle with Alexander Third leading the way with three race wins followed by Laura Nicol and Tayler Gibb.

            200cc 2 stroke – 250cc 4 stroke. With the new Yamaha 250 4 stroke on show today we waited to see if it had the grunt to take on the traditional 2 stroke Blaster. Race 1 saw Mark Hadden following last years championship win taking 1st place in race one followed by Connor Smith on the Yam 250 in his first race after stepping up from 100cc last year take 2nd with James Third 3rd. Race 2 went the same way as race one. Race 3 however did not go to plan for Hadden after leading and setting fastest lap of 1:53 he fund himself tumbling round a corner without his bike, this mishap let in Conner Smith for the win with David Forrest 2nd  and Andy Britton jnr 3rd. Overall standings finished 1st Conner Smith, 2nd Mark Hadden, 3rd David Forrest.

Adult Support saw Kevin Millar fly off the start line and lead for the early laps before Josh Fowler managed to catch and pass him with a couple laps left to race and Mark Wilson A close 3rd. Race 2 went the same as race 1 which set up for a great race 3 which it was turning out to be until Fowler had a bad accident which left him out of contention for points to Which Aarron Stuart took Advantage. Fastest lap went too Millar with a time of 1:47. Overall standings 1st Kevin Millar, 2nd Mark Wilson, 3rd Scott Robertson.

            Over 40 does not mean over the hill with these guys giving it there all as if there life depended on it, Race 1 saw Andy Britton take the lead and hold on to it from Ian Neill on the 450 for the first time behind them was a titanic battle between John Crawford and Bobby Graham for 3rd place which came to an end when they both spun out on one of the tight corners which left Graham stuck for enough time for others to pass and drop him down to 5th place. Race 2 went the same as race 1 apart that Graham got revenge and finished 3rd. Race 3 again finished the same as 2 although Neill did have the lead for a short period time before Britton took it back for the win. Fastest lap went to Andy Britton with a time of 1:46.

            The Championship which was short Leon Beda and Kyle Morrison who were away racing in the first round of the British championships opened the door for some new faces to show what they were made of. Race 1 had all racers finishing on the same lap which I don’t think has happened before. Scott McMillan took an early lead which he would not give up for the rest of the race, although Ian Tait kept him honest through out waiting on any mistake to take over. Richard Telford worked hard for his 3rd place. Race 2 went the same as race one for 1st and 2nd with Albert Smith riding with a little more control to take 3rd place. Race 3 again finished McMillan, Tait and Smith. Fastest lap of the day went to Scott McMillan with a time of 1:44. Overall standing after three races was 1st Scott McMillan, 2nd Ian Tait, 3rd Walter Sheilds.

            On a sad note we all wish Josh Fowler a speedy recovery after his accident in race 3 of the support class left him with a broken leg.

            To finish all the riders would like to thank all the marshal’s who saw all 4 seasons helping out so that the races could go ahead. To the Cardenden Team who prepared the track you did a great job and gave the riders a track that could be raced on through everything thrown at it on Sunday.

            Don’t Forget Round 2 on 4th May at ARDERSIER get entries in early? And don’t forget motor sport can be dangerous, be good ride safe. (777)