King of Combe & NGRRC Castle Combe 22nd & 23rd April 2023
SYMONDS SETS OUT HIS STALL
North Glos Road Racing Club paid their first of two visits to Castle Combe in 2023 over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of April.
The King of Combe would run to a new format for this year, the points scored in the six races across the two meetings determining who would take the crown. Reigning King of Combe Max Symonds got his defence of the title off to the perfect start, qualifying on pole position and racing to all three King of Combe/Phoenix Open race wins. Symonds was also unstoppable in the Bluebell Lakes Powerbikes, scoring three wins there too. One of the few riders able to keep the flying Yamaha R1 in sight was road racer Jamie Coward with four close second-placed finishes on his big Honda, he also tore to three wins on his Super Twin Kawasaki ER6. Fellow roads man and former 250 GP National champion Jim Hind was another to impress on his 1000cc Suzuki, taking two fourths and holding off a pack of riders for second in Sunday afternoon's King of Combe encounter. Another King of Combe hopeful riding well was Bob Collins, who took four thirds in his first four races aboard his Fireblade and two Formula Prostock wins on a Suzuki, but an unfortunate Powerbike high-side ended his meeting on Sunday afternoon. George Edwards flew to all three IMS 600 victories from Ricky Elder, he was regularly lapping with some of the quicker 1000s in his King of Combe outings as well. Thomas Lawlor triumphed in the opening 250 GP National bout but Bobby Varey was dominant on Sunday, Lawlor and Chris Moore both had spells in front before being forced to settle for the podium placings by the vivid Varey Yamaha. Ant Hart and Phil Atkinson fought hard for the GP Originals race victories, Sunday’s battles were a highlight as Atkinson twice defeated Hart with a last-lap pass to avenge Hart's win on Saturday. Dave MacKay narrowly took the first two Sound of Thunder spoils from Jamie Coward's Kawasaki twin before taking a much more comfortable win on Sunday afternoon aboard the True Heroes Ducati, as top Formula Prostock runner Nick Williamson chased him home ahead of Darren Rumley’s naked KTM. Local man Tyson Lewis proved good value with two Streetstock 1300 wins on his BMW, John Dudman's R1 taking the other. The all-action Suzuki Bandits had little to separate Chris Edwards and Lee Marks all weekend, the score reading 2-1 to Marks. After Steve Moody prevailed in the concurrent F400 category on Saturday, the closely matched Tony Griffiths, Pete Gibson and Martin Thrower fought out Sunday's races with Griffiths twice getting the verdict. The combined finishing distance between Elijah Everton and Chace Collymore across the three Junior Supersport thrashes was a mere 0.408 seconds, just 0.049 split them on Saturday as Everton somehow took all three victories. Top Ducati Desmo rider Dominic Cann was with them on Sunday. The evenly matched Mini Twins had a win for Mark Hughes and two for William Holland but Joe Woodward, Jonathan Smith and Nathaniel Manning-Morton were all in with a shout. Nick Sansome's 250 Honda sealed the first Open 500 win before Steve Moody inflicted another slim defeat to Chace Collymore in the second race, True Heroes team rider James Cleary only just headed Collymore yet again to win in the meeting's final race as the looming dark cloud finally emptied its contents with the race nearing its conclusion.
North Glos returns to Castle Combe on the 29th and 30th of July for more competitive racing action and to crown the King of Combe.
Report written for EDP Photo News.
North Glos Road Racing Club paid their first of two visits to Castle Combe in 2023 over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of April.
The King of Combe would run to a new format for this year, the points scored in the six races across the two meetings determining who would take the crown. Reigning King of Combe Max Symonds got his defence of the title off to the perfect start, qualifying on pole position and racing to all three King of Combe/Phoenix Open race wins. Symonds was also unstoppable in the Bluebell Lakes Powerbikes, scoring three wins there too. One of the few riders able to keep the flying Yamaha R1 in sight was road racer Jamie Coward with four close second-placed finishes on his big Honda, he also tore to three wins on his Super Twin Kawasaki ER6. Fellow roads man and former 250 GP National champion Jim Hind was another to impress on his 1000cc Suzuki, taking two fourths and holding off a pack of riders for second in Sunday afternoon's King of Combe encounter. Another King of Combe hopeful riding well was Bob Collins, who took four thirds in his first four races aboard his Fireblade and two Formula Prostock wins on a Suzuki, but an unfortunate Powerbike high-side ended his meeting on Sunday afternoon. George Edwards flew to all three IMS 600 victories from Ricky Elder, he was regularly lapping with some of the quicker 1000s in his King of Combe outings as well. Thomas Lawlor triumphed in the opening 250 GP National bout but Bobby Varey was dominant on Sunday, Lawlor and Chris Moore both had spells in front before being forced to settle for the podium placings by the vivid Varey Yamaha. Ant Hart and Phil Atkinson fought hard for the GP Originals race victories, Sunday’s battles were a highlight as Atkinson twice defeated Hart with a last-lap pass to avenge Hart's win on Saturday. Dave MacKay narrowly took the first two Sound of Thunder spoils from Jamie Coward's Kawasaki twin before taking a much more comfortable win on Sunday afternoon aboard the True Heroes Ducati, as top Formula Prostock runner Nick Williamson chased him home ahead of Darren Rumley’s naked KTM. Local man Tyson Lewis proved good value with two Streetstock 1300 wins on his BMW, John Dudman's R1 taking the other. The all-action Suzuki Bandits had little to separate Chris Edwards and Lee Marks all weekend, the score reading 2-1 to Marks. After Steve Moody prevailed in the concurrent F400 category on Saturday, the closely matched Tony Griffiths, Pete Gibson and Martin Thrower fought out Sunday's races with Griffiths twice getting the verdict. The combined finishing distance between Elijah Everton and Chace Collymore across the three Junior Supersport thrashes was a mere 0.408 seconds, just 0.049 split them on Saturday as Everton somehow took all three victories. Top Ducati Desmo rider Dominic Cann was with them on Sunday. The evenly matched Mini Twins had a win for Mark Hughes and two for William Holland but Joe Woodward, Jonathan Smith and Nathaniel Manning-Morton were all in with a shout. Nick Sansome's 250 Honda sealed the first Open 500 win before Steve Moody inflicted another slim defeat to Chace Collymore in the second race, True Heroes team rider James Cleary only just headed Collymore yet again to win in the meeting's final race as the looming dark cloud finally emptied its contents with the race nearing its conclusion.
North Glos returns to Castle Combe on the 29th and 30th of July for more competitive racing action and to crown the King of Combe.
Report written for EDP Photo News.