Taylor Hammal made it a Crendon Tru7 Honda clean sweep in the Fastest 40 championship by taking his Honda CRF450R to second place overall to clinch runner-up in the series behind champion and team-mate Conrad Mewse.
Mewse clinched the 2024 Fastest 40 MX1 championship crown two weeks ago in the penultimate round, when Hammal raced the M2 class on his CRF250R. So this weekend at the finale at Sellindge in Kent, 24-year-old Hammal swopped back to the 450 in a bid to nail down second in the series while Mewse took the chance to contest the Dutch MXGP round.
Despite being one of the only riders to have never raced on the old-school, hard-pack track before, Hammal quickly got to grips with the circuit and posted third fastest time in qualifying. When the gate dropped for the opener, he was in a strong fourth place but quickly deposed of Stuart Edmonds then MX2 rider Tommy Searle to take second slot behind Dylan Walsh.
The pair staged an epic battle for the lead as they showed incredible racecraft on the fast but technical track. On lap nine Hammal pounced and took the lead, but Walsh was never far behind.
Then on the last lap, Walsh managed to dive inside to take the win with Hammal right behind him in second from Searle in third.
The final and deciding moto was led by Honda privateer Brad Todd from Searle, Grimshaw, Walsh and Hammal. As Todd dropped down the field and Grimshaw briefly slipped off, it meant Searle took the lead from Walsh and Hammal. By lap five Walsh took over at the front from Searle with Hammal right behind in third on the track – but second in the MX1 class. With all three riders being the only men on track to break the two minute lap time barrier, they put on a solid show at the front. Hammal tried to catch Walsh but the dusty, hard track made it tough to make any ground and he came home as second in the MX1 class.
His two runner-up spots gave him second overall and meant he held on to second in the championship despite missing the last round. With Mewse already champ, it was a great result for Honda as the CRF450R filled the top four places in the series as Barr and Grimshaw moved up to third and fourth in the final standings.
Hammal said: “In that first race I felt really good straight way. I got right on the back of Dylan and it was so hard to pass on the track – and he’s tough to pass anyway! I tried different lines and he’d catch on it and block me. It was frustrating but I eventually passed him.
“I pulled away a bit and then tightened up and got arm pump really badly. Then I went too wide and he stuck it up the inside and that was it. I was really gutted – I should have won.
“I got a good start in the second race but messed up the first corner. I was back in fifth and Dylan was at the front and was gone. I got through to third behind Tommy and all three of us rode around at the same speed. It was hard to make up any ground.
“I got second overall and second in the championship and I’m chuffed with the result. And to take first and second in the series behind Conrad is so great for the team.
“I’m enjoying being on the 450. In the middle part of the year I wasn’t really riding the 450 so it’s good to be back on it, and now I can focus on riding it,
I’m going to ride the 450 in the remaining British championship races and it’s great to be given that chance.”
At the Dutch GP in Arnhem, Mewse was fastest in his qualifying group and took 14th in the qualifying race. In race one he came from last through to 24th then in moto two he was best British rider in 14th which gave him 16th overall.
The team’s other 450 rider, Callum Green, was supposed to make his comeback from injury at the Fastest 40 final but had a crash in testing a few days before the event so opted to sit out the race.
The full Crendon Tru7 Honda team of Mewse, Hammal, Green and Jake Nicholls will be in action at the next British championship round on September.
Fastest 40 MX1 overall
1 Dylan Walsh 50
2 Taylor Hammal Crendon Tru7 Honda 44
3 Tom Grimshaw 40
4 Martin Barr 36
5 Dan Thornhill 30
6 Brad Todd 30
7 Stuart Edmonds 30
8 Tom Murphy 25
9 Louie Kessel 25
Fastest 40 MX1 championship final positions
1 Conrad Mewse Crendon Tru7 Honda 244
2 Taylor Hammal Crendon Tru7 Honda 206
3 Martin Barr 188
4 Tom Grimshaw 179
5 Tristan Purdon 157
6 Dan Thornhill 136
7 Jason Meara 117
8 Stuart Edmonds 116
9 Brad Todd 112
10 Tom Murphy 107
Words and Images by Crendon Tru7 Honda
