Mud Glorious Mud! 2021 AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 5 – Race Report & Results

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Rain, Rain and yet more rain, that was the story of a very wet round 5 of the AMCA British Motocross Championship at Hawkstone Park on Sunday! With it being a big achievement just to bring it home and get to the chequered flag, the action was to be eventually restricted to just a couple of moto’s each.

Report and Images by Mike Wood

In the event powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop, Ashley Greedy, Nev Bradshaw, Kieran Banks, Phil Mercer, Tyla Hooley and Oakley Kettle took the overall victories but every single competing rider was to be the real Hawkstone winners and all deserve a massive pat on the back for their herculean efforts! A special mention though should go to those rising young stars of the sport in the Youth 85cc class who refused to be intimidated by the heavy going, showing great determination and abundance of skill in not only mastering the track but still continuing to race.

Not surprisingly the conditions were also to have some bearing on the eventual results throughout the day but in MX1 series leader Ashley Greedy produced another majestic, controlled performance and thus bag the overall verdict, in the process also increasing his advantage at the top of the standings. The LHRT Kawasaki pilot is now 29 points clear with the very consistent James Dodd moving into 2^nd and Josh Waterman slotting into 3^rd as defending Champ Luke Burton drops to 4^th following front brake disc problems in moto two.

Having also opted to compete in Saturday’s AMCA Northern Group event at Hawkstone, Luke Hawkins proved that he was dialled into the track by setting the quickest qualifying time for the MX1 Championship action. With conditions poor, it was though Dodd who fired out of the gate in MX1 moto one to lead the way with Waterman, Burton, Zac Stealey and Greedy in tow. Doddy was sailing through the Hawkstone mud puddles in style and controlled proceedings up until lap five only to crash, as Burton then came through. As Burton went onto take the win, Dodd remounted to bag 2^nd. Series leader Greedy had managed to get up into 3^rd just ahead of Waterman with Hawkins, Stealey, Jayden Ashwell, Jimmy Margetson and Mark Young next in the finishing order. This was a particularly impressive performance in the rain from Margetson who had initially gated in 16^th.

In a dramatic start to MX1 moto two, title contender Burton was in trouble bending his front disc brake and damaging the brake hose in a deep, water filled Hawkstone rut. After running repairs, Burton was back racing but being three laps down it was now a case of damage limitation and the need to still just finish the contest. At the front the rapid Dodd on his Ultimate Wheels/Thunderroad Honda had led the charge. Under intense pressure from Hawkins, Dodd held on until three laps from home before the Apex GasGas UK ace got through. In the closing stages, the very determined Greedy also relegated Dodd who was suffering frompoor vision after being forced to discard his googles due to water getting behind the roll-ons. Waterman produced another strong ride for 4^th from Stealey, Luke Meredith and Sean Wainwright.

Having enjoyed an illustrious career and raced many laps around the Hawkstone venue, Nev Bradshaw put his vast experience to good use by producing a superb opening MX2 moto performance on Sunday. Being the current AMCA MX2 series leader, Nev on the 250cc 2T FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna led moto one from start to finish, his winning margin being nearly 15 seconds as Henry Williams took 2^nd from Adam Collings, Shane Carless and James Wainwright who was another rider electing to discard his goggles in the awful conditions. Taking out a wild card entry for Hawkstone, Wainwright a double AMCA mx2 Champion had earlier set the fastest qualifying time. Also in the mix in this one were Rossi Beard, Lewis Dowdeswell, Rory Jones, Josh Peters and Josh Canton.

FUS teammates Carless and Bradshaw both took turns to lead MX2 moto two but it was young Wainwright who was to bag the win. Gating 4^th he then took control on lap three as Bradshaw and Carless followed him home. Having another great ride, Collings was 4^th from Beard, Ray Rowson and Dowdeswell. Being another rider with vast experience of competing at Hawkstone, Rowson campaigned a 250cc 2T KTM on Sunday and appeared to be having lots of fun! For Wiliams, moto two was not quite as much fun though after getting bogged down in one of the worse wet sections on the track and dropping down to 14^th, he fought back to earn 9^th at the flag.

After setting the fastest qualifying time in 125cc, Bradley Tranter then grabbed the moto one holeshot to thus lead the high revving pack. Three laps in though and Tranter suffered a painful excursion over his KTM handlebars resulting in a dislocated shoulder. Somehow he picked himself up to remount and eventually finish in a brave 4^th spot! Taking the win in this one was the very quick Lloyd Morgan chased all the way by fellow Fantic rider and series leader Kieran Banks. Getting home in 3^rd was Harrison McCann as Tomas Wright, Joel Fisher, Matt Ridgway, Jordan Wright and Luke Newman put some very useful points on the board.

With Tranter a moto two non-starter, the superb Banks took full advantage by adding another win to his already very impressive total. Banks was certainly made to work very hard for that one as both Stuart Owen and Morgan had earlier led the way. Banks though on his Meredith MX Fantic was not to be denied, taking control on lap four. Incredibly on completion of this contest, Kieran had built a massive 30 seconds winning margin with Morgan in 2^nd, Owen 3^rd and Newman having his best ride of the series so far in 4^th. With Jordan Wright, Tomas Wright and Joel Fisher again in the points, next up in 8^th was former three times AMCA Champion Jack Cox. Making a very welcome return to action, Jack showed that he had not lost any of that old style, skill and speed!

Adding some extra spice to Sunday’s AMCA Vets Championship action, and coming out of the FUS awning was a couple of wildcard riders, Adrian Bradley a former multi AMCA and double IMBA European Champion and David Dunn. The overall result though in the Vets was to have a very familiar look about it as Phil Mercer took the win from Gary Davies and Paul Burn. Being another rider with vast Hawkstone and wet weather racing experience, Mercer used all of his track craft and guile to win moto one. Gating 4^th the FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna pilot quickly passed Dunn and Simon Lane to move up into 2nd. Then by lap three Phil was in control and there he remained as Davies took the runners-up slot from Adrian Bradley, Dunn, Burn, Lane and Anthony Bennett. For defending Champion James Lane the day though did not start well, unable to fire his Husqvarna machine into life, he was left to stand and watch the action instead.

James was thankfully back under power for the second Vets clash as Gary Davies led the charge. On lap one though Gary got temporarily bogged down in a deep, wet corner thus enabling Phil to take the advantage and control of the moto. The popular Cradley Kawasaki rider competing on home soil was to quickly regain forward momentum following his sticky scare before inserting heavy pressure on Phil, chasing him all the way home to the chequered flag. After his opening race problems, James Lane bagged a welcome 3^rd from Bradley, Burn, Matt Chaplin, Dunn and Christian Seldon. So on the podium it was Mercer making it 5 out of 5 overall wins joined on the box by Davies and Burn.

Incredibly 34 young 85cc riders came under starters orders at Hawkstone with the entry being boosted by three very impressive ACU Youth racing stars, Tyla Hooley, Shaun Mahoney and Freddie Gardiner. Taking the overall win on the day was Hooley son of former top AMCA and IMBA European Championship contender Mark. And, boy, can young Tyla ride, producing a superb performance of control, maturity and style to master the testing Hawkstone sloop, his Dad must have been very proud!

Also having a great day at Hawkstone was AMCA series regular Jack Davies and indeed he was to be the moto one pacesetter after claiming the holeshot before Hooley got through in the early stages. From here onwards it was Hooley all the way as Mahoney took 2^nd from Davis, series leader Oliver Rigby, Gardiner, Kalvin Kelly and Benjamin Sullivan. Whilst Rigby bagged another 43 big Championship points, the day did not start to well for his rival Charlie Hucklebridge. Not enjoying the conditions, Charlie had to settle for 13^th in this one.

In moto two, Davis again led the way before Hooley came storming through. Turning on the style and with the circuit a little drier, Hooley scorched to another win, incredibly 53 seconds clear of Mahoney, what a performance that was! Next up were Kelly, Sullivan, Wyatt McGregor and Davis. In this one the AMCA Championship top two both failed to score as Rigby’s bike expired and Hucklebridge disappeared after the opening lap. So it was Hooley, Mahoney and Kelly on the podium whilst in the title race, Rigby is now 47 points clear of Hucklebridge and Davis. In the SW85cc class, Oakley Kettle took the win on the day from Harley Prickett and Harrison Davies. Kettle also leads that particular Championship just 3 points clear of Prickett.

Following the Hawkstone nightmare, there’s little time for riders to recover as they wash bikes and clothing before preparing for the next AMCA British Championship adventure in just two weeks time!

Results

MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Ashley Greedy	92	45	47
2	James Dodd	92	47	45
3	Luke Hawkins	91	41	50
4	Josh Waterman	86	43	43
5	Zac Stealey	78	39	39
6	Jimmy Margetson	76	35	41
7	Luke Burton	71	50	21
8	Jayden Ashwell	70	37	33
9	Luke Meredith	66	29	37
10	Sean Wainwright	65	30	35
11	Henry Partridge	60	31	29
12	Mark Young	60	33	27
13	Will Hughes	55	25	30
14	Chris Neesam	54	28	26
15	Mark Roberts	52	27	25
16	Rhys Walker	47	23	24
17	Damon Strydom	46	18	28
18	Luke Chessell	39	17	22
19	Tye Barrs	39	19	20
20	Jamie Skuse	31	–	31
21	Sunny Thompson	26	26	–
22	Joe Roberts	24	24	–
23	Benjamin Nicholls	23	–	23
24	Harvey Tillotson	22	22	–
25	Luke Dean	21	21	–
26	Rory Merchant	20	20	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Neville Bradshaw	97	50	47
2	James Wainwright	91	41	50
3	Shane Carless	88	43	45
4	Adam Collings	88	45	43
5	Rossi Beard	80	39	41
6	Henry Williams	80	47	33
7	Lewis Dowdeswell	74	37	37
8	Josh Canton	66	31	35
9	Rory Jones	61	35	26
10	Lee Truman	57	26	31
11	Sean Eckersley	55	28	27
12	James Hanscomb	53	25	28
13	Mitchell Perry	52	22	30
14	Billy Bayliss	52	23	29
15	Harry Linton	51	27	24
16	Josh Coleman	49	29	20
17	Martin Jones	45	20	25
18	Richy Roberts	44	21	23
19	Ray Rowson	39	–	39
20	Ben James	35	14	21
21	Adam Hill	33	15	18
22	Josh Peters	33	33	–
23	Aaron Collins	32	10	22
24	Joe Russell	30	11	19
25	Corey Hockey	30	30	–
26	Callum Ford	24	24	–
27	Keelan Southwood	19	19	–
28	Patrick Gilligan	18	18	–
29	Macauley Davies	17	17	–
30	Joshua Barnett	16	16	–
31	Alfie Jones	13	13	–
32	Pip Davies	12	12	–

125’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Kieran Banks	97	47	50
2	Lloyd Morgan	97	50	47
3	tomos wright	80	41	39
4	Luke Newman	76	33	43
5	Jordan Wright	76	35	41
6	Joel Fisher	76	39	37
7	Harrison Mccann	72	45	27
8	Stuart Owen	70	25	45
9	Matt Ridgway	66	37	29
10	Jack Cox	62	27	35
11	Shane Holmes	62	29	33
12	Jordan Ridgway	62	31	31
13	Tom Fish	51	23	28
14	Jordan Meredith	51	26	25
15	Yarin Evans	49	28	21
16	Harry Ridgway	49	30	19
17	Matt Tolley	46	20	26
18	Callum Baldwin	45	15	30
19	Clinton Barrs	45	21	24
20	Bradley Tranter	43	43	–
21	Ezra Blackwell	42	24	18
22	Max Lewis	41	19	22
23	Oliver Barnes	36	16	20
24	Joshua Fletcher-Williams	23	–	23
25	Conner Challinor	22	22	–
26	Mitchell Gregory	18	18	–
27	Nathan Bache	17	17	–
28	Olly Hathaway	14	14	–

Vets

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Phil Mercer	100	50	50
2	Gary Davies	94	47	47
3	Paul Burn	82	41	41
4	David Dunn	80	43	37
5	Simon Lane	70	39	31
6	Christian Seldon	68	33	35
7	Mark Hawkins	59	31	28
8	Andrew Watkins	58	28	30
9	Gareth Dunsford	58	29	29
10	John Littler	56	30	26
11	Richard Tudor	56	35	21
12	Sean Smith	55	22	33
13	Matthew Evans	52	27	25
14	Russell Hartill	50	26	24
15	Brian Staples	47	20	27
16	David Bradley	45	45	–
17	James Lane	45	–	45
18	Stephen Hurst	44	21	23
19	David Bradley	43	–	43
20	Matthew Chaplin	39	–	39
21	David Bullock	39	19	20
22	Anthony Bennett	37	37	–
23	Steve Ferney	25	25	–
24	Gary Hurst	24	24	–
25	Guy Langmead	23	23	–
26	Alan Reese	22	–	22

Youth 85’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Tyla Hooley	100	50	50
2	Shaun Mahoney	94	47	47
3	Kalvin Kelly	84	39	45
4	Jack Davis	84	45	39
5	Benjamin Sullivan	80	37	43
6	Alfie Bebb	68	31	37
7	Freddie Gardiner	67	41	26
8	Sion Wright	62	27	35
9	Cameron Chell	60	35	25
10	Will Turner	57	30	27
11	Jonas Brown	56	25	31
12	Oakley Kettle	54	26	28
13	Tyler Smith	54	33	21
14	Jack Evans	52	19	33
15	Conrad Tomlinson	48	24	24
16	Harley Prickett	47	18	29
17	Rheanna Morgan-Rogers	45	29	16
18	Harrison Davies	44	21	23
19	Oliver Rigby	43	43	–
20	Wyatt McGregor	41	–	41
21	Linc Hasted	39	17	22
22	Josh Lansbury	39	20	19
23	Tremaine Young	39	22	17
24	Logan Jay Powell	38	23	15
25	Amber McGregor	34	16	18
26	Rylee Francis	30	–	30
27	George Bromley	29	15	14
28	Charlie Hucklebridge	28	28	–
29	Oliver Bebb	20	–	20