Crendon Tru7 Honda’s Conrad Mewse clinched second overall in the British Arenacross finale in Manchester this weekend despite missing the opening round due to injury. Fellow Honda CRF450R rider Dean Wilson made it a clean sweep as the former AMA champion took victory in every round of the series to take the crown. Mewse once again was second British rider on the night at the packed AO Arena.
The event also incorporated the second round of the Arenacross World Tour where six foreign supercross specialists were drafted in, and Mewse was in the mix right from the start.
He put his CRF450R into the lead in the first corner of his opening heat but Wilson was soon on his tail. In one of the most thrilling races of the night, Mewse battled with the USA-based Scotsman and countered every attack for the first seven laps of the nine-lap race. But as the pair raced side-by-side along the whoops, the duo came close to making contact. Mewse lost the advantage as Wilson nipped by to take the win, with international riders Cedric Soubeyras and Joan Cros a distant eight seconds adrift.
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In his second heat riding against a different group of riders, Mewse got bunched up in the first corner and did well to end the first lap in fifth. Trying hard to make up ground and catch the leaders, on the second lap he lost the front end and went down. He picked the bike up and got going again, staging a calculated ride through the pack to take a stunning third place on the very last lap. With the race won by American Michael Hicks from Frenchman Adrien Escoffier, Mewse was best British rider and that saw him transfer directly to the final.
Lining up for the final, he was towards the unfavoured outside of the gate but got a good jump. But he was instantly bunched up by rivals entering the first corner which allowed the fastest men to get away. Mewse, in so much traffic he couldn’t even clear some of the largest jumps in the first lap, rounded the lap in seventh place and once again had to work hard to move up the field on the short track that was very hard to pass on.
The 25-year-old Briton made up two places to bring the Crendon Tru7 Honda home in fifth spot overall. But with three international riders in from of him, that was another second place in the British category to seal runner-up in the series. He took second place at all five of the six rounds he contested.
Mewse said: “It was a good series for me, second in the British championship again but I missed the first round due to injury. I finished the races second more than I would have liked but hopefully I’ll come back next year to win the title.
“I was fifth in the main tonight which is OK as I’m not really a supercross guy but I did my best. I’m happy to make it out in one piece as there’s a long season ahead. I’m in a much better place than where I ended up last season with a cast on my foot. I didn’t want that again. I’m happy to finally get back to riding outdoors which is, of course, my priority. The training is going well and I’m feeling really good.”
Words and Images by Crendon Tru7 Honda
