Sunshine graced the valley of Foxhill Moto Parc for the fifth round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship. As a large crowd of spectators were treated to some great action on the day.
The day started with the practice and qualifying sessions and in the MX2 class it was Elliott Banks Browne on the HM Plant KTM UK that took pole in the first session, but a mistake in Superpole allowed Wild Card Dean Ferris on his Monster Energy Yamaha to take poll over Evotech Stevens KTM’s Steven Lenoir and Steven Clarke in third on the second of the HM Plant machines. In the MX1 class Buildbase Honda’s Nico Aubin took pole in both sessions ahead of the two STR KTM Matiss Karro and Jonathan Barragan. The opening round of the British Veterans saw former Champion Rob Herring take pole over reigning Champion Phil Mercer in second and Brian Wheeler in third place.
After a short lunch break it was time for the race action to take place and first up was the MX2 class. As the gate dropped it was Neville Bradshaw on the Putoline Honda who took the holeshot and took the early race lead and pushed on at the front ahead of Elliott Banks Browne and Dean Ferris. Banks Browne continued to push hard and managed to work his way around Bradshaw for the lead and the race win. Ferris would have to wait a few more laps until moving into second. Third place would go to Bradshaw ahead of Steven Lenoir in fourth and Bryan Mackenzie in fifth.
The first MX1 race saw drama on the opening lap as current Red Plate holder Tanel Leok collided with other rider on the first downhill and crashed heavily breaking his collarbone in the process. The crash allowed MBO Sport Yamaha rider Kristian Whatley to take the lead in the race and in the Championship with victory over the returning Matiss Karro. Third place went to Jonathan Barragan, with Nico Aubin and Adam Chatfield rounding out the top 5 for the Buildbase Honda Team.
Next up was the opening race of the Veteran’s Championship, early race leader was Greg Hanson with reigning Champion Phil Mercer in second, Mercer soon moved into the lead and went on to take the race win. Second place at the finish would go to Gary Hoptrough with Greg Hanson in third. Fourth and fifth places went to Rob Herring and Terry House.
The second MX2 race of the day saw Bryan Mackenzie on the Pendrich Kawasaki storm into the early lead with Neville Bradshaw and Steven Clarke in close company. The three battled wheel to wheel for the whole race until Clarke found his way into the lead and took the flag ahead of Bradshaw and Lenoir, who produced a late race charge. Mackenzie finished in fourth just behind the front three, while Graeme Irwin came home in fifth. Banks Browne suffered a heavy crash and finished down in 11th place after breaking the clutch lever off the machine.
In the second MX1 race of the day it was Matiss Karro that raced to the front of the field and looked comfortable for the race win until being passed by Nico Aubin with just three laps to go. Karro’s team mate Barragan would come home in third ahead of Whatley and Krestinov.
The second and final Veterans race would again see Phil Mercer take the victory ahead of Gary Hoptrough and Rob Herring in third. The fourth and fifth places went to Greg Hanson and Terry House.
The last race of the day saw the only mixed race of the season take place. As the gate dropped it was Matiss Karro that took the race lead, but MX2 front runners Steven Clarke and Steven Lenoir crashed in the second turn, taking Clarke out of the race and leaving Lenoir along way down. As the race went on at the front it was Karro leading the way, but it was Whatley who was closing in and eventually took the win ahead of Barragan and Karro. Fourth place went to Brad Anderson with Nico Aubin in fifth. The first MX2 rider home was Ferris in sixth with Bradshaw just behind.
The MX1 overall saw Whatley take his first every British Championship overall victory ahead of Matiss Karro in second and Jonathan Barragan in third. In the MX2 class it was the turn of Neville Bradshaw to claim his first ever British Championship overall win ahead of Bryan Mackenzie and Elliott Banks Browne in third.
The Championship now heads to Desertmartin in Northern Ireland in three weeks’ time on the 23rd June.