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Last Updated: Nov 28th, 2010 - 10:22:29 |
TT fever landed at the Norfolk Arena on Sunday (22 August); took off; landing again; took off; and so on, as motorcycle dirt track racing’s version of the steeplechase made an enormous impact at the annual staging of this unique event – part of the ever-growing Short Track UK’s menu of US-derived disciplines.
TT stands for track and trail and at the end of this particular trail for a good-sized crowd at Saddlebow on Sunday was a glimpse into the future of Europe’s fastest-growing motor sport and of a star destined to shine in the motorcycling discipline he chooses to pick. That star is young Arthur Sissis – a Virginian of the South Australian variety, currently basing himself in King’s Lynn and though barely 15-years-of-age, surely destined to sweep all before him in the motorcycle racing world. Sissis took to the extraordinarily tricky left and right bends and punishing steeplechase approach-and-jump like the most experienced of pros, simply dismantling the field of his peers in the Junior TT class – to reel off a faultless tally of four awesome wins and the title. No wonder that, for a rider who before he was even a teen defeated none other than one-time King’s Lynn Star Darcy Ward (reigning World Under 21 Speedway champ) to claim the Under 16 version of the national championship in his homeland and has since moved onto MotoGP success down under.
Sissis’ exploits were always going to seize a whole lot of attention at this year’s TT extravaganza but there was plenty more to capture the imagination in a 30 race programme which left the crowd wanting more, such was the level of high-octane and high-jumping traxcitement on show!
Other star guest was another one-time Under 21 champ, in this case the hugely popular Team GB Speedway rider, Eddie Kennett: national champion twice at that age range and now an experienced GP-class rider. For Kennett to choose to put his reputation on the line was a huge fillip for the STUK TT event and it certainly paid off in both respects: with the Coventry Bee’s efforts a massive crowd-pleaser and Kennett confirming what a prodigious and versatile performer he is. An impressive victory in the fastest six lap time of the afternoon propelled the Sussex speedster into the semis to join earlier heat winners David Haith and Lincs duo Glyn Pocklington and Geoff Baldock. That these less heralded names in the STUK series were making the clearly running was indicative of the huge technical difficulty and unpredictability of the TT format – one surely Peter Boast (series organiser and runner-up to Pocklington in heat one) should take heed of in giving the public more of this.
Struggling in particular was series leader, Ade Collins who saw two opportunities to qualify pass him by and faced the first of three sudden death teats to keep his championship lead intact in the third qualifier heading home Ben Baker to finally cement a semi-final position.
The semis were hugely competitive. Kennett stormed to victory in the first, from the impressive Darren Trapmore (who earlier had held off the most determined riding of Pocklington and three-times STUK title-winner and reigning European and Italian Flattrack champ, Marco Belli to win the lucrative ‘Dash for Cash’) with Pocklington and Belli keeping Collins out of the Final places. Next up was slow-burner Richard Mason who was clearly coming into form at exactly the same time leading home Haith and the other Italian, Jacopo Monti. An early race fall for Boast though meant there was the extraordinary situation of the 2009 champ and the 2010 champ-elect facing up to the Last Chance race.
Boast and Collins successfully negotiated that and the stage was set for a Grand Final like none ever before!
Again it was Kennett with lightning reactions at the start but in the first Steeplechase approach the 23-year-old slightly went out of shape –just the chance Belli (winner of the inaugural King’s Lynn based TT back in 2007) needed to snatch the lead. Next lap in an energy-crunching ten circuit race, it was Derbyshire dynamo Mason working his magic somehow to dive under first Kennett and then the Italian – and with Belli tumbling out of contention in a close quarters jump incident with Kennett and Mason two laps later, Mason was able to pull away and emerge as a deserved winner. Kennett took second; and working his way brilliantly through the field and belying his early meeting problems, reigning TT champ Collins was delighted to finish in the third rostrum position.
In the other classes, the Mini-bikes also traversed the fearsome steeplechase but it held few fears for Mark Richardson – the son of Lynn Clerk of the Course, Nick Richardson holding off the determined challenge of Monti.
No jumps in the awesome Thunderbikes class – these mighty machines have huge flattracking speed and weight and they’re not for jumping! No problems here for series leader, the versatile Tradate-based Italian Monti who steered his monster 600cc to a super-fast victory in the Grand Final despite the close attentions of John ‘Captain Highsides’ Lee.
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