James in the Fast Lane! AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 3 – Race Report and Results

Following a hot, round three held at Warmingham Lane, Cheshire on Sunday, there’s no change at the top of the standings in the 2020 AMCA British Motocross Championship powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop. Luke Burton (Geartec Honda), Jamie Wainwright (Wainwright Plant and Haulage KTM), Shane Carless (FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna), James Lane (LRT Midwest Husqvarna) and Yarin Evans (J4M54 Practice/SRH Racing KTM) lead the way   as the condensed season reaches its business end with just two events remaining.

Report and Images by Mike Wood

Going into round three, just 6 points separated the MX1 top three of Luke Burton, Josh Waterman and Neville Bradshaw. Whilst Burton and Waterman bagged another podium place at Warmingham, the unlucky Bradshaw endured a nightmare picking up just 44 points and 27^th overall on the day. In moto one, James Dodd, Ashley Greedy and finally Waterman led the contest. Series leader Burton had gated 7^th before moving up into 2^nd and challenge for top slot only to slip back to 5^th. On the final lap, Luke repassed Tommy Alba to earn 4^th at the flag behind Waterman, Dodd and Greedy with Adam Chatfield, debutant Jayden Ashwell and Corie Southwood next up. For Bradshaw this moto was a disaster, suffering from a seized back brake after he had overfilled the brake reservoir!

MX1 moto two was to then produce a classic as five riders disputed the leadership for just about the entire duration. Showing fantastic composure after grabbing the holeshot, Southwood held on to earn his maiden AMCA MX1 win despite intense and constant pressure from Burton, Greedy, Waterman and Chatfield, what a race! Taking a rather lonely 6^th was Dodd ahead of Bradshaw and another debutant Josh Taylor.

Then showing though just how quickly fortunes in motocross can quickly change, Southwood after that moto glory was to endure a final race nightmare. Losing the use of his back brake after damaging it in a deep rut, he then crashed heavily leaving him down in 17^th place. In this one, Bradshaw had made a glorious holeshot and led the first three laps before being forced out with a puncture on the ‘Big Red CR500’, compounding what was a miserable day for the popular 2T ace. So moving to the front in this one to earn the win was Adam Chatfield, seeing off late, heavy pressure from Dodd as Burton got home 3^rd from Greedy and Waterman who passed Taylor on the final lap following a tough race long battle. Having his best ride of the campaign so far, Bradley Tranter took a great 7^th in this one. In the title race, it’s Burton leading the way just 6 points clear of Waterman with Greedy now 3^rd and a further 23 points in arrears.

Just what can you say about the brilliant Jamie Wainwright as he further increased his lead in the MX2 title race. At Warmingham, Jamie reeled off another three big moto wins with the equally talented Ryan Crowder being the only rider to head Wainwright during the day. In moto one as Wainwright controlled all the way from gate to flag with Luke Dean in 2^nd, this was all about a brilliant five rider tussle for 3^rd. Eventually Henry Williams won that one despite the very best efforts of Crowder, Lewis Dowdeswell, Josh Coleman and Mark Young. Also enjoying a right old scrap were Jansen Day and Cory McShane for the right to finish 8^th.

MX2 moto two and Crowder blasted his KTM to the front leading the way for a couple of laps before Wainwright came through for another win. Next in the finishing order was Day after working hard to see off Young and Williams whilst Jake Preston on the 2T KTM produced his best ride of the series to get home in a great 6^th. Starting down in 16^th, Jordan Eccles came through strongly to earn 8^th, closing rapidly on Coleman.

In the final MX2 clash it was the Wainwright show as he stormed to another gate to flag win with the gallant Crowder again taking a fine 2^nd. Williams who has been right in the mix in all three rounds so far got home in 3^rd spot in this one, enough to earn a richly deserved podium. Having his best ride of the day, Eccles moved from 19^th up to a superb 4^th with Preston impressing again in 5^th. Starting the day with a very strong 2^nd, Dean then tasted the Warmingham dirt in the remaining clashes going 14/8. In the Championship standings as Wainwright gallops off into the sunset, Crowder holds 2^nd with just 10 points then separating the next three riders, Coleman, Willams and Dean.

The fast starting Nathan Bache led the opening 125cc contest for five laps until series leader Shane Carless came through for the win. Taking 2^nd was Jack Timms making his debut both for the FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna team and in the AMCA 125cc series. Carrying his fine form from the previous week’s round at Long Lane, Matt Ridgway took 3^rd in this one with a storming ride after initially gating in 17^th. Also starting strongly were Jimmy Margetson, Clinton Barrs, Jordan Wright, Jonathan Roderick-Evans and Travis Steels. Not enjoying the start to his day though was Chris Povey suffering a downhill crash when holding 4^th.

In a rerun 125cc moto two, Povey had led both attempts. But once again a fall halted his progress, tumbling in a deeply rutted corner then being hit by the following Travis Steels. With the unlucky Povey picking himself up,  Roderick-Evans controlled before a determined Timms glided through for the win leading home his FUS teammate Carless, Damon Strydom and Wright. Once again, Ridgway, Barrs, Bache and Margetson were in the mix.

Bache was quickest away in the final 125cc moto leading for five laps before being passed by Carless and then being overhauled by Timms and Margetson. Having his most profitable ride of the day, Povey took 5^th as Ridgway confirmed a deserved podium place by finishing 6^th. On that podium, FUS riders Carless and Timms filled the top two places with Carless also increasing his series lead to now be 48 points clear of Margetson, Strydom and Bache.

In the AMCA Vets title chase, the 2019 Champion Jamie Powell returned to inflict the first defeat of the season on the flying Lane brothers. James Lane though celebrating his 42^nd birthday did still go onto earn the overall win on the day and also maintain his Vets series lead. In all three clashes it was Paul Burn, the holeshot King who led the way before eventually being overhauled. Burn led moto one for six laps as first Simon Lane then James Lane passed him. Therefor Burn had to settle for 3^rd as Powell having his first ride of the season took 4^th with Kevin Rogers, Chris Jones, Andrew Watkins and Anthony Bennett next.

In a super Vets moto two, James Lane just held off Powell to take the win from Burn, Simon Lane and Rogers. Quickly back into the groove and finding his rhythm, Powell then passed Burn to win the final moto. On lap seven, James Lane had held 2^nd before making an uncharacteristic mistake when dropping his LRT Husqvarna in a rutted turn. So, James had to settle for 4^th this time out behind Brother Simon with Rogers, Bennett, Brian Staples and Jones next up. In the title race, James now leads Simon by 12 points with Burn a further 26 points in arrears.

Although Joel Fisher blasted to a scorching maximum points score in the Youth 85cc class, it’s still Yarin Evans leading the title race. Evans is now just 4 points better off than Fisher so it’s going to be a tight, nervous run-in to the final chequered flag of the season! At Warmingham, Fisher was simply brilliant, strolling to victory in moto one as Evans had to work overtime to see off Lewis Roden and Tyler Smith. Next home in this entertaining opening clash were Charlie Hucklebridge, Oliver Rigby, Danny Webster and Solomon Levey.

In moto two, Evans and Smith chased the flying Fisher to the flag as Roden who had started strongly dropped out of contention in the early laps. Oakley Kettle had a great ride in this one to earn 5^th whilst Caleb Greaves, Rylee Francis and Jonas Brown also worked hard to earn top 10 places.

With another gate to flag success, Fisher confirmed his overall victory in style during moto three. The consistent Evans, Roden, Webster, Smith and Kettle were next up so the Warmingham podium was confirmed as Fisher, Evans and Smith filled the available places.

Results   

MX1

Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 14 Luke Burton 135 43 47 45
2 19 Josh Waterman 134 50 43 41
3 3 James Dodd 133 47 39 47
4 33 Ashley Greedy 133 45 45 43
5 407 Adam Chatfield 130 39 41 50
6 681 Tommy Alba 109 41 33 35
7 44 Corie Southwood 109 35 50 24
8 166 Josh Taylor 104 30 35 39
9 100 Bradley Tranter 95 31 27 37
10 171 Zac Stealey 90 29 28 33
11 462 Mark Roberts 90 33 29 28
12 7 Will Hughes 89 28 30 31
13 541 Corey Hockey 80 25 25 30
14 74 Sean Wainwright 79 24 26 29
15 118 Jaydon Murphy 77 27 24 26
16 127 Scooter Webster 74 26 21 27
17 46 Benjamin Knight 68 22 23 23
18 211 Jayden Ashwell 68 37 31 –
19 21 Lewis Hughes 65 18 22 25
20 67 Taylor Vernon 59 20 18 21
21 48 Rhys Walker 58 17 19 22
22 150 Aaron Patstone 57 23 14 20
23 47 Rory Merchant 57 21 17 19
24 219 Benjamin Nicholls 52 19 15 18
25 242 Ben Walker 45 15 13 17
26 101 Tye Barrs 45 13 16 16
27 272 Neville Bradshaw 44 7 37 –
28 149 Jack Griffiths 41 14 12 15
29 32 Matthew Chaplin 35 12 10 13
30 39 Kyle Proctor 34 11 9 14
31 111 Simon Aldridge 27 9 8 10
32 32* Richard Lloyd 27 16 11 –
33 547 Harry Greetham 26 8 7 11
34 371 Lewis Griffiths 22 10 – 12
35 361 Pip Davies 20 – 20 –

MX2

Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 40 James Wainwright 150 50 50 50
2 146 Ryan Crowder 137 43 47 47
3 15 Henry Williams 131 45 41 45
4 661 Josh Coleman 113 39 37 37
5 6 Jansen Day 113 35 45 33
6 957 Jake Preston 109 29 39 41
7 52 Luke Dean 109 47 27 35
8 8 Mark Young 109 37 43 29
9 331 Jordan Eccles 105 27 35 43
10 90 Cory Mcshane 102 33 30 39
11 21 Lewis Dowdeswell 100 41 31 28
12 210 Lee Truman 95 31 33 31
13 231 Rory Jones 89 30 29 30
14 220 Josh Canton 77 24 26 27
15 119 Martin Jones 77 25 28 24
16 910 Harvey Tillotson 73 28 25 20
17 54 James Smith 71 23 23 25
18 46 Adam Hill 63 22 20 21
19 616 Troy Jones 62 18 22 22
20 702 Harrison Mccann 61 21 24 16
21 130 Aaron Collins 59 17 19 23
22 184 Billy Bayliss 54 19 16 19
23 58 Patrick Gilligan 52 26 – 26
24 44 Keelan Southwood 51 16 18 17
25 558 Charlie Cox 41 14 12 15
26 51 Steffan Hooper 41 13 14 14
27 877 Alexander Morris 41 20 21 –
28 510 Mitchell Perry 39 8 13 18
29 27 Macauley Davies 39 10 17 12
30 139 Bobby Palmer 37 9 15 13
31 471 Henry Dunsford 22 11 – 11
32 133 Lee Clarkson 15 15 – –
33 65 Chris Hill 12 12 – –

125’s

Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 68 Shane Carless 147 50 47 50
2 28 Jack Timms 144 47 50 47
3 27 Matt Ridgway 123 45 39 39
4 119 Jimmy Margetson 121 43 33 45
5 68* Nathan Bache 117 39 35 43
6 33 Jordan Wright 117 37 43 37
7 101* Jonathan Roderick-Evans 111 35 41 35
8 55 Damon Strydom 107 31 45 31
9 99 Clinton Barrs 106 41 37 28
10 7 Luke Newman 93 29 31 33
11 117 Jordan Ridgway 87 30 30 27
12 111 Richy Roberts 86 27 29 30
13 90 Callum Baldwin 79 28 22 29
14 10* Lee Sealey 78 24 28 26
15 22 Travis Steels 75 33 20 22
16 186 Olly Hathaway 73 25 25 23
17 546 Max Lewis 69 18 26 25
18 277 Harry Ridgway 67 23 24 20
19 11 Chris Povey 60 19 – 41
20 116 Jake Boote 60 20 21 19
21 4 Matt Tolley 56 21 19 16
22 101 Luke Kennett 51 – 27 24
23 571 Ryan Pottenger 51 22 14 15
24 15 Joshua Fletcher-Williams 46 16 13 17
25 844 Joshua Barnett 44 – 23 21
26 133 Ben James 39 5 16 18
27 814 Jordan Meredith 39 12 17 10
28 581 Lewis Smith 37 14 11 12
29 22* Tom Cumber 36 15 8 13
30 999 Conner Challinor 36 26 10 –
31 64 Luke Howells 32 – 18 14
32 40 Ezra Blackwell 29 17 12 –
33 11* Reece Leverton 28 11 9 8
34 16 Jake O Gorman 25 10 15 –
35 10 Ben Hunter 24 13 – 11
36 122 Morgan Walters 22 7 6 9
37 283 Jack Jordan 20 6 7 7
38 75 Mitchell Hartill 19 8 5 6
39 117* George Goodfellow 9 9 – –

Vets

Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 781 James Lane 143 50 50 43
2 61 Jamie Powell 140 43 47 50
3 73 Simon Lane 137 47 43 47
4 97 Paul Burn 135 45 45 45
5 144 Kevin Rogers 123 41 41 41
6 4* Chris Jones 113 39 39 35
7 4 Anthony Bennett 111 35 37 39
8 22 Brian Staples 105 33 35 37
9 212 Andrew Watkins 103 37 33 33
10 107 John Barnes 91 31 31 29
11 14 Ryan Thomas 90 30 30 30
12 470 Gareth Dunsford 87 29 27 31
13 38 Richard Tudor 85 28 29 28
14 271 John Heath 82 27 28 27
15 711* Guy Langmead 78 26 26 26
16 888 Steve Ferney 69 24 23 22
17 268 Steven Gallagher 68 21 24 23
18 711 Ian Jesson 64 23 17 24
19 167* Matthew Evans 62 25 25 12
20 135 Gary Hurst 61 22 20 19
21 25 John Holmes 58 19 19 20
22 194 Vince Larcombe 53 14 18 21
23 91 Graham Baddiley 47 20 13 14
24 104 Andrew Prosser 44 13 14 17
25 722 Graham Donnelly 44 18 11 15
26 490 Christopher Jukes 42 16 8 18
27 119 Russell Hartill 41 – 16 25
28 64 Darren Compson 39 17 22 –
29 74 John Harper 38 15 12 11
30 357 Gary Wilcox 37 12 15 10
31 531 Russell Hurst 35 10 9 16
32 167 David Bullock 34 11 10 13
33 122 Michael Whalley 21 – 21 –
34 5* Stuart Brown 15 8 7 –
35 579 Mick Duckett 9 9 – –

Youth 85/150

Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 711 Joel Fisher 150 50 50 50
2 2 Yarin Evans 141 47 47 47
3 18 tyler smith 129 43 45 41
4 44 Danny Webster 119 37 39 43
5 69 Lewis Roden 110 45 20 45
6 33 Oakley Kettle 108 28 41 39
7 22* Harley Prickett 103 31 37 35
8 907 Caleb Greaves 101 33 35 33
9 2* Oliver Rigby 97 39 43 15
10 6 Solomon Levey 93 35 27 31
11 129 Rylee Francis 91 29 33 29
12 123 Charlie Hucklebridge 90 41 19 30
13 22 Rheanna Morgan-Rogers 82 25 30 27
14 135 Falon Bailie 80 18 25 37
15 25 Harry Bebb 80 30 22 28
16 295 Jonas Brown 79 22 31 26
17 79 Wyatt McGregor 76 26 28 22
18 52 Cameron Woodburn 74 21 29 24
19 167 Jack Evans 72 24 23 25
20 212 Harry Beach 72 23 26 23
21 16 Cameron Chell 65 20 24 21
22 35 Caiden Bailie 60 19 21 20
23 830 Logan Jay Powell 60 27 14 19
24 121 Alfie Bebb 53 17 18 18
25 50 Amber McGregor 50 16 17 17
26 12 George Bromley 44 12 16 16
27 117* Tremaine Young 42 13 15 14
28 501 troy kennett 36 11 12 13
29 91* Albie Hall 27 14 13 –
30 119 Tom Goodfellow 15 15 – –