The curtain was brought down on the 2023 Formula Grasstrack championship on Saturday with the final round of the 2023 championship sponsored by H & N Supplies Ltd.
Race Report by Ross Wharton – Action Images by Keith Haughton – Group Images by Ross Wharton
Blackpool’s Jonah Bott only dropped one point on his way to E-bike victory on the day, in only his 2nd meeting on the Grasstrack scene. Bott was beaten in his opening ride by the reigning E-bike champion Lilly Bence. Bence would also seal the 2023 championship in a season where she also won the ACU Gold Cup. Dalton Wright elected to move up to the Auto Cadet class but would still take the silver medal in the E-bike championship and Kobi Gutteridge would round out the 2023 rostrum with a 3rd place on the day.
Dakota Wright would take the win in the Auto Cadets, having some close battles with Kaylem Bourne during the afternoon until Bourne fell in his 5th ride dropping valuable points. Bourne would hold onto 2nd place after tying on points with Lucas Astley, Bourne would get the better of Astley in the final. Dalton Wright made his debut in the 50cc class and finished 4th. As for the championship, Dakota Wright became champion 15 points clear of Lucas Astley with Kaylem Bourne Finishing a close 3rd, 2 points adrift. Alfie Shipp would take 4th overall despite missing 2 rounds late on in the season.
Oxford Speedway Mascot Chloe Davis would take victory on her way to taking the 2023 Cadet title. Eccles Charlie Dowd looked set for victory on the day but carburettor problems after his 2nd ride caused him to withdraw from the meeting. AJ Bence would pick up 2nd on the day and take 2nd in the championship behind Davis. Dowd would take 3rd place in the championship with 2 solid scores at the final rounds.
Logan Price would take the Cub championship for the 2nd time running after riding to a full maximum in the Cub class, Price is a talented motorcyclist, competing in trials and motorcross as well as FGA and his consistency during 2023 was enough to reward the youngster from The Wirral. Runcorn’s Jessica Cox would take 2nd on the day ad 2nd in the championship. The young lady racer has made great progress in 2023, always consistent and smooth. Finley Theobald was a notable absentee for this round, but despite missing 2 of the 8-round championship, he has done enough to take 3rd spot.
The Junior championship has been a close one all season, but the consistency of Joe Crewe would make the difference overall, giving him the title for the 2nd year running. Jack Crewe would take victory on the day after tying on points with Liam Cox, Jack would take the victory in the final head of Cox with Champion Joe finishing 3rd. The Crewe Brother’s would make it a 1-2 in the championship with Liam Cox taking 3rd place after showing impressive form since changing machinery at round 8. Bristol’s Max Derrick was a championship contender until illness caused him to miss round 9 and other commitments meant he missed round 10 aswell, relegating him to 5th overall behind the improving Isaac Collins-Bullock.
Wayne Broadhurst would take victory once again in the Senior class, making it 7 rounds out of 8 and taking the title for the 3rd season running. Broadhurst has been the marker for the rest of the field to aim for during the last 3 seasons. One of the challengers to Broadhurst would be his own son, Max. Max would take 2nd place on the day, only dropping one point to his dad. 250cc legend Graham Thomas would round out the top 3 on the day, dropping 3 points to the Broadhurst duo. Sam Hall and Phil Thomas would be tied for 4th on the day, and they would be tying for 3rd in the championship, the final would decide their fate! 6th place on the day was to be Adam Hawker’s who has certainly got to grips with the 125 class of late. Colin How Battled hard all afternoon to take 7th place with Andrew Rowson rounding out the top 8.
In the Grand final, the Broadhurst men got away together, Wayne heading max into turn one but that wasn’t what Max had scripted, and the youngster dived under his dad into turn 3, taking the lead and never looking likely to be passed despite the pressure from the champion behind. Graham Thomas would be sat behind the front 2 waiting for a mistake that never came, taking 3rd. The battle for 3rd in the championship started with Phil Thomas getting penned in off the start, he would have to battle from the back, doors opening on the first lap giving him 5th ahead of Hall and by the time the chequered flag came down, Thomas had worked his way passed Hawker for 4th place, giving him 3rd in the championship behind older brother Graham and triple champ Broadhurst.
Results
Ebike – 1st J. Bott 47, 2nd L. Bence 43, 3rd K. Gutteridge 36
Autos – 1st Dakota Wright 46, 2nd K. Bourne 37, 3rd L. Astley 37, 4th Dalton Wright 31
Cadets – 1st C. Davis 46, 2nd AJ Bence 35, 3rd C. Dowd 16
Cubs – 1st L. Price 48, 2nd J. Cox 42
Juniors – 1st Jack Crewe 44, 2nd L. Cox 44, 3rd Joe Crewe 38, 4th I. Collins-Bullock 25
Senior (top 10) 1st W. Broadhurst 48, 2nd M. Broadhurst 47, 3rd G. Thomas 45, 4th P. Thomas 44, 5th S. Hall 44, 6th A. Hawker 40, 7th C. How 37, 8th Andrew Rowson 35, 9th Anthony Rowson 30, 10th A. Binns 28
Championships
Ebikes – 1st L. Bence, 2nd D. Wright, 3rd K. Gutteridge
Autos – 1st D. Wright, 2nd L. Astley, 3rd K. Bourne
Cadets – 1st C. Davis, 2nd AJ Bence, 3rd C. Dowd
Cubs – 1st L. Price, 2nd J. Cox, 3rd F. Theobald
Juniors- 1st Joe Crewe, 2nd Jack Crewe, 3rd L. Cox
Seniors – 1st W. Broadhurst, 2nd G. Thomas, 3rd P. Thomas, 4th S. Hall, 5th M. Broadhurst, 6th K. Gwillam
