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Melville MCC Hare and Hound (Closed to Club)

"SUPER STEVIE" Round 1(?)

15th September 2002 - Lochhouses

A fantastic days riding for over 80 riders was organised by Stevie Palmer and the Melville MCC at Lochhouses near Dunbar. The weather was spot on with the dust laid by a brief shower in the morning and not too hot for the rest of the day.

After a riders meeting at 12:00 the race got undeway at 12:30 with all classes aiming for the 3 hour mark. A start by class with 30 second intervals saw some early changing of places as riders discovered the quickest way round the track. About 12 minutes or so in length it was a mix of MX laid out in a stubble field  and fast paced riding through close packed trees in  a small wood. The track never really cut up too badly and eveyone was able to get round. There were several places where there was a choice of line for overtaking so the faster riders could get past.

As can be seen from the photos there was a lot of racing going on with no one willing to concede - but three hours is a long time to push at race speed and all riders came in at the end looking exhausted. There was no where on the track to rest and the enduro riders seemed able to pace themselves better than the MXers ( but they were always in contention as well)

Several riders fell foul of the course and retired. Stan Peterson snapped a throttle cable for no obvious reason, Kenny Dunn's radiator decided it need more ventilation and opened up a bit. Some of the riders suffered from blisters and had to rest at times - but almost everyone carried on to the end. Drew Flockhart inspected a tree close up at speed on one of the faster parts of the forest.

Spike Donald arrived with a brand new WR250f (33 miles on the clock) and road a very tidy race - finishing with his bike cleaner than he  started - see the photo below. But then that's Yamahas for you - they do everthing better !

Willie Thomson was over on family business for a few days from Oz and borrowed a bike to race - finished 5th in the Experts - not too shabby for a visitor.

In the Expert class Chris Hay pulled back a bad start to win by 2 minutes at the end of the day - finishing on 19 laps. This is Chris's first race back after badly damaging his arm in Europe earlier in the season. At least his fitness is OK. Murray Thomson harried him all day and kept up constant pressure. The refuelling (rest) stops allowed riders to change places during the race - most riders seeming to do only one fuel stop. Paul Chiappa on his TM was always pushing hard until his exhaust develop a lack of silence near the end. Always exciting to watch Paul was very quick in the woods - not his normal terrain.

Duncan McCormick, Stevie Palmer and Richard McVicker had a great battle in the clubman with the lead changing constantly. A loss of concentration in the forest by Stevie allowed Richard past at one point resulting in a chase to recover the lead. Duncan's booming 4 stroke Yamaha YZ400 kept up the pressure throughout the race and narrowly took the win at the flag. Great racing all day with no time to rest.

The clubmen had an enjoyable day out with some pretty tough battles there as well. A Milne proved the winner with Campbell Chatham coming in second. Campbell has a great career ahead of him if he keeps up this pace (or has he had a great carrer already !! ).

The only lady entrant of the day was no 169 C Thirwall who kept up a good pace all day. Hopefully a move to Enduros one day ?

Thanks to the Melville club who organised the event - great race - and a blueprint for the future hopefully.

Click on photos to enlarge ( E-mail me if you want a bigger copy)

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