Searle and Sterry crowned British Champions at Foxhill finale

By the end of the lap Harrison was down to fourth as Simpson closed in on Irwin for the lead and Searle took his time, with the championship on his mind.

Things started to change on lap four as Simpson took the lead from Irwin with Searle on his own in third, while both Gert Krestinov and Tanel Leok found a way past Harrison.

Two laps later Searle snatched second from Irwin, while Stuart Edmonds slipped from eighth to 14th place after a crash.

Jake Nicholls made his way up from a mid-field start and took over eighth.

For the rest of the race the top three remained in the same order with Simpson taking the win by just over 15 seconds from Searle and Irwin, who were separated by just three seconds.

Leok got the better of Krestinov for fourth place with Nicholls having to work hard for his sixth followed by Steven Lenoir, Harrison, Cyrille Coulon and Brad Anderson, who was still suffering with a shoulder injury.

Simpson got the holeshot at the start of race two from Searle, Leok, Irwin and Lenoir and with passing more difficult as the day wore on that was the order they finished. 

But behind the leading five riders it was all happening.

Anderson chased down Nicholls and passed him for sixth while Krestinov came from a 12th place start to snatch seventh from Nicholls with four laps to go.

Yamaha pair Alex Snow and Ashley Wilde seemed to spend all of the race together and finished ninth and tenth as French rider Thomas Ramette crashed out of the race on lap four.

Overall it was Simpson by six points from Searle, Leok, Irwin, Krestinov and Anderson.

But in the final championship standings that was enough for Searle to be crowned champion by just two points from Simpson, with Nicholls taking the third step on the podium as Irwin just missed out.

"It's a nice feeling to be MX1 champion as I have never won an adult championship in my life, so it's nice to get it done,” said new champ Searle.

"I only did what I needed to do but it wasn't easy as both Tanel (Leok) and Graeme (Irwin) rode very well and kept me on my toes. 

"I wasn't going to take the chase to Shaun (Simpson) as I didn't need to risk that to be British champion,”

A philosophical Simpson had a clear picture of his year and said: "I did all I could today as the goal was to come here and win both races and we achieved that, so I am happy with my riding and my preparation for the event. 

"But I have had a season of ‘what ifs' really. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out where I lost the championship, and that's going to be a hard fact to swallow for a while because it was a complete disaster.

"I haven't had such a bad day in all my racing career but it is what it is and I came up two points short at the end of the championship. 

"It would have been nice to have beaten Tommy as it's always nicer to win a championship when you have strong competition, though I wouldn't say my first two championships were easy, just easier. 

"I am proud of the way I rode the last two rounds, winning both races at Preston and here and I hope I can come back next year but that will have to be confirmed with my new team so I don't know yet,”

Third-place man Leok said: "I struggled a bit at the start of the first race and had to come through but by the time I had the front three had gone and there was no way I was going to catch them. 

"In the second I had a better start as was I running with the top guys and that was good but I got a bit held up with the lappers in the middle of the race. 

"I thought I was riding well and my lap times were good so I am happy with that.”

Sterry backed up his fastest MX2 qualifying time by getting past the fast starting Jordan Divall going down the valley for the first time and was never challenged again for the win.

Bryan Mackenzie, who was making his last championship race appearance, passed Divall before the end of the opening lap and set off after the leader.

The only real challenger to Sterry for the championship, Steven Clarke, had his Apico Husqvarna cough and splutter coming back up the valley for the first time while in fourth place.

Clarke struggled on for a couple of laps till he was out of the points and then retired his machine with all hopes of this year's championship gone.

On lap four Martin Barr came from seventh at the start to relegate Mackenzie down a position to third and from there on the top nine same in the same order with Sterry taking the win from Barr, Mackenzie, Divall, Luke Norris, Brad Todd, Lewis Tombs, Michael Eccles and Todd Kellett.

Josh Gilbert inherited his tenth place after Jordan Booker crashed out with one lap to go.

Before the start of race two all Sterry needed was a single point to win the championship and that was only if Mackenzie took the win.

But Clarke was out to prove a point and led the race from start to finish, crossing the line almost five seconds clear of second.

Mackenzie had gated second but was passed by the flying Barr on lap three with Norris pushing him back another place four laps later.

Jake Millward was third on the opening lap but dropped down to fifth by the finish as Kellett spent the whole race in sixth.

Sterry, in the meantime was riding stiffly and looking all around him, doing his best to stay out of trouble.

But after a small fall where luckily his bike restarted straight away he was caught behind Todd, Knight and Tombs who were all fighting for position and there was no way through.

Overall it was Barr from the new champ Sterry, followed by Mackenzie, Norris, Divall and Kellett. 

In the final championship standings it was Sterry by 15 points from Clarke, Mackenzie and Barr.

"That second race was the most 

nerve-racking I have been in and it seemed so very long,” said new champ Sterry.

"I was looking for a repeat of my first race and get a good start and just led from the front but I messed up the start and had three riders battling in front of me and I just couldn't get past. 

"When I crossed the finish line as champion I was lost for words and even now I don't think it has sunk in completely. It's been five years since I started competing in the British championship and I have finally taken that important step in my racing career that I was aiming for. 

"It's also nice to give Steve something back for believing in me and helping me improve over the four years I have been with the team.

"So a massive thanks to him and Matt – the engine builder who joined the team at the same time as me and is now moving on at the same time as me. 

"Of course I have to say thank you to my mum and dad, girlfriend and all the sponsors as well as you don't do these things on your own. 

"I have been through the wars a bit this year with my skin graft and broken arm and other bits and pieces but it's nice to finish on a high and look forward to next year and new challenges.”

Overall winner on the day Barr said: "I was fourth in the championship coming to this final round and I would have needed a miracle to get any higher finish in the championship as it was unlikely that all of the top three would have DNFs in both races, although Steven Clarke did in race one. 

"But the damage was done for my championship hopes at Blaxhall. 

"Since then I have just been trying to keep my head down and get on the podium as much as I can and first overall on the day is a good way to finish the season.”

Mackenzie said: "Third overall in my last British championship race is okay. 

"I was running second overall Luke Norris passed me and I was doing the math in my head while going round but to be honest I didn't want to fight back. 

"I knew I had to stay close to Martin Barr for second in the championship but Steven Clarke was riding so well I knew I wasn't going to catch him so I 

just let it all unfold the way it was going to. 

"I didn't want to take any risks as I just wanted to drive home unhurt. The order of the day was to come here and get the job done, which I did.”

In the first MXY2 race Carpenter led for the first seven laps until his only challenger for the championship, Ellis, passed him to snatch the win away.

But it wasn't enough to stop Carpenter becoming champion. Dylan Woodcock was third after Alexander Brown crashed out with four laps to go, while Henry Williams passed Dexter Douglas for fourth.

After a restart because of a red flag Carpenter led from start to finish with Woodcock second and Brown making up for his race one disappointment with third.

Overall it was the new champion Carpenter from Ellis, Woodcock and Henry Williams, while in the championship it was Carpenter by 36 from Ellis, Williams, Douglas and Woodcock.

And that's it for 2016, see you in 2017.

Maxxis British MX1 Championship

Rd 8 (Final) – Foxhill MP, Wanborough, nr Swindon, Wilts (SD Events)

 1 Shaun Simpson (Wilvo Virus KTM) 25 + 25 = 50

 2 Tommy Searle (Monster DRT Kawasaki) 22 + 22 = 44

 3 Tanel Leok (EST - MVRD Fuel 10K Husky) 18 + 20 = 38

 4 Graeme Irwin (Buildbase Honda) 20 + 18 = 38

 5 Gert Krestinov (EST - Phoenix Tools Honda) 16 + 14 = 30

 6 Brad Anderson (Verde Sports KTM) 14 + 15 = 29

 7 Jake Nicholls (Hitachi Revo Husqvarna) 15 + 13 = 28

 8 Steven Lenoir (F - Dyer & Butler KTM) 11 + 16 = 27

 9 James Harrison (CabScreens LiuGong Husky) 16 + 14 = 23

10 Alex Snow (Ifly JK Yamaha) 9 + 12 = 21

11 Ashley Wilde (Geartec Yamaha UK) 10+11=21, 12 Cyrille Coulon (F - Molson Suzuki) 12+7=19, 13 Josh Spinks (Heads & All Threads Suzuki) 6+9=15, 14 Luke Burton (FUS Husqvarna) 7+8=15, 15 Stuart Edmonds (CabScreens LiuGong Husky) 8+0=8, 16 Shane Carless (Marsh MX Honda) 3+4=7, 17 Eric Williem  4+3=7, 18 Tony Craig (Carnegie Fuels KTM) 0+6=6, 19 Thomas Ramette (F - Molson Suzuki) 5+0=5, 20 Shaun Southgate (Herts MX Honda) 0+5=5, 21 James Dodd (FUS Moto4 Fro Husqvarna) 2+1=3, 22 Robert Holyoake (Apico Putoline CPS Husky) 0+2=2, 23 Ross Rutherford (Site Sealants KTM) 1+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Simpson, 2 Searle, 3 Irwin, 4 Leok, 5 Krestinov, 6 Nicholls, 7 Anderson, 8 Harrison, 9 Coulon, 10 Lenoir, 11 Wilde, 12 Snow, 13 Edmonds, 14 Burton, 15 Spinks, 16 Ramette, 17 Williem, 18 Carless, 19 Dodd, 20 Rutherford.

RACE TWO: 1 Simpson, 2 Searle, 3 Leok, 4 Irwin, 5 Lenoir, 6 Anderson, 7 Krestinov, 8 Nicholls, 9 Snow, 10 Wilde, 11 Harrison, 12 Spinks, 13 Burton, 14 Coulon, 15 Craig, 16 Southgate, 17 Carless, 18 Williem, 19 Holyoake, 20 Dodd.

FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Tommy Searle 339 points (CHAMPION), 2 Shaun Simpson 337, 3 Jake Nicholls 295, 4 Irwin 268, 5 Anderson 216, 6 Leok 210, 7 Whatley 189, 8 Krestinov 184, 9 Lenoir 171, 10 Edmonds 116, 11 Shipton 111, 12 Harrison 111, 13 Snow 107, 14 Spinks 106, 15 Thornhill 92, 16 Banks-Browne 78, 17 Houghton 77, 18 Burton 64, 19 Burrows 59, 20 Wilde 54,...

Maxxis British MX2 Championship

Rd 8 – Foxhill MP, Wanborough, nr Swindon, Wilts (SD Events)

 1 Martin Barr (Buildbase Honda) 22 + 22 = 44

 2 Adam Sterry (Wilvo Virus KTM) 25 + 14 = 39

 3 Bryan MacKenzie (Apico Husqvarna) 20 + 18 = 38

 4 Luke Norris (MNE KTM) 16 + 20 = 36

 5 Jordan Divall (Evo-Tech KTM) 18 + 11 = 29

 6 Todd Kellett (Crescent SJ Hodder KTM) 12 + 15 = 27

 7 Steven Clarke (Apico Husqvarna) 0 + 25 = 25

 8 Brad Todd (Planet Braithwaite Husqvarna) 15 + 10 = 25

 9 Josh Gilbert (St Blazey Husqvarna) 11 + 12 = 23

10 Liam Knight (Dyer & Butler KTM) 9 + 13 = 22

11 Michael Eccles (Geartec Yamaha) 13+8=21, 12 Lewis Tombs (Geartec Yamaha) 14+7=21, 13 Jake Millward (Verde Sports KTM) 2+16=18, 14 Luke Smith (Manchester MC Husqvarna) 6+6=12, 15 Jay Hague (JTL PBU Bikesport KTM) 10+0=10, 16 Ray Rowson (Geartec Husqvarna) 0+9=9, 17 Matt Bayliss (Wooldridge Rinaldi Tyres Honda) 5+4=9, 18 Taylor Hammal (Dyer & Butler KTM) 3+5=8, 19 Carlton Husband (Phoenix Tools Honda) 7+1=8, 20 Tom Neal (Decade Europe KTM) 8+0=8, 21 Oli Benton (Hitachi Revo Husqvarna) 4+3=7, 22 Josh Coleman  0+2=2.

RACE ONE: 1 Sterry, 2 Barr, 3 MacKenzie, 4 Divall, 5 Norris, 6 Todd, 7 Tombs, 8 Michael Eccles, 9 Kellett, 10 Gilbert, 11 Hague, 12 Knight, 13 Neal, 14 Husband, 15 Luke Smith, 16 Bayliss, 17 Benton, 18 Hammal, 19 Millward.

RACE TWO: 1 Clarke, 2 Barr, 3 Norris, 4 MacKenzie, 5 Millward, 6 Kellett, 7 Sterry, 8 Knight, 9 Gilbert, 10 Divall, 11 Todd, 12 Rowson, 13 Michael Eccles, 14 Tombs, 15 Luke Smith, 16 Hammal, 17 Bayliss, 18 Benton, 19 Coleman, 20 Husband.

FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Adam Sterry 303 points (CHAMPION), 2 Steven Clarke 288, 3 Bryan MacKenzie 283, 4 Barr 274, 5 Knight 198, 6 Millward 181, 7 Todd 168, 8 Booker 141, 9 Tombs 133, 10 Kellett 127, 11 Pocock 111, 12 Divall 107, 13 Davidson 99, 14 Husband 94, 15 Gilbert 92, 16 Michael Eccles 88, 17 Bayliss 88, 18 Cottrell 85, 19 Norris 81, 20 Bradshaw 76,...

Maxxis British MXY2 Championship

Rd 8 (Final) – Foxhill MP, Wanborough, nr Swindon, Wilts (SD Events)

 1 James Carpenter (Holeshot MX Honda) 25 + 25 = 47

 2 Michael Ellis (P&H Mc/s KTM) 20 + 18 = 43

 3 Dylan Woodcock (TG Monster Kawasaki) 18 + 22 = 42

 4 Henry Williams (RFX KTM) 16 + 16 = 34

 5 Dexter Douglas (Husqvarna UK) 15 + 15 = 31

 6 Harry Kimber 14 + 13 = 28

 7 Jake Edey (Gear4 KTM) 11 + 12 = 26

 8 Charlie Cole (Husky Sport Husqvarna) 13 + 14 = 25

 9 Dylan Stynes (Metcom CCR TM) 3 + 11 = 24

10 Alexander Brown (Apico Husqvarna) 9 + 20 = 23

11 Josh Greedy  9+10=19, 12 Ben Clark (RFX FTR KTM) 12+5=17, 13 Jake Deacon (Honda) 7+9=16, 14 Ben Burridge  8+8=16, 15 George Sim-Mutch (AJP Passion KTM) 10+3=13, 16 Joe Cadwallader (Dirt Pro Husqvarna) 6+6=12, 17 Myles Saunders (GMX FTR KTM) 4+7=11, 18 Max Broadbelt (KTM) 5+0=5, 19 Josh Bunter (Hardcore Husqvarna) 0+4=4, 20 Michael Watson  2+2=4, 21 Kathryn Booth (Vision MX Pro Green KTM) 0+1=1, 22 Luke Postlethwaite  1+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Ellis, 2 Carpenter, 3 Woodcock, 4 Henry Williams, 5 Douglas, 6 Kimber, 7 Edey, 8 Stynes, 9 Clarke, 10 Cole, 11 Sim-Mutch, 12 Greedy, 13 Burridge, 14 Robson, 15 Cadwallader, 16 Broadbelt, 17 Saunders, 18 Brown, 19 Watson, 20 Postlethwaite.

RACE TWO: 1 Carpenter, 2 Woodcock, 3 Brown, 4 Ellis, 5 Henry Williams, 6 Douglas, 7 Cole, 8 Kimber, 9 Edey, 10 Stynes, 11 Greedy, 12 Robson, 13 Burridge, 14 Saunders, 15 Cadwallader, 16 Clarke, 17 Bunter, 18 Sim-Mutch, 19 Watson, 20 Booth.

FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 James Carpenter 335 points (CHAMPION), 2 Michael Ellis 299, 3 Henry Williams 287, 4 Douglas 259, 5 Woodcock 227, 6 Brown 220, 7 Grigg-Pettitt 195, 8 Edey 174, 9 Green 140, 10 Wright 113, 11 Clarke 109, 12 Bintcliffe 98, 13 Gordon 75, 14 Perfect 68, 15 Stynes 66, 16 Saunders 64, 17 Carnegie 61, 18 Pocock 60, 19 Cadwallader 58, 20 Cole 53.