All aboard the Shane Train! 2023 AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 3 – Race Report, Results & Interviews

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After a recent enforced break due to wet weather, the 2023 AMCA British Motocross Championship returned to action at the weekend with the latest round held at Lower Drayton in Staffordshire.

Race Report, Images and Interviews by Mike Wood

Being a double header event, there was plenty of points on offer and Shane Carless (MX2), Shane Jones (125cc Youth), Ryan Jackson (SW85cc) and Matt Ryder (Vets O50) all took full advantage to bag maximum points.

Going back to that MX2 class and Shane Carless (FUS Marsh Geartec Husqvarna) picked up his first victory of the weekend in what was a rather dramatic affair! For the opening seven laps it was Howard Wainwright leading the way before being forced out after painfully twisting his knee. Also failing to finish was Wildcard rider Ben Mustoe who suffered a massive crash on lap five when holding 2nd spot. Thankfully young Ben was uninjured but had badly damaged his bike and his weekend was unfortunately over. So, after starting in 3rd Carless took full advantage and claim the moto win from Corey Hockey, Rory Jones, Jake Preston, McKenzie Marshall and recent new Dad Lee Truman.

High flying MX2 action with Jake Preston(957) closest to camera

With Preston going out of moto two with a blown motor, Hockey led the charge until three laps from home before Carless came through. In the closing stages, fast Lewis Hall, a rider returning to the sport and joining the Meredith MX team also found a way past Hockey. After a straight forward moto three win, Carless was then made to work very hard for his maximum points scoring victory in the last MX2 clash. In that one, Hockey looked on course to be first past the chequered flag until jarring his ankle. In immense pain, the Midwest Racing Husqvarna pilot dropped down to 5th behind Carless, Hall, Jones and Preston. Ominously, the Lower Drayton results mean that defending MX2 Champion Carless is now already at the top of the title standings!

Starting in the same superb form which he had shown during round one at Fatcat, Apex GasGas UK youngster Shane Jones was on it again! The stylish, smooth kid scorched to four big Lower Drayton wins in the Youth 125cc class. The only rider to really get close to the flying red machine was Wyatt McGregor on the orange KTM. Indeed, McGregor had spells where he led both moto’s one and three. His chances though of finishing in a deserved overall runners-up spot were spoilt in the last clash of the weekend. In that one, Wyatt found himself in a distant last place and with lots of work to do! Staying calm, he then brilliantly stormed back to get home in 12th. That was just about enough to earn the final podium step just behind the ultra-consistent Will Turner on the Midwest Racing Husqvarna. Also, right in the mix in this one was Jack Evans, Rees Jones, Phillip Tchorek and Riegan Rees. Although it’s early days, McGregor tops the Championship standings with just a further 10 points separating him from Evans, Shane Jones and Turner, this is already shaping up to be an outstanding contest!

Caitlin Newman(3) and Phillip Tchorek in BWMA Youth 125cc action

The BWMA Women also competed in this Youth 125cc class and just like Fatcat it was Marni Saunders taking the overall win from Caitlin Newman. Having not competed in round one, Ria Truman took 3rd this time from Hannah Jones, Grace Bates and Amber McGregor, sister of the afore mentioned Wyatt McGregor! In three out of four moto’s, Marni was the first Woman home, her highest placing being a great 10th in the second clash. The only time Marni was defeated by her fellow females was in moto three when Newman (13th), Bates (14th) and Truman (15th) all got ahead of the early Championship leader. CPMX Racing KTM rider Hollie Roberts, the 2022 BWMA 85cc Champion showed again that she’s quickly adapting to her increase in engine power by taking 7th overall in this class. With consistency in motocross always the key to success, how about India Hodgkinson who was 10th overall just behind Autumn Jenkinson and Abbie Piggott. In all four of her races, India also finished in 10th place!

The BWMA Girls were also in action in the Youth 85cc combined class. With Fatcat winner Leah Rees-Evans only completing three laps of the opening Lower Drayton moto, it left the door open for her rivals to take full advantage in the title race. And after four frantic clashes, incredibly Holly Williams and Checoby Rainey are now locked together at the top of the Championship standings on 382 points apiece. During the latest round it was Williams who was first girl home in three out of four clashes before Rainey gained a last moto success. All weekend in this one the girls were to post some big results with Williams a fantastic 6th in moto two whilst Rainey had a 9th in the last moto. Joining Williams and Rainey on the podium was Erin Howes with Poppy Banning and Sophie Jones next best.

In the boy’s 85cc contest, the fast-starting Oakley Kettle took the opening win from George Clark, Oliver Bebb, Mason Care, Alfie Irons and Ryan Jackson. From here onwards, Care scorched to three moto wins with Kettle the only rider to head him. So, on the podium it was Care the victor from Kettle and Clark and it’s also those three riders at the top of the Championship but in a slightly different order. In the title race, Kettle leads the way 21 points clear of Care with Clark a further 5 in arrears. In the separately scored SW85cc class, Jackson has now won the opening two rounds and holds a 34-point advantage over Harrison Rees and Jacob Ince in 3rd.

Just two weeks after having knee surgery, Nev Bradshaw was a surprise starter in the Lower Drayton 125cc class. And showing tremendous desire and determination to compete in the sport he clearly loves, the speedy South African then proceeded to remarkably win the opening race ahead of Luke Dean, Damon Strydom, Chris Povey, Jack Cox, Charlie Palmer and Harry Linton. In a super second race, Nev then had to settle for a runners-up spot after battling with Dean. Having taken the opportunity to test and punish the knee, Nev then headed for home leaving the super quick Dean to take a further two moto wins on the second day of action aboard his Meredith MX Fantic.

In the very early stages of Sunday’s 125cc racing though there was to be drama when series leader Strydom crashed out when the rear wheel axle came loose on his Husqvarna machine! With Strydom out of contention, his FUS teammate Povey stepped up the challenge and thus take a strong 2nd ahead of Cox and Yarin Evans who was having a fantastic ride in 4th on the SRH Racing KTM. Following his earlier incident, Strydom was up and running again in the final 125cc moto but it was Dean who took the victory with Povey in 3rd, Cox 4th and Matt Ridgway just edging out Charlie Palmer in a fantastic tussle for 5th. Dean’s super Lower Drayton performance as seen him also go to the top of the Championship table, 29 points clear of former AMCA Champion Cox and the FUS boy’s Strydom and Povey.

Just like the Fatcat round one battles, the Open class proved to be a fierce head-to-head battle at the front as James Dodd (FUS Marsh Geartec Husqvarna) took on Henry Williams (Apex GasGas UK). And, the end result was also to be the same with Doddy scoring a 3-1 moto win success. Showing his usual reliable consistency, Adam Wells the Apex teammate of Williams took 3rd overall despite suffering from some front fork issues in moto three. Fourth place in this class went to birthday boy Will Hughes. It was though not a totally memorable birthday for Will, suffering a day one crash which left him a little sore! Mark Roberts,

Luke Meredith and Matt Burrows were next best in this class which also featured former AMCA Champions Josh Waterman and Luke Burton. Recovering from severe cramp in his hands which as kept him out of recent action, Josh completed one Saturday moto earning a 3rd place before retiring from the second clash, whilst Luke, coming back from a knee injury, finished with a brace of 3rd placings in Sunday’s moto’s.

The new slim, trim Veterans rider Simon Lane was to take the Lower Drayton top honours in that particular class ahead of his brother James Lane and former AMCA Vets Champion Matt Ryder. Having recently lost that little bit of weight, Simon Lane was in super form winning the open three moto’s before being caught and passed by the younger James in the final clash. Round one winner Adam Wilkinson on his two-stroke GasGas took 4th at Lower Drayton and is now 2nd in the Championship sandwiched by the Lane boy’s, Simon the leader and James in 3rd. Next up is Ryder who is also the Vets O50 series table topper. The main Vets series also currently sees Matthew Chaplin, Brian Staples, Sean Smith, Simon Bonser, Richard Meakin and Richard Tudor inside the top ten.

Completing the Lower Drayton programme was two races on Sunday for supporting Unlimited Juniors. In that one, Ben Fletcher and Mitch Evans scored a win each. The overall though went to Evans who backed up his race victory with a runners-up spot in moto two.

Results

Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	James Dodd	197	50	47	50	50
2	Henry Williams	191	47	50	47	47
3	Adam Wells	164	35	45	41	43
4	Will Hughes	160	45	35	39	41
5	Mark Roberts	160	39	41	43	37
6	Luke Meredith	156	41	39	37	39
7	Matt Burrows	144	31	43	35	35
8	Sean Wainwright	138	37	37	31	33
9	Cuan Conway	124	30	30	33	31
10	Aaron Collins	120	29	31	30	30
11	Luke Burton	90	–	–	45	45
12	Kian Bown	86	28	–	29	29
13	michael parsons	66	33	33	–	–
14	Josh Waterman	43	43	–	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Shane Carless	200	50	50	50	50
2	Corey Hockey	180	47	45	47	41
3	Rory Jones	178	45	43	45	45
4	lewis hall	164	29	47	41	47
5	Lee Truman	154	39	39	39	37
6	McKenzie Marshall	147	41	41	30	35
7	Liam Gale	142	35	33	35	39
8	Jordan Wright	142	37	37	37	31
9	Jake Preston	129	43	–	43	43
10	Alfie Calvert	127	33	31	33	30
11	Rhys Walker	119	31	30	29	29
12	Logan Wilcox	118	19	35	31	33
13	Mitchell Perry	115	30	29	28	28
14	Joshua Fletcher-Williams	110	28	28	27	27
15	Jamie Comley	99	27	26	22	24
16	Jack Griffiths	97	26	20	26	25
17	Troy Jones	94	24	23	25	22
18	Harry Bebb	88	21	22	24	21
19	james bemrose	88	20	25	23	20
20	Joe Field	87	23	21	20	23
21	Jordan Meredith	86	22	24	21	19
22	Martin Jones	78	25	27	–	26

125cc

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Luke Dean	197	47	50	50	50
2	Chris Povey	176	43	41	47	45
3	Jack Cox	172	41	43	45	43
4	Charlie Palmer	158	39	39	41	39
5	Damon Strydom	137	45	45	–	47
6	Stuart Owen	137	28	37	39	33
7	Harry Linton	135	37	31	37	30
8	Jordan Ridgway	134	33	35	31	35
9	Yarin Evans	130	31	27	43	29
10	Billy Bayliss	121	29	28	33	31
11	Luke Newman	119	30	26	35	28
12	Olly Hathaway	117	20	30	30	37
13	Sean Veness	110	27	29	28	26
14	Matt Ridgway	109	35	33	–	41
15	Joe Wright	102	21	25	29	27
16	Cameron Jackson	101	26	23	27	25
17	Neville Bradshaw	97	50	47	–	–
18	George Pool	94	25	22	24	23
19	Jack Jordan	89	22	20	25	22
20	Oliver Davis	87	23	21	22	21
21	Jamie Johnson	85	24	19	23	19
22	Mitchell Hartill	76	19	18	21	18
23	Joe Jordan	70	–	24	26	20
24	Finlay James	24	–	–	–	24

BWMA Womens

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Marni Saunders	193	50	50	43	50
2	Caitlin Newman	181	45	39	50	47
3	Ria Truman	178	47	45	45	41
4	Hannah Jones	176	43	47	41	45
5	Grace Bates	174	41	43	47	43
6	Amber McGregor	154	39	41	37	37
7	Hollie Roberts	152	37	37	39	39
8	Autumn Jenkinson	132	29	33	35	35
9	abbie Piggott	131	33	35	30	33
10	India Hodgkinson	124	31	31	31	31
11	Daisy Blackwell	119	30	30	29	30
12	Izzi Wright	119	28	29	33	29
13	Aaliyah Hulbert	110	27	28	27	28
14	Katie Lancaster	108	26	27	28	27
15	Millie Sweeney	35	35	–	–	–
16	Danielle Kernick	26	–	–	26	–

Vets

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Simon Lane	197	50	50	50	47
2	James Lane	191	47	47	47	50
3	Adam Wilkinson	170	41	43	43	43
4	Richard Meakin	144	37	33	35	39
5	Matthew Chaplin	138	35	35	27	41
6	Richard Tudor	136	31	31	37	37
7	Russell Hartill	125	29	30	33	33
8	Russell Grove	118	30	27	31	30
9	Aidan Wright	114	27	26	30	31
10	Guy Langmead	82	26	28	28	–
11	Ste Marlow	57	28	29	–	–

Vets Over 50

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Matt Ryder	180	45	45	45	45
2	Brian Staples	144	33	37	39	35
3	Sean Smith	121	39	41	41	–
4	Stuart Kilmarten	108	25	25	29	29
5	Simon Bonser	82	43	39	–	–

125 Youth

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Shane Jones	200	50	50	50	50
2	Will Turner	180	45	45	43	47
3	Wyatt McGregor	171	47	47	47	30
4	Jack Evans	168	41	41	41	45
5	Rees Jones	168	43	43	39	43
6	Phillip Tchorek	154	39	39	45	31
7	Riegan Rees	142	37	37	31	37
8	Troy Weaver	141	35	30	35	41
9	George Bromley	130	31	35	29	35
10	Braedon McGinn	129	33	33	30	33
11	Lewis Roberts	117	29	31	28	29
12	Max Brick	112	30	28	26	28
13	Finley Goodyear	110	28	29	27	26
14	Tyler Lane	106	27	27	25	27
15	Travis James	76	–	–	37	39
16	Finley Horn	33	–	–	33	–

Big Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Mason Care	193	43	50	50	50
2	Oakley Kettle	189	50	45	47	47
3	George Clark	180	47	43	45	45
4	Oliver Bebb	176	45	47	41	43
5	Alfie Irons	164	41	41	43	39
6	Bobby Watson	152	37	37	37	41
7	Willaim Siddons	136	31	35	35	35
8	Jack Bullock	110	29	28	27	26
9	Charlie Walker	93	19	25	29	20
10	Ollie Osborne	92	24	21	23	24

Small Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Ryan Jackson	148	39	33	39	37
2	Harrison Rees	125	33	31	30	31
3	Jacob Ince	106	26	27	24	29
4	Aston Whitehead	105	25	24	28	28
5	Harry Jones	88	22	23	21	22
6	Lewis Day	86	21	22	20	23
7	Kaleb Copeland	18	–	–	18	–

BWMA 85

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Holly Williams	137	35	39	33	30
2	Checoby Rainey	124	30	30	31	33
3	Erin Howes	109	28	29	25	27
4	Poppy Banning	104	27	26	26	25
5	Cameron Mansbridge	82	20	19	22	21
6	Sophie Jones	81	23	20	19	19
7	Leah Rees-Evans	18	18	–	–