After the enforced break, the AMCA roared back into action on Sunday with a superb opening round of the British Motocross Championship powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop. With the 2020 series set to be decided over just five rounds in a very tight six week period, on the evidence of Sunday’s action it’s certainly going to be a frantic, thrilling roller coaster ride right to that final chequered flag! At this Boraston opener, Josh Waterman (IDS Transport/Hardcore Racing Yamaha), Jamie Wainwright (Wainwright’s Plant and Haulage KTM), Jordan Wright (AG Recycling/J W Oils Yamaha), James Lane (LRT Midwest Husqvarna) and Joel Fisher (MRS/Suomy KTM) took the respective class wins.
Report and Images by Mike Wood
Following a week of unsettled weather, the Boraston circuit which was initially wet in places then became a true rut city producing numerous lines in just about every corner. The drying conditions also meant that there was plenty of tack and grip to greet the first big MX1 clash of the day, a class full of high quality and potential moto winners. In the opening clash, it was FUS Marsh MX Husvarna pilot and 2019 Weston Beach race winner Ashley Greedy who led for the majority of the contest before being passed by Josh Waterman two laps from home. Taking 3rd was James Dodd ahead of impressive MX1 debutant Corie Southwood, Neville Bradshaw on a 1998 500cc Honda CR two-stroke machine, Luke Burton, Adam Chatfield and Tommy Alba.
In MX1 moto two, Greedy again led the way but his progress was to be halted four laps in due to a rear wheel puncture. Managing to get back to his pit bay, Ashley made a quick wheel change and thus rejoin the race, eventually going onto earn 20th place. Taking the win again was the supreme Waterman with another accomplished display followed by Dodd, Bradshaw, Burton, Chatfield and Southwood.
Proving that he is already right on the MX1 pace, Southwood quickly go past Dodd in the final moto and led for several laps until arm pump set in. Now taking control was Bradshaw on his ‘big red 5’ Honda and there he remained, punching the air in delight as he crossed the line just a couple of bike lengths clear of a hard charging Greedy. Confirming a much deserved overall win, Waterman got home 3rd with the gallant Southwood having to settle for 4th.
In the MX2 Class, it was to be pretty much business as usual with defending AMCA Champion Jamie Wainwright reeling off three impressive wins. After Ryan Butler had claimed the moto one holeshot, Championship debutant Jordan Eccles surged to the front. Putting the hammer down, Eccles then led until just two laps from home before Wainwright who had initially gated in 9th came through for victory. Making a comeback after a 12 month lay-off, 2017 AMCA MX2 Champion Ray Rowson was to make an impressive start taking 2nd in this one with Eccles having to settle for 3rd ahead of Josh Coleman, Ryan Crowder and Jansen Day.
Moto two and Luke Dean on the KTM 250cc 2T led the early charge before the classy Wainwright took over at the front. Also on a KTM 250cc 2T, Crowder had a super ride to get home in 2nd with Rowson, Dean, Henry Williams, Coleman and Day next up. For Eccles this race was to already deliver a serious blow to his potential title aspirations as a rear wheel puncture forced him out on lap three when inside the top ten after having worked hard to haul back up from an early 21st spot.
MX2 moto three and Dean stretched that KTM throttle wire to the max again as he led the pack away before being passed by Rowson. Ray’s advantage though was to last for just two laps as Wainwright now surged to the front before racing off to claim his hat-trick of moto wins. Rowson eventually got home in 2nd but had to work very hard for his points after first seeing off a very determined Williams then repelling a late challenge from Dean and Eccles. Also inside the top ten again in this one was Coleman, Crowder, Day, Mark Young and Cory McShane.
The big news in the 125cc Championship class before Sunday’s event came with the announcement that MX1 Champion Shane Carless would now be competing. After a week of intensive treatment on a dislocated shoulder, Shane realising that holding onto a big 350F in MX1 would be a struggle made the brave decision to switch over to the eighth litre class and give it a go! And, what a move that was to be having his first ride for 15 years on a 125cc machine he went onto earn a great 2nd overall with a 4/3/1 scorecard behind the very quick victor, Jordan Wright.
With rain falling and conditions at their worst, the super Wright led 125cc moto one all the way as Ross Millard, Conner Challinor and finally Luke Newman held 2nd spot. On completion of a typically frantic 125cc contest, Jimmy Margetson moved up from an early 13th to take 3rd from Carless, Damon Strydom, Shane Holmes and Nathan Bache.
Showing that he definitely meant business, Wright was quickest away in moto two. However on this occasion, the hard charging Margetson was right on his tail and three laps in he took control. In a great scrap for top honours, Jimmy just about held on for victory with Wright 2nd, Carless 3rd, Strydom 4th, Newman 5th and Travis Steels 6th. In a thrilling final 125cc moto which had been restarted due to a red flag incident, Bache, Strydom and finally Carless took turns to lead. The fast Wright had to settle for 4th this time around as Margetson, Steels and Newman were again in the mix. AMCA 125cc Champion back in 2011, Holmes proved yet again that he has still plenty of gas in the tank by taking 8th with another impressive ride. This class also included several of last year’s top Youth 85cc runners who all gave a good account of themselves on their 125cc Championship debuts.
Returning to the AMCA Championship scene, Paul Burn grabbed the holeshot in all three of the Veterans clashes at Boraston before the LRT Midwest Husqvarna duo of brothers James and Simon Lane took total control. Indeed the dynamic duo were in simply irresistible form on Sunday with James taking the overall win going 1/2/1 and Simon taking the runners-up slot on 2/1/2. Next best in this class was Sean Smith from Burn and former AMCA Champion Andy Watkins.
In the opening clash, Burn led for 2 laps before being pushed back to 4th behind James Lane, Simon Lane and Smith as Watkins, Kev Rogers, Chris Jones, John Barnes and Anthony Bennett started strongly. There was then to be drama in moto two as James Lane in the early exchanges found himself in trouble and down to last place! Undeterred he got up, brushed himself down and charged all the way back to earn a remarkable 2nd behind brother Simon.
Burn was again fastest away in the final moto before being passed by first Simon Lane then eventual winner James Lane. Also having a very consistent day, Smith got home in 4th with Watkins, Jones, Bennett and Barnes next up.
Starting the new Championship campaign in the best fashion possible, Joel Fisher stormed to three impressive wins in the Youth 85cc class. On each occasion, Yarin Evans got home in 2nd with Lewis Roden 3rd. With the above three lads dominating, Caleb Greaves, Oliver Rigby, Charlie Hucklebridge, Harry Bebb and Harley Prickett were the next best in moto one.
All of the above lads were again right in the frame during moto two with Falon Ballie also joining in the fun. In the final moto, Greaves had his best ride of the day to earn an impressive 4th. Likewise Cameron Woodburn got stronger as the event unfolded, taking a super 5th ahead of Rigby, Harry Bebb, Prickett, Ballie and Logan Jay Powell
Results
MX1
Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 19 Josh Waterman 145 50 50 45
2 272 Neville Bradshaw 136 41 45 50
3 3 James Dodd 133 45 47 41
4 44 Corie Southwood 125 43 39 43
5 14 Luke Burton 121 39 43 39
6 33 Ashley Greedy 115 47 21 47
7 407 Adam Chatfield 113 37 41 35
8 681 Tommy Alba 109 35 37 37
9 541 Corey Hockey 95 33 29 33
10 10 Andrew Smart 93 30 35 28
11 7 Will Hughes 91 27 33 31
12 462 Mark Roberts 87 29 28 30
13 74 Sean Wainwright 86 26 31 29
14 118 Jaydon Murphy 85 28 30 27
15 127 Scooter Webster 72 19 27 26
16 48 Rhys Walker 70 24 22 24
17 47 Rory Merchant 69 22 24 23
18 21 Lewis Hughes 67 20 25 22
19 46 Benjamin Knight 66 23 18 25
20 219 Benjamin Nicholls 62 21 20 21
21 361 Pip Davies 62 25 23 14
22 32* Richard Lloyd 57 18 19 20
23 100 Bradley Tranter 57 31 26 –
24 101 Tye Barrs 53 17 17 19
25 39 Kyle Proctor 47 15 15 17
26 32 Matthew Chaplin 46 14 14 18
27 111* Simon Aldridge 41 12 13 16
28 149 Jack Griffiths 32 16 16 –
29 111 Paul Maile 28 13 – 15
MX2
Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 40 James Wainwright 150 50 50 50
2 2 Ray Rowson 139 47 45 47
3 146 Ryan Crowder 125 41 47 37
4 52 Luke Dean 121 33 43 45
5 661 Josh Coleman 121 43 39 39
6 15 Henry Williams 119 37 41 41
7 6 Jansen Day 111 39 37 35
8 8 Mark Young 96 35 28 33
9 90 Cory Mcshane 93 31 31 31
10 21 Lewis Dowdeswell 93 28 35 30
11 331 Jordan Eccles 88 45 – 43
12 220 Josh Canton 86 29 29 28
13 210 Lee Truman 83 26 30 27
14 54 James Smith 72 25 24 23
15 46 Adam Hill 71 20 26 25
16 79 Ieuan Barrett-Harris 70 23 21 26
17 231 Rory Jones 62 – 33 29
18 510 Mitchell Perry 59 18 19 22
19 44 Keelan Southwood 59 21 17 21
20 616 Troy Jones 58 19 20 19
21 204 Ryan Butler 57 30 27 –
22 910 Harvey Tillotson 52 27 25 –
23 184 Billy Bayliss 49 17 12 20
24 130 Aaron Collins 47 13 16 18
25 27 Macauley Davies 47 16 14 17
26 119 Martin Jones 46 – 22 24
27 702 Harrison Mccann 45 22 23 –
28 51 Steffan Hooper 44 15 13 16
29 139 Bobby Palmer 40 12 15 13
30 558 Charlie Cox 29 14 – 15
31 471 Henry Dunsford 25 11 – 14
32 249 Tommi Davies 24 24 – –
33 58 Patrick Gilligan 18 – 18 –
125’s
Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 33 Jordan Wright 140 50 47 43
2 68 Shane Carless 138 43 45 50
3 119 Jimmy Margetson 136 45 50 41
4 55 Damon Strydom 131 41 43 47
5 7 Luke Newman 125 47 41 37
6 68* Nathan Bache 112 37 30 45
7 22 Travis Steels 108 30 39 39
8 5 Shane Holmes 105 39 31 35
9 115 James Angel 95 35 27 33
10 117 Jordan Ridgway 90 28 33 29
11 99 Clinton Barrs 83 24 29 30
12 101* Jonathan Roderick-Evans 83 22 35 26
13 502 Aaron Colley 82 31 24 27
14 101 Luke Kennett 77 23 26 28
15 90 Callum Baldwin 72 18 23 31
16 546 Max Lewis 71 29 28 14
17 111 Richy Roberts 70 25 22 23
18 242 Jamie Smith 64 27 37 –
19 4 Matt Tolley 64 20 20 24
20 999 Conner Challinor 50 26 13 11
21 40 Ezra Blackwell 49 13 17 19
22 116 Jake Boote 47 10 15 22
23 34 Philip Dyson 44 12 12 20
24 100 Liam Gale 44 19 25 –
25 122 Morgan Walters 41 15 10 16
26 277 Harry Ridgway 40 4 11 25
27 283 Jack Jordan 40 11 16 13
28 56 Ross Millard 35 14 21 –
29 810 Oliver Barnes 35 17 18 –
30 22* Tom Cumber 35 9 9 17
31 186 Olly Hathaway 35 21 14 –
32 814 Jordan Meredith 35 16 19 –
33 571 Ryan Pottenger 33 8 7 18
34 27 Matt Ridgway 33 33 – –
35 15 Joshua Fletcher-Williams 32 6 5 21
36 133 Ben James 23 – 8 15
37 581 Lewis Smith 23 7 6 10
38 11 Reece Leverton 17 5 – 12
39 16 Jake O Gorman 3 3 – –
Vets
Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 781 James Lane 147 50 47 50
2 73 Simon Lane 144 47 50 47
3 121 Sean Smith 133 45 45 43
4 97 Paul Burn 131 43 43 45
5 538 Andrew Watkins 119 41 37 41
6 4* Chris Jones 117 37 41 39
7 77 John Barnes 109 35 39 35
8 4 Anthony Bennett 105 33 35 37
9 144 Kevin Rogers 102 39 30 33
10 65 Robert Prosser 94 30 33 31
11 470 Gareth Dunsford 91 31 31 29
12 14 Ryan Thomas 85 27 28 30
13 22 Brian Staples 81 26 27 28
14 38 Richard Tudor 81 28 29 24
15 711 Ian Jesson 79 29 25 25
16 271 John Heath 77 25 26 26
17 711* Guy Langmead 73 22 24 27
18 536 Gavin Young 68 23 23 22
19 888 Steve Ferney 62 20 19 23
20 268 Steven Gallagher 54 15 20 19
21 167* David Bullock 53 16 17 20
22 490 Christopher Jukes 48 12 15 21
23 135 Gary Hurst 47 14 16 17
24 723 David Edge 42 24 18 –
25 119 Russell Hartill 40 18 22 –
26 104 Andrew Prosser 38 17 21 –
27 531 Russell Hurst 31 – 13 18
28 167 Matthew Evans 21 21 – –
29 189 Paul Biddulph 19 19 – –
30 77* Andrew Lowe 14 – 14 –
31 44 Sean Cossons 13 13 – –
Youth 85/150
Pos Competitor Total Points r 1 r 2 r 3
1 711 Joel Fisher 150 50 50 50
2 2 Yarin Evans 141 47 47 47
3 69 Lewis Roden 135 45 45 45
4 907 Caleb Greaves 125 43 39 43
5 2* Oliver Rigby 123 41 43 39
6 22* Harley Prickett 107 35 37 35
7 25 Harry Bebb 105 37 31 37
8 52 Cameron Woodburn 96 25 30 41
9 135 Falon Bailie 96 28 35 33
10 123 Charlie Hucklebridge 96 39 41 16
11 830 Logan Jay Powell 86 33 22 31
12 121 Alfie Bebb 85 30 27 28
13 295 Jonas Brown 84 27 28 29
14 212 Harry Beach 84 31 33 20
15 22 Rheanna Morgan-Rogers 83 29 24 30
16 129 Rylee Francis 82 26 29 27
17 167 Jack Evans 74 23 25 26
18 33 Oakley Kettle 74 24 26 24
19 16 Cameron Chell 70 22 23 25
20 79 Wyatt McGregor 63 20 21 22
21 119 Tom Goodfellow 61 19 19 23
22 50 Amber McGregor 60 21 18 21
23 117* Tremaine Young 51 16 17 18
24 12 George Bromley 51 14 20 17
25 601 casey kennett 48 13 16 19
26 11 Hari Walton 46 17 14 15
27 127 Lewis Cooper 44 15 15 14
28 501 troy kennett 35 11 11 13
29 91* Albie Hall 31 18 13 –
30 94 Oliver Proctor-Hollins 24 12 12 –
