MATCH REPORT: Brooke claims maiden Jim Peck Memorial crown

Great Blakenham held the fourth staging of the Jim Peck Memorial Trophy last weekend. The pre-match down pour stopped just in time for the racing to start and provided near perfect racing conditions on the flood lit Mill Lane circuit.

With a national level field assembled to entertain a large crowd, racing got underway. First up Richard Fellgett held off a strong challenge from Chris Timms round the first corner to then race away in the later laps after a slip from Timms, heat two saw a tapes to flag win from local lad Luke Harrison, with young Lewis Brinkhoff chasing hard all the way.

Matt Hill took the win in the third over Dean Hook and England junior star Peirce Bacon. Heat four looked to be a tasty race, Peck on one, Brooke on two and Osborne of 3. Brooke flew from the tapes around Peck and stayed out in front with Peck and Osborne following him home.

Peck was then out again in 5 for his second gate one and had to use all of his experience to keep the super-fast Fellgett behind him, with Harrison and Mower also in the mix for four laps.

Timms found himself caught on the outside of Brooke in six and Bacon took full advantage to follow Brook home in second, Timms third. Heat seven was one of Osborne’s first of three wins for the night over Ash Hill, Lewis Brinkhoff  and Fraser Garnett.

Nine was a good win from one for Fraser over Fellgett, while Hook and Jonjo Slaughter made an untidy pile of themselves on the last corner, Jonjo getting up and running to the line to claim third. The last race before the interval saw Matt Hill hold off a very strong challenge from Timms who looked like he’d got him coming out of the last bend but couldn’t find the drive to the line.

After the break, Ash Hill took full advantage of strong gate to set off in the lead, leaving Brooke, Mower and Smith to fight it out. Leon Mower made his trade mark dive on the last bend but was unable to make it stick and lost a few spokes in the process.

Heat 12 saw a lightning start from young Brinkhoff, with Rumbold following, leaving Bacon and Peck to battle it out, with Peck finding away passed Bacon but unable to catch the other two. It was a tall order for the 14-year-old in his 2nd gate one though as Brooke powered round the outside from two to take the win, leaving Brinkhoff to pick up second in front of Matt Hill and Fellgett.

In Heat 14, Matt Smith took a good win over Peck, Timms and Hook, with Peck throwing everything bar the kitchen sink at him for four laps, but not able to find a way past the Wednesfield Ace.

Heat 15 saw a win from start to finish for Ash Hill from one, over Bacon, Garnett and Harrison. Heat 16 saw Lewis Osborne get his podium hopes back on track with a win from his 1st gate one, followed home by a hard-chasing Leon Mower with Rumbold and Slaughter coming in 3rd and 4th.

17 gave Osborne his second win from gate one over Smith, Fellgett and Bacon to get him back in the running. 18 saw Chris Timms first win of the night over Mower, but also put paid to young Lewis Brinkoff’s hopes of a podium spot as he came in third after a fine pass on Fraser Garnett.

Jonjo Slaughter rocketed out of gate one in heat 19 with Peck chasing hard in front of the Hill brothers Matt and Ash, Peck found away passed Slaughter on the 3rd lap to get the win and put himself in the frame for his 4th podium finish in the four years of this event.

Heat 20 looked to be a text book race for Brooke, just finish 3rd and the title is his. Brooke had other ideas though and went for the gate. Only to find himself on the wrong side of Charlie Rumbold, this also gave Harrison and Hook time to go by leaving Brooke in last. Brooke chased hard and found a way passed Hook to claim 3rd and in turn take the Jim Peck Memorial Trophy 2017, along with the 33/18 Designs winner’s jersey.

This left two other Blakenham riders joint 2nd on 16 points, and as it happens, a carbon copy of the 2015 run off for 2nd and 3rd between Peck and Osborne. Osborne won the toss with a classic “tails never fails” call and chose gate two, this left Peck with 4 and all the work to do.

It was a game of cat and mouse for the opening laps as the crowd cheered on. On the second lap Peck tried the “push and drop” pass from the outside but gave Osborne too much space and was unable to match his speed.

Final standings: 1st Josh Brooke 2nd Lewis Osborne 3rd Adam Peck.

The Peck family would like to thank everyone who helped put this meeting together and the generous people who raised over £900 from the raffle and donations for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.