The Final flourish! 2023 Acerbis Amateur Nationals Finale – Race Report & Results

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For the final time, Cusses Gorse near Salisbury hosted a national series as the Acerbis Amateur Nationals rolled into the paddock for its first time at the venue and what a track we were gifted with, big jumps, a fast-flowing circuit and all prepped by Justin Barclay meant we were in for an amazing end to the 2023 season.

Race Report by Arran Murphy – Images courtesy of Matthew Rudd Photography

First up were the Craigs Motorcycles sponsored MX2 class, and wildcard rider Louis Vincent took his KTM to a maximum points haul en route to the top step of the podium ahead of Wulfsport Suzuki man Logan Wilcox, who had a strong showing at Cusses and took home the runner up spot by just one point from 2022 runner up Dominic Newbury who was making a return to the series as a wildcard aboard a Kawasaki. Lee Sealey clinched the championship after the first race on Sunday and proudly displayed his number 1 plate in the final moto on his way to fourth overall ahead of Joel Fisher.

In the Acerbis MX1 category it was all sealed up before the first gate drop of the weekend with runner up James Hutchinson a no show and Jack Beniston over 200 points up on the rest Beniston was unofficially back to back MX1 champ as he lined up for moto 1. The 401 machine however didn’t have a leisurely ride out, he put the icing on the cake with all five race victories and another overall win. Max Lewis was a wildcard and put himself onto the podium in the runner up spot while Ed Briscoe leap frogged James Hutchinson to runner up in the series with a third place overall at the finale. Simon Booth and Keelan Hope rounded off the top five.

The Moto Connection 125 2 stroke category was action packed as ever and was dominated by outgoing Open 2 stroke champ Corey Hockey. Hockey took his Midwest Husqvarna to top spot claiming five wins from five starts enjoying his time on the 125, could a potential full time switch to the class for 2024 be on the cards? We’ll have to wait and see. Ash Harland rounded off his solid year by taking the runner up spot overall and secured his 2nd position in the series too while Cumbrian Ryan Waggott finished the year with a seasons best third overall. Harry Barker ran up front over the weekend and took fourth for his efforts as Irishman Scott Hamilton pipped new champion Damon Strydom (who had a mechanical issue in moto four) to the last bit of prize money.

The California MX Dreams Open 2 stroke category was about the 2 men that have dominated the year. Josh Spinks and Rory Jones have pushed each other all season long and even though Spinks has taken nearly all the races not much has separated the pair on track and a close race is almost certain each time out. Spinks managed to take all five wins and gain enough points to clinch the championship after the first moto on Sunday morning. Rory Jones was always hot on his heels and the biggest gap Spinks managed to pull all weekend was the 8 second victory in the final race so he can go into the off season with his head held high knowing he definitely has the speed to win. Mitch Armour stood on the lower step of the podium with third overall while James Hanscomb and Jake Shipton rounded out the top five.

In the Manchester Xtreme Junior Open class it was the final time in the class for the new champion Riley Voase as he did what he’s done all year and took home yet another overall victory. Voase ended the year with a huge 192 point gap in the standings which shows his dominance in 2023 and will be looking to break the top 5 in MX2 next year. Lewis Petfield had another solid performance on his ongoing comeback from injury and took runner up ahead of Ryan Lowes who showed good speed all weekend and was rewarded with third overall. Liam Gunning and George Pool rounded out the top five.

2023 New Zealand Womens Champ Roma Edwards

In the Motoverde Ladies category Grace Richards made it back to back titles as she took home four wins and a runner up to take the overall and the championship. Not too far back however was wildcard Libby Chatburn who’s 3-2-2-2-5 scorecard was enough to give her runner up overall and even gave Richards a run in moto two where just 6 seconds separated the two. Rebecca Newham sealed her runner up in the series with third overall at the finale while Grace Packman finished fourth ahead of New Zealander Roma Edwards who took the final moto victory and if it wasn’t for a race two DNF could have been stood higher on the rostrum.

With one hand on the trophy already coming into the final round, Ryan Voase claimed the LS2 Helmets Vets Over 40 title after Saturdays action but the 100% win record came to an end as an early crash meant a fight through the pack and ultimately third in that moto was where he managed to get back to. He still claimed the remaining four wins and took a 100% overall record for the year however which in itself is an incredible feat. Danny Tollett took advantage of the Kawasaki man’s misfortune and took the remaining win and with it runner up overall from outgoing champion Lee Martin. Carl Stannard and David Wilcox finished the weekend fourth and fifth places respectively.

The tightest fight coming into the weekend was the Roberts Plant Engineers Vets Over 50 class with Richard Miller and Simon Bonsor separated by only 4 points. It turned from tight scrap to over by the end of play Saturday as Bonsor following on from his Culham misfortune seemed to have took the bad luck to Cusses as well as a bike issue in moto one and the shoulder injury reoccurring in moto two meant 2 DNFs and Miller just had to finish moto three to have enough points by the end of Saturday to be crowned. Factory Phil Mercer was the man of the weekend however and the Husky man powered to five dominating victories for the overall honours ahead of Ady Bradley who managed to jump to runner up in the series due to Bonsors issues. Miller claimed the title with third on the box while Nigel Smorfitt and Paul Wildman Willis rounded out the top five respectively.

Just like that that’s a wrap on 2023 and what a series it has been up and down the country and with 8 champions crowned and the dust settling on the series, 2024 is soon to be on the horizon and registration for 2023 registered riders is already open. I’m sure it’ll be another mega year of racing.

Results

MX1

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	JACK BENISTON	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	MAX LEWIS	182	36	32	38	38	38
3	ED BRISCOE	171	38	38	32	36	27
4	SIMON BOOTH	168	34	34	36	32	32
5	KEELEN HOPE	163	29	36	30	34	34
6	DAN PARRY	155	32	25	34	28	36
7	BRADLEY FLAGG	147	30	30	28	30	29
8	JAKE BARKER	137	27	29	27	26	28
9	LUKE TURNER	131	26	26	26	27	26
10	KIA THIRLWELL	116	–	28	29	29	30
11	PETE HAMLET	80	28	27	–	25	–
12	JACK TIMMS	25	25	–	–	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	LOUIS VINCENT	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	LOGAN WILCOX	174	36	32	32	36	38
3	DOM NEWBURY	173	38	38	36	25	36
4	LEE SEALEY	167	32	36	38	29	32
5	JOEL FISHER	163	27	34	34	38	30
6	PATRICK GILLIGAN	139	26	28	26	30	29
7	ALFIE CALVERT	137	28	27	28	27	27
8	MITCHELL MEADOWS	137	30	25	24	32	26
9	JAKE WINNARD	129	29	30	30	18	22
10	MYLES REID	126	24	22	27	28	25
11	BEN WHITE	125	34	29	–	34	28
12	TROY JONES	119	25	24	23	23	24
13	CONNER CHALLINOR	108	23	18	25	19	23
14	JAMES CLARKE	107	19	23	19	26	20
15	JORDAN HEARN	100	22	21	22	14	21
16	RYAN MANLEY	94	20	20	15	22	17
17	ADAM NEVITT	92	17	17	18	21	19
18	LUKE POSS	87	16	19	21	16	15
19	ARRAN MURPHY	86	18	16	17	17	18
20	AIDEE SMITH	84	14	14	20	20	16
21	KYLE NOBLE	73	15	13	16	15	14
22	JAMES DENT	58	–	–	–	24	34
23	LEWIS MEADOWS	55	–	26	29	–	–
24	GEORGE CLARKE	50	21	15	14	–	–

250 2 Stroke Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	JOSH SPINKS	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	RORY JONES	190	38	38	38	38	38
3	MITCH ARMOUR	170	34	34	34	34	34
4	JAMES HANSCOMB	151	28	29	30	32	32
5	JAKE SHIPTON	144	36	36	–	36	36
6	REECE WAINE	140	27	28	29	28	28
7	CHAE JENKINSON	137	25	26	27	29	30
8	JAY CHEEL	134	26	24	28	30	26
9	ALEX NEEDHAM	133	24	27	26	27	29
10	MITCHELL PERRY	126	23	25	25	26	27
11	JAMES DENT	98	30	32	36	–	–
12	JAMES BATES	91	29	30	32	–	–
13	COREY HOCKEY	32	32	–	–	–	–

125cc 2 Stroke

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	COREY HOCKEY	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	ASH HARLAND	182	38	36	36	38	34
3	RYAN WAGGOTT	170	36	34	34	34	32
4	HARRY BARKER	155	25	28	30	36	36
5	SCOTT HAMILTON	152	29	32	32	32	27
6	DAMON STRYDOM	148	34	38	38	–	38
7	WYATT McGREGOR	137	28	23	27	29	30
8	STU OWEN	133	24	30	22	28	29
9	ASH CROSSLEY	133	26	29	25	27	26
10	LEWIS PROUD	122	18	27	26	26	25
11	JACK GRAYSON	119	32	–	29	30	28
12	SONNY NOBLE	115	22	22	24	23	24
13	SEAN VENESS	105	27	26	28	24	–
14	WILL TURNER	95	23	24	23	25	–
15	JAMIE ARROWSMITH	62	21	20	21	–	–
16	TOM BLACKWOOD	58	19	19	20	–	–
17	TROY HAYWARD	55	30	25	–	–	–
18	OLY C	41	20	21	–	–	–

Ladies

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	GRACE RICHARDS	198	40	40	40	40	38
2	LIBBY CHATBURN	182	36	38	38	38	32
3	REBECCA NEWHAM	170	34	36	32	34	34
4	GRACE PACKMAN	168	32	34	34	32	36
5	ROMO EDWARDS	150	38	–	36	36	40
6	HANNAH JONES	150	30	32	30	29	29
7	AMBER McGREGOR	148	29	30	29	30	30
8	LILLY MORELAND	140	28	29	28	28	27
9	EMILY NOON	136	26	28	27	27	28
10	KADY MOORE	132	27	27	26	26	26

Vets Over 40

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	RYAN VOASE	196	40	40	36	40	40
2	DANNY TOLLET	188	38	36	40	38	36
3	LEE MARTIN	186	36	38	38	36	38
4	CARL STANNARD	170	34	34	34	34	34
5	DAVID WILCOX	158	32	32	32	32	30
6	DAVE EVANS	148	27	29	30	30	32
7	NEIL GRIFFTHS	145	29	30	29	28	29
8	STUART PERRY	135	30	28	28	23	26
9	JOHN CARRUTHERS	133	24	27	27	27	28
10	STEVE RILEY	129	25	24	24	29	27
11	MARK SUTHERLAND	128	26	26	26	26	24
12	DALE SILK	122	23	25	25	24	25
13	ANDY DUFILED	116	22	23	23	25	23
14	STEVEN DUNFIELD	86	21	21	22	22	–
15	DANIEL KANAVAGH	71	28	22	–	21	–

Vets Over 50

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	PHIL MERCER	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	ADY BRADLEY	190	38	38	38	38	38
3	RICHARD MILLER	178	36	36	34	36	36
4	NIGEL SMORFITT	158	30	32	30	32	34
5	PAUL WILDMAN WILLIS	145	29	28	29	29	30
6	DAVID HOPKINS	143	23	26	32	34	28
7	LEE DAVIES	141	28	30	27	27	29
8	PAUL WIECZOREK	139	27	27	25	28	32
9	CHRIS STEMP	128	22	23	26	30	27
10	CHRIS ELCOCK	128	32	29	28	16	23
11	ADRIAN LEWIS	121	25	21	24	25	26
12	IAN WILSON	114	21	20	22	26	25
13	BRIAN FRASER	113	20	22	23	24	24
14	EWAN JOHNSTON	104	34	34	36	–	–
15	STEPHEN HUMPHIRES	101	19	19	21	22	20
16	STANLEY MORPHET	97	18	18	19	21	21
17	ALAN REECE	88	15	16	18	20	19
18	MICHALE JOHNSTON	87	14	17	20	19	17
19	NEIL JENKINSON	79	16	15	15	17	16
20	JOHN PRISTLEY	68	26	25	17	–	–
21	ANDY STEPHENS	67	12	12	13	15	15
22	TONY PRIESTLEY	48	24	24	–	–	–
23	COLIN BERRY	47	17	14	16	–	–
24	ADRIAN JESSOP	45	–	–	–	23	22
25	DAVID CLAYBORN	40	13	13	14	–	–
26	IAN POSS	36	–	–	–	18	18

Junior Open

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1	RILEY VOASE	200	40	40	40	40	40
2	LEWIS PETFIELD	182	38	38	30	38	38
3	RYAN LOWES	176	36	30	38	36	36
4	LIAM GUNNING	167	34	34	36	29	34
5	GEORGE POOL	153	30	32	32	30	29
6	BILLY WIECZOREK	147	28	36	19	34	30
7	DAN NEVITT	142	32	26	24	32	28
8	JAMES MILNE	135	26	22	34	28	25
9	SAMUEL RAYNER	127	19	24	29	23	32
10	LIAM MORRED	114	21	25	21	27	20
11	SAM HAMER	113	20	23	28	20	22
12	ALEXANDER WILLIAMS	109	22	20	22	19	26
13	TAYLOR MISSELBROOK	103	17	21	18	24	23
14	ANTONIO SOUZE	97	8	19	20	26	24
15	BEN HUGHES	94	25	18	26	25	–
16	LEWIS ROBERTS	93	18	17	23	21	14
17	TYLER WILCOX	83	29	29	25	–	–
18	LLOYD CLARKE	79	16	16	16	15	16
19	JORDAN HARRIS	78	24	27	27	–	–
20	KERION DAVIES	72	9	14	14	16	19
21	ZAC CHEEL	70	15	15	17	13	10
22	DAN EVANS	68	12	12	15	12	17
23	ETHAN DAVIES	64	7	13	9	17	18
24	AUSTEN STEMP	60	11	8	12	14	15
25	AIDEN MURPHY	58	13	11	13	10	11
26	MITCH BROOKS	55	27	28	–	–	–
27	TOM BERRY	54	14	10	10	7	13
28	MATT BENNETT	51	10	9	11	9	12
29	FINNLY ABOTT	49	–	–	–	22	27
30	TOM BLACKWOOD	39	–	–	–	18	21
31	COLE HALL	35	6	6	8	6	9
32	KEIRON OAKES	34	23	–	–	11	–
33	RYAN NEALE	23	–	7	–	8	8