Champions crowned at Culham showdown! 2023 Apico BSMA Nationals Finale – Race Report & Results

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The Culham Moto Park hosted the final round of the 2023 Apico BSMA National Motocross series under blue skies (initially).

Race Report and Images by Ady Cowshall – Images of Speed

The combined MX1 and MX2 class had the benefit of the prime circuit, with wildcard Callum Mitchell proving to be unstoppable on the Lexa-backed MX2 machine. Young Oliver Ruddock wildcarding in the MX1 class showed the power of the 450 Honda off the starts being the only rider to head Mitchell all weekend as he grabbed more than one holeshot, including the Apico challenge race, netting himself a great prize from Apico factory racing in the process. The real battle was between Josh Greedy and his closest rivals Steve Bixby and Jake Strange the only riders capable of catching Greedy for the title. Greedy needed to beat his rivals on Saturday to wrap up the championship. Race one went Greedy’s way after Strange took a dive on lap one, and Bixby was behind the potential champion. Greedy held it together despite intense pressure from Bixby in the dying stages. Race 2 saw Greedy holding off Bixby the entire race until the last lap when the oldest rider in the class managed the pass but Greedy had done it by 1 point, the first crowned Apico BSMA champion for 2023.

Sunday’s racing was all about the remaining podium places, Bixby had a slim advantage over Strange which he extended by beating Strange in both moto’s giving him the second step. Top honours for the day went to Ruddock winning all 4 of the MX1 races, while taking the top step in MX2 and the overall for the weekend Mitchell picked up the £300 purse. The championship battle in MX2 was Leon William’s for the taking, coming in with a healthy points lead a safe weekend was all that was needed to take the spoils. Williams was in no mood to settle for a leisurely ride though, as he wiped the board with 4 straight 2nd place finishes behind Mitchell. The championship runners up places were still all to fight for. Three riders fighting over the remaining two steps were Tommi Davies, Ricky Carter and Sam Bishop. Davies had a nightmare in race two getting his front wheel taken out, but came back strong. Carter got the better of his rivals in moto three but couldn’t stop Davies from securing the runner up spot. Bishop just didn’t have the pace on the day despite beating Carter in the final moto, and fell short by just 8 points.

With the Vets classes; over 35 and over 45 combined Mark Morris had so far gone undefeated all season in the over 45’s. Morris again lead the charge for the class mixing it up with the top three in the younger division as he had done all season again finishing undefeated with a massive points gap over second placed Richard Green. Green had suffered from a disastrous third round losing a potential 130 points but just edged out Kevin McCarthy by a mere 3 points. Eddie Charman’s consistent results robbed McCarthy of that second step beating him in each race, but not having had the luck throughout the rest of the season to string together enough points to claim that 3rd step for himself. While Scotty Williamson had a good day on Saturday his Sunday didn’t go to plan with and DNF and a DNS losing his chance of a podium position.

The over 35’s battle was realistically a one way street, but for the consistency of Sam Callow! Luke Spence had only been beaten by Callow all season, but had won every round in pretty convincing fashion. But a clean sweep only gives an 8 point advantage so just one race DNF and the title is gone! Callow had put up enough of a fight throughout the season, winning on a couple of occasions, to keep himself in with a shot at the title, only needing that mechanical or big crash from Spence to turn the tables. Spence started the day as he had ended the last round, in fine form and continued it on for the weekend taking 4 out of 4 wins . Callow followed him home each time despite some intense pressure from Dain Traylor, whose last two rounds have seen a resurgence in his form giving Callow a lot to worry about.

The Auto’s came out next with realistically a two horse race between Mason Forman and Blake Bracey. This pair had won all but two races through the entire season! With less than one race point between them heading into the meeting, it really was who could hold their nerve and score in each race. Bracey was out of the gate and all over Foreman but could not find a way passed, and it was the same thing in race two. Sunday’s track prep looked to favour Bracey but Foreman wasn’t giving up and hung in, dogging Bracey for second. The Final moto of the season and Bracey needed a DNF from Foreman or it was all over. Foreman took off in front, Bracey was back behind Hugo Jackson, Max Miler and Samuel McEvoy.Foreman took the win and the title with Bracey a mere 28 points down after having some season long battles. McEvoy had overcome the challenge of Freddie Dennis to take the well deserved final podium place.

Coming into the final round Kai Thorpe had the 125 youth lead needing 4 safe rides to take the championship. Race one Thorpe set off like a scolded cat decimating the field and increasing his championship lead. Jamie Kuehn kept his hopes alive coming home second in the class. While this was going on the 250f category was in a similar stance with Alfie Smith having himself a comfortable margin and affording top 10 finishes to wrap it up. Smith took it to Harry Ridgway and the pair swapped places for a number of laps until Smith backed it off for a safe finish after Ashton Coleman got into the fray, both crossing the line 12 seconds off Thorpe. Race two ended the title hopes of Thorpe as he hit a soft spot on a downhill pitching him over the bars and out of contention with weekend ending injuries. Kuehn now had the reins in that class but only by a race margin over Tom Goodfellow. Goodfellow met the challenge head on beating his rival and clawing back vital points. Noel Brooks was also in with a mathematical shot having beaten Goodfellow in the first heat, so the next days racing was all to play for. James Rowsell, also in with a mathematical chance in the 250f division crossed the line 2nd behind wildcard Coleman in the re-run second moto with Smith taking another safe result.

Sunday saw Ridgway bounce back after a second race DNF on Saturday, taking a while to get passed early race leader Smith who later got caught by Coleman. Owen Richards took a great victory in the 125 class as Kuehn and Goodfellow had their own battle. Goodfellow made his intentions clear making an early pass on Kuehn before a re-pass by Kuehn staking his claim to the title in the final few laps. The final moto saw Ridgway get away quickest and hold the lead to the flag. Coleman came past a fallen Smith to give chase but couldn’t make the move. Smith re-mounted unscathed to take 3rd and the championship. Rowsell did all he could to close in on Jonas Brown, closing in to 17 points behind for 3rd. The 125 title handed to the mistake free Kuehn showing his pace to Goodfellow by again crossing the line in front bagging a championship title in the process from Goodfellow and the unfortunate Thorpe relegated to 3rd.

The Big wheel 85 class was blitzed by wildcard rider Chris Brindley as he swept the board with a maximum, challenged only in race 2 by Ashton Sommerville who managed to get within 4 seconds of his lead. The championship battle was all but over, but with 180 points available consistent finishes were still needed to secure podium spots. Finlay Stead headed the table and only needed to finish each moto to remain on the throne. With a great 3rd place finish in moto one and closest rival Harley Quinn down in 7th it was all but tied up, going 5-4-6 was enough to taste the non-alcoholic bubbly for Stead. Jayden Williams was the surprise of the class sitting down in 6th in the championship he pulled out all the stops to go 4-3-3-3. The remaining podium places were all but decided with an outside shot at knocking Rylee Mortimer off the last step by Jacob Luther after beating him in the first 3 heats, but Mortimer reversed the tables by gaining more points than he’d lost in the last moto keeping a 15 point margin over Luther. Quinn wasn’t having his best results but with enough points in the bag held onto 2nd in the championship.

The 65cc Junior championship was blown open after John Slade didn’t turn up relinquishing his up to then dominance on the class! With Slade MIA it blew the doors open for the rest of the pack to go for an overall. Wildcard Jonny Wright took a gate to flag win in the first with Tyler Peaty, Oscar Bird and Oaklan Winnal all with 10 seconds of the race winner. Race 2 saw a different winner with another gate to flag win, this time Oscar Bird got the job done from Wright and then Francis Nellist, Winnall and Peaty.

Winnall set the pace on Sunday being the third different race winner of the weekend after early leader Bird took a lie down. Peaty battled hard to try to snatch victory, but came up short by a few metres. Wright was in the mix again in third with Nellist keeping his fantastic string of seasons results going. Bird remounted for 5th. The final moto again went Winnall’s way, but Wright had down enough to take the weekends overall from him. Wright notched up another second and Callum Harper really got his act together for a great 3rd place, but the bigger picture was the championship race. Nellist had proven to be the most consistent after a slow start and took the crown of the Apico BSMA 65cc champion. Bird had a win under his belt, but his win it or bin it style lost him valuable points in what could have been a championship. Nellist’s consistent top 5 results took him to a Ramon style championship title.

Last but not least the Small wheel 85’s, who took to a rough demanding circuit and the most to play for with the tightest standings coming into the final round. The title chase was between Lewis Jenks and Aiden Burke. Jenks had proven to be the faster of the two but a DNF in the first round had left him playing catch up. Taking away wildcard entry Tyler Rogers who would of won all 4 moto’s had it not been for a rear puncture in the first it was looking like Jenks was doing enough to win back the points lead, winning moto one from Burke and putting riders between himself and Burke in the next two. Going into the final race it couldn’t of been tighter, Rogers took off like the previous races and Burke made the pass on Jenks and William Dennis to take second and held that untill the flag giving him the title! Jenks didn’t seem to find his flow and stayed in 4th all race long losing out by 2 points! Charlie Ward continued his progression in form all season long giving him a well deserved 3rd in the championship

The BSMA would like to thank all it riders and sponsors for their support through a trying season of uncontrollable weather and track issues, and are hoping to see many of you at the season presentation and awards ceremony on the 18th November at Ashton Gate Stadium Bristol. Finally congratulations to the championship winners.

Results

Auto’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	MASON FOREMAN	178	45	45	43	45
2	BLAKE MARK BRACEY	174	43	43	45	43
3	MAX MILLER	158	39	41	37	41
4	SAMUEL MCEVOY	152	35	39	39	39
5	HUGO JACKSON	148	37	37	41	33
6	FRANKIE TUCKER	138	33	34	34	37
7	FREDDIE DENNIS	137	34	35	33	35
8	GEORGE BARCHAM	124	32	28	32	32
9	LOUIE PEET	118	28	31	28	31
10	ELI POLE	110	25	27	29	29
11	KEENAN JONES	103	24	24	27	28
12	CHASE MILLER	94	31	32	31	–
13	STANLEY PEAY	74	41	33	–	–
14	HENDRIX PROWSE	69	–	–	35	34
15	CHARLIE CAMPBELL	60	30	30	–	–
16	DOUGIE PORFOOT	60	–	–	30	30
17	RUFUS AMBLER	58	29	29	–	–
18	FRANK PENFOLD	53	27	26	–	–
19	CARLTON BAKER	51	26	25	–	–
20	ROMEO BATH	26	–	–	26	–

Junior 65’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	JONNY WRIGHT	172	45	43	41	43
2	OAKLAN WINNALL	168	39	39	45	45
3	OSCAR BIRD	160	41	45	37	37
4	FRANCIS NELLIST	156	37	41	39	39
5	TYLER PEATY	154	43	37	43	31
6	MASON STADDON	136	34	34	35	33
7	CALLUM HARPER	134	32	31	30	41
8	RHYS JONES	131	31	32	33	35
9	THOMAS BAILEY	131	35	33	29	34
10	RONNIE MORGAN	131	33	35	31	32
11	CHARLIE PARK	121	30	30	32	29
12	REX THORPE	86	29	29	–	28
13	WILL KREMER	64	–	–	34	30
14	DANIEL YOUNG	54	–	–	27	27
15	ARCHIE PARRY	28	–	–	28	–

Small Wheel 85’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	LEWIS JENKS	176	45	45	45	41
2	AIDEN BURKE	168	43	39	41	45
3	WILLIAM DENNIS	164	37	41	43	43
4	JACK BROWN	162	41	43	39	39
5	CHARLIE WARD	148	39	37	35	37
6	THEO STEAD	139	35	35	37	32
7	SONNY BIXBY	134	34	33	32	35
8	EDWARD LUKER	131	29	34	34	34
9	MAX GREENWELL	128	33	32	33	30
10	ARTHUR POZZOLI	126	32	30	31	33
11	RUBEN JENKINS	123	31	31	30	31
12	LUCAS GROVES	117	30	29	29	29

Big Wheel 85’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	CHRIS BRINDLEY	180	45	45	45	45
2	ASHTON SOMMERVILLE	172	43	43	43	43
3	JAYDEN WILLIAMS	162	39	41	41	41
4	FINLAY STEAD	152	41	37	39	35
5	HARLEY QUINN	143	34	35	35	39
6	JACOB LUKER	135	33	34	34	34
7	RYLEE MORTIMER	133	31	32	33	37
8	OAKLEY SKINNER	130	32	33	32	33
9	FREDDIE RICHARDS	123	30	30	31	32
10	JACK SEBO	121	29	31	30	31
11	FREDDIE RANDELL	114	28	28	29	29
12	LEWYS MORGAN	113	37	39	37	–
13	MASON MCPHERSON	113	27	29	27	30
14	OLIVER LOWE	109	26	27	28	28
15	JACK POTTER	35	35	–	–	–
16	DANNY WARREN	26	–	26	–	–

Seniors

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	ASHTON COLEMAN	176	45	45	43	43
2	JAMIE KUEHN	174	43	43	43	45
3	TOM GOODFELLOW	166	39	45	41	41
4	ALFIE SMITH	164	41	41	41	41
5	JAMES ROWSELL	160	39	43	39	39
6	TRAVIS LAUGHTON	157	34	41	39	43
7	OWEN RICHARDS	153	35	34	45	39
8	LENNY WRIGHT	146	37	37	35	37
9	CHARLIE WOODS	145	34	39	37	35
10	JONAS BROWN	144	35	37	35	37
11	NOEL BROOKS	141	41	31	34	35
12	OWEN D’HONDT	135	33	35	34	33
13	JACK RANNER	134	33	35	32	34
14	HARRY RIDGWAY	133	43	–	45	45
15	ETHAN LEAH	133	32	34	33	34
16	YORK COLEMAN	133	27	39	37	30
17	PIRAN GWENNAP	126	30	33	32	31
18	KANE WECH-CORBETT	126	31	32	31	32
19	WILLIAM BELL	125	26	33	33	33
20	FABIANS JUNIOR MORRISON	123	31	32	28	32
21	CAMERON MCGEE	121	30	30	30	31
22	JASMINE SIKORSKI-PULLEN	119	29	31	30	29
23	ASTON OVER	115	29	29	29	28
24	DANIEL CHARMAN	109	25	28	27	29
25	ALFIE THOMPSON	107	28	27	26	26
26	GETHIN MORGAN	90	32	–	31	27
27	ALBIE BRANNAN	59	–	–	29	30
28	LENNIE FULLER	50	24	26	–	–
29	ARCHIE COLLINGWOOD	50	–	–	25	25
30	KAI THORPE	45	45	–	–	–
31	OSCAR KNIGHTS	37	37	–	–	–

Vets Over 35

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	LUKE SPENCE	180	45	45	45	45
2	SAM CALLOW	172	43	43	43	43
3	DAIN TRAYLOR	164	41	41	41	41
4	LEE BAGGS	152	39	39	37	37
5	STEVE MARTIN	150	35	37	39	39
6	PHILLIP JONES	142	37	35	35	35
7	KRISTIAN GIBBONS	136	34	34	34	34
8	SCOTT EATON	132	33	33	33	33

Vets Over 45

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	MARK MORRIS	180	45	45	45	45
2	RICHARD GREEN	172	43	43	43	43
3	EDDIE CHARMAN	164	41	41	41	41
4	KEVIN MCCARTHY	152	37	37	39	39
5	SCOTTY WILLIAMSON	78	39	39	–	–

MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	OLIVER RUDDOCK	180	45	45	45	45
2	STEVEN BIXBY	170	41	43	43	43
3	JAKE STRANGE	160	39	39	41	41
4	JOSH SCOTT	150	37	37	37	39
5	CALLUM WATSON	146	35	35	39	37
6	JOSH GREEDY	84	43	41	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	CALLUM MITCHELL	180	45	45	45	45
2	LEON WILLIAMS	172	43	43	43	43
3	TOMMI DAVIES	160	41	41	37	41
4	RICKY CARTER	156	39	39	41	37
5	SAM BISHOP	148	37	37	35	39
6	CONNOR JAGO	144	35	35	39	35
7	LIAM JOHNSTON	134	34	34	32	34
8	JORDAN EDWARDS	133	33	33	34	33
9	LEE JONES	122	31	31	30	30
10	JOE RITCHIE	117	30	29	29	29
11	WILLIAM MERRETT	96	32	–	33	31
12	GEORGE ELSDEN	95	–	32	31	32
13	MARK MORRIS	86	–	30	28	28