Paul Hopkins (Merida) won round 5 of the OFF—CAMBER XC series but was made to fight all the way for his latest victory. Seventeen year old James Davey (Hot Pursuit Cycles) took the race to Hopkins, putting the national veterans champion under pressure from the start.
The young downhiller from Exeter, in his first year of cross-country racing, showed no fear as he opened up a gap of 16 seconds on Hopkins after the first of three 4.8 mile laps. Shaftesbury-based Hopkins is not used to chasing but he was forced to dig deep to keep Davey in sight through the woods. Roland Tilley (Ride.co.uk), in third, was already over three minutes down. The course at Inside Park near Blandford Forum is never really technical, mostly broad woodland trails and single track snaking through thIS off-season caravan park.
However, plenty of mud & tree roots require attention and the right line is essential. Hopkins used his experience on the more demanding sections to close the gap on Davey to just 1 second going into the final lap. The youngster had rattled the veteran but perhaps youthful enthusiasm got the better of Davey. Trying to put the pressure on he got his line wrong and came down hard. Hopkins got his line right and rode away to his third victory in the series, securing the overall title with one round remaining. Davey is an exciting talent and a name to keep an eye on this season. Tilley had an early battle with Andy Parsons (Off Camber) but proved too strong as the race wore on. The biggest field of the series so far, 73, enjoyed the sunshine and the snowdrops in the woods promised spring is on the way.
RESULT
1 PAUL HOPKINS (MERIDA UK)
2 JAMES DAVEY (HOT PURSUIT CYCLES)
3 ROLAND TILLEY (RIDE.CO.UK)
4 ANDY PARSONS (OFF CAMBER)
5 MARK GREEN ( OFF CAMBER)
6 TOM DUNN ( HOT PURSUIT CYCLES)
7 DARREN CAINES (
8 ROB KOPPENHAL (DRR)
9 ADAM HONEYBALL (
10 STEVE GORDON (DRR)
Paul Hopkins 00:22:14 00:23:24 00:24:37 01:10:15 1
James Davey 00:21:58 00:23:39 00:25:13 01:10:50 2 Junior
Roland Tilley 00:24:33 00:26:01 00:27:19 01:17:53 3
Andy Parsons 00:24:36 00:27:07 00:27:57 01:19:40 4
Mark Green 00:25:05 00:27:10 00:28:16 01:20:31 5
Tom Dunn 00:25:32 00:27:41 00:28:48 01:22:01 6
Darren Caines 00:26:59 00:28:23 00:28:22 01:22:44 7
Robert Koppenhol 00:26:18 00:27:52 00:29:51 01:24:02 8
Adam Hunneyball 00:27:35 00:28:37 00:28:35 01:24:47 9
Steve Gordon 00:29:37 00:28:46 00:29:47 01:25:14 10
Simon Andrews 00:27:51 00:28:56 00:31:36 01:28:23 11
Simon Cross 00:27:13 00:29:43 00:30:53 01:28:59 12
Kelly Brockenhurst 00:29:00 00:30:05 00:30:50 01:29:55 13
Simon Rogers 00:27:27 00:30:10 00:33:11 01:30:48 14
Stuart Inman 00:28:11 00:31:19 00:31:38 01:31:08 15
Julian Rudek 00:27:32 00:31:49 00:32:46 01:32:07 16
John Williams 00:27:35 00:31:12 00:34:42 01:32:29 17
Hamish McPhearson 00:29:46 00:31:31 00:31:52 01:33:09 18
Dean Frost 00:29:37 00:34:30 00:38:42 01:42:49 19
Jon Hinds 00:33:05 00:35:58 00:34:07 01:43:10 20
Liam Teesdale 00:31:10 00:35:29 00:36:41 01:43:20 21 Junior
Mike Broome 00:33:13 00:35:04 00:35:58 01:44:15 22
Jon Palmer 00:36:40 00:38:10 00:30:25 01:45:15 23
Kit Clifford 00:33:22 00:35:13 00:37:02 01:45:37 24
Scawen Roberts 00:34:40 00:35:46 00:35:34 01:46:00 25
Toby Wallis 00:33:46 00:35:39 00:36:58 01:46:43 26
Michael Smith 00:33:37 00:35:50 00:39:29 01:48:56 27
James Rench 00:32:32 00:36:14 00:41:04 01:49:50 28
Chris Killer 00:33:46 00:37:15 00:38:49 01:49:50 29
2 Laps Completed
Tris Day 00:33:47 00:36:58 01:10:45 30
Max Hinds 00:33:40 00:37:17 01:10:57 31 Junior
Darren House 00:35:28 00:36:16 01:11:44 32
Paul Brickell 00:33:56 00:38:22 01:12:18 33
Conal Grier 00:35:20 00:38:45 01:14:05 34
Jack Forster 00:36:35 00:37:38 01:14:13 35
Tony Hampson 00:35:20 00:39:15 01:14:35 36
Robert Hammond 00:34:46 00:39:49 01:14:35 37
Philip Wareham 00:38:38 00:36:26 01:15:04 38
Dean Curwen 00:36:03 00:39:35 01:15:38 39
Jonathan House 00:34:52 00:41:26 01:16:18 40
Mark Senior 00:37:18 00:40:09 01:17:27 41
Gary Hall 00:37:14 00:40:39 01:17:53 42
Philip Derrick 00:38:49 00:41:37 01:20:26 43
Ian Asher 00:38:01 00:43:26 01:21:27 44
Tristan Derrick 00:28:31 00:53:42 01:22:13 45 Junior
Martin Rice 00:39:49 00:45:30 01:25:19 46
Rob Green 00:28:30 00:56:49 01:25:19 47
Steve Pratley 00:42:04 00:43:15 01:25:19 48
Rich Jenks 00:46:33 00:42:40 01:29:13 49
Paul Sercombe 00:44:05 00:46:43 01:30:48 50
Matthew Callum 00:43:58 00:46:50 01:30:48 51
Luke Henderson 00:47:11 00:48:36 01:35:47 52 Junior
Josh Day 00:27:23 00:32:39 DNF DNF 53
James Chant 00:30:00 00:31:31 DNF DNF 54
Kris Caines 00:25:07 DNF DNF 55 Junior
Matthew Rose 00:55:08 DNF DNF 56
Martin Rydon 00:42:37 DNF DNF DNF 57
Scott Langdown 00:44:34 DNF DNF DNF 58
Chris Kelly 00:32:18 DNF DNF DNF 59
Ashley Green DNF DNF DNF DNF 60
Tim Hoskinson DNF DNF DNF DNF 61
Toby Easby DNS DNS DNS DNS 62 Junior
Julie Crane 00:33:29 00:36:25 00:38:06 01:48:00 1 Ladies
Sue Latham 00:36:51 00:38:59 01:15:50 2 Ladies
Patsy Caines 00:35:14 00:41:44 01:16:58 3 Ladies
Carol Tilley 00:37:32 00:39:55 01:17:27 4 Ladies
Zoe Buckland 00:40:51 00:44:48 01:25:39 5 Ladies
Julia Rice 00:44:42 00:49:30 01:34:12 6 Ladies
Jerry Cooper 00:29:42 00:30:20 00:35:03 01:35:05 1 Veteran
Ray Samways 00:31:06 00:32:45 00:35:00 01:38:51 2 Veteran
Julian Day 00:32:57 00:34:42 00:36:35 01:44:14 3 Veteran
Kevin Craig 00:47:10 00:55:09 01:42:19 4 Veteran
Gary Watson DNF DNF DNF DNF Veteran
LADIES
1 JUDY CRANE
2 SUE LATHAM
3 PATSY CAINES
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