Husband gains the upper hand at Culham! 2024 Bridgestone British Masters Round 4 – Race Report & Results

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Carlton Husband on his Phoenix Tools Even Strokes Kawasaki and Dylan Walsh riding an MSR Kawasaki had two fantastic race battles for the expert class overall win at last weekend’s round four of the Bridgestone British Masters, which was staged at the Culham motocross track on the banks of the river Thames in Oxfordshire. A simple mistake by Walsh at the start of the last lap of the race one, handed the race win to Husband.

Race Report and Images by Dick Law

Nine almost full groups of mad, keen motocross riders flooded into the sandy track on the stifling hot Friday afternoon and evening, but come race day; the temperatures had cooled, so the racing got hotter.

At the first of the expert/open races, Husband got the holeshot and cleared off into the distance, leaving Tom Grimshaw (Apico Honda), who gated second, to deal with the flying Walsh.

Walsh managed to find a way past Grimshaw on lap three and set off in an attempt to real Husband by the end of the twenty-minutes plus two-lap race, as Henry Williams (FUS Marsh Honda) started to slip back in the pack after a fourth-place start.

Josh Spinks (M. Williams KTM) had gated sixth but passed Williams and Scott Aldridge on the opening lap and slotted into fourth place behind Grimshaw on lap four. At the same time, Husband’s teammate, Charlie Cole, spent the first four laps circulating in seventh, but that wouldn’t last long.

In eighth place, Chris Mills (Yamaha) didn’t get the best of starts, but he was moving upward from the end of the first lap. He passed Cole and Williams on lap two, Aldridge two laps, and started to close the gap on Spinks on lap five.

Grimshaw had been suffering from a sticking throttle since the start of the race. He said, “It will stick shut sometimes then open up quickly, and you don’t need that over the jumps. Other times, it won’t shut off, which you never need.” He struggled for seven laps until he pulled into the work area for adjustments. He re-joined the race in sixteenth but moved up two places before the end of the race.

While all this was happening, Mills had passed Spinks and, with two laps to go, had caught Walsh. The two started the final lap almost together, with Mills slipping by and into second place. Walsh tried to re-pass Mills but slipped off as his front wheel washed out in the sand.

Husband took the win by almost five seconds from Mills, with Spinks third and Cole fourth. Walsh crossed the finish line in seventh place.

At the start of the second race, track conditions had deteriorated, with deep ruts in most corners ready to catch the unwary out.

Walsh got the holeshot, followed by Husband and Grimshaw, and they stayed in the order till the checkered flag.

Williams had gated fourth but crashed down to fourteenth on lap two, while Dylan Woodcock (FUS Marsh Honda) held fourth place he had inherited for Williams for a lap before he slipped back to sixth two laps later as Cole, Mills, Heyman and Jones all charged by.

Spinks crashed out of the race on lap two, ending his chance of a good overall result.

Cole and Mills were in each other’s company all race long, with several passes between them. A mistake on the last but one lap by Mills dropped him to sixth, as Cole claimed fourth for himself. After a bad start, Jones fought his way up from fifteenth to fifth place.

Overall, it was Husband from Walsh and Cole making it an all-Kawasaki podium.

“In the first race, I felt nice. Really comfortable,” said a happy Husband, “I was floating about, but in the second race, I struggled as the track had dried out and was a bit sketchy. So, I settled for second in the race, but the overall on the day”.

Walsh, from second place on the podium, said, “It’s a shame I had that little tip-off. It’s only my third day of the 450, and I chose some bad lines in the first race, got a bit tired and had that silly little crash. But it is what it is. The second race was good. I am not switching to the MX1s, but just getting as much racing in as I can to get over my injury from last year”.

Third-place man Cole said, “It’s been a good day behind first 250 home in both races for third overall. I can’t moan, but it was a very fast track today, so it’s good to come away with a podium”.

Without winning any of his four Amateur MX1 races, Brad Wheeler (MX Vice Even Strokes Kawasaki) proved the consistency paid off, as his four-second places gave him the overall win. Seth Manners (Chambers Gas Gas) won three out of the four races, but a bad start in race two saw him finish the opening lap in fifteenth place, from which he pulled himself up to finish sixth. Wheeler took the win by two points. Josh Greedy (Moto 33 Yamaha) was third.

It was tight at the top of the Amateur MX2s as wildcard riders Rory Jones (IDS KTM) and Bayliss Utting (Lings Honda) shared wins and second places and finished on the same points. Raife Broadley (Fantic) was a distant third.

With two race wins and two third places, Scott Bates (IDS Kawasaki) won the clubman class from Lee Clarkson (KTM) and double race winner Elliott Pugh (Kawasaki).

A derailed chain robbed Josh Vail (SJP Moto KTM) of a clean sweep in the 125 class. After winning the first three races, Vail’s chain came off the sprockets at the start of the fourth and final race. He put the chain back on and came around to complete the opening lap way down in twenty-ninth place, almost last. He then just powered his way to the finish of the race, but he ran out of laps to take the win. Twenty-ninth to fourth in seven laps. Race four winner Charlie Richmond (JP KTM) was second overall, with Matt Bayliss (S Briggs Gas Gas) third.

Wildcard rider Reece Jones (K Tech KTM) was unstoppable in the MXY2s, winning all four of his races in grand style. Harrison Greenough (S Simpson KTM) and Ollie Bubb (Crescent Yamaha) fought over the remaining steps on the podium, with Greenough second, just two points clear of Bubb.

Joel Winstanley Dawson (Castle Trucks KTM) won three out of his four Big Wheel 85 races, but a bad start in race three robbed him of a clean sweep. Archie Stapley (SP Paving KTM) was second overall, with Olly Waters (KTM) third, just three points off second place but eleven off the win.

Nixon Coppins (Yamaha) made the Small Wheel 85s his own by winning all four races in convincing style. Arthur Moore (RMJ SJP Moto KTM) didn’t finish out of the top four all weekend was second, with Harley Marczak (JMR KTM) third.

All the Junior 65 riders did very well on the deeply rutted track, but Roan Watson (MX Goat Husqvarna) did best with two race wins and two second places, taking the overall win.

Elliott Shawyer (Airport Autos KTM) matched Watson’s score to score till the last race of the day, where a crash and two laps from the flag dropped him from second to fifth. But he had already done enough for second overall. Tommy Wood (KTM) was third.

Results

Expert

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2
1	Carlton Husband	88	45	43
2	Dylan Walsh	79	34	45
3	Charlie Cole	78	39	39
4	Christopher Mills	78	43	35
5	Rory Jones	72	35	37
6	Charlie Heyman	71	37	34
7	Tom Grimshaw	68	27	41
8	Dylan Woodcock	65	32	33
9	James Dodd	62	31	31
10	Henry Williams	62	33	29
11	Josh Coleman	58	28	30
12	Harry Bradley	56	29	27
13	Scott Aldridge	56	30	26
14	Aaron Patstone	53	25	28
15	Travis Steels	51	26	25
16	Josh Spinks	41	41	–
17	Raife Broadley	32	–	32
18	Patrick Jackson	24	24	–

125cc

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Josh Vail	174	45	45	45	39
2	Charlie Richmond	172	43	43	41	45
3	Matt Bayliss	166	41	39	43	43
4	Will Haddock	150	39	41	35	35
5	Damen Strydom	147	34	35	37	41
6	Paul Neal (w)	136	33	37	33	33
7	Max Harris (W)	135	37	33	31	34
8	Joe Grainger	115	28	29	28	30
9	Declan Wright	111	24	32	26	29
10	Daniel Brough	109	25	28	29	27
11	Zane Stephens (W)	107	27	25	27	28
12	Louis Perrin-Brown	107	30	30	21	26
13	Ryan Waggott (W)	105	35	–	39	31
14	Jake Davies(w)	103	32	–	34	37
15	Troy Willerton	99	23	31	30	15
16	Fabian Jnr Morrison (w)	97	7	26	32	32
17	Jack Evans(W)	97	22	27	24	24
18	Jorge Parkin	88	17	23	25	23
19	Jack Brearey	75	21	15	18	21
20	Tyler Jones	75	12	24	19	20
21	Harry Shand	71	20	21	11	19
22	Max Ellerker	71	14	20	20	17
23	Marley Alder	68	16	19	17	16
24	Dee Jay Walker	66	18	–	23	25
25	Halim Own	65	13	22	16	14
26	Harry Linton (W)	65	31	34	–	–
27	Ashton Phillips	63	19	–	22	22
28	Joel Kremer	56	11	18	15	12
29	Jamie Prentice	51	8	16	14	13
30	Antonio Souza(w)	46	6	17	12	11
31	Harrison Drewell	41	10	–	13	18
32	George Clarke(w)	29	29	–	–	–
33	Troy Haywood	26	26	–	–	–
34	Yarin Evans	15	15	–	–	–
35	Ryan Christian	9	9	–	–	–

Amateur MX1

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Brad Wheeler	172	43	43	43	43
2	Seth Manners	170	45	35	45	45
3	Josh Greedy	164	39	45	39	41
4	Josh Canton	154	41	41	37	35
5	Ben Knight	150	33	39	41	37
6	Simon Booth	146	37	37	33	39
7	Harrison McCann (w)	138	35	34	35	34
8	Thomas Dodsworth (W)	130	32	33	32	33
9	Liam Crellin	115	23	31	30	31
10	Lewis Huckerby	115	29	27	31	28
11	Liam Smith	110	26	29	26	29
12	Ross Millard	109	34	14	29	32
13	Bradley Flagg	107	28	28	21	30
14	Billy Collins	103	27	25	28	23
15	James Thompson	99	21	24	27	27
16	John Joe Wright	97	31	32	34	–
17	Josh Scott	93	24	21	22	26
18	Tom Moore(w)	88	22	18	23	25
19	Lewis Taylor	86	19	20	25	22
20	Daniel Maule	80	30	26	24	–
21	Phil Mercer (w)	79	25	30	–	24
22	Fraser Gardiner	78	18	19	20	21
23	David Curtis	55	–	16	19	20
24	Ethan Blackley	55	16	22	17	–
25	Adam Paxton	50	15	17	18	–
26	Ben Butler	43	20	23	–	–
27	Kullen Evans	32	17	15	–	–

Amateur MX2

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Rory Jones (w)	176	43	45	43	45
2	Bayliss Utting (w)	176	45	43	45	43
3	Raife Broadley	164	41	41	41	41
4	Aaron Ongley(w)	154	39	37	39	39
5	Jonathan Rodenick-Evans	147	37	39	37	34
6	Kayde Rayns	139	33	34	35	37
7	Mitch Armour	132	35	31	33	33
8	David Plank	130	32	33	34	31
9	Leon Ongley	126	27	35	32	32
10	Jesse Wren	116	29	30	29	28
11	Josh Bassett	115	28	27	31	29
12	Mitchell Warhurst	108	31	32	19	26
13	Corey Collins	107	26	26	30	25
14	Jamie Watson	106	17	28	26	35
15	Sam Menzies	104	25	25	27	27
16	Syd Putnam	103	30	29	23	21
17	Samuel Bishop	95	24	19	22	30
18	Cody Spacagna	89	22	23	24	20
19	Jasper Gibson(w)	85	20	20	21	24
20	Ezra Blackwell (w)	84	16	24	25	19
21	Bailey Betsworth	79	19	18	20	22
22	Lewis Bethell	77	15	22	17	23
23	Jamie Clarke (w)	72	23	21	28	–
24	Dylan Harrison (w)	61	13	14	16	18
25	Joe Grace	59	11	16	15	17
26	Owen Wildish-Conway	49	14	17	18	–
27	Tye Jones	34	34	–	–	–
28	Joe Smith	29	–	15	14	–
29	Aaron Framingham (w)	21	21	–	–	–
30	Logan Powell	18	18	–	–	–
31	Alex Fountain (w)	12	12	–	–	–

Clubman

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Scott Bates	172	45	41	45	41
2	Lee Clarkson	168	43	39	43	43
3	Elliott Pugh	160	37	45	33	45
4	Adam Hardy (w)	156	41	43	35	37
5	Dan Chapman	144	27	37	41	39
6	Kane Fisher	138	32	35	39	32
7	Joshua lee Young	135	39	25	37	34
8	Jamie Collins	133	34	34	32	33
9	Matt Jones	130	35	26	34	35
10	Bradley Johnstone	119	33	33	30	23
11	Hayden Stevens (W)	113	28	29	25	31
12	Luke Richardson(W)	112	31	32	31	18
13	Jack Loveridge	110	26	31	26	27
14	Jacob Bell	105	29	19	29	28
15	Liam Deegan	103	25	28	21	29
16	Kevin McBride	95	24	22	23	26
17	Liam Ware	95	16	27	28	24
18	Connor Maltby (W)	91	21	23	22	25
19	Colin McLuckie	84	19	8	27	30
20	Jordon Andrews (w)	82	18	24	20	20
21	Aidan Carney	79	22	18	17	22
22	Callum Radford	76	23	13	24	16
23	Ben Hughes	75	17	21	18	19
24	Lewis Wigger (w)	62	15	14	19	14
25	Roger Frean	60	14	17	14	15
26	Joe Sargent	60	30	30	–	–
27	Thomas Sorrell(w)	57	20	–	16	21
28	Sam Cornwell (w)	52	13	11	11	17
29	Stuart Perry(W)	49	10	16	13	10
30	James Hargreaves	44	9	10	12	13
31	Kurt Richardson	44	12	12	9	11
32	Jake Evans	42	7	20	15	–
33	Robert Williams	37	8	9	8	12
34	Jason Hibberd (w)	33	11	15	7	–
35	Ryan Davies	32	6	7	10	9
36	Gary Cheshire (w)	25	5	6	6	8
37	Liam Ryland-Pye (w)	21	4	5	5	7

MXY2

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Reece Jones (w)	180	45	45	45	45
2	Harrison Greenough	168	43	41	43	41
3	Ollie Bubb (w)	166	39	43	41	43
4	Shane Jones	156	41	39	39	37
5	Beau Brown	148	35	37	37	39
6	Kyron Carron	138	37	31	35	35
7	Levi Saunders	134	33	35	32	34
8	Austin Beasty	130	32	32	34	32
9	Layton Sulley	127	30	33	31	33
10	Jack Wilson	117	31	27	29	30
11	Reegan Rogers (w)	113	29	26	33	25
12	Harley Maskill	110	27	25	30	28
13	Finlay Boxall	110	28	30	28	24
14	Braedon Mc Ginn	108	26	28	25	29
15	Fenton Rayns	103	25	24	27	27
16	Lewis Proud (W)	99	34	34	–	31
17	Mitchell Conway	99	24	23	26	26
18	Bobby Watson	87	22	19	23	23
19	Ricky Barstow	87	21	22	24	20
20	Freddie Saunders	83	20	20	21	22
21	Ronny Robb	74	18	18	19	19
22	Josh Blackley	67	17	15	18	17
23	Ashden Walsh	66	14	16	20	16
24	Enzo Mussell	64	–	21	22	21
25	Ollie Davies (w)	62	16	14	17	15
26	Tommy Gibbard	56	13	13	16	14
27	Lottie Taylor (w)	55	15	12	15	13
28	Joseph Horn	54	19	17	–	18
29	Zac Newlands	52	23	29	–	–

Big Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Joel Winstanley Dawson	174	45	45	39	45
2	Archie Stapley	166	41	41	41	43
3	Olly Waters	163	43	43	43	34
4	Jack Leese	149	37	34	37	41
5	Maison Jones	148	35	37	45	31
6	Andrew Piggford	140	34	35	34	37
7	Harley O’Callaghan	138	39	29	35	35
8	Kameron Greenhalgh	133	31	32	31	39
9	Jenson Severn (w)	130	33	33	32	32
10	Alfie Herron	121	32	39	29	21
11	Archie Congdon	117	29	31	24	33
12	Leo Self	116	27	27	33	29
13	Ryan Jackson(w)	114	28	28	30	28
14	Jaxon Haswell (w)	109	26	30	26	27
15	Bobby Farmer	100	25	25	28	22
16	Max Williams	99	22	26	25	26
17	Harry Beattie	90	23	21	21	25
18	Charlie Hobden	90	19	24	23	24
19	William Evans	87	30	–	27	30
20	Sam Verbeeten	86	18	23	22	23
21	Jack Bullock (w)	76	21	15	20	20
22	Ryan Prentice	75	20	22	18	15
23	Hayden Clarke (w)	65	14	18	16	17
24	Liam Heptinstall	64	15	14	17	18
25	Oscar Gilham	62	24	19	19	–
26	Oliver Williams(w)	61	13	16	13	19
27	Lucas Todd	59	12	17	14	16
28	Ricco Hardy	58	16	13	15	14
29	Olly Mc Clurg	37	17	20	–	–
30	Jenson Cole	11	11	–	–	–

Small Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Nixon Coppins	180	45	45	45	45
2	Arthur Moore	168	43	39	43	43
3	Harley Marczak	158	39	43	41	35
4	Harry Hall	152	33	41	39	39
5	Archie Butterfield	149	37	37	34	41
6	Leo Wilson	147	41	34	35	37
7	Arthur King	140	34	35	37	34
8	Ethan Gawley	123	32	29	30	32
9	Keedan Williamson	123	31	30	33	29
10	Jamie Thorpe	122	28	33	28	33
11	Daniel Devine	121	35	25	31	30
12	Henry Lewis	119	30	32	26	31
13	Ryan Taylor	113	29	31	29	24
14	Jakson Ross	107	26	28	25	28
15	Dylan Standing	101	21	27	27	26
16	Harry Cuddy	98	15	26	32	25
17	Harley Ince (w)	95	27	22	23	23
18	Remi Wigglesworth (w)	89	25	23	21	20
19	Jake Dixon	87	24	20	22	21
20	George Dryden	81	11	24	24	22
21	Caleb Shearer	73	20	19	19	15
22	Baili Black	71	23	21	–	27
23	Charlie Dalgleish	70	17	18	18	17
24	Woody Hill	69	19	16	15	19
25	Ben Alexander	64	16	15	17	16
26	Oliver Bardoe	58	12	17	11	18
27	Harris Curran (W)	53	13	12	14	14
28	Sebastian Todd	52	14	14	12	12
29	Hadyn Escott (w)	48	9	13	13	13
30	Ricky Barrick (w)	42	22	–	20	–
31	Alfie Brough	42	10	11	10	11
32	Jack Masters	34	18	–	16	–

Junior 65cc

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Ronan Watson	176	43	45	43	45
2	Elliott Shawyer	168	45	41	45	37
3	Tommy Wood (w)	157	30	43	41	43
4	Charley Wilcock	154	37	39	37	41
5	Sydney Williams	145	41	34	39	31
6	Blake Marks Bracey	127	33	27	32	35
7	Bradley Thompson	125	34	37	26	28
8	Tyler Peaty	123	32	33	29	29
9	Alfie Cotter	122	35	31	30	26
10	Frankie Noll	120	29	28	31	32
11	Tommy Gaddes	117	27	35	25	30
12	Freddy Graham	114	18	29	33	34
13	Forrest Roberts	113	39	–	35	39
14	Preston Chorley	113	28	32	28	25
15	Will kremer	109	31	21	24	33
16	Mason Staddon	109	25	30	27	27
17	Sonny Saunders	89	22	20	23	24
18	Max Jones	89	21	23	22	23
19	Harrison Chiddey	76	19	17	19	21
20	Harrison Ashwood (W)	75	17	24	34	–
21	Ava Peedle (w)	70	15	16	17	22
22	Charlie Farmer	67	23	25	–	19
23	Liam Hannah	65	14	15	16	20
24	Austin Edwards (W)	64	24	22	18	–
25	Zach Baines (w)	60	13	14	15	18
26	Caleb Duffy (W)	59	20	18	21	–
27	Isaac Arnold	55	16	19	20	–
28	Jack Waters	52	26	26	–	–
29	Lincoln Morgan (w)	44	–	13	14	17