West Linton Hare & Hound
Mair wins for Ricky
Over 100 riders took part in the Metzeler Melville Scottish Hare and Hound Championship near West Linton. There was a hill climb on Saturday although the rain reduced the entry to just ten riders with Andy Gray winning the waterlogged climb. There was much hilarity as several riders never made it to the top at all. Sunday’s course was an interesting mixture of fast open moorland, a small wood and a sand quarry. The track was in perfect condition in the morning when the sun came out and a great day was had by all.
Ricky Mair is out to win the Scottish Hare and Hound Championship and the Scottish Enduro Championship as he prepares for the ISDE in Finland, leading from start to finish he has added another win on his way to achieving his goal including the holeshot prize. Pamela Thomson from Moose Racing Scotland provided the holeshot prizes for each class. Ricky rode super smooth all day, not like him at all, but Drew Harvey could do nothing to catch him finishing second with Liam Beatty moving up to the Expert class finishing third.
Alex Kirk won the Moose Racing Scotland holeshot but Gavin Johnston was the man on a mission leading all but two of his twelve laps taking the overall in the Over 40 class. James Harvey rode consistently to finish second with Mark Ritchie third.
Dean Reid was another man on a mission to show that his injured ankle is on the mend. Dean only needed one pit stop on his KTM 125 taking the overall in the clubman class. Stevie Currie junior pressed on as hard as he could and almost caught Dean when he stopped to refuel but he never managed to get ahead finishing second at the finish. Pawel Reuter won the holeshot prize and finished third after chasing Stevie for half of the three hour race.
The Clubman B class was won by William Beatty who is also top over 50 rider and he showed many of the younger riders how a three hour hare and hound should be ridden. Duncan Norrie finished second with Scott McKune third. Barry Mckie won the holeshot prize but unfortunately did not finish the race.
This event is great for first time riders and there was a large Sportsman entry, there were some tricky sections to catch the unwary but most riders managed to get round. Melville road racing star David Paton used his flying start skills to take the holeshot prize and ultimately finished fourth. The Sportsman class was won by David Dick who worked his way through the field following a difficult first lap with Graeme Armstrong finishing second and Stuart Walker taking the final step on the podium in third place.
There was a great atmosphere at this event and it would not have been possible without the girls at the signing on, they also sat in the tattie boxes lap scoring. The Melville Motor Club is very grateful to all of them and all the other volunteers who made this event possible.
The next Melville event is the Selkirk two day enduro at Yarrowford on the 30th and 31st July, regulations are available now from www.scottishenduros.co.uk
