Post by Dave on Aug 6, 2023 17:21:05 GMT
Nora MX Quad RD 8 & British Quad RD 5
After my very first trip to the Little Silver MX track near Exeter to watch South West Off Road Motocross, I was keen to return again. Only this time it was quad racing and I wondered how it would compare to the motocross racing.
I arrived nice and early and paid the £5 entry free, where can you watch anything from 9am until 5pm for that sort of money. Sadly there was no nice colour programme this time which meant I would not know the different classes running and in what order they would race.
It was not to hard to work out in the end and the practice laps started at 9am with the main races about 10.30am. 18 races in total so I knew it was going to be a long day. I did find a list that was online when I got home and have added it to the report.
I talked with two boys who were sat on their quads, they told me they were 8 years old and one of the riders was just 6 years old. The engines in the class they race in are small, so small they just about get up all the very steep sections of the track. But hats off to all the junior riders as all the down hill sections are very steep and you need to be brave to ride down them,
In one of the junior races one rider went around one corner to wide and the bike went into a very large ditch. He was not moving and how quick the Marshall’s were there along with the paramedics.
His mum ran down to the track and then across it eager to get to her son. I was growing concerned as he was still not moving and I was so glad when he finally sat up and then was helped back onto his feet.
While this was going on the race continued, just yellow flags on the approach to the incident. There was another big crash later on with the senior quads, this time the red flags came out and the race was stopped. The rider was transferred from the paramedic van to an ambulance that was parked near the pits. He received treatment in the ambulance and was not taken to hospital.
I found the quads a bit more exciting, I was amazed how much air some of the riders get on the jumps. For me it was just an opportunity to shoot a different type of sport other than football.
As the day wore on I must confess I started to get a little bored. I had taken nearly 500 photos and decided that was enough and you can only watch quads going around a track for so long.
I am so glad I made the effort to go today, I have seen it, enjoyed it, but I do not think it is something I would want to follow.
