British champion Conrad Mewse continued his run of excellent form by taking two second places for second overall in round two of the series at Canada Heights in Kent for the Crendon Tru7 Honda team.
Unlike the opening round, where he shared the spoils with five-times world champ Jeffrey Herlings as both riders scored a race win and a second place each, this time less than perfect starts hindered the Crendon Tru7 Honda rider. He raced hard but had to settle for second in both races behind the flying Dutchman.
That leaves Mewse in a strong second place in the series, just six points behind Herlings, who has not yet confirmed if he will ride more rounds after his two wildcard appearances so far this year.
The opening moto saw Mewse tail Herlings around the first corner and give chase as hard as he could. But at half distance, Herlings managed to start edging away as Mewse held on for a solid second place. Such was their pace that third placed Triston Purdon was more than a minute behind the Honda rider, with a best lap time almost five seconds slower. The leaders lapped up to seventh place.
The second race saw Herlings carve through into second by the end of the first lap, then take the lead on lap two and begin to pull away. Mewse was buried near the back of the pack after mistiming the start, and began a stunning charge towards the front.
The 25-year-old Mewse managed to move in tenth on the first lap and eventually picked off his rivals one by one and pulled through to second place by lap five. But by that time, Herlings had a commanding lead, so Mewse brought home the Honda CRF450R in second place again for second overall.
Mewse said: “I had a fantastic day bit but it’s frustrating. Days like this would be amazing if Jeffrey wasn’t here! But if he doesn’t do the full series, I’m in a great place for the championship and I’m riding well.
“I was pushing on in on in race one but I tightened up about half way and that was it. I was really disappointed with that.
“In the second one I was really conscious I needed a good start as I wanted to run with him. But I was fifth from last and had to come back through the pack. I got to second place and he was gone – there was no catching him.”
But it was a nightmare day for his Crendon Tru7 Honda MX1 team-mate Callum Green who didn’t even complete a lap of the first race. He crashed hard and was immediately run over by a following rider. Green was hospitalised, where initial scans showed he’d fractured his hip and forearm. He will be out of action for some time.
Team manager, triple world 500 champ Dave Thorpe said: “Obviously we’re all thinking of Callum who had a nasty accident and wish him all the very best for a fast recovery.
“The rest of the team had some great races today, with all three putting on some great performances and having some incredible rides.
“Conrad is in top form and riding so well. It’s a shame he couldn’t get close enough to have a serious run at Jeffrey Herlings, but his second race start wasn’t the best. We’re only two rounds in and lots of points to play for.
ACU British championship MX1 overall
1 Jeffrey Herlings 50
2 Conrad Mewse Crendon Tru7 Honda 44
3 Tristan Purdon 36
4 Josh Gilbert 33
5 Martin Barr 33
6 Jamie Carpenter 32
7 Sam Nunn 28
8 Brad Todd 26
9 Jason Meara 25
10 Dylan Woodcock 21
Championship positions after two rounds
1 Jeffrey Herlings 97
2 Conrad Mewse Crendon Tru7 Honda 91
3 Josh Gilbert 71
4 Martin Barr 63
5 Jason Meara 60
6 Brad Todd 60
7 Tristan Purdon 56
8 Sam Nunn 56
9 Dan Thornhill 38
10 Jamie Carpenter 33
26 Callum Green Crendon Tru7 Honda 3
Words and images by Crendon Tru7 Honda
