This weekend marked the penultimate round of the Revo ACU British Motocross Championship at a new venue to the calendar, Schoolhouse Moto Parc. The venue located near to Newcastle had recently received a redesign and enhancements prior to the championship arriving.
Images courtesy of Conway MX
With both Josh Vail and Reece Jones leading their respective classes, they were keen to set strong times during the qualifying sessions. In the Big Wheel 85cc the top 3 were separated by just 0.25 of the second with Josh finishing 3rd fastest on a very fast and flat track. In the Youth 125cc class it was a similar situation with the top 3 being covered by 0.26 seconds and Reece taking 3rd.
Later it was time for the races to begin and in the opening Big Wheel 85cc race, Josh suffered a mid pack start and had to work his way through the pack to finish in 2nd place just behind the race winner and claiming the Kecks fastest lap award.
In the opening Youth 125cc / 250cc Reece Jones started outside the top 10 and quickly pushed forward and was challenging at the front of the pack. Once inside the top 3 Reece challenged for the 125cc win but just missed out and finished 3rd in the race and 2nd in class.
The second Big Wheel 85cc race saw Josh make another mid pack start but quickly moved forward into the race lead and took a strong race win with another fastest lap.
Reece’s second 125cc / 250cc race saw another tough start, but a strong recovery saw Reece push forward to the front of the 125cc class to take the win and 5th in the race.
The final race on the Saturday was the third Big Wheel 85cc race and this race saw Josh make his worst start of the weekend but pushed hard all race long to take 3rd place in the race.
Sunday morning saw Josh out on track for his final race of the weekend and he made his best start of the weekend and was in the lead early on. Unfortunately, Josh lost drive on the run up to one of the jumps and slipped to 2nd and after a close wheel to wheel race, Josh just missed out on the win and finished in second. The results gave Josh second overall on the weekend but he continued to extend his points lead to 53 points with one round left.
The first 125cc / 250cc class of the Sunday saw Reece make a good start inside the top 5 and move into 2nd place on the 2nd lap before pushing forward to take the overall race lead and win and another 125cc win.
The fourth and final 125cc / 250cc race saw Reece come from outside the top 10 to charge forward all race long to claim 2nd in the race and the 125cc race win. The victory gave Reece the overall win and extended his points lead to 34 points going into the final round.
Leighton Haigh – Team Manager – “This weekend was another good weekend for the team and a solid step towards the championship titles in both classes. Josh would have preferred to take the race wins, but today was about working towards the championship and the main goal. Reece rode great all weekend and showed on the Sunday that a good start would allow him to battle for the win in both classes. With both Josh and Reece extending their points leads, we are in a good position in both classes with one round left.”
