Shipton & Carpenter shine at Cusses! 2022 Bridgestone British Masters Round 3 – Race Report & Results

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Jake Shipton made a triumphant return to national motocross by winning both Pro MX1 races, with apparent ease, at last weekend’s round three of the Bridgestone British Masters at a breezy but sunny Cusses Gorse track in Wiltshire.

Report by Dick Law – Feature Image courtesy of Dick Law – Other images courtesy of Dick Law and DIFTS Media

But while Shipton (FUS Husqvarna) was dominating the MX1s James Carpenter (GRT KTM) and Alfie Jones (Chambers Husqvarna) were trading blows to see who would come out on top of the Pro MX2s.

The weekend’s weather couldn’t have been better with a hot and sunny Saturday with a cool breeze to make it more comfortable and a mostly sunny Sunday with clouds that threatened to rain but didn’t.

After a hectic first turn at the start of the first combined pro MX1 and MX2 race, Dan Thornhill (Cab Screens Crescent Yamaha) emerged from the dust and dirt cloud in the lead from Shipton, Carpenter, Sam Nunn (Cab Screens Crescent Yamaha) and John Adamson (ASA United Gas Gas). But, by the time the race was just four turns and a jump, old Thornhill slipped off his mighty Yamaha. He said after, “Perhaps I was a bit excited being in the lead, but my front wheel went in one rut with my rear going in another, and it pitched me off”. This incident left Shipton in the race’s lead, and that was the last anyone saw of him, except if he came around to lap them.

Adamson passed Nunn halfway around the opening lap and then pushed past Carpenter on lap three, the bigger MX1 making it easier against the 250cc MX2 bikes. He spent the rest of the race in second place, trying to close the gap on race winner Shipton.

Liam Knight (Gabriel KTM) gated in eleventh place but quickly made up places till at half distance he was in fourth. He passed Carpenter with three laps left in the race for third.

Sand and beach specialist Todd Kellett (Yamaha) made an unusual appearance at a hard-pack track. He ended his first lap in ninth place and followed Knight up through the pack to finish fifth on the track but fourth MX1 rider home.

Lewis Hall (Husqvarna) had an up-and-down sort of race. He started sixth and made his way up to fourth before slipping back to sixth, but he was the second MX2 rider to finish, with the third rider Charlie Cole (Blades Kawasaki), just behind him.

As for the early leader Thornhill, he made it through the pack to end his race in fifth.

Shipton got the holeshot at the start of race two and just cleared off for the race win. But that could have been very different as three laps from the end of the race, his rear subframe broke on his Husqvarna, forcing him to slow, but he still managed to win.

Knight was second at the start but was passed by Adamson on lap four. But cruel luck struck Adamson on the next lap, and his forks started to malfunction, which meant he couldn’t risk doing the big jumps around the track. So he slowed and just rode out the rest of the laps to acquire as many championship points as possible. This left Knight in a comfortable second place for the rest of the race.

Cole had gated well and was running third on the track, but the first MX2 rider, till, on lap three, Thornhill and Kellett powered past him on the bigger MX1 machines, and a lap later, Jones slipped by him to claim fifth in the race, but the second MX2. So Cole was the third MX2.

Overall, in the MX1s, it was a double win for Shipton, with Knight second and Kellett third. Thornhill was fourth despite his fall, with Adamson salvaging fifth with a broken bike.

In the MX2s, it was a win for Carpenter by four points from Jones, with Cole third just two points behind them. Nunn just missed out on a podium position with Hockey fifth.

Shipton was delighted by his performance saying, “It’s been a bit messy since I had the carpal tunnel operation on both my wrists. We have had a baby and moved into a new place, and now things have settled down a bit, I have come back to racing. I have only had about six weeks on the bike properly. I rode an AMCA and Southern event and enjoyed those, so I thought I would enter this and have a skid around and see how it goes. To be honest, I didn’t think I would go as well as I did, and I did find it easy out there once I got over the self-doubt. It all just came back, and I really enjoyed it”

Knight was happy with his second overall and said, “I had a bit of a coming together with another rider off the start which meant I was mid-pack and had to work hard to get to the front. I rode better in the first and struggled in the second race. Jake (Shipton) was on another level today. He made a good start and had a real good time on the opening laps. In the second, the whole race, really. John (Adamson) had a problem with his forks, I think, which helped me. We have changed a couple of things on the bike this week, and I hope it helps in the coming events.”

Kellett said from third place on the MX1 podium, “I was happy with my third place overall today. I haven’t done a motocross start for over ten months now, so that was a bit of a wake-up call. The track surface was like concrete in places out there, and I am not used to that. It was nice to come back to hard pack to show I can still ride it, but this is not my main focus now, as we know.”

Winner of the pro MX2 overall, Carpenter said, “It’s been a good day. I made things a bit harder for myself in the second race after missing the start and fighting my way through. I could have done with another lap so I could get the double win, but these races are a bit shorter than we are used to. But the overall Is good”.

Second place man, Jones said, “It’s been a great experience as I have had my first ever pro race win. It’s all new to me, and I was stressing out a bit but trying to minimise mistakes and manage arm-pump. But the win in the second race was awesome, and I want to do it again”.

The third-place man Cole said, “I have had a big week of training this week. I was at Hawkstone on a track day yesterday, so I am a bit tired today. The first race was alright, but I started feeling it a bit halfway through the second. Then Alfie (Jones) came past, but he was riding well, and then I just started struggling the last couple of laps. But it’s where we need to be”.

The rest

Luke Sturgeon (DSC KTM) made up for his eleventh-place finish in race one with two race wins and a second to take the Amateur MX1 overall. Series leader Harry Bradley (Kawasaki) finished all four of his races in the top four for second overall and increased his lead in the championship. Jamie Fort (LAAB Park MX Honda) was third, with Rob Wood (MI Design Husqvarna) just missing out on the podium.

With two wins and two high-placed finishes, Adam Harris (Fantic / AS3 Performance Fantic) won the Amateur MX2 with race one winner Travis Steels (ANSA MX KTM) second and wildcard rider Josh Peters (Gas Gas) third.

Wildcard rider Grant Martin (KTM) won the Clubman class with two race wins, a second and a fourth. Race three winner James Thompson (Kawasaki) was second, with race one winner Adam Paxton (Shires Scaffolding Honda) third, and the three top riders finished the weekend separated by just two points.

Once again, Neville Bradshaw (Yamaha) showed the youngsters how to race a 125 by winning the class with three race wins and a second and increased his lead in the championship. Race three winner Hanry Siddiqui (Holeshot MX KTM) is second, with the young Tyler Hooley (ASA United Gas Gas) a distant third.

Youth

Wildcard Jak Taylor (Kawasaki), with three wins and a second-place, won the hard-fought MXY2 class while Ben Zeale (JD Racing Gas Gas), even with a race win, finished second with another wildcard rider Bayliss Utting (Husqvarna) third.

Billy Askew’s (GRT KTM) run of big wheel 85 race wins came to an end in the first race of the weekend, where he was second, after a bad start. However, he went on to win the next three of his races for another overall win. With three third place and a second, Jake Walker (Gas Gas) was second with Chester Hyde (Gas Gas) third.

Alfie Geddes-Green (Matt Pope Gas Gas) won three out of four of his races and, with a second place in his last race, won the small wheel 85s. Race four winner Robbie Day (KTM) was second, six points down on the winner, and Joel Winstanley-Dawson (Castle Trucks KTM) was third.

Marty Spires (DBC Motorcycles KTM) was only beaten in his last race on his way to the junior 65 race, with race four winner and wildcard Casey Lister (Gas Gas) second and with another wildcard rider, Riley Ray Barrow (KTM) third.

Results

Pro MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Jake Shipton	90	45	45
2	Liam Knight	84	41	43
3	Todd Kellett	78	37	41
4	Dan Thornhill	71	32	39
5	John Adamson	64	43	21
6	Joe Clayton	57	26	31
7	Drew Anderson	53	21	32
8	Edward Briscoe	49	27	22
9	Mark Young	43	20	23
10	Aaron Patstone	39	19	20
11	Richard mcKeown	22	22	–

Pro MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	James Carpenter	74	39	35
2	Alfie Jones	70	33	37
3	Charlie Cole	68	34	34
4	Sam Nunn	64	31	33
5	Corey Hockey	58	30	28
6	Josh Coleman	56	29	27
7	Rory Jones	53	23	30
8	Josh Taylor	52	28	24
9	Adam Collings	50	24	26
10	Jack Lindsay	50	25	25
11	Callum Mitchell	47	18	29
12	Lewis Hall	35	35	–

Junior 65s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Marty Spires	176	45	45	45	41
2	Casey Lister (W)	174	43	43	43	45
3	Riley Ray Barrow (W)	154	39	39	37	39
4	Cohen Jagielski	146	37	35	39	35
5	Harley Marczak	137	35	37	28	37
6	Leo Wilson	133	31	41	34	27
7	Arthur Moore	132	41	7	41	43
8	Archie Stapley (W)	132	33	31	35	33
9	Ryan Taylor	128	32	33	29	34
10	Teddy Merriman	124	34	32	32	26
11	Nixon Coppins	123	28	30	33	32
12	Caiden Brand	110	30	24	26	30
13	Harley Ince	107	25	29	25	28
14	Harry Hall	105	27	28	27	23
15	Harry Cuddy	104	26	25	24	29
16	Arthur King	104	29	20	31	24
17	Jamie Thorpe	95	–	34	30	31
18	Regan Woods	92	24	27	21	20
19	Ricky Barrack	90	19	23	23	25
20	Tommie Perfect	82	23	26	14	19
21	Alan Thomson	77	21	16	19	21
22	Elliott Shawyer (W)	73	17	21	18	17
23	Dexter Prowse (W)	68	22	13	15	18
24	Sonny Burton	63	16	18	13	16
25	Rylea Tilbury (W)	59	20	19	20	–
26	Junior Wigglesworth	55	14	15	12	14
27	Chad Prince	52	12	14	11	15
28	Finley Cookson	51	13	22	16	–
29	Jamie Currie	44	–	–	22	22
30	Nathan Weaver (W)	43	11	10	10	12
31	Jakson Ross	43	15	11	17	–
32	Charley Gerrard	41	18	17	6	–
33	Thomas White	39	9	12	7	11
34	Charlie Farmer (W)	38	7	9	9	13
35	Remi Wigglesworth	36	10	8	8	10
36	Louie Elderfield	8	8	–	–	–

Small Wheel 85s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Alfie Geddes- Green	178	45	45	45	43
2	Robbie Daly	172	43	43	41	45
3	Joel Winstanley-Dawson	164	41	39	43	41
4	Lucas Lee	146	35	35	39	37
5	Harley Prickett	143	39	34	37	33
6	Sonny Rooney	136	33	37	27	39
7	Ethan Jordan	133	31	32	35	35
8	Jack Leese	130	32	31	33	34
9	Kameron Greenhalgh	121	30	30	31	30
10	Franky Jubb (W)	118	28	27	32	31
11	Hayden Statt (W)	116	37	41	6	32
12	Maison Jones	115	34	29	34	18
13	Travis Bixby	112	29	26	29	28
14	Jaxon Haswell	110	27	28	28	27
15	Leo Salf	105	25	25	26	29
16	Ollie Jewitt	94	14	24	30	26
17	George Clark	93	20	23	25	25
18	Ellis Nelson	90	23	22	21	24
19	Harvey Collins	88	26	33	7	22
20	Charlie Ward	76	16	21	22	17
21	Jordan Kinsella	75	13	15	24	23
22	Corey Wheatley	75	19	16	19	21
23	Bailey Williams (W)	74	22	14	23	15
24	Oliver Burridge (W)	71	18	17	20	16
25	Harley Pastoor	65	15	13	18	19
26	William Siddons	54	24	–	16	14
27	Finley Cowie	52	17	18	17	–
28	Louie Pritchard (W)	51	11	12	15	13
29	Jamie Prentice	51	21	20	10	–
30	Ryan Pentince	46	10	10	14	12
31	Charlie Hollamby (W)	40	9	9	12	10
32	Oliver Watson	39	–	19	–	20
33	Alfie Finch (W)	38	8	8	11	11
34	Luca Tatchell	36	12	11	13	–
35	Lewis Day (W)	32	7	7	9	9

Big Wheel 85s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Billy Askew	178	43	45	45	45
2	Jake Walker (W)	166	41	41	41	43
3	Chester Hyde	156	39	37	43	37
4	Charlie Richmond	154	37	39	39	39
5	Josh Vail	135	45	43	6	41
6	Conor McGrath	133	31	32	35	35
7	Brandon Hedayat	128	27	30	37	34
8	Ben McConville	125	33	29	32	31
9	Jack Brearey	125	34	34	28	29
10	Lucy Barker	124	30	33	29	32
11	Declan Wright	115	20	31	31	33
12	Issac ash (W)	115	28	27	30	30
13	Alfie Payne	106	26	26	27	27
14	Will Haddock	101	32	35	34	–
15	Riley Small	98	25	28	17	28
16	Cailen Jai Griffiths	96	22	25	24	25
17	Owen Kenningley	85	23	23	15	24
18	Libby Chatburn	84	19	24	19	22
19	Zane Stephens	84	18	22	23	21
20	Tyler Jones (W)	81	15	20	20	26
21	Fabian Jnr Morrison (W)	76	24	11	21	20
22	Ashton Somerville (W)	74	14	19	18	23
23	Braidy Tucker	72	21	18	14	19
24	Sebastian Moore	72	29	–	25	18
25	Ryan Waggott	68	35	–	33	–
26	Robert Wood	66	17	17	16	16
27	Oakley Kettle	62	–	21	26	15
28	Ebony Brown	59	16	13	13	17
29	Tom Blackwood	48	12	10	12	14
30	Max Beaumont (W)	47	11	14	10	12
31	Tom Goodfellow	46	–	15	22	9
32	Aston Over	44	10	12	9	13
33	Sienna Farmer (W)	30	–	8	11	11
34	Callum Johnson	29	13	16	–	–
35	Jayden Williams	26	9	9	8	–
36	Logan Ireland	17	–	–	7	10

MXY2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Jak Taylor (w)	178	45	45	43	45
2	Ben Zeale	163	41	34	45	43
3	Bayliss Utting (w)	156	33	41	41	41
4	Kayde Rayns	151	39	39	34	39
5	Josh Bassett	146	37	43	33	33
6	Jamie Watson	137	34	37	35	31
7	Mckenzie Marshall (w)	135	26	33	39	37
8	Callum Murfitt	133	35	35	31	32
9	Liam Bennett (W)	131	32	32	32	35
10	Harvey Antrobus	109	30	21	29	29
11	Jamie Collins	109	31	29	24	25
12	Jack Wilson	103	22	28	26	27
13	Luke Southern	102	–	31	37	34
14	Levi Saunders	97	28	25	18	26
15	Charlie Henderson	88	29	7	30	22
16	Syd Putnam	86	19	18	25	24
17	Lewis Bethell	83	–	26	27	30
18	Corey Collins	81	25	30	21	5
19	Jack Dando(w)	79	23	24	28	4
20	Sonny Shipton	74	20	27	4	23
21	Samuel Jackson	72	21	22	23	6
22	Tristan Daniels	70	13	19	17	21
23	Jake Barker	68	27	13	–	28
24	Teddy Hyde	66	17	20	13	16
25	Archie Fremel	60	24	6	12	18
26	Max Ellerker	59	14	16	20	9
27	Mitchell Conway	56	–	17	19	20
28	Connor Smith	54	16	10	16	12
29	Owen Wildish-Conway	53	15	14	7	17
30	Corey Gordon	52	11	–	22	19
31	Jack Hollamby	49	10	15	14	10
32	Harrison Drewell	47	18	23	6	–
33	MacKenzie Marshall	46	8	8	15	15
34	Arai Elcock	43	43	–	–	–
35	Joe Grace	43	7	12	10	14
36	Sonny May	41	6	11	11	13
37	Leyton Duffy	37	12	5	9	11
38	Luke Wilson	34	9	9	8	8
39	Tommy lee Gibbard	21	5	4	5	7

125s

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Neville Bradshaw	178	45	45	43	45
2	Henry Siddiqui	166	43	37	45	41
3	Tyla Hooley	157	34	39	41	43
4	Wal Beaney (W)	157	41	43	34	39
5	Louis Vincent (W)	147	32	41	37	37
6	Jordan Keogh	142	39	29	39	35
7	Raife Broadley	139	37	33	35	34
8	Jude Turton	128	33	32	32	31
9	Harry Barker	125	25	35	33	32
10	Harrison Greenough (W)	120	31	30	30	29
11	Dan Arkell	118	30	27	31	30
12	Cameron Jackson(W)	111	29	28	28	26
13	Robert Storer	107	27	26	26	28
14	Kyron Carron	107	26	25	29	27
15	Richy Roberts	103	28	23	27	25
16	Jordan Bachelor (W)	99	35	31	–	33
17	Alan Pearce (W)	92	22	22	24	24
18	Matt Nash	87	21	21	23	22
19	Joe Beaumont (W)	78	20	18	19	21
20	George Goodfellow	72	18	17	18	19
21	Jayden Abbink	69	19	16	16	18
22	Oliver Ruddock	59	24	24	–	11
23	David Colton	58	14	15	13	16
24	Ryan Allison (W)	57	23	34	–	–
25	Jacob Dell (W)	56	13	13	15	15
26	Oli Wickers	56	16	11	17	12
27	Hayden Stevens	54	–	14	20	20
28	Ben Lewis (W)	53	11	20	22	–
29	Ben Hunter	53	17	19	–	17
30	Roman York	52	12	12	14	14
31	Ashley Locke	50	15	10	12	13
32	Troy Willerton	48	–	–	25	23
33	Henry Hearn	21	–	–	21	–
34	Charlie Simons	19	10	9	–	–

Amateur MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Luke Sturgeon (W)	163	30	45	45	43
2	Harry Bradley	160	39	39	43	39
3	Jamie Fort	154	41	43	35	35
4	Rob Wood	142	43	13	41	45
5	Ben Clayton (W)	141	37	32	39	33
6	Simon Booth	139	35	34	33	37
7	Sean Williamson	130	28	37	37	28
8	Benjamin Knight	126	32	35	32	27
9	Josh Greedy	124	31	29	30	34
10	Callum Gordon	122	34	24	34	30
11	Jamie Dixon	118	29	27	31	31
12	Charlie Way (W)	115	33	41	–	41
13	Lewis Huckerby	103	26	25	27	25
14	Kyle Creevy	100	20	23	28	29
15	Liam Piggford	95	23	22	26	24
16	David Plank	90	25	33	–	32
17	Matty Fry	88	17	21	24	26
18	Matt Wood	87	15	26	23	23
19	Aiden Maloney	82	19	16	25	22
20	Billy Wynn (W)	82	22	31	29	–
21	Joshua Dodwell-Scott	80	21	18	22	19
22	John Joe Wright	77	27	30	20	–
23	Connor Dickins	75	16	20	18	21
24	Christopher Wratten	73	24	28	21	–
25	Billy Collins	64	12	15	17	20
26	Jay Harris	59	13	12	16	18
27	Tallon Aspden (w)	54	18	17	19	–
28	George Clarke (W)	45	45	–	–	–
29	Kieran Clarke	34	–	19	15	–
30	Jake Strange	28	14	14	–	–
31	Ashley Locke	50	15	10	12	13
32	Troy Willerton	48	–	–	25	23
33	Henry Hearn	21	–	–	21	–
34	Charlie Simons	19	10	9	–	–
35	Joe Grace	43	7	12	10	14
36	Sonny May	41	6	11	11	13
37	Leyton Duffy	37	12	5	9	11
38	Luke Wilson	34	9	9	8	8
39	Tommy lee Gibbard	21	5	4	5	7

Amateur MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Adam Harris	164	39	45	45	35
2	Travis Steels	159	45	34	41	39
3	Josh Peters (W)	158	43	37	37	41
4	Aaron Ongley	150	23	41	43	43
5	Dan Brough	144	34	43	33	34
6	Denny Rapson (w)	143	29	39	30	45
7	Todd Ritchie	141	32	33	39	37
8	Shaun Springer	139	37	35	34	33
9	Ben Clark	136	41	28	35	32
10	Harvey Cashmore	125	33	31	32	29
11	Alfie Calvert	115	31	27	31	26
12	Michael Parsons	114	35	20	29	30
13	Callum McCaul (W)	112	24	32	28	28
14	Jack Seaborne (W)	103	27	30	26	20
15	Archie Hicks (W)	92	30	22	17	23
16	Logan Wilcox	89	17	21	27	24
17	Ashleigh Surridge	87	21	17	24	25
18	Mitch Armour	85	9	24	25	27
19	Mitchell Warhurst	84	28	14	21	21
20	Kieran Yorke	79	19	29	–	31
21	Jesse Wren	77	26	9	23	19
22	Ben Thompson (W)	72	18	19	19	16
23	Bailey Betsworth	67	–	23	22	22
24	Jasper Gibson	66	15	15	18	18
25	Sam Bishop	65	14	16	20	15
26	Ricky Carter (W)	57	25	18	14	–
27	Blaine Blackwell (W)	55	16	13	12	14
28	Robbie Hollis	52	12	8	15	17
29	Lewis King-London	47	22	25	–	–
30	Sam Ongley	46	20	26	–	–
31	Jake Hall	37	–	11	13	13
32	Jack Loveridge (W)	36	10	10	16	–
33	Scott Meredith (W)	35	13	12	10	–
34	Daniel Edgar	29	11	7	11	–

Clubman

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Grant Martin (W)	172	39	45	43	45
2	James Thompson	170	41	41	45	43
3	Adam Paxton	170	45	43	41	41
4	Rodie Jones	151	43	39	39	30
5	Elliot Reeves (W)	138	37	37	32	32
6	Josh Jones (W)	137	29	32	37	39
7	Mitchil Collins	137	33	34	35	35
8	Matthew Jones	124	32	33	26	33
9	Colin McLuckie	123	23	30	33	37
10	Aidan Carney	121	34	29	31	27
11	Josh Watson-Bailey	119	28	28	29	34
12	Joe Sargent	117	27	31	30	29
13	Matthew Fuller	117	26	35	34	22
14	Liam Deegan	108	30	23	27	28
15	Max Wood	108	31	27	24	26
16	Jacob Bell	92	21	21	25	25
17	Joshua Lee Young	82	35	25	22	–
18	Ben Hughes	79	15	22	19	23
19	Joshua Keogh (W)	69	12	18	18	21
20	Scott Isherwood	68	24	24	20	–
21	Kevin McBride	65	16	12	17	20
22	Josh Ithell	63	20	6	13	24
23	Tyler Stevenson	61	18	13	14	16
24	Harley Mower (W)	60	14	14	15	17
25	Jack Loveridge (W)	59	–	–	28	31
26	Steven Lennie	56	9	16	12	19
27	Ryan Davies (W)	56	25	26	5	–
28	Charlie Sutton	53	7	17	11	18
29	Adrian Whitcombe (W)	51	13	9	16	13
30	Josh Hickinbottom	42	22	20	–	–
31	Luke Postlethwaite (W)	42	19	19	4	–
32	Richard Evans	40	17	–	23	–
33	Aaron Framington (W)	36	–	15	21	–
34	Daniel Smedley	35	–	11	10	14
35	Dean Paling	27	10	10	7	–
36	Danny Cavanagh (W)	27	11	8	8	–
37	Phil West	19	6	7	6	–
38	Thomas Arden	18	–	–	3	15
39	Max Aspden (W)	17	8	–	9	–