Brutal Fatcat Finale! 2022 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Finale – Race Report & Results

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The brutal circuit of Fatcat Moto Parc near Doncaster was the host venue to the final round of the 2022 Acerbis Amateur National series, and with all eight championships still up for grabs, the scene was set for a titanic battle throughout all classes.

Report by Arran Murphy – Images courtesy of JFMS Photography

First up on the perfectly groomed race track was the Paradise MX Holidays sponsored MX1 class James Hutchinson made a return to the series on a new KTM after making the switch from a Yamaha and claimed the overall honours with three wins, a second and a seventh after some hectic battles with Andy Wilson, who fought hard all weekend long to stand on the second step of the podium. Jack Beniston led laps throughout the course of the weekend to claim third overall but, most importantly, claimed the title in moto three. Seb Berthauime and Luke Meredith rounded out the top 5.

In the Craigs Motorcycles MX2 category, wildcard rider and British Championship regular Travis Steels took a dominant overall victory claiming all five race wins over the weekend on his way to the top spot ahead of CPS Husqvarna rider Dylan Spencer, who came into the weekend with a fairly solid 35 point advantage in the series and claimed the title with two races to go after closest challenger Harry Linton had issues on Saturday and was a no show Sunday. Dominic Newbury jumped up to runner-up in the standings with third place overall for the weekend, and Keelan Hope finished the weekend with fourth.

Wildcard rider Dan Hutchinson made the trip down from the North East for a blast on his new Husky and dominated the California MX Dreams Open 2 stroke category taking five wins from five starts. Midwest Husqvarna rider Corey Hockey stayed solid all weekend as he has done all year to take home the runner-up spot to round off a solid season and, with it, took the 2022 title. Drew Roe was consistent all weekend and stood on the lower step of the rostrum just a couple of points up on James Dent, who took a final race second spot to boost him to fourth overall for the weekend and runner-up in the series.

The tightest class out of them all was the Moto Connection 125 2 stroke class, with just 13 points separating Rob Holyoake and Damon Strydom coming in; it was going to be an all-out battle to the flag. Strydom did all he could to whittle down the deficit and cleared off in all five motos to take maximum points leaving no room to spare for Holyoake if he wanted to take the title. Rob knew exactly what was required, however, and the Yamaha man stayed steady and took home a bag full of runner-up spots to take the title by a slender 3 points. Ash Harland was third best overall at the final round and third in the series after his mid-season switch from Yamaha to GasGas and looks to be a contender once again in 2023 after a solid off-season. Former champ Stu Owen finished his year off with a season’s best fourth, while Josh Noon managed to sneak into the top five for the first time ever after a solid weekend’s racing.

In the Manchester Xtreme Junior Open category, young Cumbrian Aidee Smith rode solid and consistent on the rough energy-sapping circuit to take home his first overall of the season with three race wins and two runner-up spots. Riley Voase, son of vet rider Ryan, made another wildcard appearance and put his Kawasaki onto the second step of the podium and claimed a race win along the way, backed up by two runner-ups and two third places. Jacob Bell took the final moto victory to claim third overall, while James Newby had his best weekend of the year, finishing fourth. Richard Evans rounded out the top five, while Liam Somerville claimed the title with sixth overall.

Grace Richards came into the final round in the Motoverde Ladies class with a solid 32-point advantage over her nearest rival Kathryn Booth meaning five steady rides would secure the deal nicely. However, Richards wanted to end the season on a high and battled Booth in all five motos and went on to take maximum points to claim the number 1 plate in style. Booth put up a huge effort to stay with the eventual champ but, in the end, had to settle for the runner-up spot and for sure will be looking for revenge in 2023. Rebecca Newham consolidated her spot inside the top five in the series by taking home third place overall, while Grace Packman had a solid weekend and even claimed a third in a moto to help her up to fourth for the weekend.

In the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 category, 2021 champion Ryan Voase took his fifth overall victory of the year and boosted himself up into the top five in the series after missing two rounds throughout the year. Danny Tollett came into the final round at a 53-point deficit in the scrap for the championship and put in a big final push in the hope at a chance of snatching the title. Tollett managed to claim the runner-up overall for the weekend with a brace of runner-ups, but it wasn’t quite enough as eventual champ Lee Martin stayed solid and consistent, claiming the lower step of the rostrum with third and fourth-place finishes and claimed the championship with a race to spare. Simon Bonsor and Carl Stannard took fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Just as everyone expected, Brian Wheeler made it a full house of wins, not only for the weekend but for the year, as he finished the season unbeaten in the Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 class. Fast-starting Ewan Johnston took home a season’s best runner-up even after a crash in the fourth outing, where he had to come from the back to salvage a fifth. Rob Lewis just missed out on runner-up by a couple of points and so had to settle for third overall, while Adrian Lewis consolidated his top five position in the series with fourth overall.

With the 2022 season in the history books, all credit needs to go to Darren, Chloe, Heather and all the CT events crew for putting on one of the best series in the UK, and once the dust has settled, all attention will turn on the 2023 series which I’m sure everyone will agree will be another corker of a year.

Results

MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	JAMES HUTCHINSON	187	38	40	40	40	29
2	ANDY WILSON	184	36	34	38	38	38
3	JACK BENISTON	170	34	32	36	36	32
4	SEB BERTHUMIE	164	26	36	34	34	34
5	LUKE MERADITH	157	32	25	32	32	36
6	CALLUM GREEN	148	40	38	–	30	40
7	ED BRISCOE	145	30	28	30	29	28
8	ADAM THIRWELL	144	29	29	29	27	30
9	LEWIS TAYLOR	139	28	30	28	26	27
10	SIMON BOOTH	126	25	26	26	25	24
11	KIA THIRWELL	120	23	23	27	22	25
12	JAY LEWIS	113	20	24	24	23	22
13	BRADLEY FLAGG	110	21	21	21	24	23
14	PATRICK GILLIGAN	107	24	22	19	21	21
15	CORY NEMETH	106	–	27	25	28	26
16	PETE HAMLETT	103	22	19	22	20	20
17	TYE BARRS	56	18	18	20	–	–
18	DANIEL PARRY	50	27	–	23	–	–
19	LEWIS MEDOWS	39	19	20	–	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	TRAVIS STEELS*	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	DYLAN SPENCER	188	38	36	38	38	38
3	DOM NEWBRY	178	36	38	36	32	36
4	KEELAN HOPE*	162	32	34	34	34	28
5	JAKE WINNARD	160	29	29	32	36	34
6	MITCHELL MEADOWS	156	34	30	30	30	32
7	JORDAN HEARN	144	30	28	27	29	30
8	ADAM NEVITT	137	28	26	28	28	27
9	JAKE BAKER	136	27	27	29	24	29
10	LUKE TUNRER	130	26	25	26	27	26
11	RYAN MANLEY	123	25	24	25	25	24
12	JUDE HARDTWELL	119	22	22	24	26	25
13	DANIEL NEVITT	112	21	23	23	23	22
14	ARRAN MURPHY	111	23	21	22	22	23
15	AIDEN CARNEY	82	20	20	21	21	–
16	CONNOR CHALLINOR*	64	24	–	20	20	–
17	HARRY LINTON	32	–	32	–	–	–

2 Stroke Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	DAN HUTCHINSON	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	COREY HOCKEY	188	38	38	38	38	36
3	DREW ROE	174	34	36	36	36	32
4	JAMES DENT	172	32	34	34	34	38
5	MITCH ARMOUR	150	23	32	32	29	34
6	MATT LOMAS	148	28	28	30	32	30
7	JAMES HANSCOMB	134	25	27	27	28	27
8	MICHELL WARHURST	132	29	29	28	20	26
9	ALEX NEEDHAM	131	24	24	29	26	28
10	RYAN DECON	118	19	26	24	27	22
11	RYAN MATTHEWS	116	22	23	25	23	23
12	REECE WAIN	113	21	21	23	24	24
13	MATT HOCKENHALL	111	27	25	–	30	29
14	ADAM HARRIS	105	30	30	20	25	–
15	SAM COWIE	99	26	22	26	–	25
16	REECE WILKINSON	97	16	18	21	21	21
17	BENNY LEWIS	62	18	–	22	22	–
18	JORDAN BARRS	39	20	19	–	–	–
19	SEAN VERNESS	37	17	20	–	–	–
20	PATRICK JACSON	36	36	–	–	–	–

125’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	DAMON STRYDOM	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	ROB HOLYOAKE	190	38	38	38	38	38
3	ASH HARLAND	178	36	34	36	36	36
4	STU OWEN	154	30	29	29	32	34
5	JOSH NOON	148	29	30	28	29	32
6	ALAN PEARCE	148	28	32	30	28	30
7	HARRY BARKER	138	34	36	34	34	–
8	LOUIS PERRIN’BROWN	123	32	–	32	30	29
9	CARTON SMITH	122	22	26	23	24	27
10	HAYDEN STEVENS	108	27	–	26	27	28
11	JACK PARTINGTON	106	26	28	27	25	–
12	CRAIG REYNOLDS	98	23	25	24	26	–
13	DEAN SEWELL	76	24	27	25	–	–
14	SAMUEL JACKSON	25	25	–	–	–	–

Ladies

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	GRACE RICHARDS	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	KATHRYN BOOTH	190	38	38	38	38	38
3	REBECCA NEWHAM	172	36	34	34	34	34
4	GRACE PACKMAN	163	34	36	32	32	29
5	KADY MOORE	154	30	32	30	30	32
6	EMILY NOON	147	29	30	29	29	30
7	AMIE GOODLAD	140	32	–	36	36	36
8	ANDREA TAYLFORTH	137	27	28	27	27	28
9	MOLLY CUTLER	113	28	29	28	28	–

Vets Over 40

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	RYAN VOASE	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	DANNY TOLLET	190	38	38	38	38	38
3	LEE MARTIN	174	34	34	36	34	36
4	SIMON BONSOR	159	23	32	34	36	34
5	CARL STANNARD	151	28	30	32	32	29
6	CRAIG CHAMBERLAINE	149	30	29	30	30	30
7	CHRIS RUDD	147	29	28	29	29	32
8	NIGEL SMORFITT	137	27	27	27	28	28
9	MARK SUTHERLAND	133	26	25	28	27	27
10	BARRY GRAY	105	32	22	25	26	–
11	LEE BUCK	77	25	26	26	–	–
12	ADAM WILKINSON	72	36	36	–	–	–
13	GAVIN LOWES	69	22	23	24	–	–
14	PAUL WIECZOREK	48	24	24	–	–	–

Vets Over 50

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	BRIAN WHEELER	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	EWAN JOHNSTON	182	36	38	38	32	38
3	ROB LEWIS	180	38	36	34	38	34
4	ADRIAN LEWIS	165	27	34	36	36	32
5	RICHARD TIMMS	156	26	30	30	34	36
6	DAVID HOPKINS	143	32	32	23	29	27
7	GARY MASON	137	29	24	28	28	28
8	KEVIN COWIE	136	28	29	27	30	22
9	BRIAN FRASER	135	20	28	32	25	30
10	STEPHEN POLLOCK	131	19	27	29	27	29
11	STEVE HUMPHRIES	125	22	25	26	26	26
12	LEE DAVIES	119	25	23	24	23	24
13	ADRIAN JESSOP	117	24	22	22	24	25
14	STAN MORFITT	86	21	20	–	22	23
15	JOHN GAUNLETT	81	30	26	25	–	–
16	PAUL BUNN	79	17	21	21	20	–
17	NEIL PRINGLE	74	16	19	20	19	–
18	ROB GLYNN	60	23	16	–	21	–
19	14449358	51	15	17	19	–	–
20	COLIN BERRY	50	14	18	18	–	–
21	DARREN KENNINGTON	34	34	–	–	–	–
22	STEVE MATTHEWS	18	18	–	–	–	–

Junior Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	ADIEE SMITH	196	40	40	38	40	38
2	RILEY VOASE	188	36	38	40	38	36
3	JACOB BELL	184	38	36	34	36	40
4	JAMES NEWBY	162	30	32	32	34	34
5	RICHARD EVANS	154	29	25	36	32	32
6	LIAM SOMERVILLE	152	34	34	25	29	30
7	JACK GOTTS	138	28	30	24	27	29
8	THOMAS HIGGINS	134	25	27	29	26	27
9	LUKE PRICE	132	22	28	27	30	25
10	TAYLOR MISSELBROOK	129	24	26	26	25	28
11	JAKE BASHFORD	111	21	23	28	21	18
12	FINLEY KINGINGTON	107	19	24	21	17	26
13	SAM HAMER	107	18	21	22	24	22
14	LEE BELL	95	17	19	19	19	21
15	DALE LYONS	94	20	17	17	20	20
16	EWAN McPHERSON	94	26	22	23	23	–
17	STEFAN ROBSON	91	32	29	30	–	–
18	TOM MATTHEWS	86	14	15	18	16	23
19	AIDEN MURPHY	68	13	10	15	13	17
20	TOM BERRY	64	12	12	14	10	16
21	WAYNE CURRIE	64	10	16	16	22	–
22	MATT BENNETT	58	11	9	11	12	15
23	DAN EVANS	54	16	11	12	15	–
24	JACK HUNTER	52	–	–	–	28	24
25	ASHLEY SMITH	44	6	6	9	11	12
26	HARRY WIECZOREK	41	27	14	–	–	–
27	TYLER TEMPLE	39	7	8	10	–	14
28	LEE HILLER	38	–	18	20	–	–
29	ADRIAN WHITCOME	37	–	–	–	18	19
30	ROSS HEPBURN	35	9	13	13	–	–
31	MITCH BROOKS	35	15	20	–	–	–
32	JOE WINNARD	23	23	–	–	–	–
33	NOAH BELL	21	–	–	–	8	13
34	JACK BUCK	15	8	7	–	–	–
35		14	–	–	–	14	–
36	MATTHEW JESSOP	14	5	–	–	9	–