This week the team were back at the Revo MXGB British Championship, at the iconic Wiltshire track that is Foxhill Motocross Circuit. Four riders attending this week, and after some amazing results last time out at FatCat for MX Nationals, the boys were looking to carry the wind in their sails towards the Revo British Championship.
The track shaped up to be super technical, which proved to be a great spectacle for racing, as well as some warm weather for the bank holiday weekend.
A first for our team this weekend, and an incredibly proud achievement that the whole GRT team, friends, family and riders have been working towards achieving, as we came away with our first ever Revo ACU British Championship, Pro Class 1st Overall. We are extremely proud of our MX2 rider Jamie Carpenter, and the whole team, as we are seeing all of our hard work paying off as we reach the height of British Motocross, also after coming off the back of our first MX Nationals Pro 1st Overall just a few weeks ago.
Jamie started the day off well, qualifying in 3rd position, splitting up the two Hitachi KTM riders, Isak Gifting and Kay Karssemakers. The Foxhill circuit’s first turn proves to be a very important one, as it can be difficult to pass, so a good start was imperative going into the Moto’s.
Going into Moto 1, Jamie got a good jump and quickly established himself in the top 5, and by lap 1 had solidified his position in 4th place. Towards the end of the Moto, he was setting faster laps than Kay Karssemakers ahead in 3rd, however, ran out of time to make up the distance to make a pass. Still, Jamie crossed the line in a very respectable 4th, behind three MXGP calibre riders.
In Moto 2, Jamie found himself another good start, this time in 2nd place behind Hitachi KTM rider Kay Karssemakers once again. Carpenter started the race with great pace, matching lap times with Kay ahead. On lap 3, Karssemakers had a small fall, allowing Jamie into the lead of the race. Jamie managed to lead the race from there for nearly 20 minutes until two laps to go came under attack from Championship Leader, Conrad Mewse. Despite his best efforts, Jamie was passed by Mewse, to come across the line in a career-best finish of 2nd place. Controversially, Mewse was docked 10 positions after the race for an incident when fighting through the pack, which handed Jamie the race win in Moto 2. With a 4-1 scorecard, Jamie won his first-ever Revo ACU British Championship race and the overall. A first for the team too.
We had two riders racing the 250cc Youth class this weekend, in the form of Finlay Evans and Ollie Colmer, in which Ollie was racing his 125cc machine against the bigger bikes. Finlay showed amazing speed all weekend, but his results unfortunately did not show the story.
He got off to a good start in Moto 1, starting in 4th place and was making his way towards the front throughout the race. He got as high as 2nd position after the halfway mark, but unfortunately, a coming together with another rider caused Finlay to fall. He didn’t have much time to regroup but still brought it home in 9th place at the line for a top 10 finish.
In Moto 2, Finlay was involved in a first turn crash, in which his bike got tangled with another rider, leaving him a lot to do to catch the pack. Matching the lap times of the top 3 in Moto 2, Fin would find himself crossing the line in 13th place. A weekend to forget for Finlay, however, he can be happy with his pace going into the next round.
Ollie, racing against the bigger bikes this weekend, started Moto 1 in 6th place out the gate. A difficult feat against the 4-stoke 250cc machines he was battling. Ollie showed determination and speed all race and would take 3rd position in Moto 1.
Moto 2 started similar for Colmer, finding himself around the top 5 on lap 1. Unfortunately, an early fall cost his chances of battling with the front riders again this Moto, putting him outside the top 15 by lap 2. Ollie, again, showed great determination to pass over 10 riders, to make it to the line in 5th place. That was good enough for 3rd overall for Ollie, in a class full of bigger bikes was a great feat.
Finally, we had our 85cc Big Wheel rider, and red plate holder, Billy Askew racing this weekend too. He showed amazing speed in qualifying, lapping 3 seconds faster than his competitors. Despite being the fastest man on track, Billy started in 2nd position off the start of Moto 1, setting his sights on the lead. An intense battle all race with Championship rival Jake Walker saw Billy claim the top spot by 0.7 seconds at the line, to come home with a victory.
Moto 2 was a similar story, but this time Billy made his way into the lead earlier on. He struggled to shake Walker during tho Moto, however and would have another intense battle all race that came down to the line. Askew would just be pipped at the post by 0.1 seconds, in what was almost too difficult to judge at the line. A 1-2 scorecard for 2nd overall this weekend for Billy, however, no points lost on his rival, so he still claims the red plate going into round 3.
Another amazing weekend of racing for the team, as we continue to pick up speed, break the boundaries of a once youth team’s capabilities, and make history in British Motocross as an overall winner.
We can’t thank all of our sponsors, partners, friends and family enough for all the hard work that has gone into getting our bikes and riders to the top of British Motocross. We wouldn’t be here without you, and we’re already hungry to achieve more of our goals.
Onto Round 2 of the MX Nationals in two weeks’ time. This time at Landrake, Cornwall, where we will have the red plate in the Pro MX2 and Big Wheel 85 class.
