Magic Mustoe! 2023 AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 1 – Race Report & Results

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The sandy expanses of the Fatcat Motoparc in Yorkshire was the venue for round one of the 2023 AMCA British Motocross Championship on Easter weekend. Held over two day’s, this year’s series is also incorporating the BWMA (British Women’s Motocross Association) and the fast females who were competing in a couple of the same groups as the lads certainly got stuck in, producing determined, high class performances!

Race Report and Images by Mike Wood

The first combined contest was for the Youth 85cc class and with a fantastic 33 riders coming under starters orders, the action was always going to be frantic! In all four encounters the super-fast and very talented Wildcard Josh Vail scorched to massive victories. On three of those occasions, Mason Care got home in 2nd spot but his copybook was spoilt in the third clash of the weekend when finishing in last spot! So, Care had to settle for 6th overall as Oakley Kettle took the runners-up position with Ollie Jewitt in 3rd.

Leah Rees-Evans the BWMA 85CC Girls winner

For the girls, Holly Williams was the highest placed finisher with 13th in moto one as Checoby Rainey took 18th, Leah Rees-Evans 19th and Lillie Eastlake 20th being the next best. In the three remaining clashes, Williams, Rainey and Rees-Evans were consistently the highest female finishers, saving there very best until the last moto of the weekend. In that one, Rainey, Rees-Evans and Williams were superb getting home in a fantastic 8th,9th and 10th respectively with Rees-Evans taking the round one overall in the girls contest just a point clear of Rainey.

Abbie Piggott(264) and Autumn Jenkinson in BWMA Women’s action

The second combined contest which featured the main BWMA series also included the Youth 125cc lads. Taking the win for the boy’s in the opener was Wyatt McGregor from Jack Evans, Ben McConville, Will Turner and Phillip Tchorek. In the BWMA class, last year’s Elite Ladies runner-up Rheanna Morgan Rogers was the first female home in a great 14th with Marni Saunders 15th, Amber McGregor 16th, Caitlin Newman 17th and Grace Bates18th. After starting with a DNF, Apex GasGas rider Shane Jones was certainly the star of this joint boys v girls class from here onwards, winning all three remaining moto’s but that was only enough for an eventual 5th overall. Taking the podium spots were Wyatt McGregor, Jack Evans and Will Turner, all 2022 85cc class riders. For the BWMA, Morgan-Rogers was again top finisher with a super 13th in moto two before it all went wrong for the KTM rider! Crashing out when inside the top 15 in the third clash, the event was over for Rheanna. So, from here onwards it was the combination of Lauren May Collingwood, Saunders, Newman, Bates and co who continued to take the fight to the boy’s and it was Saunders on the Kawasaki machine who was to claim the BWMA overall in round one.

125cc winner Damon Strydom leading the opening race on day two

Taking the overall win in the ultra-competitive 125cc contest was new FUS Marsh Geartec Husqvarna pilot Damon Strydom. Despite having not felt 100% fit due to a bout of flu, Damon was right on it, winning the opening three clashes but boy was he made to work hard for success! Along with the afore mentioned Cox, wildcard Jimmy Margetson, fast, hard-charging CPMX KTM pilot Harry Linton, Luke Dean, Chris Povey, Luke Newman was always in the sharp end of the action and gunning for glory with the leadership of the moto’s changing on more than one occasion, what great entertainment! Typical of the action, in the final moto of the 125cc weekend, Dean and Strydom both took turns to control proceedings before both Margetson and Linton came through and inflict super Strydom’s first defeat.

After taking five years out from racing, former double AMCA 125cc champion Jack Cox was back and what a performance he was to produce. On the pace and even leading 125cc moto’s, Jack went 4/4/3 before a broken rear shock in the last clash when holding 3rd ruined his scorecard. Unfortunately, there was also some bad news from this class as the experienced Phil Mercer crashed early in moto one suffering serious injuries and a trip to hospital, get well soon Phil!

Tommy Alba(681) and Corey Hockey(54) in MX2 action

Having scored back to back AMCA MX2 titles, defending Champion Shane Carless is looking for a hat-trick in 2023 but at Fatcat, feeling a little under the weather, the Welshman had to settle for 4th behind winner Ben Mustoe, Rory Jones and Howard Wainwright. In truth though, the supremely talented ASA United GasGas wildcard rider Mustoe was on another planet, quickly checking out and firing to very big wins in all four moto’s. Along with Carless there was plenty of capable challengers to young Mustoe’s dominance including Tommy Alba, Rory Jones, Corey Hockey, Howard Wainwright, Jake Preston, Lee Truman and McKenzie Marshall.

Suffering a mixed bag of fortunes, 15-year-old Marshall always looked right on the pace but heavy crashes in moto’s two and four stopped his progress. For Alba the issue was mechanical gremlins and he was even forced to borrow his LRT Yamaha teammate Liam Gale’s spare bike in moto three only for the spark plug to break-up resulting in a DNF! Despite that DNF and other issues, Tommy still went 2/3/2 in the remaining clashes for 6th overall. So, of those challengers it was Jones who proved to be the most consistent going 6/4/3/4, enough to earn him a richly deserved 2nd overall with Wainwright coming back from a moto three fall and bag enough points for the final podium spot.

The story of the Open class as eventual winner James Dodd holds a slender lead over runner-up Henry Williams

In the new Open class contest, James Dodd and Henry Williams dominated all four clashes in the process producing a thrilling and very entertaining quartet of battles in which the two very fast, riders were almost never more than 10 yards apart! With Dodd on a 450F and Williams 350F the FUS v Apex contest raged all weekend. Williams took moto one before Doddy cleverly bagged the remaining victories, simply superb! In the race to finish 3rd overall, Will Hughes, Adam Wells, Luke Meredith and Mark Roberts were also right on it. Eventually it was Hughes getting that final podium place.

Two new names on the AMCA Vets Championship scene, Adam Wilkinson and Simon Bonser were to be the prominent performers at Fatcat. Riding a 125cc GasGas, Wilkinson, a regular visitor to the Yorkshire venue certainly showed that he knows the fast route through the sand, producing a stunning performance by winning all four moto’s. His victory in the first race of the weekend was arguably his best, coming from last to take the honours with Bonser in 2nd, Matt Ryder making a welcome return to the Championship in 3rd and the always consistent Lane brothers, Simon and James next up. On his way to maximum points, Wilkinson had to also pass fast starting Bonser in all three remaining clashes, what a performance from the little 2T pilot! So on the podium it was Wilkinson from Bonser with Simon Lane in 3rd as former AMCA Champion Ryder just missed out but still bagged a strong 4th.

Marni Saunders the BWMA Women’s winner at Fatcat

Completing the Fatcat action, on Sunday only there was a couple of moto’s for Unlimited Junior riders. In these two outings, young Daiyaan Manuel totally dominated and scorched away to a brace of comfortable victories. In this one Grant Reed took 2nd with Paige Felipes 3rd. The 2023 Championship now goes South to Brookthorpe in Gloucestershire on the weekend of April 29th/30th.

Results

Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	James Dodd	197	47	50	50	50
2	Henry Williams	191	50	47	47	47
3	Will Hughes	176	45	45	45	41
4	Adam Wells	168	41	43	41	43
5	Luke Meredith	161	43	30	43	45
6	Mark Roberts	148	35	35	39	39
7	Ray Rowson	142	37	39	35	31
8	Sean Wainwright	138	31	33	37	37
9	michael parsons	138	33	37	33	35
10	Luke Bull	120	30	26	31	33
11	Conor Ellingworth	120	29	31	30	30
12	Aaron Collins	114	28	29	28	29
13	Daniel Edgar	111	27	27	29	28
14	Richard Cannings	80	39	41	–	–
15	Kian Bown	77	25	25	27	–
16	Ben Walker	54	26	28	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Ben Mustoe	200	50	50	50	50
2	Rory Jones	170	39	43	45	43
3	Howard Wainwright	168	45	47	31	45
4	Shane Carless	158	37	37	43	41
5	Corey Hockey	158	43	35	41	39
6	Tommy Alba	139	47	45	–	47
7	Jake Preston	139	31	41	39	28
8	McKenzie Marshall	134	41	13	47	33
9	Lee Truman	127	33	33	24	37
10	Alfie Calvert	121	27	30	35	29
11	Jordan Wright	119	25	27	37	30
12	Logan Wilcox	119	28	31	33	27
13	Cuan Conway	111	30	23	27	31
14	Liam Gale	104	13	28	28	35
15	Dale Weir	102	20	26	30	26
16	Mark Young	102	26	24	29	23
17	Rhys Walker	93	22	22	25	24
18	Cory Mcshane	90	23	21	21	25
19	Mitchell Perry	76	21	15	23	17
20	Ben Margetson	75	24	25	26	–
21	Troy Jones	74	19	16	20	19
22	Jordan Meredith	72	17	18	17	20
23	Jack Griffiths	68	16	17	19	16
24	Neville Bradshaw	68	29	39	–	–
25	Oliver Davis	65	15	14	18	18
26	Rory Merchant	64	–	20	22	22
27	Zac Stealey	64	35	29	–	–
28	Joshua Fletcher-Williams	54	14	19	–	21
29	Ben White	18	18	–	–	–

125

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Damon Strydom	195	50	50	50	45
2	Jimmy Margetson	187	47	47	43	50
3	Harry Linton	184	45	45	47	47
4	Luke Dean	166	41	41	41	43
5	Jack Cox	162	43	43	45	31
6	Chris Povey	156	39	39	39	39
7	Luke Newman	142	37	37	35	33
8	Stuart Owen	139	30	31	37	41
9	Ollie Bubb	138	35	33	33	37
10	Charlie Palmer	132	31	35	31	35
11	Olly Hathaway	114	29	25	30	30
12	Jordan Ridgway	112	28	28	27	29
13	Billy Bayliss	110	27	29	26	28
14	Cameron Jackson	107	25	27	28	27
15	Yarin Evans	103	33	30	18	22
16	Jack Jordan	96	22	24	24	26
17	Sion Wright	96	23	23	25	25
18	George Pool	89	20	22	23	24
19	Joe Wright	84	21	20	22	21
20	Matt Ridgway	81	26	26	29	–
21	Harry Bebb	44	–	–	21	23
22	Jamie Arrowsmith	41	–	21	20	–
23	Jamie Johnson	39	–	–	19	20
24	Travis James	24	24	–	–	–
25	Joe Jordan	19	–	19	–	–
26	Daniel Baker	19	19	–	–	–

Vets

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Adam Wilkinson	200	50	50	50	50
2	Simon Bonser	184	47	47	47	43
3	Simon Lane	178	43	45	43	47
4	Matt Ryder	172	45	41	45	41
5	James Lane	170	41	43	41	45
6	David Wilcox	152	39	39	35	39
7	Sean Smith	150	37	37	39	37
8	Matthew Chaplin	142	35	35	37	35
9	Brian Staples	128	31	31	33	33
10	Richard Meakin	120	33	33	27	27
11	Richard Tudor	118	28	29	31	30
12	Aidan Wright	110	26	27	28	29
13	Stuart Kilmarten	105	25	26	26	28
14	Ste Marlow	90	29	–	30	31
15	Russell Grove	84	27	28	29	–
16	Neville King	60	30	30	–	–
17	Paul Minihane	24	24	–	–	–

BWMA Womens

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Marni Saunders	186	47	47	45	47
2	Caitlin Newman	181	43	43	50	45
3	Grace Bates	168	41	41	43	43
4	Hannah Jones	160	39	39	41	41
5	Hollie Roberts	152	37	37	39	39
6	abbie Piggott	136	29	33	37	37
7	Izzi Wright	136	33	35	35	33
8	India Hodgkinson	125	30	30	30	35
9	Autumn Jenkinson	124	35	31	28	30
10	Daisy Blackwell	122	31	29	31	31
11	Amber McGregor	119	45	45	29	–
12	Naomi dolby	116	28	26	33	29
13	Aaliyah Hulbert	109	27	28	27	27
14	Rheanna Morgan-Rogers	100	50	50	–	–
15	Lauren May Collingwood	97	–	–	47	50
16	Katie Lancaster	81	–	27	26	28

BWMA Girls

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Leah Rees-Evans	192	45	50	50	47
2	Checoby Rainey	191	47	47	47	50
3	Holly Williams	185	50	45	45	45
4	Cameron Mansbridge	168	41	43	41	43
5	Sophie Jones	156	37	39	39	41
6	Poppy Banning	152	35	41	37	39
7	Erin Howes	148	39	37	35	37
8	Lilie Eastlake	121	43	35	43	–

125 Youth

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Wyatt McGregor	183	50	47	43	43
2	Jack Evans	182	47	45	45	45
3	Will Turner	162	43	37	41	41
4	Rees Jones	152	39	43	37	33
5	Shane Jones	150	–	50	50	50
6	Logan Jay Powell	150	31	41	39	39
7	Noel Brooks	142	35	35	35	37
8	Phillip Tchorek	140	41	31	33	35
9	Ben Mcconville	139	45	–	47	47
10	gus mustoe	136	37	39	29	31
11	Riegan Rees	126	33	33	31	29
12	Liam Morrod	120	30	30	30	30
13	George Bromley	110	28	29	25	28
14	Leo Rixon	106	26	26	28	26
15	Max Brick	106	27	27	27	25
16	Tyler Lane	96	25	25	23	23
17	Lewis Roberts	81	–	28	26	27
18	Finley Goodyear	72	24	–	24	24
19	Matt Cooper	29	29	–	–	–

Big Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Josh Vail	200	50	50	50	50
2	Oakley Kettle	174	41	45	47	41
3	Ollie Jewitt	168	45	43	35	45
4	George Clark	156	35	41	37	43
5	Troy Weaver	156	39	35	45	37
6	Mason Care	151	47	47	10	47
7	Sebby Moore	149	43	39	43	24
8	Alfie Irons	146	33	33	41	39
9	Oliver Bebb	141	37	37	39	28
10	Willaim Siddons	118	29	28	31	30
11	Bobby Watson	114	26	29	30	29
12	Harley Piper	106	31	26	26	23
13	Jett Marlow	103	25	25	27	26
14	Louis Tilley	86	27	9	23	27
15	Jack Bullock	75	10	22	22	21
16	Charlie Walker	61	12	14	15	20
17	Alfie Harper	16	16	–	–	–

Small Wheel 85

1	Ryan Jackson	119	30	31	33	25
2	Harrison Rees	79	9	23	25	22
3	Jacob Ince	79	18	21	21	19
4	Lewis Day	72	20	20	16	16
5	Aston Whitehead	62	24	18	20	–
6	Harry Jones	60	13	15	14	18
7	Ryan Tilley	47	11	11	12	13
8	Logan Senter	18	8	10	–	–

Junior Support

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Daiyaan Manuel	100	50	50
2	Grant Reed	97	47	50
3	Paige Felipes	97	50	47
4	Riley Halstead	94	47	47
5	Mitch Evans	90	45	45
6	Martin Barker	86	41	45
7	Chris Duckett	86	43	43
8	Ryan Fairburn	84	41	43
9	Thomas Burgon	84	43	41
10	Ian Walford	80	39	41
11	Ryan Neale	78	39	39
12	Ricky Ryder	72	37	35
13	Gary Cheshire	68	35	33
14	Elliot Dean	63	33	30
15	Ian Fairburn	60	29	31
16	Taylor Adams	59	30	29
17	Paul Young	45	45	–
18	Carl Gater	37	–	37
19	John Stewart	31	31	–