Mewse is the Master of Oakhanger! 2024 Bridgestone British Masters Round 1 – Race Report & Results

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After making a speedy recovery from a serious Arenacross accident, Conrad Mewse on his Crendon Tru7 Honda showed he had not lost any of his speed and race craft by winning both of the expert races and, therefore, the overall at round one of the Bridgestone Masters, Powered by Rock Oil, last weekend.

Report and Images by Dick Law

The meeting was held on a shortened, rough, tough, sandy Oakhanger track at Bordon in Hampshire. With the pack-to-capacity start gates in all classes, over three hundred rides packed the paddock among the trees, all looking to start their racing season.

The heroes of the meeting, however, were the track crew in the three diggers. After presenting the club with a great track on Saturday morning, they worked both days between the races tirelessly to keep the bumps, holes, and berms to a reasonable level.

There was no pro rider class for this year, but Pros are now accepted in the new Expert Open races, of which there are two legs on Sunday.

Even after a ten-week layoff from racing, Mewse returned with all guns blazing as he set the fastest qualifying time. He just beat John Adamson by just over a quarter of a second, but Mewse did his fastest lap on a rougher lap eight while most of the rest did their quickest time on a relatively smoother lap two.

Mewse’s speed translated into the races. At the start of race one, he got the holeshot, and in a smooth and fast champions’ style, he powered away to win the race by over thirty-eight seconds.

Adamson gated third but, by the end of the opening lap, had passed James Dodd, who, after being second at the start, crashed out in the Oakhanger woods.

Adamson had a lonely race on his way to second place. After passing Dodd and losing sight of Mewse, the only riders he saw were when he lapped them.

Dan Thornhill had a good start and was running third for the first six laps until Taylor Hammal, from tenth from the gate, snatched the place from him and made third his own.

Carlton Husband was showing some speed as well. He lost a place to the flying Hammal. He passed Thornhill on lap nine to score a strong fourth place, with Thornhill hanging onto fifth.

Liam Knight started sixth and, after swapping a couple of places, ended his race where he started: sixth. After his great start, Dodd finished in seventh place and was the last rider on the lead lap.

Husband got the holeshot at the start of the second race, but by the third turn, Adamson powered past him and into the lead, with Hammal and Mewse following him through later in the lap.

Adamson made a small slip-up on the next lap, allowing Hammal and Mewse to pass. But, a lap later, there was no stopping Mewse from taking the lead from where he had just powered away from the pack and cruised to a comfortable second race win.

Try as hard as he could for the rest of the race, Adamson couldn’t close the gap between himself and Hammal as the pair finished second and third.

Knight had a worse start than in the first race but had more pace as he started ninth to end it in fourth, while Husband’s race stopped halfway through the race when his exhaust system broke.

Thornhill didn’t get the best start but made his way up to fifth by the halfway stage, only to lose a place on the very last lap as Reece Jones, from seventeenth at the start, snatched fifth from him.

Thornhill was sixth and the last rider on the lead lap.

Overall, it was Mewse from Hammal and Adamson, with Knight and Thornhill just missing out on a podium position.

“It’s been a long time off and a tough injury”, said a happy Mewse, “It’s been a difficult time for me with ten weeks off the bike. It’s tough to come back from. The track was tough and hard, but we did what we came here to do, we certainly have a lot more work to do, but we have two weeks to the Fastest 40 and then the British championship, which is our main goal. So, I will be putting in the hard work and come out ready for round one.”

The start of the second expert race. Husband in the lead.

Hammal said, “With Conrad (Mewse) around here, everyone is looking to see who will be second, but in the second race, when I finally got a good start when he came past, I tried to stay with him for a couple of laps, but when be brakes that tow he is gone. But overall, it’s good to get the first race of the year out of the way on the 450. I have been desperate to get on a 450 for a while now, so Dave (Thorpe) has given me a chance to do one series on it, so I am happy with that. Hopefully, I can show people what I can do on it ready for next year.”

Adamson said from third on the podium, “I didn’t really have an answer for Conrad (Mewse) today; he was in a class of his own. He had his time off with his injury but has come back with vengeance and is riding flawless again. So, we need to go back to the drawing board to see if we can have anything for him in the future. It was tough out there today and I couldn’t get a good feeling with the track like I had here a couple of weeks ago. But it’s OK. We came here for a runout, and it was good to try and learn from the boys that are winning.”

Wildcard rider Scott Aldridge won the Amateur MX1 class with three wins and a third place. However, despite easy wins on Saturday, he didn’t have it easy on Sunday. While Daniel Maule, Ben Knight, and Jake Winnard led that race from the start, Aldridge started way back in eleventh place with a lot to do. By the end of three laps, he was in third place, and three laps later, he was in the lead and on his way to his third win.

While Seth Manners, Josh Greedy, and Maule disputed the lead in the fourth and final race, Aldridge was way back in fourteenth place. He was quickly up to seventh but seemed to get stuck there for too long, as by the time he was on the move again, the top three were out of reach in the remaining laps.

Maule was second, six points behind Aldridge with Manners third, and Greedy fourth.

Wildcard racer Bailey Johnston was unstoppable in the Amateur MX2 category, winning four races from four starts. Raife Broadley followed Johnston over the finish line in all the races and finished second overall, with Jonathan Rodenick-Evans third.

Scott Bates didn’t finish out of the top three over the weekend, and with two race wins, he won the overall in the hotly contested clubman class. With two race wins, Dan Chapman was second, eight points behind the winner. Elliott Pugh was third, while wildcard rider Luke Richardson just missed out on a podium by just three points.

It was very close at the top of the 125cc class as Chester Hyde, with a win, two seconds, and a third place, took the overall win from Matt Bayliss, who had two wins, a third and a fourth place as they ended the weekend separated by just two points. Race one winner Charlie Richmond was third, four points behind the leading pair.

What can you say about the young wildcard racer Jamie Keith in the MXY2’s? On a two-stroke against the more powerful and easier-to-ride four-strokes and on a power-sapping sandy Oakhanger track, he took four wins from his four starts.

Tyla Hooley chased Keith over the finish line in each of the races for second with Harrison Greenough third. Beau Brown finished on equal points as Greenough but was placed fourth by Brown’s higher place finish in race four.

In the Big Wheel 85s, it was close at the top, with Alfie Geddes-Green and wildcard rider Finley Pickering ending the four-race weekend separated by just one point.

In the first race, Pickering led Geddes-Green at the start, then swopped back on lap three. They continued in that order until the last lap when Pickering snatched the win. In race two Geddes-Green led from the gate from Pickering and Kameron Greenhaigh.

In race three, Pickering crashed out of the lead and dropped back to fifth but made a comeback to take the win. While this was happening, Zane Stephens was second, but Geddes-Green had worked his way from fifth to third on lap four, but a crash dropped him back to finish sixth. In the fourth and final race of the weekend, after race leader Danny Flude crashed out of the lead, Geddes-Green took over the lead and the win. Greenhaigh was second in the race and third overall, while Pickering crashed out of fifth but finished seventh, which robbed him of the overall win.

Harley Marczak won the Small Wheel 85s but rode better on Sunday than he did on Saturday. In race one, while Nixon Coppins led from start to finish, Marzak gated fourth and finished second. In race two, after the holeshoting, Teddy Merriman slipped down the pack, and new leader Archie Butterfield crashed out of his lead; Leo Wilson won the race, with Marczak finishing fifth.

On Sunday Marczak won both races and took the overall by nine points from Arthur Moore, Butterfield, and Wilson.

The Junior 65s were always going to have trouble with the deep, boggy bits of the Oakhanger track, and none would see the end of racing without coming off two or three times.

Wildcard rider Jett Gardiner didn’t win a race, but with finishing high up in each race took the overall win. Second-place man Elliott Shawyer also didn’t win a race on his place but bagged the runner-up position. Ronan Watson, who won the opening race, was third.

Results

Expert – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Conrad Mewse	90	45	45
2	Taylor Hammal	84	41	43
3	John Adamson	84	43	41
4	Liam Knight	74	35	39
5	Dan Thornhill	72	37	35
6	Callum Mitchell	65	32	33
7	James Dodd	64	34	30
8	Charlie Cole	62	28	34
9	Richard McKeown	57	26	31
10	Henry Williams	53	29	24
11	Josh Coleman	52	25	27
12	Declan Whittle	52	30	22
13	Travis Steels	51	22	29
14	Charlie Putnam	51	23	28
15	Lewis Hall	51	33	18
16	Ashley Greedy	47	15	32
17	Reece Jones	46	9	37
18	Harry Bradley	45	19	26
19	Rory Jones	45	20	25
20	Kristian Whatley	45	24	21
21	Jak Taylor	40	17	23
22	Carlton Husband	39	39	–
23	Liam Bennett	38	21	17
24	Jake Preston	34	14	20
25	Dominic Newbury	31	16	15
26	Bayliss Utting	31	31	–
27	Harvey Cashmore	30	11	19
28	Ben Franklin	27	27	–
29	Luke Mellows	27	13	14
30	Aaron Patstone	25	12	13
31	Patrick Jackson	23	7	16
32	Henry Siddiqui	18	18	–
33	Tom Ellwood	10	10	–
34	Taylor Johnson	8	8	–

125cc – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Chester Hyde	172	43	45	43	41
2	Matt Bayliss	170	39	41	45	45
3	Charlie Richmond	166	45	43	35	43
4	Freddie Gardiner	150	35	37	39	39
5	Damen Strydom	146	33	39	37	37
6	Will Haddock	131	41	34	41	15
7	Charlie Palmer	128	29	33	31	35
8	Harry Linton (W)	125	30	28	33	34
9	Daniel Brough	118	23	30	32	33
10	Jack Brearey	118	32	32	26	28
11	Ashton Phillips	108	28	22	29	29
12	Samuel Jackson	107	25	27	25	30
13	Lewis Proud	106	37	35	34	–
14	Troy Haywood	104	27	26	27	24
15	Travis Barnes (W)	99	16	24	28	31
16	Braidy Tucker	91	24	29	12	26
17	Joe Grainger	91	26	21	23	21
18	Louis Perrin-Brown	89	31	10	30	18
19	Jorge Parkin	86	18	19	22	27
20	Phillip Tchorek	84	15	25	19	25
21	Harry Shand	83	20	20	21	22
22	Yarin Evans	74	22	9	24	19
23	Declan Wright	73	34	31	8	–
24	Tristan McGrath	66	17	12	14	23
25	Troy Willerton	65	8	15	10	32
26	Max Ellerker	65	14	17	17	17
27	Harrison Drewell	64	11	18	15	20
28	Reegan Rogers	60	21	14	11	14
29	Halim Own	60	19	23	18	–
30	Marley Alder	50	10	11	13	16
31	Ryan Christian	37	9	8	20	–
32	Mitchell Evans	35	6	7	9	13
33	Oliver Watson	29	13	16	–	–
34	Daniel Barlett	20	7	13	–	–
35	Dee Jay Walker	16	–	–	16	–
36	Tom Goodfellow (W)	12	12	–	–	–

Amateur MX1 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Scott Aldridge (w)	176	45	45	45	41
2	Daniel Maule	170	43	39	43	45
3	Seth Manners	166	41	43	39	43
4	Josh Greedy	156	39	41	41	35
5	Liam Crellin	146	35	37	35	39
6	Jake Winnard (W)	142	34	34	37	37
7	Simon Booth	132	37	33	34	28
8	Ben Knight	127	26	35	32	34
9	Leon Williams (W)	124	30	30	33	31
10	Brad Thornhill	121	31	31	30	29
11	Callum Gordon	119	33	27	27	32
12	Bradley Wheeler	115	32	32	26	25
13	Shane Davies(w)	111	29	29	23	30
14	Phil Mercer (w)	104	27	25	25	27
15	Ross Millard	99	23	24	29	23
16	Lewis Taylor	93	25	22	22	24
17	Lewis Huckerby	91	24	17	24	26
18	Adam Paxton	78	21	19	18	20
19	George Clarke	76	28	28	20	–
20	Jake Carrey (W)	68	18	16	16	18
21	Josh Scott	67	16	15	17	19
22	Kaie Stesel	66	15	18	11	22
23	Bradley Flagg	66	22	23	21	–
24	Liam Smith	64	–	–	31	33
25	John Joe Wright	63	9	26	28	–
26	Fraser Gardiner	60	17	11	15	17
27	Billy Collins	59	12	14	19	14
28	Riley Stesel	53	20	20	–	13
29	Ethan Blackley	53	19	21	13	–
30	James Thompson	51	11	12	12	16
31	Charlie West (w)	49	14	–	14	21
32	Connor Maltby	31	6	–	10	15
33	Adam Hardy	21	8	13	–	–
34	Jake Strange	13	13	–	–	–
35	Jason Hibberd	10	10	–	–	–
36	Ben Butler	7	7	–	–	–
37	Lewis Wigger	5	5	–	–	–

Amateur MX2 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Bailey Johnston (W)	180	45	45	45	45
2	Raife Broadley	172	43	43	43	43
3	Jonathan Rodenick-Evans	162	41	41	41	39
4	Kayde Rayns	149	39	39	37	34
5	David Plank	137	35	32	33	37
6	Logan Wilcox	135	31	28	35	41
7	Harrison McCann	127	34	31	30	32
8	Leon Ongley	124	28	34	32	30
9	Charlie Hamlet (W)	123	23	33	34	33
10	Syd Putnam	122	27	37	23	35
11	Tye Jones	117	33	29	39	16
12	Josh Bassett	115	24	35	29	27
13	Henry Partridge	114	32	25	26	31
14	Ryan Osborne	107	26	24	28	29
15	Jamie Watson	107	37	30	14	26
16	Martin Jones	94	22	26	21	25
17	Jesse Wren	92	20	19	25	28
18	Max Smith	87	29	27	31	–
19	Cody Spacagna	86	18	23	22	23
20	Gary Ashley	77	19	20	24	14
21	Mitchell Warhurst	75	16	17	20	22
22	Samuel Bishop	71	14	16	17	24
23	Ezra Blackwell (w)	70	21	12	16	21
24	Corey Collins	69	–	22	27	20
25	Richy Roberts	69	17	14	19	19
26	Lenny Ashley	69	30	21	18	–
27	Lewis Bethell	64	13	18	15	18
28	Connor Warren	53	11	13	12	17
29	Charlie Parrott (W)	43	8	9	11	15
30	Owen Wildish-Conway	34	10	11	13	–
31	Joe Grace	29	9	10	10	–
32	Logan Powell	27	12	15	–	–
33	Mitch Armour	25	25	–	–	–
34	Sam Menzies	15	15	–	–	–
35	Liam Ryland-Pye	15	7	8	–	–

Clubman – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Scott Bates	174	43	45	41	45
2	Dan Chapman	166	45	39	45	37
3	Elliott Pugh	154	41	31	39	43
4	Luke Richardson(W)	151	26	41	43	41
5	Lee Clarkson	142	39	43	21	39
6	Jamie Collins	141	35	37	34	35
7	Colin McLuckie	139	37	35	33	34
8	Jack Loveridge	121	28	29	32	32
9	Joshua Lee Young	120	16	34	37	33
10	Richard Evans	118	32	33	27	26
11	Kane Fisher	116	19	32	35	30
12	Kevin McBride	115	34	30	22	29
13	Joe Winnard (W)	110	29	24	30	27
14	Jacob Bell	106	33	17	31	25
15	Teddy Hyde	97	23	25	28	21
16	Matt Jones	96	12	27	29	28
17	Josh Kirby(W)	94	20	26	17	31
18	Josh Bailey	90	25	19	23	23
19	Joe Sargent	88	22	28	18	20
20	Liam Deegan	88	27	21	25	15
21	Aidan Carney	82	15	22	26	19
22	Ben Hughes	79	18	18	19	24
23	Liam Ware	75	24	5	24	22
24	Kurt Richardson	67	21	20	10	16
25	Roger Frean	63	14	16	15	18
26	Callum Radford	61	17	11	16	17
27	Jake Evans	60	31	23	6	–
28	James Hargreaves	53	7	14	20	12
29	Jack Gatland	52	13	12	13	14
30	Ria Truman(w)	52	10	15	14	13
31	Robert Williams	42	9	13	9	11
32	Matthew Fuller	36	30	6	–	–
33	Ryan Davies	33	11	10	12	–
34	Ethan Bailey (W)	31	5	8	8	10
35	Jake Cappa	28	8	9	11	–
36	Craig Wildish-Conway	17	3	7	7	–
37	Ashley Walsh	12	4	3	5	–
38	Josh Ithell	10	6	4	–	–

MXY2 Youth – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Jamie Keith (W)	180	45	45	45	45
2	Tyla Hooley	172	43	43	43	43
3	Harrison Greenough	160	41	39	39	41
4	Beau Brown	160	39	41	41	39
5	Harley Maskill	143	32	37	37	37
6	Matt Fernley	134	35	31	35	33
7	Jack Wilson	133	37	35	32	29
8	Austin Beasty	131	31	32	33	35
9	Dayton Thompson	123	33	29	31	30
10	Shane Jones	115	30	25	28	32
11	Zac Newlands	108	27	30	26	25
12	Conor McGrath	105	26	28	20	31
13	Fenton Rayns	105	29	23	27	26
14	Harry Lee (W)	102	34	34	34	–
15	Layton Sulley	99	28	7	30	34
16	Ricky Barstow	98	25	26	24	23
17	Jon Waghorn	87	21	21	21	24
18	Mitchell Conway	87	22	22	22	21
19	Kyron Carron	81	19	33	29	–
20	Levi Saunders	79	24	27	–	28
21	Enzo Mussell	70	16	19	15	20
22	Finlay Boxall	67	18	24	25	–
23	Ripley Carter	67	9	17	19	22
24	Dan Wood	64	14	15	17	18
25	Josh Blackley	63	15	16	16	16
26	Curtis Roberts	55	17	20	18	–
27	Freddie Saunders	53	7	14	13	19
28	Braedon Mc Ginn	52	20	18	14	–
29	Ashden Walsh	51	23	8	6	14
30	Corey Gordon	50	–	–	23	27
31	Joseph Horn	49	13	12	7	17
32	Max Walsham (w)	49	12	11	11	15
33	Ronny Robb	45	10	13	12	10
34	Tommy Gibbard	44	11	10	10	13
35	Leon Warren	35	6	9	9	11
36	Harrison Bates (W)	34	8	6	8	12

Big Wheel 85cc – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Alfie Geddes- Green	168	43	45	35	45
2	Finley Pickering(W)	167	45	43	45	34
3	Kameron Greenhalgh	156	31	41	41	43
4	Joel Winstanley Dawson	154	41	39	37	37
5	Zane Stephens	148	39	37	31	41
6	Olly Waters	143	32	33	39	39
7	Jenson Severn (W)	141	33	30	43	35
8	Ryan Clift	128	35	35	26	32
9	Maison Jones	127	37	29	28	33
10	Harley O’Callaghan	127	34	31	33	29
11	Archie Stapley	121	29	32	29	31
12	Jack Leese	111	30	22	32	27
13	Danny Flude	110	28	24	30	28
14	William Evans	108	27	28	27	26
15	Jenson Cole	101	26	27	24	24
16	Andrew Piggford	98	–	34	34	30
17	Leo Self	95	24	21	25	25
18	Joseph Robinson	91	25	25	20	21
19	Bobby Farmer	79	21	26	15	17
20	Ryan Prentice	78	22	19	23	14
21	Harley Pastoor	76	18	17	21	20
22	Brooklyn Gabbitas	75	17	18	17	23
23	Max Williams	74	19	14	19	22
24	Harry Beattie	65	16	16	14	19
25	Liam Heptinstall	63	20	23	7	13
26	Spencer Newman (w)	61	14	13	18	16
27	Archie Congdon	61	23	9	22	7
28	Sam Verbeeten	51	8	20	8	15
29	Oscar Gilham	47	10	3	16	18
30	Freedy Richards	47	12	15	11	9
31	Marley Meechan	46	15	7	13	11
32	Jack Smith	43	13	12	6	12
33	Max Greenwell	34	7	8	9	10
34	Olly Mc Clurg	33	11	10	12	–
35	Lucas Todd	31	9	4	10	8
36	Ricco Hardy	24	6	11	3	4
37	Caden Pill	22	5	6	5	6
38	Daniel Hollis-Reeves	18	4	5	4	5

Small Wheel 85cc

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Harley Marczak	170	43	37	45	45
2	Arthur Moore	161	34	43	41	43
3	Archie Butterfield	154	41	31	43	39
4	Leo Wilson	154	39	45	33	37
5	Nixon Coppins	153	45	33	34	41
6	Daniel Devine	141	33	41	32	35
7	Teddy Merriman	129	32	35	31	31
8	Arthur King	129	35	34	37	23
9	Ethan Gawley	125	30	28	35	32
10	Henry Lewis	118	26	32	30	30
11	Keedan Williamson	116	37	39	7	33
12	Harry Hall	108	29	29	23	27
13	Harry Cuddy	104	19	30	21	34
14	Ryan Taylor	104	25	26	28	25
15	Ollie Truman (w)	101	27	27	18	29
16	Tyler Rogers (W)	96	31	–	39	26
17	Alan Thomson	93	28	21	29	15
18	William Macaulay	90	20	23	27	20
19	Jamie Thorpe	89	23	25	20	21
20	Jake Dixon	88	18	20	26	24
21	Brooklyn Tinkler	88	22	24	24	18
22	Baili Black	87	21	16	22	28
23	Dylan Standing	74	13	19	25	17
24	Freddie Gurney (W)	71	24	13	12	22
25	Ben Alexander	62	16	14	16	16
26	Caleb Shearer	62	14	17	19	12
27	Oliver Bardoe	60	17	12	17	14
28	Oscar Fairclough	56	9	15	13	19
29	Rueben Jenkins	56	12	18	15	11
30	Charlie Dalgleish	52	15	10	14	13
31	Rylee Byrne	43	10	22	11	–
32	Oliver Monks (w)	39	11	9	9	10
33	Harris Curran (W)	33	7	7	10	9
34	Sebastian Todd	27	6	8	6	7
35	Charlie Parker	27	8	11	8	–
36	Alfie Brough	24	5	6	5	8

Junior 65cc

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Jett Gardiner (W)	166	39	41	43	43
2	Elliott Shawyer	162	43	39	41	39
3	Ronan Watson	154	45	33	39	37
4	Jack Clark	139	34	35	35	35
5	Cohen Jagielski	135	–	45	45	45
6	Sydney Williams	129	32	31	33	33
7	John Slade(w)	121	–	43	37	41
8	Forrest Roberts	111	31	32	27	21
9	Charley Wilcock	103	35	34	–	34
10	Harrison Chiddey	103	26	29	23	25
11	Bradley Thompson	102	33	21	31	17
12	Preston Chorley	99	30	23	22	24
13	Harrison Ashwood (W)	97	27	25	16	29
14	Sonny Saunders	96	29	18	29	20
15	Francis Nellist	95	13	30	24	28
16	Mason Staddon	95	23	26	19	27
17	Will kremer	92	17	28	17	30
18	Tommy Gaddes	91	25	4	30	32
19	Austin Edwards (W)	91	8	27	25	31
20	Tyler Peaty	90	41	–	34	15
21	Freddy Graham	88	19	24	26	19
22	Charlie Tunnicliffe	86	24	15	21	26
23	Isaac Arnold	82	28	–	32	22
24	Archie Oakes	79	16	20	20	23
25	Preston Hubbard(w)	77	22	19	18	18
26	Alfie Cotter	74	37	37	–	–
27	Blake Marks Bracey	61	–	22	28	11
28	Jack Waters	53	14	14	13	12
29	Liam Hannah	52	18	17	12	5
30	William King	50	15	12	10	13
31	Mason Shields	50	10	16	14	10
32	George Hickinbottom	48	12	7	15	14
33	Charlie Farmer	47	21	10	–	16
34	Louie Elderfield	40	11	9	11	9
35	Ava Peedle (W)	38	9	13	9	7
36	Max Miller	33	6	11	8	8
37	Jacob Penfold(w)	28	7	8	7	6
38	Haydn Escott	20	5	5	6	4
39	Jay Weaver	20	20	–	–	–
40	Jasper Morgan (W)	10	4	6	–	–