With a total of just over 300 riders competing in the Pro, Expert and Clubman races at the second round of the UK Cross-Country Race Series it was Kawasaki rider Ryan Voase who topped the main event with a solid performance to claim his first ever UK XC Pro class race win. Leading each and every one of the 18 laps he completed Voasy finished close to one-minute ahead of Gas Gas rider Paul Whibley with Honda’s Euan McConnell in third.

Paul Whibley got 2nd spot.

But as usual it was the two-hour Clubman race that got the day’s proceedings underway where an epic battle between 125cc KTM mounted riders Luke Meredith and Colin James resulted in the pair swapping the lead several times each lap before James finally topped the class. At the end of the morning’s two-hour race Gas Gas rider Stu Day finished as the first Clubman Open two-stroke class rider home, finishing in sixth overall. Just nine seconds behind Day was Cornish youngster Jamie Paget aboard his KTM. Third went to Peter Clark, who placed in 14^th overall while David Grimshaw placed in third in the combined 125cc two-stroke/250cc four-stroke class behind both James and Meredith. Topping the Open four-stroke class was Jonathan Hayman who claimed a highly creditable ninth overall. In total 190 riders finished the two-hour Clubman race with the top 27 riders all managing to clock up 11 laps.

In the Pro class race Ryan Voase gave a lesson on how to claim a text book cross-country race win by getting the holeshot, stopping mid way through the race for fuel, taking to the track still in the lead before then stopping to make a splash n’ dash just before the final lap, just to be on the safe side. Despite pressure from Paul Whibley and Euan McConnell in the early laps of the race, Ryan maintained his composure and eased ahead of the competition to take the race win and the lead in the Pro class championship.

Third place pro rider Ewan McConnell

Claiming second at the finish Paul Whibley spent much of the race in third behind McConnell and battling with Motocross rider Danny Smyth. Finally breaking away from Smyth in the closing stages of the race, Whibley moved into the runner-up spot after McConnell crashed after hitting a tree and then started to suffer with exhaustion. Dropping to third Euan managed to claim a podium position by just four seconds.

Behind Voase, Whibley and McConnell Danny Smyth finished as the best placed ‘motocross newcomer’ as he finished in a well deserved fourth position. Placing ahead of fellow Honda riders Alex Rach, Jason Thomas, Greg Evans, Si Wakely and James Lassu, Scottish Yamaha rider Richard Hay rounded out the top 10.

In the 125cc two-stroke/250cc four-stroke Expert class Darren Carter proved to be the rider to beat finishing one position in the overall results ahead of Expert Open two-stroke class winner, Husqvarna’s Oliver Moyce. The only other Expert class rider that managed to match Carter and Moyce by finishing on 17 laps completed was 125cc/250cc class runner-up Steven Pettit. Third in the smallest capacity Expert class was Derek Bawn.

       Clubman winner Colin James

In the Expert Open two-stroke class Oliver Moyce finished one-lap up on his nearest rival, Julian Harvey, who completed 16 laps. Third went to Craig Bounds. In the Expert Open four-stroke class Keith Stains finished in 37^th overall in the Expert results and placed ahead of Stephen Grimshaw and Dan Hemmingway.

Despite heavy overnight rain track conditions at the second round of the UK Cross-Country Race Series were close to perfect. And with the course featuring a motocross track, a high speed, open grassy paddock and two separate wooded sections most riders found the race physically demanding and provided plenty of close race action.