Round 5 of The BWMA/AMCA Westermans International British Womens Motocross Championships were hosted by the AMCA’s Cannock club at the Lower Drayton circuit near Cannock. Rain through the week made for perfect conditions under cloudy skies on Sunday. The track has been heavily revised with the introduction of sand sections making for the most challenging track the girls have faced this season.
Report and Images by Howard Marriott
Qualification for the adults was again headed by current Pro-Class Championship leader Chelsea Gowland with a time 3 seconds quicker than 2nd place Cath King, Tanisha Thomas was again 3rd less than a second quicker than Jaysi Austin who is really pushing hard, the biggest upset was Caitlin Newman with her highest qualifying position in 5th place, the sand suiting her style. Georgie Potter got the better of Chloe Richards and Grace Bates with Gemma Holtham in 9th and Kimberley Holden James rounding out the top 10.
Race 1 and it was Cath King that took the Muscle Doctor Holeshot as she launched out the gate, Chelsea Gowland was 2nd followed by Tanisha Thomas and Jaysi Austin, Gowland quickly took the lead and controlled the race from the front to the flag, behind, King was charging hard but couldn’t shake off Thomas and Austin, Jaysi Austin was liking the rough conditions and was determined to make an impression but all three were almost matching each others times and that is how it finished, next was the battle between Caitlin Newman and Georgie Potter who were swapping places throughout the race for 5th and 6th with Newman just getting the better of Potter just half a second separating them at the flag, the next battle was between Chloe Richards and Grace Bates and again these two were almost inseparable but Bates couldn’t find a way past, Gemma Holtham finished in 9th ahead of the winner of the National Ladies Class Kimberley Holden-James in 10th place.
Race 2 and determined to halt Kings Holeshot run it was Gowland that took the Muscle Doctor Holeshot but a lead that was short lived making an uncharacteristic mistake, Gowland dropped it not once but twice and despite coming from last she couldn’t quite reach King who took her second race win of the series, Tanisha Thomas again got the better of Jaysi Austin who is just struggling to find the extra pace to get past, this time Georgie Potter got back into her stride beating Caitlin Newman for 5th place and another reversal of fortunes as Grace Bates took 7th place from Chloe Richards, Gemma Holtham was consistent in 9th place again ahead of Kimberley Holden-James rounding out the top 10.
Race 3 and again it was Gowland stealing Kings thunder taking the last Muscle Doctor holeshot of the day this time running a faultless race controlling the race to the flag just doing enough to stay in front on a deteriorating track, Thomas found a new lease of life in a thrilling third race as she led King but King kept the pressure on only to take 2nd place with a lap to go after Thomas left the door open, absent from this battle was Jaysi Austin who dropped it late in the race only to finish down in 8th place. Out of all the contenders it was Grace Bates that had her best race of the series finishing in 4th place just beating Caitlin Newman, Chloe Richards and Georgie Potter with only 10 seconds separating them at the finish, again Gemma Holtham and Kimberley Holden-James took 9th and 10th.
In the National Class young 16 year old India Hodgkinson got her best result in 2nd ahead of Aaliyah Hulbert and Terri Wallace all with lap times within a second of each other.
Elite Ladies Pro-Class Results
1st Chelsea Gowland 147pts
2nd Catherine King 144pts
3rd Tanisha Thomas 135pts
4th Caitlin Newman 121pts
5th Jaysi Austin 121pts
6th Georgie Potter 117pts
7th Grace Bates 115pts
8th Chloe Richards 111pts
9th Gemma Holtham 99pts
10th Georgia Bottreill 93pts
National Ladies Championship
1st Kimberley Holden-James 150pts
2nd India Hodgkinson 139pts
3rd Aaliyah Hulbert 137pts
4th Terri Wallace 129pts
In the 85cc Youth Girls Class Rheanna Morgan-Rogers joined the championship taking advantage of midseason championship entry. Morgan-Rogers has been competing in the AMCA Youth Championship and is a quick rider particularly liking the rough Lower Drayton circuit and this showed in qualifying while others were getting to know the track Morgan-Rogers put in a blistering time 10 seconds better than 2nd place Amber McGregor, championship leader Beanie Reece 3rd, Northern Irelands Checoby Rainey 4th and 11 year old Leah Rees-Evans 5th, just over a second splitting these three, Millie Sweeney, Holly Williams and Ellie Davidson were next again just a couple of seconds splitting them New to the championship Kaitlin Meades 9th and Erin Howes rounding out the top 10.
Race 1 and it was Rheanna Morgan-Rogers taking the Muscle Doctor Holeshot and taking it all the way to the flag, Holly Williams had her best race result of the season finishing 2nd after a close battle with Millie Sweeney who fell while challenging Williams for second picking herself up to finish 6th, Amber McGregor a steady 3rd place with young Leah Rees-Evans a strong 4th place. Current championship leader Beanie Reece was struggling to gel with the track but managed 5th place, coming home in 6th place was Northern Ireland’s Checoby Rainey getting the better of Kaitlyn Meades and the unfortunate Ellie Davidson who took a hard face plant in the early stages doing well to bring it home 9th ahead of Erin Howes rounding out the top 10.
Race 2 and again Rheanna Morgan-Rogers took the Muscle Doctor Holeshot and again was untroubled to the flag, Beanie Reece struggled with her starts and was stuck in 6th place for most of the race until she suddenly found her form and in the last few laps picked her way through to 2nd place ahead of Checoby Rainey 3rd, Millie Sweeney and Holly Williams in 5th just 5 seconds separating these 4 riders at the finish. Amber McGregor suffered a flat tyre and did well to bring it home in 6th place scoring valuable points ahead of Ellie Davidson, Kaitlyn Meades, Erin Howes and Lowri Rees in 10th. Leah Rees-Evans was unlucky to fall, coming home 12th and spoiling her overall result.
Race 3 and a hat trick of Holeshots and wins for Rheanna Morgan-Rogers, Holly Williams was back on form with another 2nd place ahead of Amber McGregor back in 3rd, Leah Rees-Evans grabbing another great 4th place, Beanie Reece having found her form in race two was having another good race but a fall dropped her down to 7th place glad this round is over, Checoby Rainey finished with another top 5 in 5th place ahead of Ellie Davidson finally getting to grips with the sand, another faller was Millie Sweeney getting caught out by the soft sand finishing 8th ahead of Kaitlyn Meades and Lowri Rees in 10th place.
85cc Youth Girls Results
1st Rheanna Morgan-Rogers 150pts
2nd Holly Williams 135pts
3rd Amber McGregor 129pts
4th Beanie Reece 125pts
5th Checoby Rainey 123pts
6th Millie Sweeney 117pts
7th Leah Rees-Evans 115pts
8th Ellie Davidson 109pts
9th Kaitlyn Meades 103pts
10th Loweri Rees 93pts
The 65cc Rising Stars were joined by a new rider Grace Adshead who capitalised on current championship leader Poppy Bannings fall in race 2 having won both Race 1 and 3 taking the overall result off her by just one point with two 2nd’s and a 1st. The sand was proving to be a real challenge for these young girls on the smaller bikes but they did a fantastic job all four finishing every race with 9 year old Angelica Bennett just getting the better of Cameron Mansbridge, they’ll be glad to get back on firmer soil at Round 6 on 8th August.
65cc Rising Stars Results
1st Grace Adshead 144pts
2nd Poppy Banning 143pts
3rd Angelica Bennett 135pts
4th Cameron Mansbridge 133pts
