The Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship came to a close on Sunday at the hillside Wiltshire circuit with the three remaining champions being crowned. The former Grand Prix circuit produced plenty of exciting and close racing in the bumper ten race programme.
In the MX1 class newly crowned Shaun Simpson on the Hitachi Construction KTM UK had already wrapped up the Championship at the previous round. Unfortunately Simpson didn't make the podium at the final round, mainly due to a wheel / tyre problem in the second moto which gave him his first DNF of the season. It was Buildbase Honda rider and double MX2 champion Elliott Banks-Browne who dominated the MX1 class with a strong 2-1-3 result to mark his returned to form after a season plagued with injury to take his first MX1 overall victory. Second overall on the day went to Graeme Irwin on the Heads and All Threads Suzuki and Banks-Browne's team mate on the second of the Buildbase Honda's Brad Anderson taking the lower step which was enough to secure him 3rd in the series by one point from Irwin.
The MX2 class saw Matiss Karro on the Wilvo Forkrent KTM go into the round with a healthy points lead over Hitachi Construction KTM UK’s Mel Pocock. The likeable Latvian took the pressure off with a race win in the opening moto of the weekend. The second race of day saw Steven Clarke take the race win while Karro suffered a small crash that meant he only scored 12 points, but it was still enough to secure the MX2 title with a race to spare. The final race of the season saw Karro and Lenoir battle for the race win with the Frenchman taking the victory. However it was Dyer and Butler KTM’s Steven Clarke who stood on the top step of the podium for the first time with 6-1-3 results on a day while tied on points with Pocock in second and the Champion Karro in third.
The MXY2 class went right to the final lap of the last moto with Josh Gilbert on the St Blazey MX Amped Honda holding off Oliver Osmaston on the MX World Honda with 2-2 results which gave him a three point championship cushion to take the title after ten hard fought motos. On the day it was Osmaston who took the overall win ahead of Championship Gilbert in second and Liam Knight on the Dyer and Butler KTM in third.
The final championship to be decided was the Veterans and again it could not have been closer with Phil Mercer IDS Transport – Chambers KTM recording 1-2 finishes which equaled his main rival, Brian Wheeler on the GL12 Racing Kawasaki who went 2-1 and took the overall victory, leaving Mercer the Champion by a mere one point.