Bradshaw triumphs at brutal Norley! 2021 AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 4 – Race Report & Results

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Total concentration and maximum respect were to be the vital demands of all riders contesting round four of the 2021 AMCA British Motocross Championship powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop as the Norley circuit became totally brutal and very punishing!

Report and Images by Mike Wood

Hosted by the Mid Cheshire MXC, three all –action blocks of racing were comfortably completed and it’s now Ashley Greedy (LHRT Kawasaki), Nev Bradshaw(FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna), Kieran Banks (Meredith MX Fantic), Phil Mercer (FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna), Andrew Watkins (MDMX Apico Racing KTM), Oliver Rigby (Edge-One Motocross KTM) and Oakley Kettle (Rikki Priest Academy KTM) leading the respective classes.

What a contest the 2021 MX2 class is proving to be as it’s not only 2T 250cc machine v 250F Four-stroke power but also experience v youthful talent and exuberance. At Norley though it was 2T 250cc experience which was to come out on top as Nev Bradshaw took the overall win. After having had a run out at Foxhills on Saturday in the ACU Revo British Championship, he then travelled North to Cheshire. Setting the fastest qualifying time, Nev then took the opening moto win of the day ahead of Rossi Beard, Shane Carless, Henry Williams, Ray Rowson, Corey Hockey and Josh Peters. In moto two it was then a super FUS battle all the way with Carless stalking Bradshaw before zipping past for the win with just two laps remaining.

In the last MX2 contest, Bradshaw again led all the way from Carless, Beard, Peters, Hockey and Williams. Also in the frame in this one were Josh Coleman, Rory Jones and Josh Canton. In the Championship race, Bradshaw now tops the standings on 468, just a single point ahead of his FUS Marsh MX teammate Carless with Williams in 3rd .

Whilst Burton claimed the opening MX1 moto win of the day with a big, smooth performance, the event did not start quite so well for fellow Championship contender Josh Waterman. Falling on turn three and being relegated to last place, Josh then came storming back to a hard earned 7^th. Ahead of him was Greedy in 2^nd, Luke Hawkins, Jayden Ashwell having his best ride of the series so far, James Dodd and Adam Harris.

Adam Chatfield leading Jamie Skuse in MX1

After that impressive moto one victory, Burton then looked all-set to repeat the feat in the second clash. Getting past early leaders Dodd and Greedy, the FUS Marsh MX rider was comfortable at the front until crashing on lap nine and dropping down to 10^th. At the front now though a super tussle for supremacy was developing as Dodd locked horns with Greedy, a battle which was to produce a simply thrilling and dramatic finish! With Dodd looking set for the win, Greedy gave it everything on the last lap and literally passed the stunned Honda rider in mid-air on the final jump, going over the finish line almost out of control but winning by the very narrowest of margins! Taking 3^rd in this one was Hawkins from Waterman who had moved up from 14^th, the fast starting Jamie Skuse and Adam Chatfield with Burton getting back to 7th.

Following the disappointment and pain of that moto two crash, Burton got it all together again to take the last MX1 moto at Norley. Once again though the series leader Greedy was right in the mix and taking 2^nd with Waterman having his best ride of the day in 3^rd. On the podium it was Greedy, Burton and Dodd taking home the prizes and now also filling the top three positions in the standings.

Holding second spot in the 125cc Championship table, Jonathan Roderick-Evans was missing from the Norley action after dislocating his elbow. His absence therefore offered series leader Kieran Banks the opportunity to stretch his advantage at the top and that’s just what he achieved. He was though made to work very hard throughout proceedings by a whole host of equally fast and very determined fellow competitors. In the opening 125cc moto, Lloyd Morgan grabbed the holeshot before being overhauled by first Bradley Tranter then Banks. Taking control on lap seven, Banks winning margin was nearly 8 seconds ahead of his closest title rival Tranter as Morgan took 3^rd from Matt Ridgway, Clinton Barrs and Max Lewis.

125cc blast off with Bradley Tranter(19), Connor Challinor(999) and Matt Ridgway

Despite suffering from a damaged lung, the result of a big crash at Warmingham Lane during the last round, Jordan Wright gloriously grabbed the 125cc moto two holeshot before eventually taking a very gutsy 5^th place finish. Taking the victory this time was a very focussed Tranter from Banks, Morgan and Ridgway. Also in the big points this time around were Stuart Owen, Barrs, Harrison McCann and Joel Fisher.

So with one win apiece, it was down to a final moto decider for the Norley 125cc overall verdict. From the off it certainly looked like Tranter was going to take top honours but Banks on the rapid Fantic timed his challenge to perfection. Gating 6^th he got up into 2^nd by lap four then gradually reeling in Tranter, he moved into pole position with just three tough, demanding circuits remaining. In a late twist, Tranter was then passed by the hard charging Morgan. That meant it was Banks from Tranter and Morgan on the podium and they also form the Championship top three.

The opening two Vets moto’s produced pretty much identical results as series leader Phil Mercer took the win ahead of Gary Davies and Paul Burn whilst the Lane brothers James and Simon hotly disputed 4^th spot. It certainly wasn’t all plain sailing though for the defending Champion James Lane. In moto one he fell on the opening turn and had to come from last back to somehow take that 4^th place, what a ride that was! In moto two he then tasted the Norley soil yet again and despite bending his bike dug deep to produce a great recovery ride for a 5^th place finish.

In the last one though it was all change as Davis led all the way. Gating 5^th, Mercer got up into 2^nd by lap five but by this point Davies was clear and racing onto a comfortable win. In the mix again were James Lane, Burn, Simon Lane, Andy Marchant, Sean Smith, Andrew Watkins and Anthony Bennett. Taking 8^th overall on the day, Welsh rider and former AMCA Champion Watkins is also now the series leader of the separately scored Vets Over 50 class ahead of Brian Staples, Gareth Dunsford and Mark Hawkins. In that competition, Kev Rogers had been in control winning all three of the previous rounds but is now unfortunately out of action after breaking some ribs then contracting sepsis after a Warmingham Lane crash, get well soon Kev!

Harley Prickett(22) leading Will Turner in a Youth battle

2021 AMCA Youth 85cc title series leader Oliver Rigby and his closest challenger Charlie Hucklebridge were at it again during the Norley racing. Whilst Rigby got off to a flyer in moto one, it did not start too well for Hucklebridge though! Thankfully fit after his big Warmingham off, Charlie found himself last off the start before completing the opening lap in 11^th. Two circuits later and he was reeling in leader Rigby before finally taking control on lap five. Racing onto victory, Charlie was just three seconds clear of Oliver with Jack Evans, Will Turner, Harry Bebb and Oakley Kettle next up.

Oliver Rigby leading a Youth 85cc battle

In moto two, Hucklebridge made a far better start to thus lead the contest all the way. This time around with Rigby again in 2^nd there were some different names in the frame as the likes of Linc Hasted, Logan Jay Powell and Wyatt McGregor bagged some big Championship point’s hauls. With Rigby then producing a smooth start to finish win in the last one ahead of Hucklebridge, McGregor and Cameron Chell it meant that the podium was confirmed. On the day, Hucklebridge had bagged the overall but it’s still Rigby leading the Championship, 32 points clear of his rival as McGregor 384, David 373, Rheanna Morgan-Rogers 301 and Harley Prickett 294 complete the top six.

In the separately scored SW85cc group, Prickett was the leader but has now been overhauled by Oakley Kettle. The difference though is just a single point so with Harrison Davies just a further 13 points in arrears it’s certainly still all to play for in this one. Yes Norley was tough and very demanding but next up it’s a trip to Hawkstone Park on July 4^th, another very stern test for the stars of tomorrow!

Results

MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Ashley Greedy	144	47	50	47
2	Luke Burton	137	50	37	50
3	James Dodd	131	41	47	43
4	Luke Hawkins	129	45	45	39
5	Josh Waterman	125	37	43	45
6	Adam Chatfield	110	30	39	41
7	Adam Harris	107	39	35	33
8	Jamie Skuse	105	33	41	31
9	Jimmy Margetson	94	28	31	35
10	Jayden Ashwell	93	43	13	37
11	Luke Meredith	92	35	27	30
12	Zac Stealey	86	31	33	22
13	Luke Dean	79	27	23	29
14	Henry Partridge	79	22	30	27
15	Will Hughes	78	29	26	23
16	Damon Strydom	76	19	29	28
17	Chris Neesam	71	21	24	26
18	Mark Roberts	71	26	25	20
19	Jake Parker	69	20	28	21
20	Lewis Hughes	61	15	21	25
21	Rhys Walker	60	17	19	24
22	Ieuan Barrett-Harris	57	16	22	19
23	Benjamin Nicholls	48	14	17	17
24	Adam Wells	45	25	20	–
25	Jack Griffiths	42	12	15	15
26	Rory Merchant	41	9	14	18
27	Mark Young	41	23	18	–
28	Luke Chessell	36	10	12	14
29	Sunny Thompson	34	18	–	16
30	Tye Barrs	29	13	16	–
31	Corie Southwood	24	24	–	–
32	Matthew Jones	11	11	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Neville Bradshaw	147	50	47	50
2	Shane Carless	142	45	50	47
3	Rossi Beard	127	47	35	45
4	Henry Williams	127	43	45	39
5	Corey Hockey	123	39	43	41
6	Josh Peters	121	37	41	43
7	Rory Jones	101	29	37	35
8	Josh Canton	101	35	33	33
9	Josh Coleman	94	30	27	37
10	Lewis Dowdeswell	92	31	31	30
11	Brooklyn Evans	85	25	29	31
12	Ray Rowson	80	41	39	–
13	Sean Eckersley	78	27	26	25
14	Martin Jones	76	28	22	26
15	Cory Mcshane	73	33	28	12
16	Callum Ford	71	20	24	27
17	James Smith	71	23	25	23
18	James Hanscomb	69	24	21	24
19	Billy Bayliss	67	15	23	29
20	Lee Truman	65	26	11	28
21	Mitchell Perry	63	21	20	22
22	Adam Hill	57	18	18	21
23	Aaron Collins	55	17	19	19
24	Joe Russell	55	22	17	16
25	Patrick Gilligan	55	12	30	13
26	Keelan Southwood	53	19	16	18
27	Joshua Barnett	51	16	15	20
28	Ben James	45	14	14	17
29	Macauley Davies	40	13	13	14
30	Matthew Bath	27	–	12	15

125’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Kieran Banks	147	50	47	50
2	Bradley Tranter	142	47	50	45
3	Lloyd Morgan	137	45	45	47
4	Matt Ridgway	125	43	43	39
5	Jordan Wright	109	33	41	35
6	Clinton Barrs	109	41	37	31
7	Harrison Mccann	108	30	35	43
8	Joel Fisher	107	37	33	37
9	Stuart Owen	105	25	39	41
10	Max Lewis	94	39	29	26
11	Jack Timms	87	29	28	30
12	Tom Fish	84	31	20	33
13	Jamie Powell	82	27	26	29
14	Conner Challinor	82	28	31	23
15	Luke Newman	81	26	27	28
16	tomos wright	79	24	30	25
17	Olly Hathaway	70	21	22	27
18	Jordan Ridgway	70	22	24	24
19	Harry Ridgway	69	23	25	21
20	Toby English	65	20	23	22
21	Jordan Meredith	58	19	21	18
22	Callum Baldwin	53	17	19	17
23	Ezra Blackwell	48	15	17	16
24	Mitchell Gregory	48	18	16	14
25	Nathan Bache	46	9	18	19
26	Yarin Evans	46	16	15	15
27	Oliver Barnes	38	13	14	11
28	Joshua Fletcher-Williams	37	12	13	12
29	Tom Cumber	36	11	12	13
30	Aaron Colley	35	35	–	–
31	Ben Hunter	34	14	–	20
32	Harry Beach	31	10	11	10
33	Mitchell Hartill	19	–	10	9

Vets

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Phil Mercer	147	50	50	47
2	Gary Davies	144	47	47	50
3	Paul Burn	133	45	45	43
4	James Lane	129	43	41	45
5	Simon Lane	125	41	43	41
6	Andrew Marchant	115	39	37	39
7	Sean Smith	111	35	39	37
8	Andrew Watkins	107	37	35	35
9	Anthony Bennett	97	33	31	33
10	Matthew Chaplin	92	31	33	28
11	Richard Tudor	89	28	30	31
12	Mark Hawkins	89	30	29	30
13	Brian Staples	82	27	28	27
14	Stephen Hurst	79	23	27	29
15	Russell Hartill	75	25	26	24
16	Ryan Thomas	74	24	25	25
17	Gareth Dunsford	72	26	20	26
18	John Heath	68	21	24	23
19	Guy Langmead	65	20	23	22
20	Paul Biddulph	64	22	22	20
21	Steve Ferney	51	19	15	17
22	Andrew Prosser	49	16	14	19
23	Gary Hurst	49	14	17	18
24	Graham Baddiley	48	17	16	15
25	Sean Reynolds	47	29	18	–
26	David Bullock	44	15	13	16
27	Matthew Evans	42	–	21	21
28	Stuart Arden	37	18	19	–
29	Russell Hurst	25	–	11	14
30	Christopher Jukes	25	13	12	–