Report: AMCA British MX Championship
By Mike Wood on 4th May 16
After endless hours spent training on fitness and then in the workshop in an attempt to try and get the very best performance from their bikes it was time for riders to put all of that blood, sweat and tears to the test at the opening round of the AMCA British Motocross Championship powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop.
A title cannot be won just on your round one efforts but a poor showing could seriously hamper your chances.
So, making sure that they are not playing catch-up right from the off, Luke Burton (MX1) and Josh Waterman (MX2) got off to the perfect start by blasting to brilliant maximum scores at Lower Drayton Farm, Dunston in Staffordshire on Sunday.
Other winners in what was a busy day of racing were Ben Saunders (2T), Matt Gordon (Veteran) and James Hanscomb (Youth 85/150F). This result for Hanscomb meant that he was also crowned the champion after a short three-round early season series, doing it in style by winning all nine motos along the way.
In a star studded MX1 line-up, defending Champion Luke Dean posted the fastest qualifying time although one notable absentee from the new challenge was Shane Carless, who had suffered a nasty injury while out practising mid-week.
When the gate dropped Gary Gibson, making his AMCA Championship debut, grabbed the holeshot while Luke Meredith who was already feeling unwell due to a bug got in trouble on turn one and had it all to do.
In the early exchanges, a tussle developed for the lead as Gibson came under intense pressure from Luke Burton.
Four laps in Burton surged to the front and he remained there to win the contest over 11-seconds clear of Gibson with Dean third and Ryan Crowder fourth after moving up to pass Curtis Blamey just two laps from home.
Young Blamey, another debutant, had to work very to maintain fifth spot in the closing stages, coming under pressure from Richard Cannings, John May and two-stroke mounted Adam Harris.
After his strong start to the campaign, Gibson hit trouble in the early stages moto two, finding himself in last place when having to take evasive action to avoid a fallen Matt Ridgway.
While Gibson started the climb back up the leader-board, at the front Burton was in ruthless form bagging victory 23-seconds clear of Crowder, Dean, Blamey, Meredith and Cannings.
Restricted to a 22nd place finish in moto one following a fall, James Dodd took seventh this time out, one place ahead of the charging Gibson as Jack Cox and May completed the top ten.
In the final MX1 contest the immaculate Burton claimed the win from Gibson.
With the front two well clear, May had his best ride to get home in third despite the close company of two impressive young riders in Blamey and Crowder.
For reigning champion Dean though this final clash was not quite so memorable. He crashed on lap one shortly after passing May for second.
He restarted in 31st spot before working overtime to get back for a hard earned 12th including an incredible last lap when he passed five of his tivals.
Afterwards a delighted overall winner Burton said: "We knew this year was going to be tough in MX1 so we have been working hard on bike suspension and motor set-up.
After making a slight mistake in qualification by using a sand tyre, for the rest of the day the bike was superb.
This was the first time I have ridden this track, but it was just how I like it, very rough, technical, and good for racing.”
After having to go through the Area Qualifiers to book his place on the start line for the AMCA MX2 title chase, Adam Wells showed that he certainly means business by posting the fastest time during practice and thus earn the number one gate choice.
When the action started though Bradley Tranter grabbed the moto one holeshot only to fall before the end of the opening lap.
With Tranter back down in 24th, Jack Gardner took control of proceedings but was coming under intense pressure from Wells and Josh Waterman.
On lap two Waterman moved up into second before storming to the front on lap four and there he remained.
Waterman took the win over 16 seconds clear of Gardiner with Lewis King, Wells, James Wainwright, Paul Neale, Zac Stealey and Jansen Day right in the mix.
After crashing just yards from the start gate, Luke Mellows had to settle for 11th in the opener.
It was not going to plan for the FUS Husqvarna team, who were also the meeting sponsors as Mellows crashed again off the start of MX2 moto two, almost collecting Waterman in the process.
Mellows team-mate Gardner was also in trouble, falling twice on consecutive laps in the same corner to find himself in last place.
This contest was a spectacular affair as Luke Blanchard led for five laps before talented rising star Wainwright took control. Closing after his early scare was a menacing Waterman.
Coming through from 11th spot, Josh surged to the front just two laps from home to take another win with Wainwright a brilliant second ahead of Wells, King, early leader Blanchard, Stealey and Lewis Meadows.
Although Jack Timms made a great initial jump in the final MX2 clash, Waterman quickly took control. From there on, it was Waterman all the way as Mellows gained some consolation for an otherwise frustrating day by passing King for second on the last lap with again Wells, Wainwright, Stealey, Blanchard and Meadows bagging the big points.
On the podium, the biggest smile of the day justifiably belonged to third placed Wells on the comeback trail and looking strong after having his last couple of seasons ruined by injury.
Naturally winner Waterman was also delighted, and said: "With the concrete start pad it shuffled the racing alot and made it quite unpredictable. I was well pleased with my fitness and speed today and the bike was awesome.”
What a great sight to see a full line-up of two-stroke machines on the Lower Drayton start-gate. The opening round of the AMCA Championship quickly developed into a serious head-to-head battle between Ben Saunders on a 125 and James Lane on the 250.
At the end of three highly competitive clashes Saunders took the overall win with also a 2-1 count in his favour on moto victories.
Lane's one success came in race two when he reeled Saunders in before snatching the lead with just the final turn remaining, breathtaking stuff.
Jamie Powell an expected contender started the meeting strongly before disappearing on lap five on the second moto. So taking third overall was a consistent Tony Griffiths from Matthew Bath and Elliot Stones.
Bravery award in this class goes to Jack Waterman who suffered a massive crash in timed qualifying.
Battered and bruised, Jack still decided to tace and in an attempt to put some vital points on the board he managed to bag ninth overall.
Also deserving a mention in the 2T class was 15-year-old Rory Jones, earning 12th overall despite being forced to make a last minute switch to a 2015 KTM after his 2016 model developed gearbox problems.
Not to be outdone, the AMCA Veterans Championship class also produced some classic action with Matt Gordon, Simon Lane and finally Terry House all taking turns to lead moto one.
House timed his challenge to perfection by passing both of his rivals in the final lap.
In moto two Gordon was fastest away and in control for the opening couple of circuits before Lane found a way through.
In the final three laps tough Yorkshireman Danny Blakeley and Martin Atherton also passed Gordon as Gary Jones and Terry House completed the top six.
In the last clash and with House a non-starter, Gordon and Lane disputed the lead up until lap six.
However Lane, the defending champion, had been suffering all day with a migraine and f eventually dropped down to fourth. So taking the win and the overall was Gordon, as Blakeley got home in second, with Atherton third.
Sunday's event also included the final round of the AMCA Youth 85/150F title chase. Wrapping the crown up in style, James Hanscomb again won all three motos to boast a perfect unbeaten series score.
In the previous two rounds, Lloyd Duggan-Thomas had been Hanscomb's closest challenger. However Duggan-Thomas started Sunday's event with a DNF so Finn Corbijn and Matthew Lloyd instead took the remaining podium places
