Dean triumphs in Long Lane 125 Thriller! 2023 AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 6 – Race Report & Results

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The combination of a Long Lane circuit running in reverse direction mixed with a nice sprinkling of ‘Wildcard riders’ and changing track conditions resulted in a very interesting round 6 of the AMCA British Motocross Championship on Sunday. That decision to go in the opposite direction proved popular with the riders, making the going more technical and a little slower. Those ingredients also meant that battles raged right throughout the day in most classes and created several very close finishes!!

Race Report and Images by Mike Wood

The first thriller and tight finish occurred in the opening moto of the day, and what a classic 125cc contest it was! Nathan Bache grabbed the holeshot ahead of Corey Hockey, series leader Luke Dean, Bradley Tranter and Yarin Evans. Two laps in and both Hockey and Dean had passed Bache and so the fun was about to begin! On a mission both the Midwest Husqvarna of Hockey and the Meredith MX Fantic of Dean were at full gas and reeling off some very fast laps. Racing just a couple of yards apart this one went right down to the wire with Dean getting the verdict by the narrowest of margins as Nev Bradshaw who had gated 9th bagged a very strong 3rd spot followed by Jack Cox, Damon Strydom and early leader Bache.

In moto two, Charlie Palmer led the pack away before Hockey again hit the front with Cox in tow on this occasion. And in another super tussle, there was very little to chose between the leading duo until Cox unfortunately stalled his motor. Although able to quickly restart, both Dean and Bradshaw passed Cox and turned up the heat as they started to reel in Hockey. Eventually Dean, a rider in simply super form, overhauled Hockey to hit the front as the latter rider hung onto 2nd just ahead of a simply rip-roaring tussle which saw Bradshaw just edge out Cox for the right to finish 3rd. Next up was Strydom and young South African ‘Wildcard’ Luke Grundy.

Typically tight 125cc action as Corey Hockey leads NevBradshaw

Over in the UK for one-month, South African Champion Grundy started the day with a fall in the opening moto but then showed his true talent by dialling into the Long Lane circuit. In the last race of the day, Grundy produced a classy performance leading from start to finish as Dean, Bradshaw, Cox, Hockey and Strydom were right in the mix.

On a day which produced some super racing, arguably the opening Youth 85cc/BWMA Girls 85cc was the best of the lot!

In moto one, Mason Care, Oakley Kettle, Arthur Moore and Riegan Rogers were involved in a simply stunning four-way battle at the front. Although Care went onto take the victory, for the entire duration he was under pressure with Rogers getting home in 2nd from Kettle 3rd, Moore 4th, Jenson Severn 5th and George Clark 6th. After that moto one thriller, surely the second 85cc clash could not be as good, oh yes it was! The fast Care again led the way with Severn, Kettle and Moore inserting the pressure. Despite being on a small-wheeled machine, it was though Moore taking a brilliant win as Kettle also relegated Care.

Grace Bates leading Caitlin Newman in a BWMA battle

In the last one with rain falling and changing track conditions, Care took another win by the tightest of margins with Kettle chasing hard and Moore in 3rd. Currently in great form, Leah Rees-Evans made it four out of five overall wins in the BWMA Girls 85cc contest as Checoby Rainey and Holly Williams, the two girls fighting it out at the top of the standings at present were next up. Showing no fear as the track became rougher and wetter, Rees-Evans went 10/17/12 to earn her Long Lane BWMA success.

So far this Championship season, it’s been the old one-two at the front of the combined Youth 125cc/BWMA Women’s series with the immaculate Shane Jones on his Apex GasGas UK machine taking the win ahead of KTM mounted Wyatt McGregor. In moto one though at Long Lane it all changed with Wyatt’s motor coughing and spluttering as it struggled for power whilst Jones again marched away at the front. That sick engine left Wyatt in last place, losing another 44 points on Jones in the title race. In that opening contest, Travis James, Jack Evans, Caiden Jai Griffiths, Will Turner and Phillip Tchorek were next best.

With the engine fault rectified and the motor again sounding sweet, it was back to normal business in the last two moto’s as Jones led home McGregor. In the overall reckonings, James was to take a well-deserved runners-up slot as the always consistent Evans did enough to earn the final podium step with Turner, McGregor and Linc Hasted filling places 4th to 6th. Turner’s hopes of a place on the box realistically disappeared in a scary last moto moment when he went off course and got tangled in the track marking! Quickly freeing himself, Will managed to climb back up to 8th. Over in the BWMA Women’s series, Championship leader Marni Saunders took another overall win ahead of her closest rival Caitlin Newman and 21st birthday girl Hannah Jones. Marni steered her Kawasaki to a 14/12/14 scorecard in the three moto’s which featured a stacked entry.

Shane Carless(68) powering to another MX2 win

Back to the big boy’s and Shane Carless on the FUS Marsh Geartec Husqvarna showed just why he is the boss of the MX2 class by bagging another smooth, quality maximum score. Going very much to plan, Shane led the way in moto one from gate to flag with Rory Jones comfortably filling 2nd place as the rest gave chase.

Youngster McKenzie Marshall took 3rd from Jake Preston having a rare outing on a 250F instead of the usual 250cc 2T FUS Husqvarna in 4th and just ahead of a superb two-stroke battle which raged for just about the entire duration featuring Lee Truman, Wildcard Josh Coleman and Charlie Griffiths. Getting home in 8th, Liam Gale had a very interesting start to the event after having to swap to his spare bike when his number one mount had stopped on the start line! In moto’s two and three, Gale was 15th and 8th as all of the above-mentioned names disputed the leading positions along with Kawasaki mounted Lee Sealey and Logan Wilcox on the Wulfsport Meredith MX Suzuki.

Typical Open class battle as Henry Williams(15) and James Dodd sort it out

After the first Open class moto of the day had kept very much to the storyline of the season so far, with James Dodd nicking a very narrow win ahead of title rival Henry Williams, it was then all change in the remaining two moto’s. Stirring it up was ACU Revo Championship rider Callum Green who was to take both of the victories. Entered as a Wildcard, Green led moto two all the way as Williams and Dodd disputed 2nd place with the latter getting the verdict by making a very daring pass on the final lap and with the chequered flag insight! Taking a strong 4th in this one was Will Hughes ahead of Harvey Tillotson and Ryan Mawhinny who had travelled to the event from Northern Ireland.

Enjoying himself and showing that he had discovered the fastest lines around the Long Lane circuit, Green again controlled proceedings in the last moto, leading from start to finish. Looking like a repeat of the earlier contest, Williams and Dodd were at it again in another classic battle for 2nd, circulating the track at high speed and in close proximity! Unfortunately, though that tussle came to a shuddering halt when Dodd crashed heavily. Thankfully unhurt following that tumble, Doddy was still able to safely remount and get home in 3rd with Shaun Mahoney, Hughes and Mark Roberts next up.

Simon Lane(73) gets the Vets moto one holeshot

What a dramatic day it was to be in the AMCA Vets Championship as series leader Simon Lane made his customary fast start and head moto one from Matt Ryder, Danny Blakeley, Sean Smith and James Lane. Quickly James got up into 2nd and started to reel in brother Simon, the battle for top spot was now definitely on! That race for victory though was never to materialise with Simon picking up a rear-wheel puncture. With James taking the win, Simon still managed to hang on for a vital 2nd as Smith, Ryder, Rich Meakin and Blakeley filled the eventual top six. Moto two and Simon was again fast out of the traps only to be reeled in by James with just a couple of laps remaining. That result meant it was now all change in the title standings with James going 3 points clear of Simon at the top but there was to be a very dramatic twist in the final moto of the day!

Making his best start of the day, James led the way and despite heavy rain now falling he looked to be comfortably on his way to another win. On a lap seven though his handlebar clamps became totally loose forcing him out of contention both for the moto and overall win but more importantly possibly the title race! With the unlucky KTM rider scoring a DNF, Simon Lane took what could well prove to be a vital win chased home by Ryder, Meakin, Smith, Blakeley and Brian Staples. That result meant it was Simon Lane, Ryder and Smith on the podium and Ryder also continues to top the Vets Over 50’s class.

Results

Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Callum Green	143	43	50	50
2	James Dodd	142	50	47	45
3	Henry Williams	139	47	45	47
4	Will Hughes	129	45	43	41
5	Harvey Tillotson	115	39	39	37
6	Shaun Mahoney	110	41	26	43
7	Ryan Mawhinny	103	31	37	35
8	Mark Roberts	102	30	33	39
9	Sean Wainwright	101	33	35	33
10	Luke Ryder	88	27	30	31
11	Aaron Collins	87	29	31	27
12	Jake Marsh	86	28	28	30
13	Kian Bown	79	26	27	26
14	Bradley Caesar	72	23	25	24
15	Edward Briscoe	69	–	41	28
16	Max Lewis	66	37	–	29
17	Luke Davies	54	25	29	–
18	Jayden Caesar	49	–	24	25
19	Cory Mcshane	35	35	–	–
20	Jayden Caesar	24	24	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Shane Carless	150	50	50	50
2	Rory Jones	141	47	47	47
3	McKenzie Marshall	129	45	45	39
4	Josh Coleman	127	39	43	45
5	Lee Truman	123	41	39	43
6	Jake Preston	117	43	37	37
7	Lee Sealey	106	30	35	41
8	Liam Gale	96	35	26	35
9	Alfie Calvert	95	33	31	31
10	Logan Wilcox	91	25	33	33
11	Patrick Gilligan	89	31	29	29
12	Jamie Richmond	88	28	30	30
13	Martin Jones	85	29	28	28
14	Charlie Griffiths	78	37	41	–
15	Conner Challinor	71	20	24	27
16	James Smith	70	17	27	26
17	Richy Roberts	68	22	21	25
18	Mitchell Perry	67	21	22	24
19	Jack Griffiths	67	24	20	23
20	Jordan Meredith	66	19	25	22
21	Harry Bebb	56	16	19	21
22	Lewis Glynn	49	26	23	–
23	Rhys Walker	27	27	–	–
24	Troy Jones	23	23	–	–
25	Jordan Wright	18	18	–	–

125cc

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Luke Dean	147	50	50	47
2	Neville Bradshaw	135	45	45	45
3	Corey Hockey	135	47	47	41
4	Jack Cox	129	43	43	43
5	Damon Strydom	121	41	41	39
6	Luke Grundy	107	18	39	50
7	Matt Ridgway	103	37	35	31
8	Harry Linton	101	31	33	37
9	Charlie Palmer	97	30	37	30
10	Stuart Owen	96	33	30	33
11	Simon Booth	94	28	31	35
12	Luke Newman	87	29	29	29
13	Nathan Bache	84	39	22	23
14	Lewis Proud	80	25	28	27
15	Olly Hathaway	78	27	27	24
16	Billy Bayliss	76	22	26	28
17	Cameron Jackson	75	26	23	26
18	Joe Jordan	71	21	25	25
19	Finlay James	70	24	24	22
20	Yarin Evans	64	23	21	20
21	Jamie Johnson	58	17	20	21
22	Mitch Evans	57	20	19	18
23	Oliver Davis	53	16	18	19
24	Scott Corfield	49	15	17	17
25	Bradley Tranter	35	35	–	–
26	Joe Wright	19	19	–	–

Vets

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Simon Lane	144	47	47	50
2	Richard Meakin	127	41	41	45
3	Danny Blakeley	119	39	39	41
4	Richard Tudor	101	33	35	33
5	James Lane	100	50	50	–
6	Jon Littler	98	30	31	37
7	Matthew Chaplin	96	31	30	35
8	Russell Grove	87	28	28	31
9	Aidan Wright	84	27	27	30
10	Dain traylor	68	35	33	–
11	Luke Neary	26	26	–	–

Vets Over 50

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Matt Ryder	135	43	45	47
2	Sean Smith	131	45	43	43
3	Brian Staples	113	37	37	39
4	Christopher Elcock	87	29	29	29
5	Stuart Kilmarten	79	25	26	28
6	Nigel Reed	48	23	25	–
7	Michael Holloway	24	24	–	–

BWMA Womens

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Marni Saunders	150	50	50	50
2	Caitlin Newman	139	45	47	47
3	Hannah Jones	129	43	43	43
4	Grace Bates	125	47	45	33
5	Amber McGregor	121	39	41	41
6	Hollie Roberts	119	41	39	39
7	Lilly Moreland	117	35	37	45
8	Autumn Jenkinson	102	37	35	30
9	India Hodgkinson	101	33	31	37
10	Daisy Blackwell	96	31	30	35
11	Izzi Wright	90	30	29	31
12	Jasmine Watson	84	28	27	29
13	Katie Lancaster	80	26	26	28
14	abbie Piggott	60	27	33	–
15	Aaliyah Hulbert	57	29	28	–

Youth 125

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Shane Jones	150	50	50	50
2	Travis James	133	47	45	41
3	Jack Evans	131	45	43	43
4	Will Turner	117	41	41	35
5	Wyatt McGregor	115	21	47	47
6	Linc Hasted	111	27	39	45
7	Caiden Jai Griffiths	111	43	37	31
8	Logan Jay Powell	105	35	31	39
9	Aston Phillips	101	37	35	29
10	Troy Weaver	97	30	30	37
11	Phillip Tchorek	94	39	22	33
12	Liam Morrod	94	31	33	30
13	Benjamin spurr	85	29	29	27
14	Lewis Roberts	82	26	28	28
15	Max Brick	76	25	25	26
16	Tristan Caesar	73	24	24	25
17	Tyler Lane	68	23	21	24
18	Sebby Moore	60	33	27	–
19	Albie Hall	54	28	26	–
20	Ricky Ryder	45	22	23	–

BWMA Girls

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Leah Rees-Evans	147	50	50	47
2	Checoby Rainey	140	45	45	50
3	Holly Williams	139	47	47	45
4	Poppy Banning	125	41	43	41
5	Cameron Mansbridge	121	39	39	43
6	Sophie Jones	117	37	41	39
7	Erin Howes	117	43	37	37

Big Wheel 85’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Mason Care	145	50	45	50
2	Oakley Kettle	139	45	47	47
3	George Clark	123	39	41	43
4	Oliver Bebb	113	37	39	37
5	Riegan Rogers	111	47	25	39
6	Jordan Kinsella	101	33	33	35
7	Bobby Watson	92	30	29	33
8	Jack Bullock	82	27	28	27
9	Louis Tilley	76	26	27	23
10	Lewis Day	57	18	18	21
11	Olly Hadwell	52	16	17	19
12	Toby Adamson	52	29	23	–
13	Charlie Walker	48	15	16	17
14	Cameron Gerrard	48	22	26	–

Small Wheel 85’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3
1	Arthur Moore	138	43	50	45
2	Jenson Severn	125	41	43	41
3	Ryan Jackson	101	35	35	31
4	jimmy Whiston	71	23	24	24
5	Aston Whitehead	70	24	21	25
6	Jacob Ince	63	17	20	26
7	Alfie Pincher	47	10	22	15
8	Ryan Tilley	46	12	12	22
9	Terry Challinor	43	14	15	14
10	Kaleb Copeland	21	11	10	–