Hitachi KTM hit out at race officials after Culham Yellow flag incident

By Andrew Hill on 14th Mar 22

British Motocross Championship Culham Conrad Mewse Isak Gifting Kay Karssemakers

A dismissed protest at Culham has overshadowed positive British debuts for Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee's new rider line-up, as the Revo ACU British Motocross Championship Fuelled by Gulf Race Fuels began its 2022 season at the Oxfordshire circuit.

An alleged failure to roll a jump under waved yellow flag conditions was aimed at another rider by Hitachi KTM's team owner Roger Magee.

While Magee did not name the rider publicly, video footage appears to show former team rider Conrad Mewse jumping on a waved Yellow flag.

Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee had an all-new rider line-up for the first race in the British national series. The team travelled to Culham without Dutch youngster Kay Karssemaker as the MX2 rider recovered from an injury sustained in Mantova while on world championship duty. Hitachi KTM's other MX2 pilot, Sweden's Isak Gifting had his first taste of the tough Oxfordshire circuit, whileNorthern Ireland's Cole McCullough had his first points-paying race in the 125 class, and both came away with plenty of points for Magee's squad.

Gifting entered his first British campaign with high confidence following two solid Grand Prix performances and continued to show why Hitachi KTM have such faith in the talented 21-year-old Swedish ace as he quickly showed Timed Practice pace comparable to the leading riders in the MX2 class; this despite no familiarity with the deeply rutted and energy-sapping circuit.

He fought the track in the first race and struggled to find his rhythm. Still, an excellent second place set him up nicely for the final moto as he held the lead for the first half of the race before Mewse took over. Gifting kept the British rider honest, crossing the finish line just four seconds behind the experienced Mewse.

"It was my first time at the British Championship today and it was pretty nice, with a cool and gnarly track," said Gifting. "I struggled a lot with my riding, but turned it around for moto two and rode better."

Second overall with 44 championship points has given Gifting a great platform to build his first British title push with seven rounds left on the schedule.

Team-mate McCullough was aboard a KTM 125 SX for the four-race format of the 125cc class where top 10 rides, with fourth in the third race, secured fourth overall.

But it was the alleged infringement that soured the day's good results for Magee, and the controversy may rumble on following the team owner's comments after the race director dismissed the protest. "Despite a team protest and clear video evidence that another rider clearly jumped a double on a waved Yellow flag, the matter was inexplicably dismissed by the race director and other ACU officials who have not followed their own rules, which is their duty and does not have to be instigated by a protest," said Magee.

"The officials should consider their position as they would appear to be now untenable given the clear video footage available to them to make the correct decision in accordance [with] their own rules. Anything else is nothing but cheating in my opinion, and that of others who are well experienced within motocross."

The official signals section of the ACU championship rules states that a Yellow flag waved indicates: "Great danger, prepare to stop, no overtaking. A significant reduction in speed must be seen, therefore jumps should not be attemped."

Magee pointed to McCullough's debut as one of the highlights of the Culham round. "This weekend's British Championship saw the first appearance of 13-year-old Cole McCullough from Northern Ireland on the Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee team, and he certainly didn't disappoint.

"In his four races, he finished P8-P6-P4-P5 against many of the riders who are older and have been in the class for a number of years. It's an encouraging start for him, and we can look forward to him competing in EMX125 in a few weeks' time when the level of competition will be on another level.

"Due to Kay Karssemaker's untimely injury last weekend in Mantova, we were reduced down to the Isak Gifting competing in his first-ever British Championship event. After getting used to the track and the deep rutted conditions, he came home in P2 and led moto two for over half the race distance. The unofficial provisional results show that he was P2 overall.

"The team will now make the long and expensive journey to the third MXGP round of 2022 in Argentina, where Isak Gifting will be striving to improve on his overall ninth position in MX2."

Hitachi KTM hit out at race officials after Culham Yellow flag incident

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