Hall on the Ball at Pontrilas! 2021 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Round 4 – Race Report & Results

.

Pontrilas in Herefordshire was the venue for round 4 of the 2021 Acerbis Amateur Nationals series and as we tip over into the second half of the season it’s crunch time for the top runners as title fights are starting to come to the closing stages and any mistakes will be costly. Luckily the conditions were cooler over the weekend making it a lot better for the riders and it also helped the track crew to keep the dust down after the hot spell of weather we’ve all been experiencing recently.

Report by Arran Murphy – Images by Matthew Rudd Photography

In the Moto Connection 125 2 stroke class it was Yamaha mounted Ash Harland who closed the 47 point deficit he had in the championship dramatically as he took home the overall honours with three race victories and two runner ups. Wildcard rider Joel Fisher took the other two moto wins but came up 8 points short of the overall while series leader Stu Owen stood on the lower step of the rostrum. Matt Ridgway saw his chances of a potential podium spot evaporate after a second race DNF but consistent second and third places in the other four motos helped him work his way to fourth overall.

In the California MX Dreams Open 2 stroke category it was wildcard rider Adam Cook who showed the rest of the field the way around the rutted circuit as he claimed four wins split with a third race third spot to take home the overall victory on the weekend. He was pushed however and didn’t have it all his own way as Jordan Wright was hot on his heels all weekend but had to settle for runner up on the podium this time around. The first of the registered riders was the points leader Adam Harris taking consistent finishes and consolidating his already hefty advantage at the top of the tables taking third on the day. James Dent took the race three win on his way to fourth overall and Drew Roe rounded off the top five.

There was some brilliant and close racing in the hotly contested Craigs Motorcycles MX2 class as a couple of wildcard riders Matt Burrows and Joe Dark mixed it up with Cory McShane for the race victories but with Burrows not scoring points towards an overall position it was left to Dark and McShane to dual it out for top step honours. It was Dark that claimed the overall when all was said and done by a fairly healthy 9 points over McShane who took the final race victory after an intense dual where the top three were separated by less than 2 seconds. Tim Burrows claimed the third step overall while Josh Canton and Dylan Spencer took home fourth and fifth places respectively.

In the Paradise MX Holidays MX1 class, another wildcard rider scoring no points for the weekend tally was AMCA MX1 championship leader and 2019 Weston Beach Race winner Ashley Greedy. Greedy took four of the five-race victories but had to play second fiddle in race two to Jack Beniston. Beniston seems to be getting more and more confident as the series progresses and took the overall win by 16 points from championship leader James Hutchinson. Hutchy managed to fend off the attentions of Brad Wheeler for the runner up while also extending his series lead while his nearest challengers suffered with issues. Simon Booth put on a solid performance taking fourth overall and Bradley Flagg claimed the final lot of prize money in fifth.

It was business as usual in the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 category as Ryan Voase aimed his fourth maximum points haul of the year. Even a first lap spill in race two couldn’t stop the Kawasaki man from claiming five race wins but he didn’t have it all his own way. Voase had to find his way past fast-starting Lee Martin who put up a good fight and fended off the points leader for a good few laps but had to settle for five runner up places this time around. Danny Tollett moved to a 125 two-stroke and rode the wheels off it for a brace of third place finishes on a track that would tend to favour the bigger bikes with the long uphill drags. Andrew Woolhouse and David Evans took the fourth and fifth places respectively split by just a single point.

In the Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 category, it was once again the Brian Wheeler show as he holeshot and dominated all five motos closing in another 16 points on championship leader Chris Brown. Andy Watkins traded second and third places with Chris Brown but the Honda man came out on top by just two points. Paul Wildman Willis was in the mix all weekend and took his 125 Yamaha to fourth while Rob Lewis finished fifth overall.

The Pro Green Ladies category couldn’t have got much closer with the top three separated by just two points. Charlotte Hall took the honours with a final race victory tieing her on points with Kathryn Booth overall as Booth could only manage a third. Cath King was the third rider involved with the fight for the win but a race 4 fourth place could have cost her the overall as she fell 2 points short of the overall honours. Former champ Nadiya Jones keeps plugging away scoring points towards potentially claiming her second Ladies title as she finished the weekend fourth overall mixing it up with the top three at points over the weekend. Grace Richards took a brace of fifth-place finishes to round out the top five overall.

It took for wildcard rider John Joe Wright to break Alfie Calverts 100% win record in the Manchester Xtreme Junior Open class as the North East rider made the trip to Pontrilas worthwhile claiming the honours with a 1-1-1-3-1 scorecard while Calvert claimed the fourth race victory, the pair setting lap times good enough to be inside the top 15 in the MX1 and MX2 classes. Luke Price could only sit back and watch the front two disappear into the distance as he settled for another podium position just ahead of Ryan Davis who took fourth and Jack Gotts pipped Tom Card to the final trophy position by just a single point.

Results

MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	JACK BENISTON	194	40	40	40	40	34
2	JAMES HUTCHINSON	178	36	30	38	38	36
3	BRAD WHEELER	174	38	38	36	30	32
4	SIMON BOOTH	161	32	36	34	32	27
5	BRADLEY FLAGG	159	34	32	29	34	30
6	SCOTT HAMILTON	154	30	28	32	26	38
7	ANDY WILSON	147	29	34	8	36	40
8	HENRY PARTRIDGE	130	28	29	28	24	21
9	CORY NEMETH	127	16	26	27	29	29
10	ED BRISCOE	126	25	20	30	28	23
11	BEN NICHOLLS	122	22	25	25	25	25
12	SCOTT MERADITH	117	24	23	23	23	24
13	ADAM THIRWELL	114	17	24	24	21	28
14	RHYS WALKER	114	23	21	22	22	26
15	DAN SHEP	112	14	27	26	27	18
16	SHAUN BUCHAN	99	19	22	21	15	22
17	MICHAEL SMITH	92	18	18	18	18	20
18	JAMES GOODALL	92	20	16	20	17	19
19	KERIAN MULLOY	89	21	19	19	14	16
20	RHYS BAKER	73	13	15	17	16	12
21	TED BAILEY	68	15	17	–	19	17
22	JASON MARTIN	66	12	13	15	11	15
23	PATRICK GILLIGAN	61	27	14	–	20	–
24	THOMAS O’CONNOR	60	10	11	16	13	10
25	CHRIS HAMLETT	56	8	10	12	12	14
26	JOSH KIRBY	56	9	12	14	10	11
27	DANIEL EDGAR	42	7	9	13	–	13
28	LLOYDE CLARKE	30	5	6	10	9	–
29	JOEL HUGES	26	26	–	–	–	–
30	CAI NICKSON	26	4	5	9	8	–
31	RYAN WILLIAMS	24	6	7	11	–	–
32	ARRAN MURPHY	19	11	8	–	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	JOE DARK	190	38	40	34	40	38
2	CORY MCSHANE	181	36	29	38	38	40
3	TIM BURROWS	161	25	34	36	30	36
4	JOSH CANTON	159	29	38	26	32	34
5	DYLAN SPENCER	154	32	27	29	36	30
6	JAMES HANSCOMB	150	28	30	32	28	32
7	MITCHELL MEADOWS	143	34	28	28	29	24
8	MARSHALL SMITH	136	27	24	25	34	26
9	LEE SEALEY	132	26	23	27	27	29
10	MAX LEWIS	125	24	26	24	23	28
11	DANIEL SULTANA	116	21	25	17	26	27
12	MATT BURROWS	112	40	32	40	–	–
13	JUDE HARDTWELL	106	18	20	19	24	25
14	JAMES PARKIN	103	19	18	18	25	23
15	ETHAN SILLS	100	22	22	22	20	14
16	SEB B	96	30	36	30	–	–
17	JORDAN HEARN	80	13	17	21	9	20
18	RYAN MANLEY	73	17	14	7	19	16
19	JAMES EAST	72	–	19	15	16	22
20	TROY JONES	72	15	12	9	21	15
21	BRADLEY LE FEUVRE	70	9	11	14	17	19
22	LUKE TUNRER	67	10	13	16	11	17
23	ADAM FORD	67	14	15	11	14	13
24	JOSH HART	66	12	9	12	12	21
25	ADAM NEVITT	66	16	4	10	18	18
26	KIERAN GREGORY	62	23	16	23	–	–
27	FRASER WAKEFORD	61	20	21	20	–	–
28	FRAZER HATCH	54	8	6	13	15	12
29	SHEA RYAN	50	11	8	8	13	10
30	LUKE POS	38	–	10	–	22	6
31	CAMERON MCGREGOR	37	7	3	6	10	11
32	JOE WHITE	32	6	5	5	8	8
33	MACKENZIE CROCKATT	31	5	7	4	6	9
34	RYAN NEAL	21	4	2	3	5	7
35	RYAN WILLIAMS	7	–	–	–	7	–

[uam_ad id=”37544″]

250 2 Stroke open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	ADAM COOK	196	40	40	36	40	40
2	JORDAN WRIGHT	184	38	38	38	36	34
3	ADAM HARRIS	176	36	32	32	38	38
4	JAMES DENT	171	30	36	40	29	36
5	DREW ROE	166	34	34	34	34	30
6	CHRIS NUTTALL	156	32	30	30	32	32
7	JOSH GREEDY	142	27	29	29	28	29
8	TOM SHUTTLER	131	28	24	25	27	27
9	CALLUM BIRCHER	130	29	26	28	25	22
10	RYAN MATTHEWS	127	24	25	27	23	28
11	TRYSTAN WILLIAMS	126	20	28	22	30	26
12	JAMIE NEEDHAM	118	22	23	26	26	21
13	BEN BURRIDGE	117	26	21	23	22	25
14	ALEX NEEDHAM	111	23	20	20	24	24
15	RYAN GARDINER	111	21	22	24	21	23
16	ALAN MORTON	95	19	18	19	19	20
17	LIAM SOMERVILLE	93	18	17	21	18	19
18	CARL HOWES	68	17	16	18	17	–
19	BENNY LEWIS	55	16	19	–	20	–
20	MICHALE OGDEN	52	25	27	–	–	–

125’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	ASH HARLAND	196	38	40	40	40	38
2	JOEL FISHER	188	40	38	36	34	40
3	STU OWEN	168	32	36	30	36	34
4	MATT RIDGWAY	148	36	–	38	38	36
5	ALEX MORRIS	139	29	27	26	28	29
6	TYLER GRAVES	137	21	30	29	29	28
7	ALAN PEARCE	134	26	28	28	26	26
8	KEELAN HOPE	133	27	24	34	32	16
9	LEWIS PETFIELD	132	28	25	27	30	22
10	JORDAN RIDGWAY	120	30	32	3	25	30
11	ANDREW LAWTON	119	18	26	21	27	27
12	CHARLIE HAMLET	118	3	34	32	24	25
13	BEN MURRAY	113	24	23	23	20	23
14	TIM GARDHAM	108	22	20	25	22	19
15	HAYDEN STEVENS	97	25	1	24	23	24
16	ROBERT BARNEY	90	–	29	18	11	32
17	CHAD PROSSER	87	4	19	22	21	21
18	MATT RAYSON	82	19	15	19	15	14
19	GEORGE POOL	79	17	18	16	17	11
20	HAYDEN BROWN	75	23	22	20	4	6
21	BEN HUNTER	74	12	14	14	14	20
22	STEVE GARDHAM	70	–	21	13	19	17
23	GREGOR CAMPBELL	65	14	13	17	12	9
24	JAMIE COX	64	8	8	12	18	18
25	CRAIG REYNOLDS	58	11	10	15	10	12
26	WILL MORRIS	57	9	16	6	13	13
27	JAMES WILKINSON	55	20	12	9	7	7
28	JOSH NOON	54	10	11	7	16	10
29	ROAN DELANEY	49	15	17	–	9	8
30	MITCH GREGORY	45	7	6	11	6	15
31	TIMMY ANDRWES	38	13	9	8	8	–
32	JOSH JAMES	38	16	7	10	5	–
33	CHUCK DAVIS	34	34	–	–	–	–
34	DANIEL NEVITT	19	6	5	5	3	–
35	CALLUM NICHOLLS	17	5	3	2	2	5
36	KERR THOMPSON	8	–	4	4	–	–
37	ADIEE SMITH	8	–	2	1	1	4

Ladies

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	CHARLOTTE HALL	190	40	36	36	38	40
2	KATHRYN BOOTH	190	36	40	38	40	36
3	CATH KING	188	38	38	40	34	38
4	NADIYA JONES	172	34	34	34	36	34
5	GRACE RICHARDS	160	32	32	32	32	32
6	REBECCA NEWMAN	148	30	30	29	29	30
7	TAYLOR SCOTT	147	29	29	30	30	29
8	KADY MOORE	138	28	28	26	28	28
9	EMILY NOON	131	26	26	25	27	27
10	LILLY MORELAND	128	25	25	27	25	26
11	CHLOE CLEGG	121	24	24	24	24	25
12	AALIYAH HILBERT	116	23	23	23	23	24
13	KATIE LANCASTER	111	22	22	22	22	23
14	MOLLY WERNHAM	108	27	27	28	26	–

Junior Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	JOHN JOE WRIGHT	196	40	40	40	36	40
2	ALFIE CALVERT	192	38	38	38	40	38
3	LUKE PRICE	174	34	36	36	34	34
4	RYAN DAVIS	170	32	30	34	38	36
5	JACK GOTTS	156	30	34	30	32	30
6	TOM CARD	155	29	32	32	30	32
7	REECE WILKINSON	141	27	28	29	28	29
8	DAN TIMBRELL	130	23	29	28	29	21
9	SEB BASHFORD	129	28	23	27	24	27
10	JACK GATLAND	116	18	19	25	26	28
11	SAM HAMER	108	25	25	18	23	17
12	GRAHAM CLARK	104	26	27	20	22	9
13	ADRIAN WITCOMBE	99	22	15	21	17	24
14	LEWIS DAVIDSON	98	20	14	17	27	20
15	KEIRON DAVIES	96	17	9	23	25	22
16	FRASER SMITH	94	14	22	13	19	26
17	STEFAN ROBSON	90	13	10	22	20	25
18	JAKE BASHFORD	88	24	21	19	12	12
19	KEVIN BROWN	86	19	26	9	16	16
20	TAYLOR MISSELBROOK	79	7	17	26	11	18
21	LUKE SCOTT	78	11	18	24	15	10
22	JOSH OATES	77	15	13	16	10	23
23	ROSS HEPBURN	73	16	6	11	21	19
24	MATT BENNETT	71	21	11	12	13	14
25	JASON WAYMAN	66	4	20	15	14	13
26	DALE LYONS	55	6	16	4	18	11
27	DAN EVANS	53	8	12	10	8	15
28	JAMES CHANDLER	36	36	–	–	–	–
29	PAUL SHUTE	33	12	5	6	7	3
30	LOUIS SMITH	30	3	8	8	9	2
31	TOM BERRY	29	10	4	7	4	4
32	BEN PROSSER	26	–	7	5	6	8
33	BRADLEY OWENS	26	2	24	–	–	–
34	LEWIS RAYNE	23	9	1	3	5	5
35	SAM ALDERMEN	20	5	–	14	–	–
36	OLLI	10	–	–	–	3	7
37	JACK PARTRIDGE	8	–	–	–	2	6
38	TONY TENNETT	8	1	3	2	1	1
39	JASON BRICE	2	–	2	–	–	–

Vets Over 40’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	RYAN VOASE	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	LEE MARTIN	190	38	38	38	38	38
3	DANNY TOLLET	180	36	36	36	36	36
4	ANDREW WOOLHOUSE	157	30	30	29	34	34
5	DAVID EVANS	156	29	29	34	32	32
6	PAUL COWARD	150	32	28	32	29	29
7	NEIL GRIFFITHS	148	28	32	30	28	30
8	CRAIG CHAMBERLAINE	135	27	23	27	30	28
9	DAVID HOPKINS	135	26	27	28	27	27
10	NIGEL SMORFITT	123	24	25	24	24	26
11	MARK SUTHERLAND	123	25	21	26	26	25
12	JOHN CURRUTHERS	118	22	26	25	21	24
13	DALE SILK	116	23	24	23	23	23
14	NEIL PRINGLE	112	21	22	22	25	22
15	KEVIN CHARLES	101	20	20	21	20	20
16	MIKE JOHNSTON	95	19	19	20	19	18
17	NICK MacLENNAN	91	17	18	19	18	19
18	BARRY GRAY	85	34	34	17	–	–
19	DAVID WARNER	70	18	17	18	–	17
20	STEVE POWELL	43	–	–	–	22	21

Vets Over 50’s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	BRIAN WHEELER	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	ANDY WATKINS	186	36	38	38	38	36
3	CHRIS BROWN	184	38	36	36	36	38
4	PAUL WILDMAN WILLIS	166	34	34	34	34	30
5	ROB LEWIS	154	29	27	32	32	34
6	EWAN JOHNSTON	149	30	32	28	30	29
7	ROB PROSSER	148	27	30	30	29	32
8	JIM SHAND	132	23	26	27	28	28
9	CHRIS STEMP	124	28	29	21	22	24
10	ADRIAN LEWIS	122	26	24	26	23	23
11	BRIAN FRASER	115	22	22	24	26	21
12	ALAN MORTON	114	24	23	25	24	18
13	ADRIAN JESSOP	112	25	25	18	27	17
14	STEVE HUMPHRIES	105	20	16	17	25	27
15	ADRIAN SMTIH	102	17	21	20	18	26
16	ANDREW PROSSER	96	11	17	23	20	25
17	STEVE HOWES	96	21	18	22	13	22
18	IAN POSS	93	18	20	15	21	19
19	STEVE WARD	89	32	28	29	–	–
20	SHANE HOGG	82	13	19	11	19	20
21	JOHN CARD	81	19	15	14	17	16
22	STEVEN POLLOCK	75	16	12	16	16	15
23	IAN MCGREGOR	68	14	13	12	15	14
24	IAN SAYER	60	9	11	13	14	13
25	KEVIN McCATHEY	54	10	10	10	12	12
26	COLIN BERRY	48	15	14	19	–	–
27	BRUCE GARSIDE	12	12	–	–	–	–