Good old Hawkstone Park was the setting for round five of the 2024 AMCA British Motocross Championship supported by Holab Concepts and Joov Sports Products. And as expected the iconic venue was to produce a stern challenge for most competitors and with it plenty of outstanding, close racing.
Race Report & Images by Mike Wood
The title race is certainly getting red hot right now as it charges head on towards the business end of proceedings. And one rider who is probably feeling that heat following the Hawkstone action is Ray Rowson! After leading the Open class right since round one, Ray’s advantage is down to just a single, nervous point. It didn’t start well for the Shropshire based rider, leading moto one until lap five before going out with a DNF. In a class again mixed with the MX2 lads, it was Lennox Dickinson who went onto take the victory from Will Hughes, Rory Jones, Liam Gale, McKenzie Marshall and Joel Fisher. After that moto one disappointment though, Rowson then bounced back in the best way possible by coming through from an early 7th to take the win as his closest Open class title rival Hughes followed him home in a strong 2nd place. In a topsy turvy and very competitive contest, Marshall was first past the post in the last combined clash ahead of Rowson, Jones, Adam Wells, Jordan Wright, Lewis Proud and Gale as Hughes was down the order in 14th. With all of the Open class results compiled it meant overall victory on the day for a delighted Hughes with Wells back on the podium in a great 2nd and Harvey Tillotson 3rd.
As already mentioned, the MX2 boys raced alongside the Open class and resulted in overall victory for series leader Mckenzie Marshall ahead of fast Wildcard ace Rory Jones and Liam Gale. After a frustrating double DNF at the very wet previous round, Gale was desperate to claw some points back on Marshall and it certainly started well at Hawkstone. In moto one Liam gated in 7th before climbing right up to 3rd, eventually dropping to 4th but importantly only one place better off than Marshall. After that frantic opener, Marshall then turned up the gas to go 3/1 in the remaining clashes versus Gale’s 6/7. Those results means that Marshall advantage at the top of the MX2 Championship as opened up to 35 points over Gale with Adam Nevitt, Samuel Bishop, Tim Burrows and Jordan Wright still giving chase.
Taking out a Wildcard entry and in his first season of 125cc racing, Josh Vail stormed to AMCA Championship victory at Hawkstone. Already having sampled some World/EMX Championship action, Vail was simply superb, winning all three moto’s by over 46 seconds. With Vail clearing off, AMCA 125cc series leader Jimmy Margetson, Jake Davies, Simon Booth and Luke Newman provided the closest challenge. This AMCA class also included a certain Rob Clitheroe who was previously a major AMCA and IMBA European Championship contender. Rob was to show his always stated liking for sand tracks by taking a super 6th overall at Hawkstone. In the 2024 title chase though, Margetson now boasts a 52-point advantage at the top of the standings ahead of Newman, Charlie Palmer and Wyatt McGregor.
The main series also shares the same stage as the AMCA 125cc Youth series and it’s certainly getting very interesting in that one! Ollie Jewitt is back on top but with just a one-point advantage over Tom Goodfellow following the Hawkstone action. With Jewitt scoring 13/14/13 in the three moto’s, Goodfellow went 16/22/14. On the podium it was Woz Boyce, Jack Evans and Travis James. Both Evans and James are registered 125cc series riders and there super results in the Hawkstone sand mean that they hold 6th and 8th respectively in the Championship table.
Whilst Vail sailed to victory in the 125cc class, there was to be another outstanding Wildcard rider storming to success in the BWMA Women’s Championship action at Hawkstone Park. Just a week after securing her second EMX Women’s MX title, British AVT Campers KTM racer Lucy Barker took all three wins in Sunday’s racing, her smallest winning margin being a mere 57 seconds! As Lucy stylishly dominated, BWMA series leader Grace Richards consolidated her position at the top of the standings with a hat-trick of strong 2nd places, joining Lucy and Grace on the podium at Hawkstone was to be Lauren Collingwood. In the opening race, Libby Chatburn held 3rd throughout with Collingwood, Leah Rees-Evans and Grace Bates next best. Moto two and Richards had to pass the fast-starting Collingwood with all of the above-mentioned riders again in the frame along with Hannah Jones and Ebony Brown. With seventeen riders coming to the start line for the final clash, Barker again cleared off for another super win. In the BWMA table, Richards is now 64 points better off than Chatburn with Rees-Evans, Brown, Bates and Jones next up.
Kameron Greenhaigh (2) and Christopher Brindley took the wins in the combined BW85/SW85/BWMA Girls 85cc class at Hawkstone. Both of those lads were Wildcard entries and with BW85cc series leader Ryan Jackson a non-starter it means that Sean Smout now tops the standings. Indeed, Smout worked hard at round five really mixing it up and going 4/6/4. That last moto being a particularly impressive ride after initially gating right down in 19th. There’s also been another change at the top of the SW85cc table following the Hawkstone action. After losing his series lead during round four at Lower Drayton, Alfie Pincher is back in control, 16 points clear of Mason Brown with Jimmy Whiston in 3rd. In the Shropshire sand, Pincher scored 10/9/9 placings with Brown recording 26/23/19. So, on completion of proceedings, it was a BW85cc podium of Greenhaigh, Brindley and Elvis Totney, a SW85cc podium of Finley Cookson, Riley Butterworth and Pincher whilst Emery took the BWMA 85cc Girls overall.
Making a flying start, Mark Swift led the opening AMCA Vets Championship race at Hawkstone from gate to flag and thus secure his maiden AMCA series win with James Lane, Lee Martin, Sean Smith, Simon Lane and Adam Wilkinson giving chase. Swift again lived up to his name as he was fastest away in moto two, heading the charge for three laps before James Lane came through for the win. In the last one it was Lane all the way as Matt Ryder, Martin, Smith and Simon Lane were next up. In the Vets Over 40’s title chase, James Lane marches relentlessly on now holding a nice 74-point advantage over Wilkinson and Swift. The Vets Over 50’s table though is a lot tighter with Simon Lane the pacesetter just 6 points better off than Ryder with Brian Staples holding 3rd.
Completing the Hawkstone action was a support class for Clubman Under 40 riders. In the two moto’s, it was Danny Townsend and Callum Radford taking the wins. Townsend though was to bag the overall verdict after backing up his moto victory with a runners-up spot in the second clash of the day. Third overall in this one was claimed by Matt Wright.
Results
Open
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | Will Hughes | 68 | 25 | 25 | 18 |
2 | Adam Wells | 64 | 22 | 20 | 22 |
3 | Harvey Tillotson | 54 | 18 | 16 | 20 |
4 | Ben Margetson | 51 | 20 | 15 | 16 |
5 | Ray Rowson | 47 | – | 22 | 25 |
6 | Harrison Mccann | 33 | 15 | 18 | – |
7 | Scooter Webster | 30 | 16 | 14 | – |
8 | Matthew Jones | 26 | 11 | – | 15 |
9 | Peter Hamlett | 26 | 13 | 13 | – |
10 | Andrew Pemberton | 23 | 9 | – | 14 |
11 | Kian Bown | 22 | 10 | 12 | – |
12 | Lee Clarkson | 14 | 14 | – | – |
13 | Harry Purslow | 13 | – | – | 13 |
14 | Ben Walker | 12 | 12 | – | – |
15 | Daniel Withington | 8 | 8 | – | – |
MX2
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | McKenzie Marshall | 68 | 18 | 25 | 25 |
2 | Rory Jones | 66 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
3 | Liam Gale | 54 | 20 | 18 | 16 |
4 | Jordan Wright | 48 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
5 | Lewis Proud | 47 | 15 | 14 | 18 |
6 | Lennox dickinson | 45 | 25 | 20 | – |
7 | Billy Bayliss | 43 | 13 | 15 | 15 |
8 | Jack Davis | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 |
9 | Samuel Bishop | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 |
10 | Joel Fisher | 29 | 16 | 13 | – |
11 | Adam Nevitt | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 |
12 | Logan Jay Powell | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
13 | Yarin Evans | 20 | 6 | – | 14 |
14 | daniel Nevitt | 20 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
15 | Oliver Davis | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
16 | Martin Jones | 16 | – | 5 | 11 |
17 | Jack Cox | 14 | 14 | – | – |
18 | Corey Collins | 11 | 11 | – | – |
19 | Adam Hill | 10 | 1 | 9 | – |
20 | Tim Burrows | 5 | 5 | – | – |
21 | Will Turner | 4 | 4 | – | – |
125cc Championship
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | Josh Vail | 75 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
2 | Jimmy Margetson | 64 | 22 | 20 | 22 |
3 | Jake Davies | 60 | 18 | 22 | 20 |
4 | Luke Newman | 50 | 16 | 18 | 16 |
5 | Wyatt McGregor | 41 | 14 | 13 | 14 |
6 | Charlie Palmer | 40 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
7 | Kai Reason | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
8 | Hugh Darley | 11 | 11 | – | – |
125cc Youth
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | Woz Boyce | 75 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
2 | Jack Evans | 66 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
3 | Travis James | 54 | 14 | 20 | 20 |
4 | Ashton Phillips | 54 | 20 | 16 | 18 |
5 | Linc Hasted | 50 | 18 | 18 | 14 |
6 | Ollie Jewitt | 47 | 16 | 15 | 16 |
7 | Oakley Kettle | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 |
8 | Tom Goodfellow | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 |
9 | Oliver Bebb | 35 | 12 | 13 | 10 |
10 | Lewis Roberts | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 |
11 | George Bromley | 25 | 7 | 7 | 11 |
12 | Tyler Lane | 21 | 3 | 9 | 9 |
13 | Cailen Jai Griffiths | 20 | 10 | 10 | – |
14 | Ashton Somerville | 19 | 8 | 11 | – |
15 | Ryan Oboye | 16 | 11 | 5 | – |
16 | Jake Darley | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
17 | Levi Reading | 10 | 2 | – | 8 |
18 | Finley Goodyear | 7 | – | 2 | 5 |
19 | Max Brick | 7 | 1 | 6 | – |
20 | Harley Piper | 6 | 6 | – | – |
21 | Oscar Bott | 6 | – | – | 6 |
22 | Louis Tilley | 5 | 5 | – | – |
23 | Ethan Ballam | 3 | – | 3 | – |
24 | Harvey Kell | 1 | – | 1 | – |
Womens
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | Lucy Barker | 75 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
2 | Grace Richards | 66 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
3 | Lauren Collingwood | 58 | 18 | 20 | 20 |
4 | Libby Chatburn | 56 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
5 | Leah Rees-Evans | 48 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
6 | Hannah Jones | 44 | 14 | 15 | 15 |
7 | Ebony Brown | 39 | 11 | 14 | 14 |
8 | Amber McGregor | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 |
9 | Grace Bates | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 |
10 | Caitlin Newman | 35 | 12 | 11 | 12 |
11 | Cyra-j Carysforth Smith | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 |
12 | Sophie Jones | 25 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
13 | Cameron Mansbridge | 25 | 8 | 10 | 7 |
14 | Izzi Wright | 21 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
15 | Erin Howes | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
16 | Sasha Tollet | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
17 | India Hodgkinson | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
18 | Lucy Fearn | 8 | 5 | 3 | – |
Vets Over 40
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | James Lane | 72 | 22 | 25 | 25 |
2 | Mark Swift | 65 | 25 | 22 | 18 |
3 | Lee Martin | 62 | 20 | 20 | 22 |
4 | Adam Wilkinson | 56 | 18 | 18 | 20 |
5 | Richard Meakin | 47 | 15 | 16 | 16 |
6 | Richard Tudor | 45 | 16 | 14 | 15 |
7 | Lee Spurr | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 |
8 | Kirk Baynton | 39 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
9 | Stephen Thorley | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
10 | Karl Gater | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 |
11 | James kay | 24 | 13 | 11 | – |
12 | Thurlow Bone | 21 | 11 | 10 | – |
13 | Michael Lambton | 17 | 8 | 9 | – |
14 | David Bennett | 9 | 9 | – | – |
Vets Over 50
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | Sean Smith | 67 | 25 | 20 | 22 |
2 | Simon Lane | 67 | 22 | 25 | 20 |
3 | Matt Ryder | 65 | 18 | 22 | 25 |
4 | Brian Staples | 56 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
5 | Paul Croxon | 48 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
6 | Nigel Travis | 39 | 11 | 13 | 15 |
7 | Peter Sargent | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 |
8 | Adrian Lewis | 29 | 14 | 15 | – |
9 | Andrew Reno | 24 | 10 | 14 | – |
10 | Chris Elcock | 15 | 15 | – | – |
11 | Robert Glynn | 13 | 13 | – | – |
12 | Kevin Cowie | 12 | 12 | – | – |
13 | Stuart Arden | 12 | – | 12 | – |
Big Wheel 85cc
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 | r 4 |
1 | Kameron Greenhalgh | 70 | 25 | 20 | 25 | – |
2 | Chris Brindley | 67 | 20 | 25 | 22 | – |
3 | Elvis Totney | 64 | 22 | 22 | 20 | – |
4 | Sean Smout | 52 | 18 | 16 | 18 | – |
5 | Jenson Clitheroe | 46 | 15 | 15 | 16 | – |
6 | Daniel Sheppard | 41 | 13 | 13 | 15 | – |
7 | Harvey Collins | 34 | 16 | 18 | – | – |
8 | Jack Bullock | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | – |
9 | Jacob Ince | 33 | 12 | 11 | 10 | – |
10 | Finn Fitzgerald | 33 | 11 | 14 | 8 | – |
11 | Arley Marshall | 29 | 7 | 8 | 14 | – |
12 | Terry challinor | 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 | – |
13 | Kian John | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | – |
14 | Aston Whitehead | 23 | 6 | 10 | 7 | – |
15 | Cameron Gerrard | 22 | 10 | – | 12 | – |
16 | Corey Harrison-Ross | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | – |
17 | Ryan Tilley | 16 | 4 | 7 | 5 | – |
18 | Samuel Gibbs | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | – |
19 | John-Joseph Dickinson | 6 | 2 | 4 | – | – |
20 | Myles spurr | 5 | – | 2 | 3 | – |
21 | Oliver Proctor-Hollins | 3 | 3 | – | – | – |
Small Wheel 85cc
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | Finley Cookson | 70 | 25 | 25 | 20 |
2 | Riley Butterworth | 65 | 18 | 22 | 25 |
3 | Alfie Pincher | 64 | 22 | 20 | 22 |
4 | Jimmy Whiston | 48 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
5 | Freddie Darvill | 48 | 15 | 18 | 15 |
6 | Mason Brown | 47 | 14 | 15 | 18 |
7 | Tyler Shaw | 20 | 20 | – | – |
8 | Lucas Kell | 14 | – | 14 | – |
9 | Jude Richards | 13 | 13 | – | – |
Girls 85cc
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
1 | Lexi Emery | 75 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Clubman Under 40
Pos | Competitor | Total Points | r 1 | r 2 |
1 | Danny Townsend | 47 | 25 | 22 |
2 | Callum Radford | 45 | 20 | 25 |
3 | Matt Wright | 34 | 16 | 18 |
4 | Bennyboy Harrison | 34 | 18 | 16 |
5 | Ben Seaburg | 33 | 13 | 20 |
6 | Oliver Abbott | 30 | 15 | 15 |
7 | Oliver Hurst | 28 | 14 | 14 |
8 | Chris Conduit | 24 | 11 | 13 |
9 | Joe Harrison | 24 | 12 | 12 |
10 | Albie Hall | 22 | 22 | – |
11 | Harry Purslow | 21 | 10 | 11 |
12 | Alfie Bebb | 18 | 8 | 10 |
13 | Sam Hughes | 15 | 9 | 6 |
14 | Ben Hurley | 14 | 7 | 7 |
15 | Daniel Dew | 10 | 1 | 9 |
16 | Mitchell Hartill | 8 | – | 8 |
17 | Callum Hurst | 8 | 4 | 4 |
18 | Rob Longworth | 6 | 3 | 3 |
19 | Jordan Lane | 6 | 6 | – |
20 | Ricky Ryder | 5 | – | 5 |
21 | Billy MCgillivray | 5 | 5 | – |
22 | Ollie Carney | 4 | 2 | 2 |
23 | Lewis Day | 1 | – | 1 |