After an amazing round 1 at Chicksands in May it was off to Holdshott in the awesome countryside surroundings in Hampshire for round 2 of the series.
Holdshott Trails is a private trail spot owned by the Mandry Family but built and ridden by the Shott Crew. The Crew have been working really hard since last year’s round 5 at the spot and have added an amazing slope line at the trails featuring a huge boner log and massive Northshore style whale tail.
We decided to run this round a little different as the Open Class riders normally ride the same line as the Pro/Elite Class we chose to mix it up and have the Open Class riders on the old comp line which consists of dirt jumps and the Pro/Elite Class on the new slope line.
As always the riders had an hours mixed practice with both rider classes hitting up their respective lines and getting their heads round the course before having to throw it down in the Qually’s.
The Open Class were first up for their Qualification round and the riding level instantly upped from what we had just seen in practice. All the riders get 3 runs to which only their best run counts towards their overall score.
Richard Hemingray has the nickname of “Table Top” but not at Holdshott as he proved he had more than tables in his trick bag by pulling out the Tuck no Hander and a huge flip over the last. Callum Sherwood was out to show young Jack Cardy that he wasn’t the only open rider with fully stretched suicide no handers but Jack hit back with the most stretched sui we have seen in years.
Jordan English was back on the scene after some time off the bike and had dropped from pro to open class. As he’s been off the bike for over 11 months he was unable to put a decent run together and blew his ankle out on the last jump on his run.
Once all the riders had taken their 3 runs the top 6 to go through to the final were as follows.
Excited to be in the final Ben Nolan came out with all x ups blazing whilst Harry Campbell got the crowd pumped with his massive Fronty tuck over the last.
The top 6 runs were as follows
1st Cameron Crozier Straight drop, Tuck No Hander over hip, Double Truck Driver, Backflip X-up, Backflip Barspin
2nd Harry Campbell Straight drop, X-up 1 Footer over hip, Backflip X-up 1 Footer, Superman, Front flip Tuck No Hander
3rd Callum Sherwood Straight Drop, Suicide No Hander over hip, 360, Superman, 3 Down whip
4th Darren Eastall Straight Drop, Tuck No Hander over hip, Backflip X-up,Tuck No Hander to Barspin, 360 Barspin
5th Jack Cardy X-up Drop, Tire Grab over hip, 360 table top, Suicide No Hander, Double Truck Driver
6th Ben Nolan X-up Drop, Tabletop over hip, Tuck No Hander, Tuck No Hander to X-up, 360 X-up
With the Open Class over and done with it was on to the big guns in Pro/Elite and time to see if the new kid on the block could shut down the MTB Dirt jumpers with his BMX style and trick bag.
Jack Ambler threw down trucks off the boner log whilst Tom Isted decided to flip it and Matt Jones shut them all down with a backflip tuck no hander off the log.
Freddy Pullman launched a Fronty tuck over the last and Matt Jones hit out with a 720 so Ryan Nangle dropped an oppo sevbomb (Opposite 720) just to show everyone Holdshott trails was his stomping ground.
The Top 6 runs were as follows
1st Freddy Pullman 360 Drop, Downwhip over hip, Barspin over racer, Truck Driver off bonerlog, Tailwhip up whale tail, 360 Tuck no hander off, Front Flip Tuck No Hander on last
2nd Matt Jones 360 Drop, 270 Barspin over hip, Tuck No Hander over racer, Backflip No Hander off bonerlog, Backflip up whale tail, Truck driver off, 720 on last
3rd Ryan Nangle 360 Drop, Tailwhip over hip, straight over racer, 360 tabletop off bonerlog, Tuck No hander up whale tail, 360 off, Opposite 720 on last
4th Tom Isted Straight Drop, 450 over hip, Tuck No Hander over racer, Backflip off bonerlog, Tuck No Hander up whale tail, Barrel Roll off, 360 Downside whip on last
5th Clinton Johns Barspin Drop, 270 over hip, Straight over racer, Barspin off bonerlog, 360 up whale tail, Tailwhip off, 360 Tailwhip on last
6th Jack Ambler 360 Drop, Tuck No Hander over hip, Barspin over racer, Truck Driver off bonerlog, Tuck No Hander up whale tail, 360 X-up off, 360 Tuck No Hander on last
Congratulations to all finalists and to the winners. Yet again another amazing round at an amazing trail spot.
Massive Thank You to the Mandry Family, The Shott Crew (Esp Ben Dobbin), The Dirt Wars Crew, Our Series Sponsors, The Riders and all who came to watch the action.
Our next round is at the NASS Festival in Shepton Mallet on the 8th to 10th of July. See You There………