Champion Godden fires back to life just in time

THREE times British grasstrack champion Mitch Godden took the spoils in Saturday's inaugural Condor Ferries Sand Ace Championship at Vazon after nearly missing the cut for the final. The Maidstone rider had flown from the gate to build a convincing lead in heat one only for his engine to fail on the last bend.

The breakdown handed victory to Guernsey's Mike Clarke and though Godden pushed his stricken machine across the line to finish third he missed his second race while repairs were carried out.

'It was an electrical problem and I just changed everything I could until it fired back into life,' he said.

Top marks in his next two heats left the 31-year-old with 22 points - level in eighth place with Guernsey's Jon Le Page.

Organisers of the Guernsey Motorcycle & Car Club meeting opted to let both ride in what was supposed to be an eight-man A final, which Godden led from start to finish.

It was his first meeting on sand and his first visit to Guernsey, though he vows to return.

'It was a new experience for me but I felt at home and a great surface made the riding very easy,' he said.

'We have nothing as big as this in England. The biggest tracks are about 600m and this must be 900m. It would be great to make a British championship of it.'

Godden, the son of engine manufacturer Don, won £250 for his efforts from the £815 total that was up for grabs in the final.

Fellow UK rider, Daniel Winterton, was the only one to take maximum points into the final where he was forced to settle for third place behind Godden and Guernsey's Anthony Bougourd.

The latter, who masterminded the whole event, was delighted with his runner-up spot and with the way the meeting had been received.

'Sand racing is back,' he said. 'I looked up at the wall and saw so many people sitting there which was just what I wanted.'

He promised a repeat next year and said he hoped to expand the event which saw slider machines back on Vazon in a number reminiscent of the British National Sand Race championship rounds, formerly held there.

Godden inflicted Bougourd's only defeat in the heats though the Guernseyman trailed Clarke in heat six before using a tighter line to pass him on the penultimate bend.

The bulk of the races were won from the gate but with a radar gun recording speeds of almost 80mph on the straights the meeting was well received.

It was a day of mixed fortune for 24th birthday boy Simon Cohu who was forced to swap bikes with father Bill when his own machine failed to start.

By the latter part of the meeting his Jawa had fired up and three runner-up spots and one win in the heats and the 29 points they yielded put him comfortably in to the final where he finished fourth.

Bougourd said he could not have been happier with the way things had gone and it had been fantastic to see riders of the calibre of Godden and Winterton gracing Vazon beach.

'It's been a lot of effort but you have to do it to get results and it wouldn't have happened without Condor,' he said.

Godden also got a surprise prize of a free return trip from the UK for a van and two riders, which he said had secured his appearance for next year.

A team of people cleaned machines with pressure cleaners after the meeting to avoid the corrosion that the salt water could quickly do.

Bougourd said it was all part of the service and something that would only be expected at a well-run meeting.