The 2025 Bridgestone British Masters powered by Rock Oil returned to Preston Docks at the weekend for the second round of the championship.
Race Report by Chris Czora – Images courtesy of Ellie Jones RDS Media
The Lancashire circuit has been absent from the national calendar for several seasons but returned with a bang. Always a venue renowned for good preparation, Lee McGarry and his team certainly didn’t disappoint. Riders were treated to an excellent track, with even ancillary factors such as improved fencing and sponsor banners giving the track a professional feel.
The venue’s rather urban location (only a few miles from the city centre) certainly gives it a different feel, with the city centre buildings and the rooftop of Preston North End’s Deepdale stadium easily visible in the background.
McGarry’s experience preparing the Matterley Basin circuit for MXGP and the Nations certainly shone through. Machinery was out on the track straight after racing, and water bowsers were out as early as 5 a.m. on Sunday, giving the track every chance to retain some moisture. There were a couple of brief pauses for watering during the day.
That’s not to say the track conditions were easy. Much like the opener at Culham, conditions were dry, sunny and quite breezy, meaning the circuit dried out quickly and became quite hardpack and loose, with the exception of the loamier sand towards the back of the lap.
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The Fix Auto UK Pro Open class headlined the event. Although entries were down on Culham, a good line-up of riders competed. Newcomers included former youth ace Josh Vail on his Phoenix Tools Fantic, while Brad Anderson was also in the lineup. With son Vinnie racing in the small wheel 85 class, perhaps Ando is now one of those rare breeds of ‘racing dad’, with the ability to still dust off the riding boots and show Junior how it’s done!
It’s a well-worn cliche in motocross that sandy circuits suit the Dutch and Belgian riders, yet qualifying ran that way as Christopher Mills (Mills Racing Yamaha) topped the qualifying charts, his many years of racing in the Netherlands helping him put together a late barnstorming qualifying lap to go a tenth of a second faster than Jason Meara (Moto Cycle Gas Gas)
As the gate dropped for Moto One, it was Carlton Husband (Phoenix Tools Fantic) who grabbed the early lead and made the early pace, followed by Josh Spinks, Jason Meara, Lewis Hall and Christopher Mills.
Spinks quickly settled into a good rhythm and made a great pass on his Triumph West London machine during the third lap. A good line on one of the fast-sweeping sections put him ahead.
Spinks tried to break away over the next few laps, but Meara was just settling into a rhythm. After getting past Spinks on the sixth lap, he immediately put in a few fast laps to break away from the pack and win the moto by twelve seconds.
Mills had been struggling to get involved in the race but settled into a nice rhythm as the race went on. Moving to fourth early on, he got past both Spinks and Husband to move into second, although by then Meara was out of reach.
Husband was able to hold on to third from Spinks, with the advancing Josh Vail charging on his tail near the end.
Further back, Lewis Hall was sixth, while Gavin Stevenson and Brad Anderson enjoyed a good battle. Stevenson came off best, while Anderson fought with the charging duo of Max Harris and Tyla Hooley.
Moto two saw Jason Meara make a superb start to grab the lead early. Meara’s second moto at Culham had effectively been over after a first-lap crash, but he ensured there would be no repeat this time as he charged ahead.
History sadly repeated itself for Lewis Hall as he crashed out on the first lap for the second round in succession. Whilst racing with Brad Anderson, Hall crashed heavily over one of the fast tabletops, and whilst he again was thankfully not seriously injured, he took quite a hit and was out of the race. This is a real shame for the Honda privateer, as he again showed some good pace near the front during the day.
For Meara, it would be a gate-to-flag victory. On the loose, dry surface, he was able to put some fast laps in early to break away, before controlling his pace later on to maintain a nine-second gap at the flag.
It had been a busy weekend for Meara, who had taken victory in the Ulster championship at St John’s Point the day before, yet he showed no signs of fatigue as he reflected on his day “I’m pleased with the riding today, if we can continue on with this now for the rest of the season then we should be in a good place. I had some decent starts in both motos, especially the second one where I was able to holeshot, I got my head down, tried to build up a gap and just settle in.”
“I’d like to give a shout out to Davey Dixon for sourcing out some cone valves and Moto 33 for sorting them out. It’s totally transformed the bike and I’m finding the confidence I had mid-way through last year. I’m really looking forward to building on this for the rest of the season”
Behind Meara, Christopher Mills was again able to fight through into second place as the moto went on, but although he staged a challenge in the latter stages, Meara was too far ahead and so Mills settled into a strong second at the flag, also snatching second overall from Husband who chased him a few seconds behind in third, gaining the final step on the podium from Josh Spinks, just behind in fourth.
Josh Vail had another good run to secure fifth, whilst, in reverse of moto one, Brad Anderson was able to get the better of Gavin Stevenson in their lengthy battle.
The weekend’s action started with the scream of the 125s. As the pack raced onto the fresh track, early season pace setter Charlie Richmond took the lead, with the usual suspects Matt Bayliss, Freddie Gardiner, and Neville Bradshaw in close pursuit.
However, the race quickly took a dark turn on that opening lap, as Gardiner crashed spectacularly over one of the fast ski jumps.
Richmond led from Bayliss, but the spectators’ concerns were with Gardiner, who received continual medical attention trackside before the race was eventually stopped a few laps later. The unfortunate Gardner was evacuated away on a stretcher for further treatment.
Charlie Richmond was credited as the winner, and whilst he was awarded the first win by default, he went on to show it was certainly no fluke as he took a further two moto wins en route to another overall victory, despite being pursued closely in both by Matt Bayliss.
The starts had made all the difference, and in the final moto, Bayliss was able to get ahead and lead Richmond to the flag, preventing the clean sweep and clawing a couple of points back in the early title race as he took second overall.
Always a crowd favourite, Neville Bradshaw had plenty of cheers from the crowd on his retro 90s-pink special edition TM, the crisp Italian machine carrying him to third overall.
Clubman had been a clean sweep for Elliott Pugh at Culham, round two was a totally different affair with three moto winners, Mitchil Collins and Alfie Smith taking a win apiece on Saturday.
At one stage, it looked like Matt Fuller, who had been consistently near the front, might snatch the overall. However, Henry Partridge really came into his own during Sunday’s two motos to grab the final two wins and the overall from Fuller.
Ryan Christian fought back from twelfth place in the first moto. Some consistent rides near the front meant he grabbed the final podium spot.
The Amateur MX1 class saw Scott Aldridge stake his claim as the early-season pacesetter as he traded wins with Ben Knight on Saturday. Both had a win apiece before Aldridge took the third win, then crucially was able to stay ahead of Knight in the final moto, as he chased home Charlie Hamlet, who was enjoying his best outing of the weekend as he took the final moto win.
Second gave Aldridge the overall from Knight, the two emerging as the early riders to beat in the MX1 title race. There were also strong rides from Culham winner Rob Wood, who had done good battles with Josh Canton near the front.
Amateur MX2 saw Harrison Greenough bounce back from a difficult weekend at Culham, as he took three dominant moto victories. After good starts, he was able to get ahead and build up a strong gap during each of his moto wins.
He was denied a clean sweep by Zac Stealey. Greenough had a bad start in moto two, down in mid-pack as Stealey took the lead, battling back from a difficult first moto.
Greenough was able to fight impressively through to second, and it looked like the win would be a formality. However Stealey had other ideas and was able to hold him off during a thrilling final two laps, Stealey’s win was enough to take second overall for the weekend, just ahead of the impressive Jonathan Roderick-Evans, who had consistently been near the front.
The 65cc class saw another rider bounce back from Culham disappointment, as Alfie Cotter took a clean sweep of wins. No one got near Cotter all weekend, although Finlee Pope had his moments, taking second in each of the races.
Behind those two, things were a little closer cut, with Forrest Roberts, Riley Rogers, Mason Foreman and Jack Waters all running very closely over the weekend as they disputed the final podium spot in some close, frantic racing.
Much like the 65s, the Small Wheel 85 class saw another runaway winner as Arthur King took a comfortable clean sweep of wins.
On a difficult weekend for the MGMX Gardiner team, Jett Gardiner was able to bring a positive note to the weekend as he grabbed second overall, with Teddy Merriman, much like Culham, finishing just behind the leading group as he took a strong third overall. Jimmy Boxhall, Elliott Shawyer and Ricky Barrack all had good moments as they battled for the podium.
The Big Wheel 85 class has the potential to be very close this year, this time the podium was shaken up as Cohen Jagielski took his first overall win. Making the rare jump to the class directly from the 65s, Jagielski settled in nicely at Culham, and looked well at home on the bigger bike during Preston Docks, taking two moto wins.
Harley Marczak and Arthur Moore both looked impressive, Marczak taking the second moto win en route to second overall from Moore.
Olly Waters didn’t quite enjoy the success from round one but nonetheless grabbed the final moto win to snatch fourth overall, just ahead of Nixon Coppins, another newcomer to the Big Wheels who seems to be settling in nicely on his Yamaha. Joel Winstanley Dawson had a difficult weekend at his local round, but managed to fight through to sixth.
The MXY2 class rounded off the weekend action, and much like the Big Wheel 85s, it’s shaping up to be a potentially close title race. The Corke brothers were again near the front of the field on their Kawasakis, George Corke taking two moto wins, whilst Max Corke briefly led and took a brace of second places.
Both dropped some points over the weekend, however, and it was Charley Irwin who came to the fore on Sunday, grabbing the final two moto wins for the overall, George Corke just ahead of brother Max on the podium. Series leader from round one, Ollie Bubb, was just behind in fourth setting up a close championship into round three, whilst Will Haddock and Lewis Proud were not too far behind and are handily placed in the championship.
As the dust settles on a great weekend at Preston Docks, eagerness builds for the third round of the championship in May, as the series makes a return to Wroxton.
The fast, spectacular hillside circuit near Banbury used to be a real favourite with riders and spectators but was lost for many years under planning regulations and local bureaucracy. The return to the calendar in 2025 looks set to be a great occasion!
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