British MX2 champion Conrad Mewse salvaged a second-place finish after a terrible start in the main event of the penultimate round of the new-look UK Arenacross championship at the sold-out Genting Arena in Birmingham. The Crendon Fastrack Honda rider now trails the series leader Tommy Searle by just two points as the team heads to the final at Wembley in two weeks.
It was also a tough night for Mewse’s team-mate Josh Gilbert who was lucky to survive a spectacular crash in the final. He remounted and grittily raced to the end, salvaging a tenth place to further extend the squad’s lead in the Team Championship.
Then in the final, both riders got bunched up and were right into the back going into the first corner. But showing amazing speed and determination, Mewse picked his way past all the other riders in the field but had no answer when Searle outmanoeuvred him to take the lead and the race win.
Gilbert, riding full of confidence from the start of the day following his win at last week’s round in Aberdeen, was in the same heats as the two title rivals. He didn’t get a great start in the first but followed his team-mate over the line for third place. And he took a fourth place in the second heat to ensure of his place in the final.
He gunned the Crendon Fastrack Honda CRF450R to a great start, but then got bunched up in the first hairpin bend and ended the first lap in seventh before picking up a place second time round. Then disaster struck and he was thrown over the bars in one of the rhythm sections. He was lucky to avoid injury or damage the bike severely, but eventually remounted and kept going to the finish to take tenth place.
Gilbert said: “I love the track and quickly got all the rhythm sections and triples dialled in practice. It was all about just trying to get out of the gate cleanly.
“Last week I had a rubbish start, then came through to take the win. This week I had a holeshot, made a mistake and went backwards and ended up upside down! I’m not hurt which is the main thing. So let’s rest and get ready to go again next round.”
His ride, along with Mewse’s runner-up, ensured the Crendon Fastrack Honda extended the lead in the Team Championship.
Team manager, triple world 500 champion Dave Thorpe said: “When Tommy Searle had his misdemeanour in qualifying, we should have been ready to capitalise on it, but our advantage disappeared the moment he managed to get an inside gate pick in the second heat. He must have thought Christmas had come early!
“Conrad did his best to stay with him but didn’t have the same intensity mid-race this time. But he’s only two points behind going into the final round and we all know anything can happen. Conrad has surprised a lot of people and beaten Tommy fair and square in Arenacross this year so it’s all to play for at Wembley.
“As for Josh, he was riding hard and we’re all just relieved he walked away from such a big crash. It’s so easy to get hurt doing such intense racing like this.”
The rider/ manager of the Tru7 Honda Racing Academy team, Jake Nicholls, fought through the pain barrier of a big spill in Aberdeen last week and was running fourth in his heat until he was bulldozed out of the way by another rider. Nicholls’s leg got stuck in the back of his rival’s bike but luckily was unhurt. He had to face the head-to-head rounds to make it to the main event and was in amazing form, winning all three of his races.
But in the final he went down in the second corner. He remounted but the injuries and extra races of the night took their toll yet he managed to make it to the finish eighth.
He said: “I’m pretty sore after my crash last week but it was OK apart from the whoops where I really felt it. I lack strength and the whoops are tough. I came off in the second turn in the main and that was it. I got back on but was on my own and it was tough to focus as I was in so much pain.”
Birmingham AX Pro overall results:
1 Tommy Searle
2 Conrad Mewse – Crendon Fastrack Honda
3 Jack Brunell
4 Joe Clayton
5 Dylan Woodcock
6 Elliott Banks-Browne
7 Ben Clayton
8 Jake Nicholls – Tru7 Honda Racing Academy
9 Adam Chatfield
10 Josh Gilbert – Crendon Fastrack Honda
Championship positions after five rounds
1 Tommy Searle 71
2 Conrad Mewse 69 – Crendon Fastrack Honda
3 Josh Gilbert 46 – Crendon Fastrack Honda
4 Jack Brunell 46
5 Elliott Banks-Browne 37
6 Joe Clayton 26
7 Adam Chatfield 35
8 Jason Meara 20
9 Mathew Bayliss 18
10 Jake Nicholls 16 – Tru7 Honda Racing Academy
Team championship after five rounds
1 Crendon Fastrack Honda 112
2 GTCI Revo Kawasaki 80
3 Mark McCann 64 71
4 Troy Lee Designs GasGas 44
5 FUS Geartec 34
6 Darjen Kawasaki 32
7 Allmoto Mega Bikes 20
8 Apico Factory Racing 16
9 AJP Geartec 16
10 Gabriel KTM 15
11 Tru7 Honda Racing Academy 15
