Pontrilas power up! 2022 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Round 5 – Race Report & Results

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Pontrilas, just a couple of miles from the Welsh border, was the host venue to round 5 of the 2022 Acerbis Amatuer Nationals, and with the hot weather baking the circuit through the week, dust and a hard surfaced track were the order of the day for Saturday but rain turned up and dampened things down for Sunday.

Report by Arran Murphy – Images courtesy of JMFS Photography

First up this time around was the Craigs Motorcycles sponsored MX2 class who were first out where GasGas man Dom Newbury continued on his run of form. After claiming the honours at Culham, he backed up his performance and went on to take the overall victory at Pontrilas with two wins, a third and a fourth, just pipping series leader Dylan Spencer by a couple of points. Spencer took a win of his own in moto 3 but just fell short, while wildcard Zac Stealey was always in the mix, claiming third for his efforts. Olly Jones took a season-best fourth while Harry Linton, who looked in the running for the overall had mechanical issues in the final race dropping him to fifth.

In the Paradise MX Holidays MX1 category 2019 Weston Beach Race winner Ashley Greedy made a wildcard appearance on board his Kawasaki and he dominated the weekend, claiming all four race wins and maximum points. MX1 class leader Jack Beniston extended his points lead out from the original 37 points as he went home with a bag full of runner-ups on the day, finishing ahead of his championship rivals each time out. Luke Meredith will have moved up to runner up in the series after capitalising on Ed Briscoe having issues this weekend as the number 17 bike stood on the lower step of the rostrum while Sion Talbot and the returning from injury Andy Wilson rounded out the top five.

In the Moto Connection 125 2 stroke class Ash Harland took his new GasGas machine to its maiden victory. 1-1-1-3 results were the outcome and in the process, proving the switch from blue to red was worthwhile. Rob Holyoake consolidated his spot at the top of the standings extending his lead further with the runner-up spot at Pontrilas, claiming the final moto win on his way as Joel Fisher got better as the weekend went on with 5-4-3-2 results to land him on the lower step of the rostrum. Matt Ridgway and Damon Strydom fought hard all weekend to take home the final couple of spots inside the top five.

Corey Hockey was close to making it a full sweep of race wins in the California MX Dreams Open 2 stroke class as three wins split by a moto 3 runner up place as the rain came down, gave him the honours extending his already whopping 88 point gap at the top even further. Rory Jones pushed hard all weekend and landed inside the top three in all four motos but just couldn’t hang onto the flying 54 machine. Cumbrian James Dent put his enduro skills into good use in the third race of the weekend as the rain came down, and he took the remaining race victory to help him to third overall on the day. Reigning champ Adam Harris finished the weekend in fourth aboard his Fantic and Jordan Barrs rounded off the top five.

In the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 class Danny Tollett and Lee Martin continued on with their season-long scrap for top honours as the title race nears the closing stages. Tollett took his KTM to a pair of wins over the weekend backed up by a second and a fourth giving him the honours by just a couple of points over Martin, who came into the event 51 points up. Simon Bonsor was always in and around the top three and eventually finished the weekend with third overall for his efforts. Barry Gray had a pair of fifth places and a pair of thirds to give him fourth overall while Craig Chamberlain took his first moto win of the year on Saturday to boost him to fifth overall.

It was business as usual in the Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 class as Brian Wheeler did his usual holeshot and checked out in each moto on his way to four more wins and keeping his 100% undefeated streak alive. Chris Brown, now Honda mounted, had no answer for the former GP rider and once again, as he has all year had to settle for runner up overall as Cumbrian Paul Coward had a solid weekend taking home a fifth, fourth and two thirds on his way to standing on the final step of the podium. Adrian Lewis took home fourth while Brian Fraser won out on the tie break for fifth with Rob Prosser.

In the Motoverde Ladies category, things were blown wide open as championship contender Kathryn Booth had a huge crash in the second race, causing a big cut to her forehead from the impact meaning a DNF and huge points lost. It was wildcard returnee Elaine MacEachern who made the trip down from Scotland to take the victory with two wins a two runner up spots. Elaine didn’t have it all her own way though as series leader Grace Richards capitalised on Booths issues and took a pair of race wins herself on her way to runner up overall ahead of her new closest challenger Amie Goodlad. Grace Packman and Rebecca Newham finished the weekend in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

There was a fresh face on the top step of the Manchester Xtreme Junior Open category for the first time in 2022 as Jack Gotts dominated the weekend claiming four wins from four starts showing everyone he enjoys riding the harder-packed circuits and giving himself maximum points. Liam Somerville already with a huge lead at the top of the standings had to settle for runner up this time around but will still have a solid gap going into the final 2 rounds. Luke Price tied on points with Somerville, but the final race went against him, and so third was the end result while Tom Card and Jake Bashford finished the weekend fourth and fifth overall respectively.

The series now heads to the famous Farleigh Castle for the penultimate round of the series.

Results

MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	ASHLEY GREEDY	160	40	40	40	40
2	JACK BENISTON	152	38	38	38	38
3	LUKE MERADITH	129	34	29	34	32
4	SION TALBOT	129	36	36	28	29
5	ANDY WILSON	128	30	32	36	30
6	LEE SEALEY	124	22	34	32	36
7	CORY NEMETH	116	28	27	27	34
8	JOSH GREEDY	105	27	28	26	24
9	JOSH CANTON	101	19	26	30	26
10	ED BRISCOE	97	25	25	20	27
11	DANIEL PARRY	94	26	21	19	28
12	PATRICK GILLIGAN	92	24	16	29	23
13	JAY LEWIS	91	21	24	24	22
14	TYE BARRS	90	18	22	25	25
15	ADAM THIRWELL	90	29	19	21	21
16	SIMON BOOTH	87	23	23	22	19
17	KIA THIRWELL	83	20	20	23	20
18	HARVEY TILLOTSON	77	32	30	15	–
19	PETE HAMLETT	71	17	18	18	18
20	DEAN CUMMINGS	67	16	17	17	17
21	THOMAS O’CONNOR	61	15	15	16	15
22	NICK DAVIS	43	14	13	–	16
23	HARLEY JONES	14	–	14	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	DOM NEWBRY	150	36	40	34	40
2	DYLAN SPENCER	148	34	38	40	36
3	ZAC STEALEY	140	38	28	36	38
4	OLLY JONES	131	29	36	32	34
5	HARRY LINTON	127	40	32	38	17
6	ALFIE CALVERT	123	32	34	27	30
7	JORDAN HEARN	114	28	29	28	29
8	SCOTT MERADITH	112	27	24	29	32
9	MITCHELL MEADOWS	110	25	27	30	28
10	OLIVER BARNES	99	26	21	25	27
11	AARON COLLINS	94	22	23	24	25
12	RYAN MANLEY	93	23	26	21	23
13	JUDE HARDTWELL	90	20	18	26	26
14	ELLIOTT COOK	87	24	25	20	18
15	ARRAN MURPHY	83	21	19	22	21
16	LUKE TUNRER	81	17	17	23	24
17	ADAM NEVITT	81	18	22	19	22
18	DANIEL NEVITT	76	19	20	18	19
19	LEWIS GLYNN	60	30	30	–	–
20	SIMON ALDRIDGE	37	–	–	17	20
21	GEORGE PATTINSON	16	16	–	–	–

2 Stroke Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	COREY HOCKEY	158	40	40	38	40
2	RORY JONES	150	38	38	36	38
3	JAMES DENT	148	36	36	40	36
4	ADAM HARRIS	134	34	32	34	34
5	JORDAN BARRS	128	30	34	32	32
6	KEELAN HOPE	122	32	30	30	30
7	MATT HOCKENHALL	108	25	27	27	29
8	JAMES HANSCOMB	108	29	29	29	21
9	MATT LOMAS	101	26	25	22	28
10	RYAN MATTHEWS	101	27	26	24	24
11	REECE WAIN	97	23	23	26	25
12	SEAN VENESS	96	24	22	23	27
13	REECE WILKINSON	86	22	20	21	23
14	AJAY SIMPSON	84	21	21	20	22
15	RYAN DEACON	81	28	28	25	–
16	ALEX NEEDHAM	78	–	24	28	26
17	TOMMY SIMPSON	20	–	–	–	20

125s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	ASH HARLAND	156	40	40	40	36
2	ROB HOLYOAKE	150	34	38	38	40
3	JOEL FISHER	140	32	34	36	38
4	MATT RIDGWAY	134	36	36	32	30
5	DAMON STRYDOM	132	38	32	30	32
6	LIAM GALE	128	30	30	34	34
7	TIM GARDHAM	113	29	28	27	29
8	HAYDEN STEPHENS	106	24	26	28	28
9	LEWIS PETFIELD	104	25	29	25	25
10	HARRISON FORDE	104	27	24	29	24
11	ALAN PEARCE	100	28	27	22	23
12	GEORGE POOL	99	26	21	26	26
13	TROY JONES	96	20	25	24	27
14	JOSH NOON	86	23	19	23	21
15	BEN HUNTER	83	19	23	21	20
16	HAYDEN BROWN	80	21	20	17	22
17	CRAIG REYNOLDS	75	18	18	20	19
18	JACK JORDAN	69	16	17	18	18
19	LOGAN POWELL	63	22	22	19	–
20	RYAN LOWES	17	17	–	–	–

Junior Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	JACK GOTTS	160	40	40	40	40
2	LIAM SOMERVILLE	133	36	27	36	34
3	LUKE PRICE	133	38	28	38	29
4	TOM CARD	124	34	30	28	32
5	JAKE BASHFORD	122	27	36	29	30
6	RICHARD EVANS	117	26	34	30	27
7	TAYLOR MISSELBROOK	113	30	32	25	26
8	DAN TIMBRELL	109	19	38	16	36
9	FINNLY ABOTT	94	32	24	15	23
10	KEVIN BROWN	94	29	12	32	21
11	DALE LYONS	92	20	25	27	20
12	BILLY WIECZOREK	89	21	29	23	16
13	JACK GATLAND	83	18	21	20	24
14	SAM HAMER	81	22	19	21	19
15	STEFAN ROBSON	80	28	26	13	13
16	SHEA RYAN	75	23	17	10	25
17	ADRIAN WITCOMBE	74	4	16	26	28
18	KIERON DAVIES	74	15	15	22	22
19	CONOR BROOKES	72	–	–	34	38
20	MATT BENNETT	67	17	20	12	18
21	ADIEE SMITH	66	16	22	18	10
22	DAN EVANS	59	13	18	11	17
23	MARK RIDGWAY	57	14	11	17	15
24	TOM EVANS	51	10	13	19	9
25	JAMES MILNE	48	24	–	24	–
26	KEIRON WOODS	41	11	23	7	–
27	HARRY WIECZOREK	40	6	14	6	14
28	LOUIS SMITH	39	9	9	9	12
29	BEN PROSSER	37	12	6	8	11
30	SEB BASHFORD	25	25	–	–	–
31	TOM BERRY	25	5	7	5	8
32	TOM MATTHEWS	25	8	10	1	6
33	AIDEN MURPHY	23	7	8	3	5
34	RYAN NEALE	18	2	5	4	7
35	HARLEY JONES	14	–	–	14	–
36	RYAN WOODS	9	3	2	–	4
37	JASON BRICE	8	–	3	2	3
38	BEN LOCKLEY	7	1	4	–	2
39	CIA NICKSON	1	–	1	–	–

Ladies

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	ELAINE MACEACHERN	156	40	38	38	40
2	GRACE RICHARDS	150	34	40	40	36
3	AMIE GOODLAD	140	36	36	34	34
4	GRACE PACKMAN	124	30	32	32	30
5	REBECCA NEWHAM	121	29	30	30	32
6	EMILY NOON	115	28	29	29	29
7	KATHRYN BOOTH	112	38	–	36	38
8	LILY MORELAND	111	27	28	28	28
9	ANDREA TAYLFORTH	104	25	26	26	27
10	AALIYAH HULBERT	80	26	27	27	–
11	NADIYA JONES	66	32	34	–	–

Vets Over 40

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	DANNY TOLLET	152	40	34	40	38
2	LEE MARTIN	150	38	38	34	40
3	SIMON BONSAR	144	36	36	38	34
4	BARRY GRAY	136	32	32	36	36
5	CRAIG CHAMBERLAINE	129	34	40	30	25
6	PAUL WIECZOREK	119	28	30	29	32
7	DAVID EVANS	114	30	22	32	30
8	CHRIS RUDD	112	27	29	27	29
9	NIGEL SMORFITT	108	26	26	28	28
10	MARK SUTHERLAND	103	24	27	26	26
11	GUY LANANEAD	98	23	24	24	27
12	DALE SILK	96	22	25	25	24
13	GAVIN LOWES	88	21	21	23	23
14	ADAM WILKINSON	57	29	28	–	–
15	STEVE RILEY	48	25	23	–	–

Vets Over 50

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	BRIAN WHEELER	160	40	40	40	40
2	CHRIS BROWN	152	38	38	38	38
3	PAUL COWARD	138	32	34	36	36
4	ADRIAN LEWIS	119	28	29	30	32
5	BRIAN FRASER	115	29	27	29	30
6	ROB PROSSER	115	27	32	32	24
7	ADRIAN JESSOP	109	23	25	27	34
8	STEVE HUMPHRIES	104	25	24	26	29
9	STEPHEN POLLOCK	99	24	22	25	28
10	DAVID HOPKINS	96	34	28	34	–
11	STAN MORFITT	94	19	20	28	27
12	MIKE JOHNSTON	87	22	17	23	25
13	ANDY WATKINS	72	36	36	–	–
14	ANDREW PROSSER	67	–	19	22	26
15	JOHN CARD	65	20	21	24	–
16	ANDREW LITTLE	60	30	30	–	–
17	STEVE HOWES	49	26	23	–	–
18	COLLIN BERRY	47	21	26	–	–
19	TIM RIGGS	34	18	16	–	–
20	ROB LEWIS	18	–	18	–	–