THE curtain came down on Pendennis Motor Club's 2006 season with the staging of the popular Tar Pit Challenge at the United Downs Raceway on Saturday.

It was certainly a day to remember for those who took part with the heavy rain of the previous week ensuring some pretty severe track conditions even before any racing got underway.

The quads and the sidecars were the first to tackle the demanding course and from the start Shane Orchard made his intentions clear by taking the lead from "holeshot" expert Paul Jeffery on the second lap and clearing off to take the first leg win.

The second leg was a repeat of the first with Orchard taking over from the fast-starting Jeffery and Adam Willoughby swapping places with Toby Thipthorp for the final podium place.

Orchard appeared to be on course to make it a clean sweep in the third leg, but with the mud and water getting deeper, he threw off his chain in one of the mud ruts leaving Thipthorp through to take the lead and hang on to take the leg win.

The sidecars shared the course with the quads for their three legs of racing and with past and present national champions on the starting line it had all the hallmarks of a mouthwatering clash.

Motocross champions Matt Turner and Gavin Yelland shot to the front and after the first lap were never troubled as they clinched a first-leg victory.

They were left on the line in the second leg, leaving Gareth Andrew and Wayne Davey to lead the charging pack. As they went past the last-lap flag Turner and Yelland were right on their tail, but it looked as if Andrew and Davey would hang on for the leg win until they caught a slower quad. While trying to pass on one side of the quad Turner and Yelland passed on the opposite side and finished ten seconds in front for their second win of the day and leaving Chris Mallaber and Dean Morford in a comfortable third place.

Turner and Yelland once again charged to the front for the third leg and with the non-appearance of Andrew and Davey it was left to Mallaber and Morford to pursue the flying Honda.

After two laps Turner retired with a puncture leaving Mallaber and Morford to claim the leg win and overall victory, just ahead of Martin Chapman and Claire Butler.

The next block of racing catered for the Clubman Four stroke and Sportsman solo riders.

Michael Williams certainly showed the rest of the class the way to tackle the short but demanding course by claiming three leg victories in the Clubman Four Stroke. Mark Lanceley and Kevin Woodley swapped places in the first two legs and with all at stake for the runner-up position Woodley came off on the very greasy poles and logs leaving Lanceley to take third in the leg and second overall.

Kelly Phillips showed her male competitors how to cope by winning the first leg in the Sportsman class, but in the second and third legs Phillips had to play second fiddle to Andrew Coad who came alive after a lowly third place in the first leg and claim two wins to Phillips' one and the overall victory on the break.

In the Clubman Two Stroke it was a repeat of the four strokes with Charles Richards showing the way with three leg wins leaving Jason Davies, Martin Froggatt, Lee Carter and Paul Warman to fight for the remaining podium places.

With the points fairly close after two legs, the third leg saw Carter and Warman retire leaving Davies to pip Froggatt for second place in the leg and overall.

The Experts produced three different leg winners. After the early demise of Jason Fraser and Gareth Andrew, it was left to Steven Jewell to lead home a very talented line-up in the first leg.

Peter Bulley, becoming better acquainted with the four stroke, passed Jewell and Tim Martyn midway through the second leg to claim a well-deserved leg success.

With all to go for in the third leg, Bulley had to finish in front of Jewell to have any chance of claiming overall victory. Swapping places throughout the race, they approached the now treacherous logs side by side and - side by side - they came a cropper. Whilst they were picking themselves up it left Jamie Paget to keep his head and claim the leg win and push Tim Martyn off the remaining third podium place.

Officials of Pendennis Motor Club, after a day of racing in atrocious conditions, wishes to extend its thanks to St John Ambulance, marshals, working parties, and especially the ladies for their help in lap scoring and results.

RESULTS Experts: I, Steven Jewell (Nanstallon), 250 Husqvarna, 27pts; 2, Peter Bulley (Bodmin), 250 Honda, 26; 3, Jamie Paget (Stithians), 200 KTM, 25; 4, Tim Martyn (St Agnes), 250 KTM, 23; 5, Shaun Martin (St Day), 300 GasGas, 18.

Clubman Two Stroke: 1, Charles Richards (Hayle), 125 KTM, 30; 2, Jason Davies (Newlyn), 200 KTM, 26; 3, Martin Froggatt (Gweek), 300 KTM, 20; 4, Paul Warman (Crowlas), 125 Yamaha, 17; 5, Lee Carter (Tehidy), 250 Honda, 16.

Clubman Four Stroke: 1, Mike Williams (Wendron), 250 Kawasaki, 30; 2, Mark Lanceley (Roche), 250 Yamaha, 25; 3, Kevin Woodley (Lanner), 250 Honda, 23; 4, Richard Grills (Exeter), 250 Yamaha, 22; 5, Chris Williams ((Wendron), 250 Yamaha, 20.

Sportsman: 1, Andrew Coad (Carharrack), 125 Kawasaki, 28; 2, Kelly Phillips (Roche), 125 Suzuki, 28; 3, Graham Hill (Redruth), 400 Suzuki, 24; 4, Scott Taylor (Lanner), 250 Honda, 21; 5, Steve Curnow (Penzance), 525 KTM, 189.

Quads: 1, Shane Orchard (Carharrack), 700 Yamaha, 29; 2, Paul Jeffery (Penhallow), 400 Suzuki, 26; 3, Toby Thipthorp (Perranwell), 800 Bombardier, 24; 4, Ashley Houman (Blackwater), 450 Honda, 18; 5, Gary McLellan (Truro), 200 Yamaha, 14.

Sidecar: 1, Chris Mallaber and Dean Morford (Carharrack), 27; 2, Martin Chapman and Claire Butler (Brea), 24; 3, Matt Turner and Gavin Yelland (St Austell), 20; 4, Paul Everly and Mark Brewer (St Austell), 17; 5, Dan Trengove and Adam Searle (Camborne), 80.