After the great British weather made us wait an extra month to kick off the 2024 campaign the Acerbis Amateur Nationals fired into life at the Haverigg circuit in Cumbria which after being waterlogged two weeks previously, was surprisingly dry and sunny which provided a rough fast racetrack for the riders to break themselves into.
Race Report by Arran Murphy – Images by Matthew Rudd Photography
The Manchester Xtreme Junior Open category were the first to hit the track where there were a few surprises thrown up by the end of play on Sunday. Joe Winnard finished 14th in the 2023 series and has clearly done his winter preparations as he left Haverigg with the points lead after taking two wins on day 1 and consistency on Sunday bagging a couple of top five results gave him the overall by just two points over local lad Ben Walsh who took a moto win on Saturday to put himself perfectly in the mix going to round 2. Shea Ryan stood on the lower step of the rostrum while Aiden Carneys race four victory helped him to fourth overall.
In the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 class Ryan Voase carried on from where he left off in 2023 and claimed five race victories but the Kawasaki man didn’t have it all his own way this time around. Scot Paul Johnston gave him a good run for his money on his trusty 250 2 stroke Honda to the point of Voasey needing to make a final lap pass on one occasion. Former champion Lee Martin had a solid start to the year but had to settle for third overall this time around and will be looking to close the gap come Hawkstone. Carl Stannard finished fourth while Antonio Souza rounded out the top five.
Danny Tollett was a man on a mission in the Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 category as the KTM pilot took three race victories backed up with a second and a third to take the overall honours from FUS Marsh team rider Phil Mercer. Mercer managed to claim a couple of race wins on his way to runner up but in the end came up 2 points short of the overall while after a couple of crashes Ady Bradley managed to take home third overall just 10 points shy of the top spot but keeping himself perfectly positioned for a season long fight. Sean Smith and Dave Dunn finished inside the top five.
In the Motoverde Ladies category Grace Richards proved to be the girl to beat as she dominated the weekend by claiming five moto wins from the five starts aboard her Honda ahead of former two time champ Nadiya Jones. Jones had a consistent weekend of racing and was pushed all the way for the runner up spot by wildcard local Ebony Brown who’s final race eighth place proved costly overall as she came up just 4 points short of the second step of the rostrum. Libby Chatburn and Grace Packman both had solid starts to their championships by finishing inside the top five.
If the first round is anything to go by the Moto Connection 125 2 stroke class is going to be a fight to the final round between Corey Hockey, Damon Strydom and Ryan Waggott as the trio all scrapped with each other all weekend. Hockey managed to take all three wins on day one along with a third and second to claim the top spot by six points. Defending champion Damon Strydom took the final moto win on his way to the runner up spot tied on points however with local Cumbrian Ryan Waggott who managed to take a win himself en route to the podium. Ash Harland will be in the hunt all year as he prefers the harder surfaced tracks and rode solid all weekend to eventually finish fourth overall ahead of rookie to the series Charlie Palmer.
Patrick Jackson made the perfect start to his title challenge in the California MX Dreams Open 2 stroke category as he took his Yamaha to five dominant moto wins. Joe Jones recovered from a first race first corner pile up to salvage second overall on the weekend tied on points with Lee Truman who also had some crash stricken races eventually losing out on the runner by way of the final race result. Drew Roe was involved in the first corner pile up with Jones and managed to come back to second in that one but had to settle for fourth overall come end of play Sunday. Ross Benton finished the weekend in fifth.
In the ultra competitive Acerbis MX1 class it was fast starting 2023 Open 2 stroke champion Josh Spinks who stood on the top step of the rostrum with 3-1-1-1-2 results. The KTM man had his hands full however as FUS Marsh Honda rider James Dodd claimed runner up overall after a consistent weekend inside the top three. Chris Mills took the remaining race victories on his way to third overall just 12 points short of the overall. Jayden Ashwell and Jimmy Margetson finished the weekend fourth and fifth places respectively.
Last up were the Craigs Motorcycles sponsored MX2 category with Henry Williams claiming the overall honours with three wins and two runner up spots to take an 8 point lead into round 2 at Hawkstone over final race winner and former British MXY2 champion Josh Waterman. James Lassu didn’t let a first lap crash in moto 2 hinder his shot at a podium as he stood on the lower step of the rostrum. Irishman Scott Hamilton took home fourth and David Plank rounded out the top five.
With round 1 finally in the books it’s onto the legendary Hawkstone Park in Shropshire for the second round of the 2024 Acerbis Nationals series.
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