Kensworth SMXC retain the Compass Cup Trophy after a stunning weekend at Mildenhall!

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The 4th running of the Compass Cup ACU Team Event took place at the spectacular Mildenhall circuit at the weekend, and defending Champions Kensworth Schoolboy MXC dressed in black suit lookalike kit to show that they meant business in 2023! And the Men In Black defended the Compass Cup from the worse that their competition could throw at them!

Words: Ben Rumbold. Images: Anthony Hylton Photography

The racing was held over two days, with two blocks each on both Saturday and Sunday. No adult MX1 or MX2 British Championship riders were permitted for any of the teams in the over-35 Vet class or Adult Open, although several top class Youth racers lined up in the Youth Open, Youth 125, Big-Wheel 85, Small-Wheel 85, Junior 65 and Auto classes.

The Small Wheel 85s blast through Mildenhall’s first corner!

The seven teams competing were Kensworth SMXC, Mid-Sussex MXC, Norfolk & Suffolk JMCC, Cheshire North West SSC, East Kent SSC, Peterborough JMC, and GEST Hastings MCC. All of the riders and teams made incredible efforts with matching outfits throughout, and even changing their regular numbers to match those run by the teams in all classes. It was a feast of colour and pageantry and a brilliant, while still competitive, atmosphere was the end result.

The Vet class opened Kensworth’s account strongly all weekend, only briefly challenged by the fast-starting Craig Heslop from Peterborough, who took the Mad 4 Motocross Holeshot Award, given out in race two, but was soon overhauled by the black-suited triumvirate of Steve Bixby, Matthew White, and Stevie Worts. The three Kensworth teamsters were evenly matched all weekend, but after Worts took race one and Bixby race two, with White 3rd behind them both in both of Saturday’s races, White turned the tables with two race wins on Sunday to put himself bang into contention for the overall! The final race saw a cracking race between the three, with a last-ditch effort from Worts to pass Bixby for 2nd, which would have clinched the overall on the penultimate corner! Bixby just survived the attack, however, and it was White who took the overall win by a point from Bixby, who won the tiebreak with Worts for 2nd overall!

Ben Lambert-Williams was consistent for East Kent in 4th overall, with Heslop securing 5th.

Joey Leeks flies past the cafe on his way to the Adult Open overall.

The Adult Open class saw Peterborough JMC turn the tables with their blue crew hitting a cracking 1-2 in moto one as Joey Leeks and Bradley Skinner finished ahead of Dan Parry for Cheshire North West SSC, although they were all left behind by East Kent’s Lenny Ashley, who suffered a strange bike problem whilst leading on the last lap and dropped to 19th! It was the closest the club would get to a moto win, and Lenny sadly crashed out of the meeting on Sunday morning with a big get-off over one of the middle tabletops. He walked away groggily but was done for the day.

Parry hit back in moto two with a stunning win over Leeks, while holeshot man Matt Wood held on for Kensworth with a fighting 3rd after their leading rider Max Smith had hit the ground hard in turn one. Leeks withstood the pressure from Parry throughout both races on Sunday to bring home the overall win ahead of Parry and Skinner, whilst Wayne Goodlad made it three Peterborough men in the top four, and Leon Ongley brought his Fantic home for GEST Hastings MCC in 5th.

The Youth Open class was dominated by the Cheshire North West pairing of Mackenzie Marshall and Joel Fisher, who took 1st & 2nd in all four motos, all the time with Jake Brown 3rd for Norfolk & Suffolk. His teammate Cullen Hawkins was battling with Jake Cappa from East Kent for 4th until he suffered a heavy crash at the very end of race three. There was an extended delay while he was treated and eventually taken to hospital. The word from his social media is that he had bruised lungs and spinal fractures but is on the road to recovery. We certainly wish him all the best. Cappa just held off a charging Dayton Thompson from the Peterborough Club for 4th overall, by a single point!

The Youth 125 class saw another maximum, this time from Kensworth rider Ben Casey, riding with the red tinsel of the club flying from the back of his crash helmet, but this one was not without its drama! East Kent rider Levi Saunders put everything into chasing Ben down, and passed the #1 machine on the second lap of race two. It looked like it might all be over, but from nowhere Ben lunged back inside Levi with a stunning move that really made it his own again.

Ben Casey throws it sideways to celebrate yet another win.

George Corke, riding for GEST Hastings alongside his twin brother Max, got a cracking start to race three and held the lead for the first two laps, as behind him Casey clashed with Saunders again, this time making contact which left Levi on the floor! He got back to 4th in that moto and had to settle for 2nd overall to Casey, with Mid-Sussex rider Travis Laughton a solid 3rd overall ahead of Max Corke and Kensworth’s Toby Buchan. Cody Spacagna and Mikey Ward made it 4 Kensworth riders in the top 7 which really helped their cause.

The BW85 class saw a maximum for Alfie Geddes-Green, who was having one of those weekends where he can be completely untouchable, really helping the cause for Norfolk & Suffolk JMCC. Behind him, a week after going 2nd & 3rd in the Weston Beach Race for Dirt Store KTM, Harry Lee battled with Blake Ward-Clarke, but for different club teams! After an early first moto crash made him fight through for 4th, Kensworth teamster Ward-Clarke took three 2nd places to just pip GEST Hastings man Lee for 2nd overall. Kensworth had three more in the top 7 with Jack Leese and Travis Bixby 4th & 5th, then Grantas Lengvinas in 7th behind Peterborough’s Zane Sibley-Deakin.

The Small-Wheel 85s looked to be sewn up on Saturday night as Peterborough rider Olivia Reynolds was clearly the fastest with two race wins, but a 2nd-lap spill behind holeshot artist Finley Cookson dropped her down the order. She battled with her teammate Alfie Malins and Mid-Sussex rider Henry Lewis, but crashed on landing from a big tabletop and would take no further part in the day!

That third race was won by Kensworth’s Riley-Ray Barrow, who had suffered wretched 6-14 results on Saturday. He also won race four but couldn’t catch his consistent teammate Franky Donoghue, who took a fine overall win with 3-3-4-2 finishes! Malins took 3rd overall ahead of East Kent pairing Jamie Thorpe and Tyler Rogers.

John Slade (#4) & Teddy Merriman (#61) were at each other’s throats all weekend.

The Junior 65cc class saw a battle in every moto between Kensworth’s John Slade and East Kent’s Teddy Merriman, light years ahead of the rest of the pack. They passed each other in every race but somehow Slade came out on top every time, Merriman having to settle with four 2nd places for the #2 trophy overall. Alfie Burkhill took a good 3rd overall for Norfolk & Suffolk, with Frankie Noll 4th for Peterborough and Tyler Brockhouse 5th for East Kent. Harley-James Barrow took 3rd for Kensworth in race one but his starts deserted him after that.

The Auto class brought proceedings to a close in each block and for most of the weekend it was Norfolk & Suffolk’s Max Miller who dominated from Kensworth pairing Austin Edwards and Cohen Llewellyn, although Cohen was the man off the start-line with most of the holeshots going his way! Max had a small crash on the final lap of the entire weekend to lose the final moto to Austin, but it wasn’t enough to deny him the overall win. So it finished Miller from Edwards from Llewellyn, with East Kent’s Stanley Peay a solid 4th in every moto for that spot overall, and Harrison Giles took 5th for Peterborough.

Atmosphere between the teams was brilliant, as Cohen Llewellyn and his buddies demonstrate!

Overall, it was a 3rd Compass Cup Trophy win for Kensworth, 713 points clear of East Kent in 2nd and Peterborough JMC in 3rd. Speaking from a commentator’s point of view it was an awesome and hectic weekend with a great atmosphere, and if these team managers get in touch before next year’s race, seriously consider getting involved because it is a truly awesome event. Massive thanks to the club for getting me onboard and I really hope I can be with you again in 2024. See you there!

The Kensworth SMXC celebrate their win on the magnificent Compass Cup Podium.

Overall Team Results

Individual Results

Vets

Pos	Competitor	Team	Total Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	MATTHEW WHITE	Kensworth	170	40	40	45	45
2	STEVE BIXBY	Kensworth	169	42	45	40	42
3	STEVIE WORTS	Kensworth	169	45	42	42	40
4	BEN LAMBERT-WILLIAMS	East Kent	154	38	39	38	39
5	CRAIG HESLOP	Peterborough	149	39	36	39	35
6	CRAIG DOWN	GEST Hastings	146	35	38	37	36
7	PAUL EDGE	Kensworth	142	34	35	36	37
8	JAMES JACKMAN	Mid-Sussex	141	36	34	33	38
9	JASON BUFFERY	GEST Hastings	134	33	33	34	34
10	LOUIS WAUGH	East Kent	126	37	37	35	17

Adult Open

Pos	Competitor	Team	Total Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	JOSEPH LEEKS	Peterborough	177	45	42	45	45
2	DAN PARRY	Cheshire NW	169	40	45	42	42
3	BRAD SKINNER	Peterborough	149	42	33	39	35
4	WAYNE GOODLAD	Peterborough	146	31	37	38	40
5	LEON ONGLEY	GEST Hastings	141	32	36	36	37
6	ROWAN HILL	East Kent	136	35	32	35	34
7	JACOB RUSSELL	Kensworth	135	29	34	34	38
8	HARVEY POMPHRETT	Mid-Sussex	132	38	29	33	32
9	RYDEN DENNIS	Kensworth	132	34	31	37	30
10	MATT WOOD	Kensworth	130	33	35	40	22

Youth Open

Pos	Competitor	Team	Total Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	MACKENZIE MARSHALL	Cheshire NW	180	45	45	45	45
2	JOEL FISHER	Cheshire NW	168	42	42	42	42
3	JAKE BROWN	Norfolk & Suffolk	160	40	40	40	40
4	JAKE CAPPA	East Kent	146	39	38	32	37
5	DAYTON THOMPSON	Peterborough	145	31	37	39	38
6	CHARLIE NUDDS	Norfolk & Suffolk	137	30	34	38	35
7	SAM BEEBE	Peterborough	135	28	33	35	39
8	JON WAGHORN	Mid-Sussex	135	37	27	37	34
9	MALACHI STRATTON	Kensworth	135	34	35	33	33
10	LEO AKERS	East Kent	130	35	32	31	32

Youth 125

Pos	Competitor	Class	Total Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	BEN CASEY	Kensworth	180	45	45	45	45
2	LEVI SAUNDERS	East Kent	165	42	42	39	42
3	TRAVIS LAUGHTON	Mid-Sussex	153	37	38	40	38
4	MAX CORKE	GEST Hastings	151	40	36	35	40
5	TOBY BUCHAN	Kensworth	150	39	37	37	37
6	CODY SPACAGNA	Kensworth	147	36	40	38	33
7	MIKEY WARD	Kensworth	144	38	39	28	39
8	GEORGE CORKE	GEST Hastings	144	35	31	42	36
9	JOE GRAINGER	East Kent	138	34	34	36	34
10	CALLUM FEELY	Peterborough	135	33	33	34	35

BW85cc

Pos	Competitor	Class	Total Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	ALFIE GEDDES-GREEN	Norfolk & Suffolk	180	45	45	45	45
2	BLAKE WARD-CLARKE	Kensworth	165	39	42	42	42
3	HARRY LEE	GEST Hastings	162	42	40	40	40
4	JACK LEESE	Kensworth	155	40	39	37	39
5	TRAVIS BIXBY	Kensworth	151	36	38	39	38
6	ZANE SIBLEY-DEAKIN	Peterborough	143	38	37	35	33
7	GRANTAS LENGVINAS	Kensworth	135	27	35	36	37
8	REGGIE GOMM	Peterborough	130	33	32	30	35
9	ARCHIE EDWARDS	East Kent	124	32	33	31	28
10	BENJAMIN ARTHURTON	Norfolk & Suffolk	123	37	36	38	12

SW85cc

Pos	Competitor	Class	Total Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	FRANKY DONOGHUE	Kensworth	161	40	40	39	42
2	RILEY-RAY BARROW	Kensworth	156	37	29	45	45
3	ALFIE MALINS	Peterborough	154	39	36	42	37
4	JAMIE THORPE	East Kent	148	36	37	37	38
5	TYLER ROGERS	East Kent	146	29	42	35	40
6	FINLEY COOKSON	Cheshire NW	146	38	39	38	31
7	AIDEN BURKE	Peterborough	139	26	38	36	39
8	JOSH WYER	Norfolk & Suffolk	135	35	32	34	34
9	HENRY LEWIS	Mid-Sussex	134	25	33	40	36
10	DANNY JEMAL	Peterborough	132	32	34	33	33

Junior 65cc

Pos	Competitor	Class	Total Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	JOHN SLADE	Kensworth	180	45	45	45	45
2	TEDDY MERRIMAN	East Kent	168	42	42	42	42
3	ALFIE BURKHILL	Norfolk & Suffolk	158	38	40	40	40
4	FRANKIE NOLL	Peterborough	148	37	37	38	36
5	TYLER BROCKHOUSE	East Kent	143	29	39	37	38
6	FINLEE POPE	Peterborough	140	39	38	39	24
7	DYLAN STANDING	East Kent	139	34	35	36	34
8	TALEN HODGSON	Peterborough	136	35	33	35	33
9	CHARLIE GERRARD	Kensworth	129	31	30	33	35
10	FREDDIE GURNEY	Kensworth	128	26	36	27	39

Auto

Pos	Competitor	Class	Total Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	MAX MILLER	Norfolk & Suffolk	177	45	45	45	42
2	AUSTIN EDWARDS	Kensworth	171	42	42	42	45
3	COHEN LLEWELLYN	Kensworth	160	40	40	40	40
4	STANLEY PEAY	East Kent	156	39	39	39	39
5	HARRISON GILES	Peterborough	148	37	36	37	38
6	GEORGE BARCHAM	East Kent	147	38	38	38	33
7	TATE WILLIAMS	Kensworth	140	36	33	36	35
8	ALBIE WOOD	East Kent	137	33	35	33	36
9	FLETCHER WRIGHT	Cheshire NW	132	35	32	31	34
10	JACK HOWELL	Norfolk & Suffolk	128	34	34	28	32