The historic Farleigh Castle venue marked the scene for the final round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship. With bright sunshine and clear blue skies it was set for an exciting finish to the season.
In the MX2 class the day started with Qualifying and Superpole, in the first qualifying session Elliott Banks-Browne topped the time sheets but after the Superpole it was Neville Bradshaw that secured pole position. Banks-Browne finished Superpole in second with Bryan Mackenzie in third and Nathan Watson and Steven Clarke rounding out the top 5.
The first race of the day saw series leader and reigning Champion Banks-Browne make the start and take the early race lead. In second place, team mate Steven Clarke was pushing hard to get towards the front and soon moved into the lead ahead of Banks-Browne. As the race progressed Banks-Browne retook the lead and went onto take the race win ahead of fellow title contender Steven Lenoir and Adam Sterry in third, while Bryan Mackenzie moved into fourth and Steven Clarke finished in fifth.
The second race saw Banks-Browne go into the race with the chance of securing the championship. When the gate dropped Banks-Browne rounded the first corner in the top 5, while at the front Bryan Mackenzie rode a solid race to take the victory, second place went to Banks-Browne and was enough to secure the title. Third place went to Neville Bradshaw with Steven Lenoir and Jordon Booker rounding out the top 5.
The final race of the MX2 season saw Bryan Mackenzie take another well-deserved race win after moving into the lead on the second lap. Mackenzie came under a lot of pressure in the closing laps of the race from the newly crowned Champion Elliott Banks-Browne. Third place went to Neville Bradshaw ahead of Steven Lenoir and Graeme Irwin. The overall on the day went to Elliott Banks-Browne over Bryan Mackenzie in second by just 1 point and Steven Lenoir in third.
The MX1 class started with Matiss Karro taking pole following the Superpole session with Nico Aubin second fastest and Kristian Whatley in third. French wild card rider Jason Clermont finished fourth fastest on his first visit to the venue, with Jonathan Barragan in fifth.
The opening race of the day for the MX1 class saw Kristian Whatley storm to the front early on and race away to take the win ahead of Brad Anderson in second and Nico Aubin in third place. Luke Hawkins produced a solid fourth place finish after taking the holeshot, while Matiss Karro finished in fifth place.
The second race saw Whatley go into the race with a 50 point lead over Barragan and just needed a single point to secure the title, but Whatley had other ideas. When the gate dropped it was Hawkins who took the holeshot once again, but Whatley soon moved into the lead ahead of Karro to take the win and the title. Nico Aubin secured another third place finish with Gert Krestinov and Alex Snow rounding out the top 5.
The last MX1 race of the season saw drama on the first corner as Nico Aubin, Matiss Karro and Kristian Whatley all crashed, as they remounted Whatley and Karro both had to pit and carry out repairs before returning to the race. At the front Brad Anderson and Gert Krestinov were having a great race long battle for the victory with Anderson eventually taking the win. Krestinov took second place with Alex Snow in third and Jonathan Barragan in fourth. Nathan Parker took fifth place in the race, while Whatley had put on a storming ride to finish in sixth place after passing Jamie Law on the last corner to secure the overall win on the day, ahead of Anderson in second overall and Krestinov in third.
Farleigh Castle also marked the final round of the British Veterans Championship and in the qualifying session it was Terry House who posted the fastest time ahead of Brian Wheeler and Greg Hanson.
The first of the Veterans Class races saw Brian Wheeler run away with the early race lead until a heavy crash on the last lap saw him slip to fifth place. The race win eventually went to Terry House ahead of Gary Hoptrough and Phil Mercer in third. Fourth place went to Greg Hanson with Brian Wheeler picking himself up to finish fifth.
The second race saw Greg Hanson produce a great start to finish race win ahead of Phil Mercer and Terry House. Gary Hoptrough finished in fourth place with Shaun Sabin in fifth place. The results meant that Terry House finished the day on top of the podium ahead of Greg Hanson and Phil Mercer, But Mercer’s third overall was enough to secure him the Championship for 2013.