Who will put the hammer down at Hawkstone?? 2023 AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 4 – Preview
With three rounds completed, the 2023 AMCA British Motocross Championship leaderboard is beginning to take shape although the next test for the riders with title aspirations is certainly a tough one! This coming Sunday, July 2nd, the series arrives at the iconic Hawkstone Park so those standings could well look rather different on completion of that event!
Words and Images by Mike Wood
So far in the Open class, James Dodd and Henry Williams have filled the top two finishing positions in all 11 moto’s. Last time out though they were made to work a little harder for glory thanks to the determination of the fast-starting Will Hughes and Mark Roberts. In the title race, Doddy leads the way 21 points clear of Williams with Hughes (475 points), Adam Wells (445), Roberts (439) and Sean Wainwright (387) next up.
With another maximum points haul at Warmingham, Shane Carless tops the MX2 class and is already 41 clear of Rory Jones in 2nd. The major mover last time out was Lee Truman who jumped from 5th up into 3rd courtesy of his fabulous Warmingham podium placing. Going down the ladder though was Corey Hockey after serious machine problems with his 250cc 2T mount meant that he had to compete instead on a 125cc! Corey is now in 5th but just 2 points behind McKenzie Marshall. Also, in the mix in this one is Jake Preston, Liam Gale, Alfie Calvert, Jordan Wright and Logan Wilcox.
After bagging another couple of moto wins last time out, Luke Dean now holds a 45-point advantage at the top of the hotly contested 125cc Championship chase. Having started the season by topping the standings at Fatcat, Damon Strydom now finds himself down in 5th and suffering from a painful knee injury. However, in contrast, his FUS teammate Chris Povey is enjoying himself at present having moved up to 2nd in the standings ahead of Jack Cox and Harry Linton. Completing the early top ten are Charlie Palmer, Luke Newman, Stuart Owen, Jordan Ridgway and the fast-starting Yarin Evans.
Reeling off an incredible 10 consecutive moto wins, Shane Jones now leads the 125cc Youth Championship by just a very tight 3 points. Indeed, its proving to be very competitive at the top in this one with only 37 points currently separating the leading four riders of Jones, Wyatt McGregor, Jack Evans and Will Turner. Next best is Phillip Tchorek and he’s already got a nice 83-point advantage over George Bromley. Riding in the same contest are the BWMA Women and it’s the very consistent Marni Saunders topping that one. Marni again took the overall win at Warmingham and was joined on the podium by Hollie Roberts and Hannah Jones. In the Championship table, Marni is 35 points clear of Caitlin Newman with Jones, Roberts, Grace Bates, Amber McGregor, Abbie Piggott and Autumn Jenkinson giving chase.
With another podium topping performance, Oakley Kettle is still the leader of the Youth 85cc contest. At Warmingham, Mason Care, an early challenger to Oakley was a non-starter so he has dropped down to 7th in the standings. Scoring a solid podium last time out, George Clark now also holds 2nd in the table from Oliver Bebb, Bobby Watson, Ryan Jackson and schoolgirl Holly Williams. In fantastic form, Holly also tops the BWMA Girls 85cc Championship but she’s having one hell of a tussle with rival Checoby Rainey. At present, just 3 points separate these two fast females with Erin Howes, Poppy Banning, Sophie Jones and Cameron Mansbridge completing the top six. Going back to the lads, Ryan Jackson is also the leading SW85cc rider at present.
What about the Vet’s then, well only 38 points currently separate the top four of Simon Lane, James Lane, Adam Wilkinson and Matt Ryder. So far Wilkinson and both of the Lane Brothers have shared the moto wins which suggest this contest could well go all the way! Making a great comeback to the sport, Ryder also tops the Vets Over 50’s class. Talking of great comebacks, Richard Meakin is 5th in the standings after earning a nice podium pie at Warmingham!
Making it a bumper weekend of action, there’s also a full programme of racing on the Saturday featuring the FXR Northern Area Championship. Admission prices are Adults £5 and OAP’s £3 on Saturday and £10 Adults, OAP’s £5 on Sunday with Children Under 16 Free on on both days providing they are accompanied by a paying Adult.
