Clarke & Mitchell on top at Culham! 2023 Bridgestone British Masters Round 4 – Race Report & Results

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Steven Clarke, on his Store 114 Racing Honda, won the Elite MX1 class at round four of the Bridgestone British Master’s last weekend at a hastily arranged Culham Moto Park after the use of Oxford Moto Parc track was lost after local planning problems.

Race Report & Images by Dick Law

Callum Mitchell (Lexa MX Racing Husqvarna) won both Elite MX2 races of the poorly supported Pro classes.
The weather wasn’t the best over the weekend, with drizzle, heavier rain spells and bursts of strong winds making it a bit miserable for everyone, especially the marshals, on Saturday. But on Sunday we were all treated to a bit of sunshine with showers making it a bit more interesting. Considering all the weather, the track crew did a great job keeping the meeting running.

Charlie Putnam (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna), who was just back from racing in the US championship, got the holeshot at the start of the first combined Pro MX1 and MX2 race and was followed around the first turn by Richard McKeown (RM 22 Husqvarna), Drew Anderson (Husqvarna), and Dan Thornhill (Chambers Gas Gas) with Clarke, who missed the start completely, in last place.

By the end of the first lap, Anderson was in the lead as Putnam and Thornhill battled over second place with Clarke, who had already passed half of the small pro field, already up to fifth. Neville Bradshaw (Suzuki), who was doing an Iron Man by riding two classes, the other being the 125cc class, had gated almost last but was already powering his way towards the front of the pack with what looked ease.

On lap five, Thornhill went down and pulled out of the race and the event, his still damaged hand just not working right for racing.

At the halfway point, Clarke was already in the lead with the first of the three MX2 riders, Mitchell in second on the track with the flying Bradshaw third. Putnam had settled into fourth place with the second of the MX2 riders, Alfie Jones (Chambers Husqvarna) fifth.

For the rest of the race, the running order stayed the same.

Once again, Putnam got the holeshot at the start of race two, with McKeown and Clarke following around turn one, but by the end of the lap, Clarke was in the lead and was unchallenged till the end of the race. Putnam held onto second place as first Mitchell passed McKeown, then Jones and Bradshaw.

Daniel Hutchinson (DMH Advantage Husqvarna) and Harry Bradley (ORW-SM Pro Kawasaki) spent the first half of the race passing and re-passing each other almost on every lap till Bradley upped his pace to finish fifth Hutchinson eighth.

Bradshaw had a better start and finished third for third overall behind Clarke and Putnam in the MX1s, while the three MX2 riders finished with Mitchell winning from Jones and Hutchinson.

“I am really buzzing after that”, said a happy Clarke, “In the first one, I didn’t get the best of starts as I stalled it on the gate trying to spin the rear tyre on the gate. It was an absolute rookie mistake, and I must hold my hand up for that one. But I made some good passes, got into the lead, and was helped when Dan (Thornhill) went down after his front wheel tucked under. But you have to keep it on two wheels to win. In the second one, I was second out of the gate behind Charlie (Putnam), passed him, put in a couple of fast laps, put it in cruise mode, and brought it home”.

Second place man overall, Putnam said, “It’s been great fun today as they run a brilliant event here. In the first race, I just pumped up (Arm pump), and I tried to ride a bit too reserved, but in the second I thought just go for it”.

Iron man Bradshaw said from his third-place podium, “It’s all been good. I just wanted to get some extra laps in as I was also riding the 125cc class and won that, but the 450 was for some extra laps. I started last in both races but managed to work my way through to second in race one and third in the last. I had a good pace and had a good feeling on the 450 for once. I wouldn’t say I like racing 450s much. It’s all a build-up to VMXDN at Foxhill, and this is the first weekend of a block of five races, so I am happy with that”.

First place in the MX2 side of the event, Mitchell said, “Happy days. I went one one, and the track was good as it’s been nearly a year since I have ridden here, so it was nice to ride a different track and to get ready for the next national”.

Jones said from second on the podium, “I am happy as this is my first race back from injury. I got off to a good start in the first race and was strong for the first ten minutes till I started to fade with arm pump and other this as I have been off the bike for so long. In the second race, it was the same thing over again. I want to finish off the year with a high now”.

Third place rider overall, Hutchinson said, “It’s been a good day, and I have enjoyed it. In the first race wasn’t great, but I got a better flow in the second one and had a couple of battles which are always fun”.

Wildcard rider Scott Aldridge won the amateur MX1s despite a first laps crash in race three that would see him finish the race in ninth place. But, adding that score with a win and two second places were enough to give him the overall. Race three winner John Joe Wright (Mr Dig Groundworks Honda) was second, with the likeable Simon Booth (Acerbis KTM), who scored his first national race win, third.

Ashley Greedy, another wildcard rider, won all four amateur MX2 races for the overall win. Rory Jones (IDS KTM), who didn’t finish out of the top three all weekend, was second, with Patrick Jackson third.

Yet another wildcard rider Lenny Ashley with four wins from four starts, won the clubman class with Kane Fisher (PR Crane Yamaha) and Lee Clarkson (Husqvarna) tied on points in second and third.

With two race wins and a second place, wildcard rider Neville Bradshaw (Yamaha) won the 125cc two-strokes from Beau Brown (KTM) and with Corey Hockey (Husqvarna) third.

On the youth side of things. After being pushed down to second place by Mckenzie Marshall (DK Offroad Yamaha) in race one, Bayliss Utting (Gibbons Plant Husqvarna) went on to win the next three MXY2 races for the overall win. Marshall was second, with wildcard rider Louis Vincent third.

Josh Vail (SJP Moto Husqvarna) continued his winning ways by being unbeaten in the big wheel 85 class. With four high places finishes, Jorge Parkin (SPS MC KTM) was second overall, with Ryan Clift third, just two points behind Parkin.

With two race wins and two-second places, Lucas Lee (Ken Rodney Construction Husqvarna) won the small wheel 85s beating fancied rider Joel Winstanley-Dawson (Cattle Trucks KTM), who missed the start of race two, into second place with Jenson Severn (Rod Sten Brickwork Gas Gas) third.

Casey Lister (VIP Motocross Gas Gas) was unbeaten in the junior 65s, with Nixon Coppins (Yamaha) second and with Arthur King (Motoverde KTM) third.

The fifth round is at Hawkstone Park in Shropshire on the 19th-20th of August, book in and be there.

Results

Pro MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Steven Clarke	90	45	45
2	Charlie Putnam	84	41	43
3	Neville Bradshaw	84	43	41
4	Harry Bradley	78	39	39
5	Richard McKeown	74	37	37
6	Travis Steels	69	34	35
7	Aaron Ongley	67	33	34
8	Drew Anderson	35	35	–

Pro MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Callum Mitchell	90	45	45
2	Alfie Jones	86	43	43
3	Daniel Hutchinson	82	41	41

Amateur MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Scott Aldridge (w)	163	45	43	32	43
2	John Joe Wright	153	41	37	45	30
3	Simon Booth	152	33	39	35	45
4	Josh Greedy (W)	148	37	33	37	41
5	Brad Thornhill	143	26	41	43	33
6	Ryan Osborn	139	39	31	30	39
7	Daniel Maule	139	32	29	41	37
8	Sean Williamson	127	29	32	34	32
9	Jamie Dixon	124	30	34	26	34
10	Oliver Ruddock	119	35	24	33	27
11	Liam Crellin	110	23	30	28	29
12	Lewis Huckerby	109	25	26	27	31
13	Josh Conton (W)	108	34	35	39	–
14	Bradley Wheeler	100	31	45	24	–
15	Jamie Fort	93	–	27	31	35
16	Adam Paxton (W)	93	19	21	25	28
17	David Curtis	89	22	19	22	26
18	Dale Brockhurst	85	28	28	29	–
19	Connor Maltby	79	17	17	20	25
20	Frazer Gardiner	68	21	23	–	24
21	Liam Piggford	65	24	20	21	–
22	Connor Cramp (W)	65	20	22	23	–
23	Max Lewis	52	27	25	–	–
24	George Clarke (W)	43	43	–	–	–
25	Ben Parry	36	18	18	–	–
26	Jason Dallimore (W)	16	16	–	–	–
27	Nigel Smorfitt (W)	16	–	16	–	–

Amateur MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Ashley Greedy (W)	180	45	45	45	45
2	Rory Jones	168	43	41	41	43
3	Patrick Jackson	162	39	39	43	41
4	Henry Siddiqui	150	41	43	39	27
5	Mitchell Armour	141	28	37	37	39
6	Callum Murfitt	138	33	34	34	37
7	Williams Leon (W)	130	34	33	31	32
8	Syd Putnam	119	26	32	28	33
9	Mitchell Warhurst	119	29	30	32	28
10	Jonathan Rodenick-Evans	117	25	28	29	35
11	Joele Hart	112	31	26	24	31
12	Gary Ashley(w)	107	37	35	35	–
13	David Plank (W)	105	27	29	27	22
14	Liam Smith	104	19	31	30	24
15	Luke Southern	94	24	27	22	21
16	Ben White (W)	91	22	25	18	26
17	Ben Clark	88	–	21	33	34
18	Jesse Wren	88	21	24	20	23
19	Thomas Dodsworth (W)	87	35	–	23	29
20	Leon Ongley	86	30	–	26	30
21	Charlie Parrott (W)	72	16	20	17	19
22	Alan Pearce (W)	69	23	–	21	25
23	Rusty Griffths (W)	57	32	–	25	–
24	Corey Collins(W)	56	17	–	19	20
25	Taylor Johnson(W)	42	20	22	–	–
26	Jordan Hearn (W)	41	18	23	–	–

Clubman

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Lenny Ashley (W)	180	45	45	45	45
2	Kane Fisher	160	41	41	35	43
3	Lee Clarkson	160	33	43	43	41
4	Colin McLuckie	146	43	31	33	39
5	Hayden Stevens (W)	140	30	34	39	37
6	Richard Roberts	138	39	39	37	23
7	Josh Young	132	34	33	30	35
8	Nathan Heath	132	32	35	32	33
9	Mark Kinsley	117	26	29	34	28
10	Daniel Chapman	111	29	37	24	21
11	Joe Sargent	109	21	30	26	32
12	Aidan Carney	109	24	32	29	24
13	Mitchil Collins	102	28	21	19	34
14	Matthew Fuller	100	31	18	22	29
15	Matthew Jones	100	35	24	21	20
16	Sam Menzies	99	22	28	31	18
17	Josh Ithell	91	25	17	27	22
18	Ivan Williams	86	27	–	28	31
19	Kevin McBride	85	20	22	18	25
20	Bradley Priest	83	15	19	23	26
21	Jacob Bell	76	19	27	–	30
22	Ben Hughes	69	18	9	25	17
23	Jordan Hurst (W)	68	–	–	41	27
24	Callum Radford	64	17	14	17	16
25	Ryan Davis (W)	63	37	26	–	–
26	Robert Williams	63	13	20	15	15
27	Roger Frean	52	10	15	14	13
28	Scott Isherwood	48	16	–	20	12
29	Richard Evans	44	–	25	–	19
30	Luke Price	39	23	–	16	–
31	Jake Evans	38	11	16	–	11
32	Ryan Davies (W)	34	4	10	11	9
33	Joe Grace	31	6	12	13	–
34	Tristan Daniels	28	5	23	–	–
35	Tyler Stevenson	25	3	–	12	10
36	Kurt Richardson	22	8	–	–	14
37	Matthew Hardwick (W)	22	9	13	–	–
38	Jamie Epplestone	18	7	11	–	–
39	Roman York	14	14	–	–	–
40	Harley Jones	12	12	–	–	–
41	Josh Watson-Bailey	2	2	–	–	–

125cc

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Neville Bradshaw (w)	178	43	45	45	45
2	Beau Brown	162	35	41	43	43
3	Corey Hockey	152	39	35	37	41
4	Freddie Gardiner	150	45	27	39	39
5	Daniel Brough	149	37	43	34	35
6	Archie Gridham (W)	144	33	39	41	31
7	Chester Hyde	131	32	34	33	32
8	Harry Barker	122	30	29	30	33
9	Shane Jones (W)	111	41	33	–	37
10	Wesley McGovin (W)	106	34	37	35	–
11	Finlay Boxall	105	24	30	21	30
12	Louis Perrin-Brown(W)	94	19	15	31	29
13	Jack Evans(W)	94	23	19	24	28
14	Conor McGrath	92	–	26	32	34
15	Jack Brearey	92	22	17	28	25
16	Braidy Tucker	91	21	21	25	24
17	Teddy Hyde	87	20	22	19	26
18	Ethan Blackley	86	17	25	27	17
19	Declan Wright	83	31	23	29	–
20	Ryan Cristian	83	14	24	23	22
21	Tyler Jones	80	15	16	22	27
22	Harley Maskill (W)	77	28	31	18	–
23	Zachary Pearson	72	16	11	26	19
24	Logan Powell (W)	69	18	13	20	18
25	Ashton Phillips	68	13	18	16	21
26	Cameron Jackson (W)	53	25	28	–	–
27	Max Ellerker	51	–	14	17	20
28	Oli Wickers	51	10	10	15	16
29	Callum Feely	48	11	–	14	23
30	Olly Hathaway (W)	46	26	20	–	–
31	Robert Wood	44	9	8	12	15
32	Joseph Horn	39	6	9	11	13
33	Harry Johnson (W)	37	7	7	9	14
34	Daniel Bartlett (W)	37	12	12	13	–
35	Warren Boyce	35	29	6	–	–
36	Rocco Hands (W)	32	–	32	–	–
37	Conor McGrath (W)	27	27	–	–	–
38	Jake Ward	22	–	–	10	12
39	Harrison Clarke	8	8	–	–	–

MXY2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Bayliss Utting	178	43	45	45	45
2	McKenzie Marshall	164	45	43	35	41
3	Louis Vincent (W)	156	35	41	43	37
4	Finley Evans(W)	153	41	39	34	39
5	Jak Taylor	139	39	16	41	43
6	Sonny Shipton	128	31	34	31	32
7	Jack Dando	128	32	35	33	28
8	Jack Wilson	122	33	32	24	33
9	Tye Jones	121	28	24	39	30
10	Sam Jackson	115	21	31	32	31
11	Dayton Thompson	113	27	30	30	26
12	Mitchell Conway (W)	109	24	33	27	25
13	Lewis Bethell	107	23	26	29	29
14	Kayde Rayns	106	34	37	–	35
15	Kyron Carron	97	26	–	37	34
16	Owen Richards (W)	97	30	19	21	27
17	Jamie Collins	96	29	21	22	24
18	Richard Barstow	96	20	29	25	22
19	Curtis Roberts	95	25	22	28	20
20	Fenton Rayns (W)	92	18	25	26	23
21	Harrison Drewell	91	19	28	23	21
22	Jack Ranner (W)	79	17	23	20	19
23	Kieran Wightman(W)	73	16	20	19	18
24	Alfie Duckett(W)	67	15	18	18	16
25	Tommy Gibbard	65	14	17	17	17
26	Jake Barker	49	22	27	–	–
27	Joseph Leeks	37	37	–	–	–

Big Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Josh Vail	180	45	45	45	45
2	Jorge Parkin	156	43	37	35	41
3	Ryan Clift (W)	154	41	39	37	37
4	Jack Leese (W)	152	39	35	43	35
5	Zane Stephens	149	35	41	34	39
6	Austin Beasty (W)	137	31	34	39	33
7	Kameron Greenhalgh	134	32	43	27	32
8	Maison Jones	125	34	25	32	34
9	Ethan Jordan	120	12	24	41	43
10	Tristan McGrath	114	37	26	30	21
11	Stanley Siebert (W)	112	33	18	33	28
12	Oakley Kettle	112	24	31	31	26
13	Andrew Piggford	112	29	33	26	24
14	George Clarke (W)	107	21	28	28	30
15	Halim Own	107	19	30	29	29
16	Leah Reece-Evans (W)	91	26	23	23	19
17	Josh Hutchinson	91	25	27	25	14
18	Kole Nally (W)	90	22	22	24	22
19	Jacob Francis (W)	89	23	21	18	27
20	Marley Alder	87	27	29	–	31
21	Elvis Totney (W)	84	30	32	22	–
22	Corey Wheatley	77	17	16	21	23
23	Freddy Richards (W)	75	18	20	17	20
24	Kade Thomas (W)	72	28	–	19	25
25	Ashden Walsh	71	20	15	20	16
26	Kaden Pill (W)	62	14	17	16	15
27	Harry Grayson	50	13	19	–	18
28	Mason McPherson (W)	32	15	–	–	17
29	Holly Williams	16	16	–	–	–

Small Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Lucas Lee	176	43	45	45	43
2	Joel Winstanley-Dawson	172	45	39	43	45
3	Jenson Severn	156	35	41	41	39
4	William Evans	146	37	43	34	32
5	Olivia Reynolds (W)	141	41	28	35	37
6	Chase Panter	137	32	33	37	35
7	Oscar Gilham	135	33	35	33	34
8	Archie Butterfield	131	29	37	32	33
9	Caiden Brand	121	39	27	29	26
10	Sean Smout (W)	117	30	31	26	30
11	Spencer Newman	117	34	32	24	27
12	Jamie Thorpe	115	28	29	30	28
13	Harry Cuddy	112	27	23	31	31
14	Arthur Moore	111	31	–	39	41
15	Harry Hall	110	23	34	28	25
16	Tommy Hutchinson	109	25	30	25	29
17	Daniel Sheppard (W)	88	24	19	27	18
18	Ryan Taylor	87	22	20	22	23
19	Brooklyn Gabbitas	86	20	26	18	22
20	Jamie Prentice	79	14	24	21	20
21	Theo Richardson (W)	78	16	21	17	24
22	Alan Thomson	77	19	14	23	21
23	Alfie Pincher (W)	75	21	25	13	16
24	Henry Lewis	74	18	18	19	19
25	Oliver Bardoe (W)	69	17	22	16	14
26	Ricky Barrick	69	26	15	15	13
27	Ryan Prentice	67	15	17	20	15
28	Albert Jones (W)	48	10	16	11	11
29	Troy McGrath (W)	37	13	12	12	–
30	Emily Jones (W)	36	11	13	–	12
31	Jack Masters	31	–	–	14	17
32	Jake Dixon (W)	12	12	–	–	–

Junior 65cc

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Casey Lister	180	45	45	45	45
2	Nixon Coppins	164	43	41	41	39
3	Arthur King	150	37	39	37	37
4	Jett Gardiner	148	39	29	39	41
5	Teddy Merriman	148	41	37	35	35
6	Jamie Currie	131	35	31	33	32
7	John Slade (W)	130	28	34	34	34
8	Harley Marczak	129	–	43	43	43
9	Lyall Rutherford	122	27	30	32	33
10	Charley Wilcock	122	34	32	28	28
11	Elliott Shawyer	117	31	24	31	31
12	Tommy Wood	116	33	35	25	23
13	Ronan Watson	113	25	28	30	30
14	Ethan Gawley	108	23	33	23	29
15	Finley Rundle	107	32	27	24	24
16	Sydney Williams	104	26	26	27	25
17	Dylan Standing	103	30	25	21	27
18	Jakson Ross	95	20	23	26	26
19	Ivan Williamson	91	19	21	29	22
20	Riley Seeds	81	22	22	17	20
21	Rylee Byrne	80	21	20	20	19
22	Freddy Graham (W)	71	17	19	22	13
23	Oscar Fairclough (W)	65	11	18	15	21
24	Archie Oakes(W)	62	16	12	18	16
25	Sonny Sawnders (W)	61	12	15	16	18
26	Forrest Roberts (W)	61	13	17	14	17
27	Jack Waters (W)	49	15	–	19	15
28	Bradley Thompson (W)	44	14	16	–	14
29	Jack Clark	44	18	13	13	–
30	Logan Lewis	43	29	14	–	–
31	Woody Johnson (W)	42	9	11	11	11
32	Haydn Escott	34	–	10	12	12
33	Alfie Brough (W)	30	10	–	10	10
34	Mason Brown	24	24	–	–	–