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Mud Glorious Mud! 2021 AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 5 – Race Report & Results

Rain, Rain and yet more rain, that was the story of a very wet round 5 of the AMCA British Motocross Championship at Hawkstone Park on Sunday! With it being a big achievement just to bring it home and get to the chequered flag, the action was to be eventually restricted to just a couple of moto’s each.

Report and Images by Mike Wood

In the event powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop, Ashley Greedy, Nev Bradshaw, Kieran Banks, Phil Mercer, Tyla Hooley and Oakley Kettle took the overall victories but every single competing rider was to be the real Hawkstone winners and all deserve a massive pat on the back for their herculean efforts! A special mention though should go to those rising young stars of the sport in the Youth 85cc class who refused to be intimidated by the heavy going, showing great determination and abundance of skill in not only mastering the track but still continuing to race.

Luke Hawkins MX1

Not surprisingly the conditions were also to have some bearing on the eventual results throughout the day but in MX1 series leader Ashley Greedy produced another majestic, controlled performance and thus bag the overall verdict, in the process also increasing his advantage at the top of the standings. The LHRT Kawasaki pilot is now 29 points clear with the very consistent James Dodd moving into 2nd and Josh Waterman slotting into 3rd as defending Champ Luke Burton drops to 4th following front brake disc problems in moto two.

Zac Stealey MX1

Having also opted to compete in Saturday’s AMCA Northern Group event at Hawkstone, Luke Hawkins proved that he was dialled into the track by setting the quickest qualifying time for the MX1 Championship action. With conditions poor, it was though Dodd who fired out of the gate in MX1 moto one to lead the way with Waterman, Burton, Zac Stealey and Greedy in tow. Doddy was sailing through the Hawkstone mud puddles in style and controlled proceedings up until lap five only to crash, as Burton then came through. As Burton went onto take the win, Dodd remounted to bag 2nd. Series leader  Greedy had managed to get up into 3rd just ahead of Waterman with Hawkins, Stealey, Jayden Ashwell, Jimmy Margetson and Mark Young next in the finishing order. This was a particularly impressive performance in the rain from Margetson who had initially gated in 16th.

In a dramatic start to MX1 moto two, title contender Burton was in trouble bending his front disc brake and damaging the brake hose in a deep, water filled Hawkstone rut. After running repairs, Burton was back racing but being three laps down it was now a case of damage limitation and the need to still just finish the contest. At the front the rapid Dodd on his Ultimate Wheels/Thunderroad Honda had led the charge. Under intense pressure from Hawkins, Dodd held on until three laps from home before the Apex GasGas UK ace got through. In the closing stages, the very determined Greedy also relegated Dodd who was suffering frompoor vision after being forced to discard his googles due to water getting behind the roll-ons. Waterman produced another strong ride for 4th from Stealey, Luke Meredith and Sean Wainwright.

James Dodd MX1

Having enjoyed an illustrious career and raced many laps around the Hawkstone venue, Nev Bradshaw put his vast experience to good use by producing a superb opening MX2 moto performance on Sunday. Being the current AMCA MX2 series leader, Nev on the 250cc 2T FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna led moto one from start to finish, his winning margin being nearly 15 seconds as Henry Williams took 2nd from Adam Collings, Shane Carless and James Wainwright who was another rider electing to discard his goggles in the awful conditions. Taking out a wild card entry for Hawkstone, Wainwright a double AMCA mx2 Champion had earlier set the fastest qualifying time. Also in the mix in this one were Rossi Beard, Lewis Dowdeswell, Rory Jones, Josh Peters and Josh Canton.

Getting stuck in the Hawkstone quagmire

FUS teammates Carless and Bradshaw both took turns to lead MX2 moto two but it was young Wainwright who was to bag the win. Gating 4th he then took control on lap three as Bradshaw and Carless followed him home. Having another great ride, Collings was 4th from Beard, Ray Rowson and Dowdeswell. Being another rider with vast experience of competing at Hawkstone, Rowson campaigned a 250cc 2T KTM on Sunday and appeared to be having lots of fun! For Wiliams, moto two was not quite as much fun though  after getting bogged down in one of the worse wet sections on the track and dropping down to 14th, he fought back to earn 9th at the flag.

Kieran Banks 125cc

After setting the fastest qualifying time in 125cc, Bradley Tranter then grabbed the moto one holeshot to  thus lead the high revving pack. Three laps in though and Tranter suffered a painful excursion over his KTM handlebars resulting in a dislocated shoulder. Somehow he picked himself up to remount and eventually finish in a brave 4th spot! Taking the win in this one was the very quick Lloyd Morgan chased all the way by fellow Fantic rider and series leader Kieran Banks. Getting home in 3rd was Harrison McCann as Tomas Wright, Joel Fisher, Matt Ridgway, Jordan Wright and Luke Newman put some very useful points on the board.

Tom Fish 125cc

With Tranter a moto two non-starter, the superb Banks took full advantage by adding another win to his already very impressive total. Banks was certainly made to work very hard for that one as both Stuart Owen and Morgan had earlier led the way. Banks though on his Meredith MX Fantic was not to be denied, taking control on lap four. Incredibly on completion of this contest, Kieran had built a massive 30 seconds winning margin with Morgan in 2nd, Owen 3rd and Newman having his best ride of the series so far in 4th. With Jordan Wright, Tomas Wright and Joel Fisher again in the points, next up in 8th was former three times AMCA Champion Jack Cox. Making a very welcome return to action, Jack showed that he had not lost any of that old style, skill and speed!

Simon Lane Vets

Adding some extra spice to Sunday’s AMCA Vets Championship action, and coming out of the FUS awning was a couple of wildcard riders, Adrian Bradley a former multi AMCA and double IMBA European Champion and David Dunn. The overall result though in the Vets was to have a very familiar look about it as Phil Mercer took the win from Gary Davies and Paul Burn. Being another rider with vast Hawkstone and wet weather racing experience, Mercer used all of his track craft and guile to win moto one. Gating 4th the FUS Marsh MX Husqvarna pilot quickly passed Dunn and Simon Lane to move up into 2nd. Then by lap three Phil was in control and there he remained as Davies took the runners-up slot from Adrian Bradley, Dunn, Burn, Lane and Anthony Bennett. For defending Champion James Lane the day though did not start well, unable to fire his Husqvarna machine into life, he was left to stand and watch the action instead.

James was thankfully back under power for the second Vets clash as Gary Davies led the charge. On lap one though Gary got temporarily bogged down in a deep, wet corner thus enabling Phil to take the advantage and control of the moto. The popular Cradley Kawasaki rider competing on home soil was to quickly regain forward momentum following his sticky scare before inserting heavy pressure on Phil, chasing him all the way home to the chequered flag.  After his opening race problems, James Lane bagged a welcome 3rd from Bradley, Burn, Matt Chaplin, Dunn and Christian Seldon. So on the podium it was Mercer making it 5 out of 5 overall wins joined on the box by Davies and Burn.

Shaun Mahoney in Youth 85cc action

Incredibly 34 young 85cc riders came under starters orders at Hawkstone with the entry being boosted by three very impressive ACU Youth racing stars, Tyla Hooley, Shaun Mahoney and Freddie Gardiner. Taking the overall win on the day was Hooley son of former top AMCA and IMBA European Championship contender Mark. And, boy, can young Tyla ride, producing a superb performance of control, maturity and style to master the testing Hawkstone sloop, his Dad must have been very proud!

Tyla Hooley the Youth 85cc winner

Also having a great day at Hawkstone was AMCA series regular Jack Davies and indeed he was to be the moto one pacesetter after claiming the holeshot before Hooley got through in the early stages. From here onwards it was Hooley all the way as Mahoney took 2nd from Davis, series leader Oliver Rigby, Gardiner, Kalvin Kelly and Benjamin Sullivan. Whilst Rigby bagged another 43 big Championship points, the day did not start to well for his rival Charlie Hucklebridge. Not enjoying the conditions, Charlie had to settle for 13th in this one.

Jack Davis Youth 85cc

In moto two, Davis again led the way before Hooley came storming through. Turning on the style and with the circuit a little drier, Hooley scorched to another win, incredibly 53 seconds clear of Mahoney, what a performance that was! Next up were Kelly, Sullivan, Wyatt McGregor and Davis. In this one the AMCA Championship top two both failed to score as Rigby’s bike expired and Hucklebridge disappeared after the opening lap. So it was Hooley, Mahoney and Kelly on the podium whilst in the title race, Rigby is now 47 points clear of Hucklebridge and Davis. In the SW85cc class, Oakley Kettle took the win on the day from Harley Prickett and Harrison Davies. Kettle also leads that particular Championship just 3 points clear of Prickett.

Following the Hawkstone nightmare, there’s little time for riders to recover as they wash bikes and clothing before preparing for the next AMCA British Championship adventure in just two weeks time!

Results

MX1

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2
1 Ashley Greedy 92 45 47
2 James Dodd 92 47 45
3 Luke Hawkins 91 41 50
4 Josh Waterman 86 43 43
5 Zac Stealey 78 39 39
6 Jimmy Margetson 76 35 41
7 Luke Burton 71 50 21
8 Jayden Ashwell 70 37 33
9 Luke Meredith 66 29 37
10 Sean Wainwright 65 30 35
11 Henry Partridge 60 31 29
12 Mark Young 60 33 27
13 Will Hughes 55 25 30
14 Chris Neesam 54 28 26
15 Mark Roberts 52 27 25
16 Rhys Walker 47 23 24
17 Damon Strydom 46 18 28
18 Luke Chessell 39 17 22
19 Tye Barrs 39 19 20
20 Jamie Skuse 31 31
21 Sunny Thompson 26 26
22 Joe Roberts 24 24
23 Benjamin Nicholls 23 23
24 Harvey Tillotson 22 22
25 Luke Dean 21 21
26 Rory Merchant 20 20

MX2

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2
1 Neville Bradshaw 97 50 47
2 James Wainwright 91 41 50
3 Shane Carless 88 43 45
4 Adam Collings 88 45 43
5 Rossi Beard 80 39 41
6 Henry Williams 80 47 33
7 Lewis Dowdeswell 74 37 37
8 Josh Canton 66 31 35
9 Rory Jones 61 35 26
10 Lee Truman 57 26 31
11 Sean Eckersley 55 28 27
12 James Hanscomb 53 25 28
13 Mitchell Perry 52 22 30
14 Billy Bayliss 52 23 29
15 Harry Linton 51 27 24
16 Josh Coleman 49 29 20
17 Martin Jones 45 20 25
18 Richy Roberts 44 21 23
19 Ray Rowson 39 39
20 Ben James 35 14 21
21 Adam Hill 33 15 18
22 Josh Peters 33 33
23 Aaron Collins 32 10 22
24 Joe Russell 30 11 19
25 Corey Hockey 30 30
26 Callum Ford 24 24
27 Keelan Southwood 19 19
28 Patrick Gilligan 18 18
29 Macauley Davies 17 17
30 Joshua Barnett 16 16
31 Alfie Jones 13 13
32 Pip Davies 12 12

125’s

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2
1 Kieran Banks 97 47 50
2 Lloyd Morgan 97 50 47
3 tomos wright 80 41 39
4 Luke Newman 76 33 43
5 Jordan Wright 76 35 41
6 Joel Fisher 76 39 37
7 Harrison Mccann 72 45 27
8 Stuart Owen 70 25 45
9 Matt Ridgway 66 37 29
10 Jack Cox 62 27 35
11 Shane Holmes 62 29 33
12 Jordan Ridgway 62 31 31
13 Tom Fish 51 23 28
14 Jordan Meredith 51 26 25
15 Yarin Evans 49 28 21
16 Harry Ridgway 49 30 19
17 Matt Tolley 46 20 26
18 Callum Baldwin 45 15 30
19 Clinton Barrs 45 21 24
20 Bradley Tranter 43 43
21 Ezra Blackwell 42 24 18
22 Max Lewis 41 19 22
23 Oliver Barnes 36 16 20
24 Joshua Fletcher-Williams 23 23
25 Conner Challinor 22 22
26 Mitchell Gregory 18 18
27 Nathan Bache 17 17
28 Olly Hathaway 14 14

Vets

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2
1 Phil Mercer 100 50 50
2 Gary Davies 94 47 47
3 Paul Burn 82 41 41
4 David Dunn 80 43 37
5 Simon Lane 70 39 31
6 Christian Seldon 68 33 35
7 Mark Hawkins 59 31 28
8 Andrew Watkins 58 28 30
9 Gareth Dunsford 58 29 29
10 John Littler 56 30 26
11 Richard Tudor 56 35 21
12 Sean Smith 55 22 33
13 Matthew Evans 52 27 25
14 Russell Hartill 50 26 24
15 Brian Staples 47 20 27
16 David Bradley 45 45
17 James Lane 45 45
18 Stephen Hurst 44 21 23
19 David Bradley 43 43
20 Matthew Chaplin 39 39
21 David Bullock 39 19 20
22 Anthony Bennett 37 37
23 Steve Ferney 25 25
24 Gary Hurst 24 24
25 Guy Langmead 23 23
26 Alan Reese 22 22

Youth 85’s

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2
1 Tyla Hooley 100 50 50
2 Shaun Mahoney 94 47 47
3 Kalvin Kelly 84 39 45
4 Jack Davis 84 45 39
5 Benjamin Sullivan 80 37 43
6 Alfie Bebb 68 31 37
7 Freddie Gardiner 67 41 26
8 Sion Wright 62 27 35
9 Cameron Chell 60 35 25
10 Will Turner 57 30 27
11 Jonas Brown 56 25 31
12 Oakley Kettle 54 26 28
13 Tyler Smith 54 33 21
14 Jack Evans 52 19 33
15 Conrad Tomlinson 48 24 24
16 Harley Prickett 47 18 29
17 Rheanna Morgan-Rogers 45 29 16
18 Harrison Davies 44 21 23
19 Oliver Rigby 43 43
20 Wyatt McGregor 41 41
21 Linc Hasted 39 17 22
22 Josh Lansbury 39 20 19
23 Tremaine Young 39 22 17
24 Logan Jay Powell 38 23 15
25 Amber McGregor 34 16 18
26 Rylee Francis 30 30
27 George Bromley 29 15 14
28 Charlie Hucklebridge 28 28
29 Oliver Bebb 20 20

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