Gilbert & Anderson power to Preston Docks victories! 2023 Bridgestone British Masters Round 1 – Race Report & Results

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The Crendon Fastrack Honda teammates of Josh Gilbert and Conrad Mewse came to the opening round of the Bridgestone British Masters and completely dominated the event.

Race Report and Images by Dick Law

They ended the weekend tied on points, with Gilbert being awarded the overall win by winning race two, which was made slightly easier after Mewse was involved in a first-turn multi-rider pileup.

Brad Anderson won both Pro MX2 races on his two-stroke KTM but was missing at the presentation as he was at the local hospital after his son Vinnie was involved in a crash in his junior 65 race.

Riders travelled from all over the country to Preston Dock’s new deep sand track. Despite Friday’s heavy rain, it was in excellent racing condition, with most of the sloppy mud confined to the paddock area and ten full classes of riders. It was a busy weekend.

Gilbert got the first Pro holeshot from Mewse, but by the end of the lap, two of the positions were reversed, with Mewse taking the lead and slowly opening up a bigger and bigger lead and lapping up to fifth place before the end of the twenty-five minutes plus two lap race. Gilbert crossed the finish line over thirty seconds behind the leader Mewse but over a minute clear of third place Miro Sihvonen (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna). The only other rider on the lead lap was returning to UK raceing Evgeny Bobryshev (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna).

Bobryshev had gated fifth and, for the first three laps, was involved in a battle for third with Steven Clarke (Store 114 Racing Honda) and Carlton Husband (Phoenix Evenstrokes Kawasaki). But while the three riders were tripping over each other, Sihvonen slipped by them for the last podium position. Clarke was fifth and a lap down, while Husband, who was not used to racing the 450 instead of his usual 250, ran out of fuel with three laps to go.

Billy Askew (GTCI Revo Kawasaki), having his first race in the Pro’s, was the first MX2 rider at the start, in nineteenth place. But his race only lasted five laps until his machine’s new clutch stopped working, leaving him stranded at the far end of the track with a long pushback to the paddock.

Anderson had gated two places behind Askew but worked his way to eleventh at the end of the race, but first MX2. Bailey Johnston (Verde Shiloh KTM) didn’t get the start he wanted and ended the opening lap way down in twenty-fourth place. From there, he pushed on and finished the race in Anderson’s wheel track.

There was carnage at the start of the second Pro race as Gilbert, Husband, and Liam Knight (Gabriel KTM) sped off around the opening lap there was a heap of riders in the first turn, which included race one winner Mewse, Clarke, Sihvonen, and Bobryshev.

While Gilbert stretched out a sizable lead at the front of the pack, Husband did all he could to stay with him till, at the halfway point, Mewse, who was really on a mission, shot past him and into second place. But Gilbert’s lead was too large for Mewse to catch him, so he settled for second place.

Husband had a crash, like most others, and dropped back to fourth place, while Sihvonen, who was following Mewse from turn one, slotted into third place with three laps to go.

On the MX2 side of the race, both Askew and Anderson had gated well and were amongst the bigger 450, but while Anderson held his own and finished seventh on the tack, once again the first MX2 rider, Askew slipped down to twelfth place.

Bobryshev’s day didn’t get any better as after he was involved in the first-turn crash, he mistimed the whoops on lap five, which sent him over the handlebars. He was severely winded but unhurt.

Overall, it was Gilbert from teammate Mewse on the same points, from Sihvonen in the Pro MX1s and Anderson from Johnston and Lewis Hall in the Pro MX2s.

“I have been getting a little bit better each week,” said winner Gilbert, “Even at last Fridays event, I keep getting arm pump, and I don’t know if it’s just a matter of getting more races under my belt outdoors. That’s one of the reasons we came here. The track today was savage but good. The races were the full twenty-five minutes, and that’s tough going. I got the holeshot in the first race, but Conrad (Mewse) got by me. I held onto him for a bit, but then I got the arm pump again, so we changed some things for the second race. I thought I got the holeshot again, but Liam (Knight) snatched it from me. After that, I took the lead and then just rode my race and felt more comfortable”.

When asked about the second race first corner pileup second place man Mewse said, “I don’t really know. I was riding around the inside of the first turn, and someone thought they would ride into me. It was a bit of a novice move, and I don’t know what they were thinking. As I picked up the bike, I noticed I had no brake or clutch lever, so I rode with just the throttle and back brake. I was coming fast into turn three when someone went down, and I couldn’t stop and went over their bike and came off. It was a disaster of a race. I came from last back to second, which I must be happy with”.

From third place on the podium, Sihvonen said, “I was struggling a bit with the track in the morning, but then it started to go better and better. In the second race, I was involved in the first-turn crash. I got really angry with that, but I had a good race getting back to third, so that was OK”.

With Anderson unavailable for comment, second-overall MX2 rider Johnston said, “I have had a good day today. I am very happy with my riding as we only entered this last minute for some good race training. In both races, I have come from the back to a second and a fourth for second overall, so I am happy with that”.

Third Pro MX2 Lewis Hall said, “I have only had a week on the bike since I had five months off with no training. So I rocked up today to see how I got on without expectations. I was rusty in the first race but found my flow in the second. I then realised I could ride sand, so third overall is good”.

With three-second places and a win, Max Lewis (MX Dreams KTM) took the overall in the amateur MX1s. Daniel Parry was always in the top four in all four of his races for second overall, while John Joe Wright (Mr Dig Honda) was third. But a crash for Ryan Mawhinney (Yamaha) on the last lap of race two, which saw him finish fifteenth, robbed him of the overall win or even a podium position as he won all the other races.

Rory Jones (IDS Transport KTM) proved that you don’t have to win races to win overalls, as he didn’t win any of the amateur MX2 races but finished on the top set of the podium. Race three winner Ben Clark (Rock Oil Husqvarna) was second overall, with race one winner Henry Siddiqui (Apico Husqvarna) third. The last race of the weekend was won by Patrick Jackson (Yamaha), but he missed out on the podium by just two points.

Mitchel Collins (Collins Motor Care KTM), with two wins, a second and a third, won the clubman class from race two winner Daniel Chapman (Honda), with Nathan Heath (KTM) third.

Jimmy Margetson (Husqvarna), with three wins and a second place, won the 125cc class from race three winner Samuel Price (KTM). Freddie Gardiner (Team Matt Gardiner KTM) spent all weekend in the top five and was third overall, with Beau Brown (KTM) just missing out on a podium position in fourth.

On the youth side of things, Bayliss Utting (Gibbons Plant Hire Husqvarna), with two-second places on Saturday, backed them up with two wins on Sunday for the MXY2 overall. Jak Taylor (W & W Tatchell Husqvarna) didn’t finish out of the top four for second overall, with Joseph Leeks (Honda) third. Mackenzie Marshall (DK Offroad Yamaha) won races one and two, but he didn’t race on day two.

Only one rider was unbeaten over the race weekend: Josh Vail (SJP Moto KTM) in the big wheel class. Jamie Keith (KTM) chased Vail over the finish line in all four races for second overall, with Lewis Spratt (KTM) third.

With three wins and a third, Olly Waters (MGMX KTM) won the small wheels from race three winner Joel Winstanley-Dawson (Cattle Trucks KTM) in second and with Jenson Severn (Rod Sten Brickworks Gas Gas) third.

It was close at the top of the junior 65s, with Harley Marczak (JMR Foundation Gas Gas) notching up three-second places before ending the weekend with a race win. With two race wins and two third places, Casey Lister (VIP Motocross Gas Gas) was second, just two points behind Marczak. Race two winner Cohen Jagielski (Fast Eddy Racing Gas Gas) was third, just two points behind Lister, as six points separated the top three.

Results

Pro MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Josh Gilbert	88	43	45
2	Conrad Mewse	88	45	43
3	Miro Sihvonen	82	41	41
4	Liam Knight	71	34	37
5	Steven Clarke	71	37	34
6	Jason Meora	68	33	35
7	Carlton Husband	65	26	39
8	Callum Green	63	30	33
9	Brad Todd	63	35	28
10	Gavin Stevenson	62	31	31
11	Richard McKeown	59	29	30
12	Harry Bradley	56	27	29
13	Evgeny Bobryshev	39	39	–
14	Charlie Putnam	32	–	32
15	Jay Hague	32	32	–
16	Josh Bentley	28	28	–

Pro MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Brad Anderson	90	45	45
2	Bailey Johnston	82	43	39
3	Lewis Hall	80	37	43
4	Uldis Freibergs	76	39	37
5	Callum Mitchell	73	41	32
6	Aaron Ongley	69	34	35
7	Jake Preston	68	35	33
8	Travis Steels	66	32	34
9	Daniel Hutchinson	64	33	31
10	Billy Askew	41	–	41

Amateur MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Max Lewis	174	43	45	43	43
2	DanieL Parry	162	39	41	41	41
3	John Joe Wright	162	41	43	39	39
4	Ryan Mawhinney	159	45	24	45	45
5	Harrison McCann	142	35	33	37	37
6	Simon Booth	129	29	35	30	35
7	Luke Mellows	125	30	37	24	34
8	Liam Crellin	124	34	34	26	30
9	Jamie Dixon	120	27	39	21	33
10	Callum Gordon	119	26	32	32	29
11	Brad Thornhill	118	28	27	31	32
12	Sean Williamson	114	31	29	23	31
13	Jamie Fort	110	33	20	29	28
14	Oliver Ruddock	108	23	25	35	25
15	Ben Burridge	107	32	31	20	24
16	Ryan Osborn	103	21	23	33	26
17	Taylor Hampshire	92	24	22	27	19
18	Kieran Yorke	92	25	30	28	9
19	Daniel Maule	89	22	18	34	15
20	Keith Noble	85	19	26	18	22
21	Lewis Huckerby	80	20	17	22	21
22	Dale Brockhurst	76	–	28	25	23
23	James Thompson	73	18	16	19	20
24	David Curtis	68	17	21	12	18
25	Charlie Way	64	37	–	–	27
26	Frazer Gardiner	62	15	15	16	16
27	Liam Piggford	60	16	14	17	13
28	Lewis Anderson	53	14	11	14	14
29	Kathryn Booth	44	–	12	15	17
30	Matty Ryder	41	12	8	10	11
31	Danny Palmer	39	13	13	13	–
32	Connor Maltby	37	10	9	8	10
33	Max Monk	35	11	7	9	8
34	Linford Healer (w)	27	8	19	–	–
35	Roman York	23	–	–	11	12
36	Daniel Silvester	22	9	6	–	7
37	Marcus Trout	10	–	10	–	–

Amateur MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Rory Jones	162	35	43	43	41
2	Ben Clark	160	37	35	45	43
3	Henry Siddiqui	157	45	41	41	30
4	Patrick Jackson	155	43	28	39	45
5	Aaron Ongley	153	39	45	32	37
6	Callum Murfitt	146	41	33	37	35
7	Drew Roe	130	33	37	33	27
8	Adam Harris	127	27	34	35	31
9	Logan Wilcox	125	31	31	30	33
10	Denny Rapson	124	34	39	12	39
11	Raife Broadley	120	32	32	22	34
12	Harvey Cashmore	115	28	27	28	32
13	Joele Hart	104	25	26	31	22
14	Jordan Bachelor	103	26	30	24	23
15	Lewis Parkinson	102	22	29	25	26
16	Mitchell Armour	100	24	24	23	29
17	Leon Ongley	99	19	23	29	28
18	Jude Turton	90	20	21	34	15
19	Gary Ashley	89	29	25	21	14
20	Syd Putnam	87	14	22	27	24
21	Lenny Ashley	75	16	19	19	21
22	Ben Zeale	74	23	–	26	25
23	Mathew Pocock	71	13	18	20	20
24	Mitchell Warhurst	71	21	20	13	17
25	Sam Menzies	70	18	15	18	19
26	Luke Southern	63	17	17	16	13
27	Charlie Parker	61	12	14	17	18
28	Charlie Gibson	55	11	13	15	16
29	Liam Smith	30	30	–	–	–
30	Alex Buchanan (W)	16	–	16	–	–
31	Adam Paxton	15	15	–	–	–
32	Sebastian Millbank	14	–	–	14	–

125cc

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Jimmy Margetson (W)	178	45	45	43	45
2	Samuel Price	166	43	39	45	39
3	Freddie Gardiner	158	41	43	31	43
4	Beau Brown	153	37	34	41	41
5	Troy Willerton	151	39	41	37	34
6	Chester Hyde	142	34	37	39	32
7	Declan Wright	130	32	28	33	37
8	Finlay Boxall	129	30	30	34	35
9	Daniel Brough	129	33	31	35	30
10	Will Haddock	125	31	32	29	33
11	Conor McGrath	119	25	35	28	31
12	Harry Barker	117	29	33	30	25
13	Harry Shand	112	22	29	32	29
14	Ollie Addy	104	28	23	27	26
15	Zachary Pearson	97	23	25	25	24
16	Logan Powell	96	27	24	26	19
17	Bill Moynes	88	24	13	23	28
18	Teddy Hyde	82	19	20	20	23
19	Ashton Phillips	82	21	27	21	13
20	Levi Saunders	81	18	14	22	27
21	Tyler Jones	78	20	21	17	20
22	Braidy Tucker	72	16	18	16	22
23	Ryan Cristian	70	14	22	18	16
24	Ethan Blackley	69	15	17	19	18
25	Connor Smith	69	13	15	24	17
26	Jack Brearey	66	26	4	15	21
27	Callum Feely	51	5	19	12	15
28	Kevin Ranton	50	11	16	13	10
29	Max Ellerker	49	12	9	14	14
30	Oliver Almond	43	17	26	–	–
31	Joel Kremer	39	9	11	10	9
32	Josh Blackley	37	10	8	8	11
33	Oli Wickers	35	–	12	11	12
34	Ryan Waggott	35	35	–	–	–
35	Dan Wood	25	8	10	7	–
36	Joseph Horn	23	6	6	4	7
37	Harrison Clarke	20	–	7	5	8
38	Jake Ward	18	4	5	3	6
39	Leo Peacock	15	3	3	9	–
40	Thomas McLean	13	7	–	6	–

Clubman

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Mitchil Collins	174	45	43	41	45
2	Daniel Chapman	158	41	45	35	37
3	Nathan Heath	150	39	35	37	39
4	Kane Fisher	147	34	41	39	33
5	Colin McLuckie	141	26	29	45	41
6	Richard Roberts	139	37	39	34	29
7	Richard Evans	122	27	33	27	35
8	Matthew Jones	121	33	37	25	26
9	Jacob Bell	121	43	27	31	20
10	Mark Kinsley	118	–	32	43	43
11	Matthew Fuller	111	32	19	28	32
12	Josh Watson-Bailey	111	22	28	30	31
13	Frankie Elwell	106	24	16	32	34
14	Ivan Williamson	101	31	26	21	23
15	Jake Evans	101	16	34	33	18
16	Luke Price	98	21	18	29	30
17	Kevin McBride	98	28	31	20	19
18	Josh Young	97	35	21	19	22
19	Lee Clarkson	94	30	10	26	28
20	Joe Sargent	89	25	22	15	27
21	Ben Hughes	87	19	25	22	21
22	Alex Harvey	87	18	30	23	16
23	Bradley Priest	74	23	24	13	14
24	Aidan Carney	68	20	13	10	25
25	Tristan Daniels	67	15	23	18	11
26	Dan Best	63	17	17	14	15
27	Josh Ithell	60	7	12	24	17
28	Callum Radford	57	14	14	16	13
29	Roger Frean	53	9	20	12	12
30	Josh Jones	46	12	6	4	24
31	Dean Rodgers	46	29	–	17	–
32	Simon Jenkins	44	10	15	9	10
33	Kurt Richardson	39	11	9	11	8
34	Robert Williams	32	8	11	7	6
35	Joe Grace	29	5	7	8	9
36	Scott Isherwood	20	13	–	–	7
37	Harley Jones	20	2	8	5	5
38	Tyler Stevenson	12	6	–	6	–
39	Lee Johnston	8	3	5	–	–
40	James Barabach	4	4	–	–	–

MXY2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Bayliss Utting	176	43	43	45	45
2	Jak Taylor	158	35	39	41	43
3	Joseph Leeks	148	39	35	37	37
4	Liam Bennett	145	26	41	39	39
5	Josh Bassett	143	37	37	34	35
6	Tye Jones	133	32	34	35	32
7	Jack Dando	132	33	33	32	34
8	Kayde Rayns	125	41	–	43	41
9	Kyron Carron	122	27	31	31	33
10	Jack Meara	115	34	28	33	20
11	Jack Wilson	113	28	32	27	26
12	Louis Perrin-Brown	112	29	29	26	28
13	Sam Jackson	108	30	30	24	24
14	Jamie Collins	107	24	25	29	29
15	Richard Barstow	106	25	21	30	30
16	Jake Barker	105	31	15	28	31
17	Lewis Bethell	99	21	26	25	27
18	Sonny Shipton	96	23	27	21	25
19	McKenzie Marshall	90	45	45	–	–
20	Curtis Roberts	89	19	24	23	23
21	Jon Waghorn	85	22	22	20	21
22	Harrison Drewell	82	20	23	22	17
23	Max Agar	76	16	20	18	22
24	Thomas Sharp	75	18	19	19	19
25	Lenny Wright	70	17	18	17	18
26	Leyton Duffy	64	15	17	16	16
27	Max Hudson	57	12	16	15	14
28	Tommy Gibbard	54	11	14	14	15
29	Jake Cappa	14	14	–	–	–
30	Danny Moore	13	13	–	–	–
31	Jack Hoare	13	–	–	13	–

Big Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Josh Vail	180	45	45	45	45
2	Jamie Keith	172	43	43	43	43
3	Lewis Spratt (w)	164	41	41	41	41
4	Jorge Parkin	152	39	37	37	39
5	Zane Stephens	149	34	39	39	37
6	Kameron Greenhalgh	142	37	35	35	35
7	Cailen Jai Griffiths	126	35	34	33	24
8	Ollie Jewitt	123	32	30	29	32
9	Harley O’Callaghan	118	31	28	30	29
10	Oakley Kettle	117	27	33	24	33
11	Elvis Totney	114	25	32	26	31
12	Ethan Jordan	112	24	29	25	34
13	Leo Self	109	30	22	27	30
14	Tristan McGrath	108	29	25	31	23
15	Maison Jones	107	33	18	28	28
16	Sebastian Moore	104	23	27	32	22
17	Halim Own	99	28	31	13	27
18	Jaxon Haswell	95	22	24	23	26
19	Andrew Piggford	86	20	19	22	25
20	Bobby Burns	86	26	23	20	17
21	Leo Wright	86	15	26	34	11
22	Josh Hutchinson	80	19	20	21	20
23	James Egerton	70	21	17	16	16
24	Marley Alder	69	18	15	15	21
25	Corey Jay Hull	62	13	12	18	19
26	Ellis Nelson	62	12	13	19	18
27	Ashden Walsh	61	8	21	17	15
28	Holly Williams	56	16	16	12	12
29	Corey Wheatley	51	17	10	11	13
30	Max Williams	51	14	14	14	9
31	Harry Grayson	38	11	8	9	10
32	Cole Taylor	35	–	11	10	14
33	Charlie Hollamby	33	10	7	8	8
34	Daniel Hollis-Reeves	29	9	6	7	7
35	Kyle Daniels	9	–	9	–	–

Small Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Olly Waters	174	45	45	39	45
2	Joel Winstanley-Dawson	166	39	43	45	39
3	Jenson Severn	164	41	41	41	41
4	Jack Leese	158	43	37	35	43
5	Marty Spires	145	34	34	43	34
6	Lucas Lee	139	29	39	34	37
7	Arthur Moore	137	37	32	37	31
8	Archie Butterfield	134	35	33	33	33
9	Chase Panter	133	33	35	30	35
10	Alfie Stott	116	32	29	31	24
11	Caiden Brand	115	31	27	28	29
12	Harry Hall	113	30	28	29	26
13	Ryan Jackson (W)	111	27	31	23	30
14	Hayden Gibson	105	11	30	32	32
15	Jamie Thorpe	103	28	26	21	28
16	Ryan Taylor	96	25	21	25	25
17	Ricky Barrick	93	26	17	27	23
18	William Evans	90	24	15	24	27
19	JJ Cooper	90	23	20	26	21
20	Brooklyn Gabbitas	88	22	24	20	22
21	Jamie Prentice	79	19	25	18	17
22	Harry Cuddy	71	17	14	22	18
23	Ryan Prentice	71	18	23	19	11
24	Henry Lewis	66	20	18	14	14
25	Oscar Gilham	62	8	22	12	20
26	Kyle Graham	62	21	16	9	16
27	Tommy Hutchinson	60	15	9	17	19
28	Alan Thomson	55	16	8	16	15
29	William Macaulay	55	14	19	10	12
30	Spencer Newman	51	13	12	13	13
31	Ben Egerton (W)	41	9	11	11	10
32	Martin Janson	37	–	13	15	9
33	Junior Wigglesworth	35	10	10	7	8
34	Jack Masters	32	12	7	6	7
35	Jake Dixon (w)	27	7	6	8	6
36	Seersha Jones	10	5	5	–	–
37	Byron Wheldon	6	6	–	–	–

Junior 65

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Harley Marczak	174	43	43	43	45
2	Casey Lister	172	45	41	45	41
3	Cohen Jagielski	170	41	45	41	43
4	Nixon Coppins	149	34	39	37	39
5	Jett Gardiner	136	37	35	27	37
6	Ethan Gawley	136	35	33	34	34
7	Arthur King	134	28	34	39	33
8	Lyall Rutherford	132	33	31	33	35
9	Teddy Merriman	130	39	37	35	19
10	Charley Wilcock	123	31	29	32	31
11	Elliott Shawyer	112	30	32	29	21
12	Alfie Cotter	109	26	27	24	32
13	Jakson Ross	97	23	30	19	25
14	Jamie Currie	94	14	26	26	28
15	Mason Brown	92	20	28	30	14
16	Ronan Watson	90	32	–	28	30
17	Dylan Standing	90	24	24	22	20
18	Remi Wigglesworth	89	25	23	18	23
19	Rylee Byrne	87	27	14	17	29
20	Vinnie Anderson	85	29	25	31	–
21	Tommy Wood	84	18	17	25	24
22	Sydney Williams	81	11	22	21	27
23	Riley Seeds	80	21	20	23	16
24	Finley Rundle	77	16	19	20	22
25	Ivan Williamson	76	17	18	15	26
26	Bradley Thompson	66	22	16	16	12
27	Jack Clark	65	19	15	13	18
28	Will kremer	58	8	21	14	15
29	Johnny Wright	54	15	11	11	17
30	Olly Hanley	47	12	10	12	13
31	Jack Waters	43	10	13	9	11
32	Troy McGrath	43	13	12	8	10
33	Haydn Escott	31	7	8	7	9
34	Max Jones	28	9	9	10	–
35	Caitlyn Cone	27	6	7	6	8