The DJS Fen Tigers' Arran Butcher successfully defended his Island Masters Championship title at the Isle of Wight's track last night (Thursday 13/7). After contributing to a match-winning penultimate heat 5-1 last Sunday to take Mildenhall - proudly sponsored by Manchetts Rescue and Recovery - back on top of the National Development League [NDL], the 22-year-old was back atop his trusty Grasstrack machine in the event where that style of machinery is used on the large Smallbrook oval; and, after overcoming some unwanted gremlins early on, Arran stormed to victory for a second year running.
The Grand Final pitched Arran (who also races Sand Track too making him one of the country's most versatile racers) against home favourite, Chad Wirtzfeld, up-and-coming James Laker and a real blast from Mildenhall's past, the veteran Wayne Broadhurst (a Fen Tiger back in the early noughties).
Wirtzfeld had actually got the better of at the time mis-firing Butcher in the very opening heat of proceedings on the way to topping the qualifiers with four heat winds but it was to be a different story when it most mattered in the Final.
There Butcher took gate two, with his young rival opting for the normally favoured outside berth and it proved a wise choice for Arran as he bolted from the tapes, found the dirt line around bends one and two and headed for home with Wirtzfeld in pursuit. Try as he might Wirtzfeld just couldn’t find a way to close on the Fen Tigers' man, Arran showing his delight in retaining this major title with a finishing line fist pump.
Leicestershire-based Arran was elated at how a difficult evening finished so well,
"It was a tough night of grafting away before coming good in the end and winning the final. To be honest I was expecting the night to go rather smoother, but I couldn’t find a set up to get the bike working as I wanted and lacked a lot of speed, running three second places in my opening three rides. In my fourth and final qualifying race, I made a change which transformed the bike and finally found what I’d been searching for all night. I got a flying start out of gate two in the Grand Final and rode my own race to get the job done.
"Big thanks to my Dad and to Steve Piper for working with me all night to get the result we went looking for. Also massive thanks to Ryan at Regen Replenish & Performance for seeing me yesterday and helping to keep on top of my back injury from last year. I couldn’t do it without everyone in my corner."
Butcher will be keeping himself fit and busy with further meetings at the Isle of Wight coming up this month - all good preparation in advance of the Fen Tigers' next massive home fixture which sees the reigning champions and one of the main rivals for the top two positions in this year's NDL table, Leicester Lion Cubs. That meeting is on Sunday 6th. August (4pm start time)
Island Masters Grand Final Result: Arran Butcher, Chad Wirtzfeld, James Laker, Wayne Broadhurst.