Electric Edwards triumphs on BMWA debut! 2022 British Womens Motocross Championships – Race Report & Results

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The first round of the 2022 BWMA/LA Motor Company British Womens Motocross Championships kicked off at the Boraston Motocross Circuit hosted by Teme Valley AMCA club.

Report and Images by Howard Marriott

The sun was shining and the track was in prime condition with a top-class field full of riders from across the globe it was all set for a thrilling day’s racing. The Adult girls will be using the first four rounds to qualify for the Elite ladies Pro-Class championship decided after the first four rounds.

Qualifying

Adult girls qualified and all eyes were on Chelsea Gowland as she defends her British Championship title. Riding for her own race team Four7 Racing, covering both her British Motocross and World Championship eSkootr racing activities.

However, it was New Zealander Roma Edwards that took pole from Gowland by 0.9 seconds. Gowland’s first ride on the Husqvarna she was satisfied with that and confident she could improve. A great 3rd place for Izzy Neale in her return to BWMA Championship racing ahead of Rheanna Morgan-Rogers fresh up from the 85cc Youth Championship. Grace Packman was 5th ahead of last year’s runner up Tanisha Thomas now racing her 250cc 2 stroke KTM. New to the championship Jorja Johnson comfortable with 7th place, something she can build on while 2019 85cc Champion Jaysi Austin qualified in a strong 8th ahead of Hannah Jones, back from injury and Caitlin Newman rounding out the top 10.

Race 1 Adult ladies

The stage was set, New Zealander Roma Edwards on her NZ Honda, took the Muscle Doctor holeshot from Chelsea Gowland on her first ride on the four7 Racing Husqvarna, Edwards steadily pulled a lead as Gowland headed the rest of the pack settling into the new bike. Jorja Johnson upset the qualifying form book heading Tanisha Thomas, Izzy Neale and Rheanna Morgan-Rogers. Jaysi Austin was close behind renewing old 85cc Championship rivalries with Grace Packman keeping her honest throughout the race, Hannah Jones battled hard with Amber McGregor taking the 10th place spot. Gowland started to get into a rhythm as the race settled, closing the gap on Edwards until a rare mistake left her picking the bike up just before Thomas and Johnson could take her bringing it home in a comfortable second place. The battle between Tanisha Thomas and Jorja Johnson ended with Thomas putting in a last-ditch move on the last corner to take 3rd but missed out to Johnson by just 0.2 seconds. Johnson was super pumped to finish 3rd in her first BWMA Championships race, Roma Edwards now set the stage as the rider to beat with such a commanding performance.

Race 2 Adult Ladies

Again it was New Zealander Roma Edwards taking the Muscle Doctor Holeshot with Jorja Johnson second, Tanisha Thomas 3rd, Chelsea Gowland 4th and Izzy Neale in 5th as they rounded the first corner, Gowland quickly got past Thomas to give chase to Johnson as Edwards started to pull away. Further down Grace Packman was leading the 125cc two-stroke pack with Rheanna Morgan-Rogers, Hannah Jones, Jaysi Austin and Caitlin Newman in 10th place. Gowland pressured Johnson to eventually take second place by which time Edwards was now ahead by quite a distance. The battles for the lower places were close with Bethany Emms and Aaliyah Hulbert coming together, Emms suffering a leg injury and forcing a premature end with a red flag.

Race 3 Adult

The last race was full of drama, Tanisha Thomas blasted out the gate full of determination and took the Muscle Doctor holeshot from Roma Edwards, Gowland was down in 4th behind Jorja Johnson, but Johnson had a problem her holeshot device didn’t release and she did the whole of the first lap with no front suspension, she pulled over to try and release it and by the time her dad had prized it off she was dead last, Gowland was now 3rd chasing Thomas as Edwards pulled away. As the race progressed Gowland couldn’t make an impression on Thomas and Johnson picked her way through to finish a creditable 10th place. Rheanna Morgan-Rogers had her best result of the day finishing fifth ahead of Jaysi Austin, Izzy Neale and Hannah Jones, Grace Packman getting the better of Amber McGregor in 9th place.

Round 1 Results

Adult Ladies Pro-Class Qualifying

1st Roma Edwards 150pts

2nd Chelsea Gowland 139pts

3rd Tanisha Thomas 133pts

4th Izzy Neale 121pts

5th Jorja Johnson 121pts

6th Rheanna Morgan-Rogers 119pts

7th Jaysi Austin 111pts

8th Grace Packman 109pts

9th Hannah Jones 105pts

10th Amber McGregor 92pts

Hannah Jones 100, Beanie Reece 111, Amber Mcgregor 50

Youth girls qualifying and Leah Rees-Evans put in the best time taking pole position from Hollie Roberts by just 0.5 seconds, Northern Irelands Checoby Rainey was next with a strong performance taking 3rd, Holly Williams was next ahead of Millie Sweeney not far behind. The current 65cc champion Poppy Banning rode a fantastic qualifier adjusting to the bigger 85cc bike taking a creditable 6th place ahead of Erin Howes and Ellie Davidson. 2019 Rising Star Runner up Cameron Mansbridge finished 9th with a superb effort ahead of Sophie Jones rounding out the top 10.

Race 1 85cc Youth Girls

The 85cc class is always competitive and with last year’s champion and runner up, Beanie Reece and Amber McGregor moving up to the Adult class. Hollie Williams was the rider to take the Muscle Doctor Holeshot closely followed by Checoby Rainey, Hollie Roberts and Leah Rees-Evans. These four were within a few seconds all race but it was Rees-Evans that crashed out dropping her back to 5th place behind Millie Sweeney. Holly Williams led for almost the whole race until she made a mistake allowing Hollie Roberts and Rainey to take 1st and 2nd with Williams in 3rd. Further back and another battle was brewing with Ellie Davidson just beating Erin Howes ahead of 65cc Champion Poppy Banning finishing 8th, Sophie Jones pipping Lowri Rees rounding out the top 10.

Race 2 Youth Girls

Another exciting race for the Youth Girls and it was Holly Williams again taking the Muscle Doctor Holeshot, but right on her tail was Checoby Rainey and Holly Roberts. Rainey was quick to take the lead from Williams and Hollie Roberts was next to put the pressure on Williams and take the second place spot, the race was now on as Roberts chased down Rainey to take the lead with two laps to go, Rainey held on for second, Leah Ree-Evans was having a better race working her way up to 4th at the flag just ahead of Erin Howes who was under pressure from a hard-charging Millie Sweeney coming back from a poor start, she briefly took the place on the last corner from Howes going into the last corner only to have Howes take it back as they crossed the finish line. Ellie Davidson crashed bending her gear lever making gear changes impossible but brought it home in 7th ahead of Sophie Jones, Cameron Mansbridge with another great race and Mersadez Holloway rounding out the top 10

Race 3 85cc Youth Girls

This time Hollie Roberts was determined to make it easy on herself, beating Holly Williams around the first corner but it was Erin Howes who took the Muscle Doctor holeshot. Howes pushed really hard to keep with the top runners, the pace eventually tiring her and dropped back to 7th, but more rides like that and she will stay up there. The next five places were hotly contested with Leah Rees-Evans finally showing her full potential taking a superb 2nd place from the super consistent Holly Williams. Millie Sweeney again having a trouble-free race up at the front where she belongs ahead of Ellie Davidson again finishing where she should in the top 5 placing 5th at the flag, this was at the expense of Checoby Rainey who had a fall coming back to finish 6th ahead of Howes with young Poppy Banning taking 8th place after a hard-fought battle with Lowri Rees and new girl to the championship Mercy Holloway rounding out the top 10.

85cc Youth Girls

1st Hollie Roberts 150pts

2nd Holly Williams 135pts

3rd Checoby Rainey 133pts

4th Leah Rees-Evans 131pts

5th Millie Sweeney 125pts

6th Ellie Davidson 117pts

7th Erin Howes 115pts

8th Poppy Banning 99pts

9th Sophie Jones 98pts

10th Lowri Rees 94pts

Race 1 65cc Rising Stars

Another Championship that will have a new champion at the end of the season and it was Angelica Bennett one of last year’s race winners that took the first race win after a close battle with Grace Adshead who came in second. New to the championship Macey Scott got the better of Olivia Salt with Meghan Williams rounding out the top 5 after a fall.

Race 2 65cc Rising Stars

Race 1 winner Angelica Bennett had another great start but crashed and had to chase all the way to end up in 4th place, this left the door open for Meghan Williams to take her first race win of the day closely followed by Grace Adshead and Macey Scott not far behind and just ahead of Olivia Salt in 5th place.

65cc Rising Stars

By now the track was dusty, hard and rough but again Meghan Williams rode a superb race staying consistent to take her second race win of the day, Grace Adshead and Angelica Bennett had a great battle for second with Adshead just getting the better, followed home by Macey Scott and Olivia Salt.