BSMA Bonanza! 2023 BSMA Apico Nationals Round 3 – Race Report & Results

Landrake moto park hosted the third round of the 2023 BSMA Apico Nationals, basking in glorious sunshine all weekend in contrast to the previous round at Brookthorpe.

Race Report and Images by Ady Cowshall – Images of Speed

The popular Cornish circuit gave 7 maximum scorecards! Mark Morris in the over 45 Vets made his intentions clear by storming the Apico Holeshot in Moto 1, ousting similarly mounted Kawasaki Dain Traylor across the chalk. Traylor took a decisive dive down the inside into turn 3 to take the lead in this mixed age class, but it was short-lived as the freight train of Luke Spence, Sam Callow, Pete Bully and Lee Hocking all came past in the tricky conditions. Spence went down letting Callow take control, Morris was still in there battling with Bully and Hocking before Hocking pulled out with an issue.

Spence had dropped down the order just behind Steve Martin in 7th but was charging hard not wanting to relinquish his championship lead. Morris got back to 2nd with Bully making a mistake until Spence caught back up and pushed him back to third giving chase to leader Callow. Traylor was going back and forth with Bully eventually coming home in 4th behind Morris. Bully had to settle for 5th with Martin 6th. At the front Callow was getting closed down in dramatic action as they crossed the line there was nothing in it but Callow notched up his second win of the series ahead of Spence. Christion Seldon made a steady climb up the leaderboard to cross the line ahead of fellow over 45 runner Richard Green giving them 2nd and 3rd in the overs.

By the time the second block of racing started the track had started to bake hard in contrast to the deep soft going of the first race, lap times were considerably down with the long ruts making line choice key. Spence went straight to the front and went unchallenged while Bully held off Callow for a few laps allowing Spence the luxury of building a comfortable lead. Bully kept it on 2 wheels to take 3rd with Traylor, Morris Martin and Green all remained static taking the next places. Scott Senter managed to hold off a late charge by Ian James bagging himself 3rd up in the overs behind Morris and Green.

Sunday again saw a heavily watered track with Spence hitting the front again building a comfortable cushion over the battling duo of Traylor and Callow, these three all in contention for the title race. Hocking was up there staying in tow but seemed to fade as Morris and Green moved past. Green gave the spot back in the last laps. Stefan Little only racing the Sunday came charging through from a not-so-great start to pass all three and move into 4th behind Traylor and Callow. Green again taking runner up in the overs behind Morris with Seldon in 3rd.

The final moto was again in totally different conditions to the earlier race. Spence made sure of another great start and set off to another victory extending his lead in the championship. Morris was giving chase with Traylor hot on his heels, Little and Martin in the hunt for a podium place as Callow suffered a bad start and had to battle his way through against the track and riders, eventually getting the better of all but Spence. Green and Senter took the remaining overs podium places behind Mr Max, Morris

The MX1 boys had a rude awakening with the addition of wildcard Revo front runner John Adamson. Initially only thought to be riding on the Saturday giving the others hope of taking the overall, but enjoying the track staying to enjoy both day’s racing.

It was Adamson that gated to take the Apico Holeshot award and then set off to show just how fast the British pace at the Revo championship is allegedly setting a new lap record! Luke Sturgeon was close enough in the opening laps to check out a few lines of the leader and built himself a comfortable gap in 2nd leaving Josh Greedy and Ben Zeale to duke it out for 3rd. Greedy had his hands full all race as Zeale tried everything to get by. Greedy sustained the onslaught for over 6 laps before the youngster got the better. Jake Strange and Steve Bixby both started well but suffered crashes dropping out letting the battle for the top five go to Sion Talbot who came up from a poor start passing the battle between Andy Fitzgerald and Dan Whitehead, whitehead just holding off Fitzgerald.

Moto 2 saw the Scott hit the front and start to pull away from Sturgeon, but a lap later it was Sturgeon coming past in front as Adamson had had a little tip over. Sturgeon attempted to hold him off but his attempts were in vain as by the next lap he was setting sail again. Greedy held 3rd with Tyron Cleaver keeping it on two wheels this time tucked into 4th. Zeale managed to find his way past and again set after Greedy. This pair was where the action was but this time Greedy took it by a fender. Talbot managed to reel in Cleaver to take another with the 44yr old Bixby staying upright to take 7th.

Sunday’s temperatures soared as the realisation set in that the prize money was most likely going to be taken by the wildcard Adamson. He got his ASA GasGas straight to the front again setting a blistering pace to vanquish any attempt to stay with him. Zeale had his best start and for 3 laps made Sturgeon work hard to find a way past and with Henry Partridge holding off Greedy initially the battle between those two didn’t happen. But Greedy had fellow Welshman Talbot to deal with after a better start he had latched onto Greedy’s pace and kept him honest all race.

Sturgeon hit the front in a determined mood in the final moto cutting off Adamson on the run down to turn 2. Adamson took a neat inside line after the step-up to cross the timing line in front but Sturgeon tried two inside moves in the following corners to really push the Scot. Then sitting on his outside made a classic sweep to the inside behind the start line to retake the lead (see video) before Adamson again moved back in front and put the hammer down. Greedy and Zeale were going at it hammer and tongs as they traded places numerous times in a thrilling dog fight. Zeale getting the better over the line.

Seniors were next on track with another mixed class giving some fantastic action. Surprise holeshot in race one taking the Apico prize was Joe Beaumont as he put his 250f over the line and continued to lead for a short while until the fastest qualifier, Seth Manners stormed past and off into the distance. Shortly followed by Alfie Smith and Kai Thorpe the first of the 125’s. Jamie Kuehn was next past Beaumont as he started to drop down the order.Harry Ridgway was coming through fast from a mediocre start and by the midway stage had passed Kuehn and closing in on Thorpe. 2 laps later he was by into 3rd and the lead 125. Kenzie Cole suffered a terrible start and was on a mission through the pack like a hot knife through butter coming all the way back to 5th and 3rd 125. Likewise Jake O’gorman came from the back to get inside the top 10.

Moto 2 had Manners lead from Thorpe and Smith with Cole this time starting up front and quickly disposing of the lead trio only for Manners to regroup and come back for the win. Ridgway was making inroads into the top 5 until a spill dropped him back down the order, Beaumont had again gated well but struggled with the front runners pace and dropped back, as did Henry Neville. Lewis George also gated well but fell. George and Max Corke both stormed up the ranks; Max taking 5th one ahead of George at the flag. Kuehn suffered the fate of a small capacity engine in an open class having to fight his way up to 7th from outside the top 20! O’gorman was just not having anything go his way again coming through from the back of the pack after going down in turn 1.

Sunday saw Beaumont with another nitros start before getting over run by Kuehn and Cole, Cole then moving into the lead until the final lap as Manners came from outside the top 10 to take the flag by a photo finish! Smith went down on the first lap and then had a fight on his hands to climb back up the order. O’gorman really wasn’t gelling with the conditions as for the first time all weekend he wasn’t on the floor and couldn’t seem to make inroads into the top 5, it really seemed like the conditions were favouring the lighter 125’s apart from Manners who was looking to dominate. Tom Goodfellow held Thorpe at bay long enough for Kuehn to cross the line in front of Thorpe as Ridgway sat in 3rd with a 10 second buffer over the 4th placed Kuehn.

Manners suffered a rear puncture within minutes of the start of the final moto and despite starting in front had no chance of staying in front of Cole. O’gorman had gated but it just wasn’t his day as he dropped back quickly behind Max Corke and Cole. Kuehn fell after being in the hunt. Smith moved past the other Corke and fast gating Beaumont before losing out the the slower starting Ridgway and Thorpe on the 125’s.

The MX2 class saw the welcome return of Ashley Greedy surprisingly in a 250 2 stroke, fastest in qualifying and in his usual flamboyant style swept the board with 4 out of 4 wins. It was however another 2 stroke, that of Jake Curtis-Stevens that powered to the Apico line for the prize in the first moto only for Greedy to pass a lap later. Jonny Roderick Evans making it a trio of 2 strokes until George Hopkins got in his groove to make the pass and finish 3rd. A three way scrap between Tommi Davies, Leon Williams and Ben White unsued. Williams came out on top moving up the leaderboard to take 4th. Jayden Murphy was having a quiet race until Williams set about him and then had to deal with a late challenge from White holding him off for 6th.

Greedy went gate to flag in moto 2 with no challenges as Curtis-Stevens had to deal with Davies, Hopkins and Roderick-Evans before any clear track but by then Greedy was managing the race. Davies looking more like his younger days up front but openly said he struggled with the track. Hopkins had made the pass on Davies a few laps in but in the last minutes of the race Williams made a move on them both to take 3rd! Connor Jago was holding a comfortable 8th for half the race but then the struggle got real as Murphy put the pressure on followed by Jay Platt and Sam Bishop to round out the top 10.

Sunday’s moto3 saw Greedy refreshed and ready to notch up some more race wins but Curtis-Stevens was more than up for the challenge as he made Greedy work for this one, crossing the line less than 3 seconds apart. Hopkins held a steady 3rd but had the race been longer he may of found Williams knocking on his door. White had held onto 4th in the early going, but once Williams had warmed up he had come past both Murphy and White to take 4th as his own. Murphy then passed White followed by Davies as that pair then scraped over 5th, Murphy taking it by a bar pad! Jago reversed his fortune by passing both Platt and Bishop this time and securing a credible 8th.

Final moto saw Greedy having to keep it pinned as initially Curtis-Stevens tried it on before going down and dropping to 4th behind Hopkins and Williams. Hopkins was on a real yo-yo ride as he moved up to 2nd then quickly dropped to 4th before regaining 3rd from Curtis-Stevens after Williams pushed Greedy to the finish. Davies dropped out of the battle with White falling and going a lap down while White clung onto a great 5th place finish. Murphy had gone down on the first lap and was on a mission just getting back inside the top 10 in front of Jamie Hibberd on his stunningly prepped Honda.Bishop got the better of Jago for 6th with Ricky Carter taking 8th.

The Auto class was a little low on numbers but the speed and style of the front runners was amazing. It was going to be an uphill struggle just to get round this challenging circuit for most of them as even by the first moto there were already wheel deep ruts for these little bikes! Mason Foreman was undoubtedly the one to beat after setting a qualifying time not far off 5 seconds quicker than the next best! Indeed he went on to take an undefeated weekend without putting a foot wrong. Blake Bracey was his closest rival but come the checkered flag he was almost a minute down! Bracey in turn had a good gap to play with as things started to tighten up after with Huey Sansom taking a solid 3rd and Jasper Morgan and Sam McEvoy crossing the line with only a second separating them. Roy Townley wasn’t far off the back of those then a bit of a gap back to Louie Jarrett and Hugo Jackson both battling hard for 7th. Freddie Dennis held on for 9th ahead of a race long dice between James Dugmore and Oscar Morris.

Moto 2 saw Foreman run away and hide again, Bracey managed to stay closer but not within challenging distance. Sansom had to deal with Townley and McEvoy before he could find his way into 3rd. Townley having a great ride staying within striking distance of Sansom. McEvoy getting the better of Morgan in this one. The battle for 10th was real for Dugmore and Morris as they traded places, Dugmore again getting the position.

Sundays first race saw Foreman take another gate to flag win, Bracey had to deal with Sansom before settling into 2nd but Sansom kept the pressure on in turn seeing Bracey cut the time difference to leader Foreman. Further back Townley and Morgan rounded out the top 5. McEvoy took 6th in front of Dennis’s best result in 7th. Jarrett took 8th in front of Jackson while the 10th place scrap this time went to Morris.

Final moto saw the same top 3 across the line with Townley getting closer to a podium position. Morris got his best result in 9th with a lot of minor tip over’s in the deep ruts these little guys rode their hearts out on a demanding circuit, helmets off to them guys, well done.

The 65cc juniors had a coaching lesson from John Slade, another maximum and another total domination of his class. The Apico Holeshot prizes must be starting to mount up as Slade bagged another great prize from title sponsor, Apico factory racing. Freddie Joyner gave chase pushed on by Mason Staddon. Francis Nellist dropped back after a great start to the race but by lap 3 had been passed by Staddon and Freddy Graham just managing to stay ahead of Tyler Peaty in 7th. Oaklan Winnall stormed up the leaderboard to be the last one by Nellist. Ronnie Morgan was caught napping by Peaty on the final lap putting him down to 8th.

Moto 2 on a fast changing circuit saw a closer race as Staddon and Joyner pushed each other both getting closer to Slade out front. These 3 had a big enough gap for a Namur beer stop or in this case maybe a squash….Morgan, Winnall, Peaty, Nellist and Graham were all within striking distance of each other after Peaty went down and Nellist got the better of Winnall at the end.

Third moto on Sunday saw Slade back to a comfortable margin out front this time it was Joyner and Peaty in pursuit, but again Peaty pushing maybe a bit to hard went down allowing Staddon an easy route into 3rd and by the flag he was so close to another 2nd. Nellist had another decent start but got caught by Winnall and later in the race Sansom got the better of him for 5th. Bird made up for a terrible 2nd moto coming home in 7th one in front of Peaty. Rhys Jones just managed to hold off Morgan for 9th after Morgan had sampled the soil earlier.

Moto 4 saw Staddon out of the blocks first and Slade having messed up mid pack! Making light work Slade was already through to 3rd by the time he went over the timing line. What looked to be an impossible task was over within 3 laps as he’d caught and passed Staddon and went onto to enjoy a 10 second lead. Staddon himself had built a large margin over Joyner who had not the best start coming through from outside the top 5. Winnall had had a great start but lost it ending up down in 9th. Nellist held his ground after being passed by Joyner for his best finish of the weekend in 4th.Both Morgan and Peaty kept the rubber side down enjoying good finishes to the weekend. Sansom came from the back of the field through to a great 7th place finish showing the speed to move up the classifications in coming rounds.

The Small wheel 85’s Apico Holeshot award was almost stolen by a flying Ruben Jenkins but for the absolute determination of Lewis Jenks! Jenk went on to storm every race taking another class maximum. Jenkins dropped quickly out of contention and William Dennis took up the reins of runner up, close enough to pick up the pieces had Jenks overdone it in the tricky conditions. Aiden Burke moved up into 3rd after Charlie Wards great start fell apart. Jack Brown came up the field to catch and pass Harley Ince at the halfway stage giving him 4th. Theo Brown moved up the pack to take 8th passing the faster starting Riley Butterworth with 2 laps to go.Edward Lucker lost out in the battle with Ince coming home in 6th with Charlie Hobden hot on his pipe.

Jenks cleared off in moto 2 leaving Dennis to deal with a fast starting Hobden before setting off to a comfortable 2nd place. Burke had to get round Theo Brown before catching up to Hobden and passing deep into the race for 3rd. Hobden, Brown and Ince all crossing the line within a couple of seconds for 4th, 5th and 6th.

While Jenks got another fantastic start, Dennis and Burke didn’t giving Hobden, Butterworth, Ince and Theo Brown the chance to capitalise. Dennis had the better start of the two and was soon in front of Brown and Butterworth, Burke was further back and had other riders to dispose of before reaching these guys. Dennis managed to get into second by lap 5 but Burke wasn’t going to be so lucky. Hobden faded in the latter going to be passed by Ince but he managed to stay in 4th ahead of Burke. Jack Brown had forged a path into 5th but lost out to Burke and then Theo Brown right at the end.

Jenks made a clean sweep with another victory in the 4th moto and Burke was initially up there with him while Dennis looked like he was struggling to find his rhythm. Theo Brown made things slightly easier for him by throwing it down the track putting Dennis up a spot, he then got by Charlie Ward who was having a blinder. But thats as far as he could go as Hobden was having none of it crossing the line with only a second to spare. Theo Stead racked up his best ride of the weekend with a 7th and Max Greenwell broke the top 10 too.

Final group on both days racing with the toughest track conditions went to the Big wheel 85’s and the one claiming the Apico Holeshot prize was Stanley Siebert but he was quickly demoted by Archie Congdon. Chris Brindley and Danny Flude both got past Siebert and traded places for the next 3 laps before Flude got the upper hand and started to reel in Congdon. Siebert had issues but pulled it back as the race went on having dropped to 7th by the end of lap 1 he was back to 5th by the flag. Silas Mandeville nearly got caught at the line by Siebert but just held on for 4th. Finley Stead made it hard work moving up from a poor start to 8th by the end a few seconds off 7th placed Harley Quinn with Jacob Luker not too far in front.

Moto 2 saw a superb display of riding from Flude as he managed a 15 second lead to take the win. Brindley was in second up to lap 3 then had to deal with Congdon and Siebert losing out to both only to re take them in the dying stages. Siebert managing to get past Congdon at the same time. Dan White rode a solid race bringing it across the line for 5th.Mandeville had a steady climb up to 6th while Luker held of the improving Fabian Junior Morrison back from injury and regaining confidence.

Brindley pushed Flude hard on Sunday crossing the line less than a second in it. Morrison had a great start and looked like his old self, but Mandeville was pushing hard and along with Congdon they both got past then having their own battle right to the finish with Mandeville taking 3rd. Morrison finished 5th ahead of Quinn, Siebert, White, Luker and Stead completing the top 10.

Final race of the weekend saw a titanic battle and despite putting in the fastest lap by 3 seconds over Brindley. Flude could not find his way to the front. The corner speed of Brindley kept Flude at bay for a well deserved win stopping the maximum of Flude. Congdon lost the battle with Siebert and let him go narrowly missing being caught by Morrison in the last few corners. There was a whole host of riders setting there best result in the final moto, Finley Stead, Jack Dugmore, Max Beaumont, Beau Smith, Jayden Williams, Freddy Richards, Rylee Mortimer and Caden Pill all saved the best till last, so come on lads lets see you start the weekend with these results next time!

Results

Auto

Junior 65

Small Wheel 85

Big Wheel 85

Senior Open

Senior 125

MX1

MX2 

Vets Over 35

Vets Over 45