Ashwell storms the Castle! 2024 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Round 4 – Race Report & Results

After an unscheduled seven-week break, the Acerbis Nationals fired back into action with round four of the series at the famous Farleigh Castle. With brilliant weather leading up to the event and the warm sun beating down on the circuit, a four-race format was announced due to the fast-drying track.

Race Report by Arran Murphy – Images courtesy of Matt Rudd Photography

The first class up was the California MX Dreams Open 2 stroke class, and after trailing in the standings all year, Joe Jones took a solid overall win and, with it, the series lead going into the finale at Culham as he took home a 2-1-1-2 scorecard. Liam Gale took his first open 2-stroke race victory in the first outing, which helped him to a solid runner-up spot overall ahead of the final race winner, Josh Taylor, who managed to fend off Jones for the honours. Archie Hicks and Mark Young rounded out the top five.

In the Moto Connection 125 2-stroke category, wildcard rider Paul Neale once again showed his prowess on the hard pack and took a maximum haul of points and stood on the top step of the podium from former 125 champ Jimmy Margetson, who was making a guest appearance aboard his AJP GasGas machine. Damon Strydom retook the points lead with a third place overall and carries a slender advantage going into the final round. Matt Ridgway was always in the hunt and was rewarded with fourth, while Ryan Waggott is still in the title fight, salvaging a fifth.

Everything got turned upside down in the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 class in the first turn in Moto One as series leader Paul Johnston went down and ultimately out with a knee injury, meaning his 26-point gap at the top disintegrated. Wildcard Will Payne took the overall victory with 1-2-1-1 results, giving himself an 8-point cushion overall from second-race winner Carl Stannard. Stannard took his first moto win in the class in style, and it helped him climb to the runner-up step of the podium, pipping new points leader Lee Martin by just a mere 2 points. Matt Chaplin finished the weekend fourth, and Sean Hunter took home fifth.

With runner-up and third in the championship not racing at Farleigh, Grace Richards has one hand on her third Motoverde Ladies class title as she stormed to four dominant wins and enjoys a healthy points gap of over 150 points with just 200 left on the table. Rebecca Newham managed to salvage runner-up overall, even with a final race seventh beating Caitlin Newman to the runner-up by three points. Amber McGregor was on course for her first podium, but a final race crash saw her slip to fourth overall, while Emily Noon took her best result of the year with a final moto third to slot into fifth overall.

In the Acerbis MX1 class, Jayden Ashwell had a brilliant weekend, taking two wins, a runner-up and a fourth, which gave him the overall victory from James Dodd, who was always there or thereabouts in the fight for the win and was rewarded with runner-up overall when all was said and done. Series leader Josh Spinks was having a solid points weekend by taking two wins and a second from the first three outings, but a front end wash and a heavy crash down one of the hills caused him to have to come through the pack and salvage an eighth dropping him to third overall however still gaining points on closest rival Chris Mills who could only manage fourth overall. Defending champ Jack Beniston took the fifth spot overall.

In the Craigs Motorcycles sponsored MX2 class, there was a guest appearance from arenacross specialist Adam Chatfield, who managed to take home the overall honours with a bag full of race wins. The Honda man was pushed all the way by Luke Grundy who managed to claim runner-up overall by just a couple of points from top championship regular Josh Waterman who managed to capitalise on the misfortune of series leader Henry Williams who had a run-in with the ropes in the final moto and dropped a chunk of points in the process. Zac Stealey was just off the podium in fourth, and Archie Hicks racing his second class of the weekend, benefited from Williams’s issues and took fifth overall.

The Manchester Xtreme Junior Open category was hotly contested, as always, with three different race winners over the four races. Billy Wieczorek was the eventual overall winner, however, with 2-1-2-2 results giving him a solid 12-point cushion at the top of the sheet. Lewis Griffiths was the only rider who took two wins throughout the weekend, but a sixth and fifth in the other two races put pay to the overall win. Hayden Stevens had a solid weekend and stood on the lower step of the podium, tied with Griffiths but losing out on runner-up by way of the final race result. Jack Griffiths took a race win on his way to fourth overall, and Luke Price rounded out the top five.

The Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 class were last up, and FUS Marsh GasGas man Phil Mercer extended his cushion of 26 points out to close to a full race as he managed to take a maximum haul of points from the Farleigh circuit. Danny Tollett finished runner-up yet again as he keeps the pressure on Mercer for the title and isn’t giving him any breathing space for mistakes. Simon Bonsor finished the weekend in third overall back in the series after missing a few rounds, whilst Adrian Bradley took home the fourth-place prize. Former champion Chris Brown had a consistent weekend, taking four fifth-place finishes for fifth overall.

With just one more round to run, each championship is still up for grabs. The deciding round will be held at Culham at the end of September.

Results

MX1

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	JAYDEN ASHWELL	152	38	40	34	40
2	JAMES DODD	146	36	36	36	38
3	JOSH SPINKS	146	40	38	40	28
4	CHRIS MILLS	138	32	32	38	36
5	JACK BENISTON	134	34	34	32	34
6	JAYDEN MURPHY	122	30	30	30	32
7	BRADLEY FLAGG	111	27	28	27	29
8	DAN PARRY	110	22	29	29	30
9	SIMON BOOTH	103	26	25	26	26
10	JAKE WINNARD	102	28	26	21	27
11	BILLY COLLINS	98	24	24	25	25
12	ED BRISCOE	95	29	22	28	16
13	JAKE STRANGE	91	25	27	20	19
14	BRAD BARFOOT	86	21	19	24	22
15	REECE WAINE	83	20	21	18	24
16	JOSH SCOTT	77	16	16	22	23
17	CHRIS JACKSON	75	18	18	19	20
18	LEWIS BARFOOT	72	17	20	17	18
19	BEN WALKER	62	15	14	16	17
20	THOMAS SORRELL	55	13	13	14	15
21	JOE ROE	50	11	12	13	14
22	JOHN McKENZIE	44	–	–	23	21
23	MARCUS FELTHAM	44	14	15	15	–
24	BEN MARGETSON	42	19	23	–	–
25	HARRY LINTON	40	23	17	–	–
26	JOHN BRAMWELL	35	12	11	12	–
27	ROCKY PEACOCK	24	–	–	11	13

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	ADAM CHATFIELD	160	40	40	40	40
2	LUKE GRUNDI	148	36	38	36	38
3	JOSH WATERMAN	146	38	34	38	36
4	ZAC STEALEY	130	32	32	32	34
5	ARCHIE HICKS	120	30	30	30	30
6	ALIFE CALVERT	119	29	29	29	32
7	HENRY WILLIAMS	118	34	36	34	14
8	SCOTT HAMILTON	111	27	27	28	29
9	BEN WHITE	102	26	21	27	28
10	SAM BROWNING	101	25	24	26	26
11	LUKE POSS	99	23	26	23	27
12	ADAM NEVITT	98	28	25	22	23
13	TOM SHUTTLER	94	22	22	25	25
14	JOE FEILD	89	24	23	20	22
15	AIDEE SMITH	84	20	19	24	21
16	ARRAN MURPHY	80	21	18	21	20
17	DAN NEVITT	77	19	20	19	19
18	BRAD JONES	71	18	17	18	18
19	SCOTT BARROW	65	16	15	17	17
20	15664739	65	17	16	16	16
21	RICKY CASS	59	15	14	15	15
22	PATRICK GILLIAN	52	–	28	–	24
23	IAN POSS	13	–	13	–	–

Open 2 Stroke

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	JOE JONES	156	38	40	40	38
2	LIAM GALE	146	40	34	38	34
3	JOSH TAYLOR	133	32	32	29	40
4	ARCHIE HICKS	130	36	38	27	29
5	MARK YOUNG	128	34	30	32	32
6	LEE TRUMAN	123	29	36	36	22
7	PATRICK JACKSON	122	30	28	28	36
8	MITCH AMORE	120	27	29	34	30
9	TOM HIRONS	100	25	22	26	27
10	OLLY JONES	100	23	27	24	26
11	CALLUM BALDWIN	99	24	26	21	28
12	STEFAN HOOPER	93	20	25	25	23
13	MACAULEY DAVIES	87	17	23	22	25
14	JORDAN RIDWAY	85	22	19	23	21
15	JOE JORDAN	82	28	24	30	–
16	CONNOR C	67	15	16	16	20
17	JAY LEWIS	64	–	20	20	24
18	RILEY LOWE	64	14	18	13	19
19	JACK WATERMAN	60	16	12	15	17
20	JESSE PEARCE	59	13	14	14	18
21	CHARLIE PARKER	55	10	10	19	16
22	BEN JAMES	49	9	7	18	15
23	ROSS BENTON	47	26	21	–	–
24	RICH FRANKCOM	36	21	15	–	–
25	PHIL LEWIS	35	18	17	–	–
26	TOM WEARING	33	8	8	17	–
27	JOSH GRIFFITHS	25	12	13	–	–
28	BEN LANGLEY	22	11	11	–	–
29	JAKE WINNARD	19	19	–	–	–
30	BEN MASON	16	7	9	–	–
31	WILL STEEDS	12	6	6	–	–
32	THOMAS COOPER	10	5	5	–	–

125’s

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	PAUL NEAL	160	40	40	40	40
2	JIMMY MARGETSON	150	38	38	38	36
3	DAMO STYDOM	144	36	36	34	38
4	MATT RIDGWAY	132	30	34	36	32
5	RYAN WAGGOTT	130	32	32	32	34
6	JAMES HANSCOMB	107	27	28	24	28
7	LEE SEALEY	106	29	27	27	23
8	LUKE NEWMEN	102	13	29	30	30
9	FABIAN JR MORRISON	102	28	22	26	26
10	WYATT McGREGOR	101	22	26	29	24
11	CHARLIE PALMER	93	23	23	20	27
12	TOM GOODFELLOW	92	26	19	18	29
13	TROY JONES	91	24	25	28	14
14	SEAN VENESS	89	25	24	21	19
15	JACK EVANS	84	19	18	25	22
16	BEN SULLIVAN	79	21	20	23	15
17	CAMERON JACKSON	77	18	16	22	21
18	JUDE HARTWELL NR	73	20	17	19	17
19	WILL TURNER	71	16	21	16	18
20	SPENCER STANBRIDGE	67	17	13	17	20
21	AARON COLLEY	64	34	30	–	–
22	FRANK BURTON	61	15	15	15	16
23	JORDAN HANDS	50	12	11	14	13
24	TREY YOUNG	44	10	9	13	12
25	JAMIE ALLAN	43	11	10	11	11
26	OLLIE HARRIS	28	14	14	–	–
27	HARRY LINTON	25	–	–	–	25
28	CHRIS CARTER	24	–	12	12	–

Ladies

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	GRACE RICHARDS	160	40	40	40	40
2	BECCA NEWHAM	143	38	38	38	29
3	CAITLIN NEWMAN	140	34	34	34	38
4	AMBER McGREGOR	136	36	36	36	28
5	EMILY NOON	130	32	30	32	36
6	LILY MORELAND	119	30	32	30	27
7	AALIYA HULBERT*	118	28	28	28	34
8	SHASHA TOLLET	115	27	29	27	32
9	SOPHIE JONES	115	29	27	29	30

Vets Over 40

1	WILL PAYNE*	158	40	38	40	40
2	CARL STANARD	150	36	40	36	38
3	LEE MARTIN	148	38	36	38	36
4	MATT CHAPLIN	129	34	29	32	34
5	LEE LARKIN	128	32	30	34	32
6	SEAN HUNTER*	108	26	27	27	28
7	CHRIS DOWSWELL*	105	25	25	28	27
8	PETER DIXON *	104	27	24	29	24
9	DALE HUNT *	96	24	26	23	23
10	SEAN ASKINS*	94	30	34	–	30
11	JAMES BARKER *	91	–	32	30	29
12	ROB MILLS *	90	23	20	26	21
13	STURAT HARROW *	89	21	22	21	25
14	SHANE HOGG*	85	22	19	24	20
15	NATHAM PALMER	82	18	23	22	19
16	ROB PEARCE	73	19	18	18	18
17	STEVEN DUNFILELD	72	20	17	20	15
18	DAVID BOTTERILL	67	17	16	17	17
19	RONNIE BONETTI*	66	–	21	19	26
20	DAVID GRIFFITHS *	60	16	15	15	14
21	RICHARD MOULDER*	57	29	28	–	–
22	KEVIN PRIDE	47	–	–	25	22
23	MICK DUCKETT*	45	–	13	16	16
24	ANDY DUFIELD	28	28	–	–	–
25	DAVE ELLIOTT	27	–	–	14	13
26	MATT WICKENS	14	–	14	–	–

Vets Over 50

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	PHIL MERCER	160	40	40	40	40
2	DANNY TOLLETT	146	38	34	36	38
3	SIMON BONSOR	137	34	29	38	36
4	ADRIAN BRADLEY	130	30	36	34	30
5	CHRIS BROWN	128	32	32	32	32
6	PAUL WILDMAN WILLS	117	28	30	30	29
7	ANDY WATKINS	113	36	38	5	34
8	DAVE DUNN	113	29	28	29	27
9	PAUL WIECZOREK	105	26	23	28	28
10	PAUL COWARD	105	25	27	27	26
11	EWAN JOHNSTON	94	19	24	26	25
12	LEE DAVIES	91	24	21	23	23
13	RICHARD EVANS	90	16	25	25	24
14	COLIN BERRY	85	7	17	22	16
15	DALE SILK	82	23	18	21	20
16	PAUL CURTIS	78	21	19	16	22
17	CHRIS STEMP	75	27	3	24	21
18	PAUL SLIGHT	71	18	16	18	19
19	MARK DUDLEY	71	22	15	17	17
20	ANDREW PROSSER	53	13	20	20	–
21	MICHAEL JOHNSTON	51	14	8	15	14
22	ADRIAN JESSOP	51	11	10	19	11
23	STANLEY MORPHET	49	10	14	13	12
24	STEVE HUMPHRIES	45	12	9	11	13
25	DAVID HOPKINS	43	17	26	–	–
26	BRYAN	42	8	11	8	15
27	ROB LEWIS	42	20	22	–	–
28	PHIL WEST	29	9	6	14	–
29	STEVE RILEY	27	15	12	–	–
30	DAVID IBBETSON	25	5	1	9	10
31	MARTIN PERRIS	24	3	5	7	9
32	IAN POSS	18	–	–	–	18
33	ANDY STEPHENS	16	2	–	6	8
34	IVOR GILFORD	14	–	2	12	–
35	PETER STRANGE	12	1	–	4	7
36	IAN JONES	10	6	4	–	–
37	ED BRISCOE	7	–	–	1	6
38	5381869	7	–	7	–	–
39	BRIAN LINTON	4	4	–	–	–
40	TIM RIGGS	3	–	–	3	–
41	KEVIN MCCATHEY	2	–	–	2	–

Junior Open

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	BILLY WIECZOREK	154	38	40	38	38
2	LEWIS GRIFFITHS	142	40	30	32	40
3	HAYDEN STEVENS	142	36	36	34	36
4	JACK GRIFFTHIS	136	28	34	40	34
5	LUKE PRICE	131	25	38	36	32
6	14626624	122	34	32	27	29
7	BEN WALSH	115	32	27	30	26
8	GEORGE POOL	114	29	28	29	28
9	HARRY WEST	107	16	15	19	23
10	KYLE NOBLE	104	27	26	24	27
11	TYLER WILCOX	102	30	29	25	18
12	JOSH BAILEY	97	17	22	28	30
13	STUART PERRY	93	23	23	22	25
14	SHEA RYAN	84	19	18	23	24
15	SAM HAMER	79	18	20	21	20
16	JACK TOMPKLINS	77	26	25	26	–
17	MATT READMAN	76	20	19	15	22
18	SAMUAL RAYNER	74	22	24	20	8
19	AYJAY SIMPSON	66	21	21	3	21
20	JACK JORDAN	60	9	14	18	19
21	LLOYD CLARKE	58	14	17	17	10
22	JAMIE MCCARTHEY	57	24	–	16	17
23	TY MATTHEWS JONES	51	10	12	13	16
24	RYAN NEAL	48	11	11	11	15
25	MATT BENNETT	47	3	16	14	14
26	LOUIE SMITH	47	13	13	8	13
27	TOM BERRY	46	15	10	9	12
28	TOM BARFOOT	31	6	8	6	11
29	BEN PROSSER	29	12	5	12	–
30	JAMIE CASSIDY	26	5	9	5	7
31	STANLEY POOL	26	7	6	7	6
32	CHRIS DUCKETT	8	4	–	4	–