Conrad Mewse beats The Bullet to take Blaxhall win

By Team TMX on 25th Jun 24

News Motocross British Motocross Championship

While Conrad Mewse on his Crendon Tru7 Honda got the better of five-time world champion Jeffrey Herlings riding a Red Bull KTM in a shortened MX1 race, and Cas Valk (Gabriel SS24 KTM) dominated the only MX2 race, a series of unfortunate events caused the cancellation of the second half of the third round of the Dirt Store MXGB British Championship.

Hours and hours of unpaid hard work by the Woodbridge club had given both riders and spectators an excellent track and venue that was prepared and looked as good as any GP. However, with two MX1 riders crashing in their first race, one of which caused a red flag stoppage, and a spectator suffering a severe health issue, all the attending ambulances were sent to the local hospital.

The meeting was paused without medical cover but the situation got worse when the hospital was running over capacity and the delay was longer than envisaged. After the club and RHL determined the time it would take to run the second block of racing, and the uncertainty of when the ambulances would return, they had no alternative but to call the meeting off. No one was more upset about this regrettable decision than the Woodbridge club but health and safety must come first.

Tristian Purdon (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna) got the holeshot at the start of the only MX1 race and was followed around the first turn by Herlings and Mewse. But as the riders disappeared on the lap, Billy Mackenzie (Modu Kawasaki) crashed in turn two, with the seat ripped out of his racing pants. He quickly picked up his bike and chased after the rest of the riders, ripped pants and all.

The leading pair’s pace was too much for Purdon and by the time the riders came back into sight of the lap scorers, he had dropped to third place as Mewse hounded Herlings for the lead.

On lap two, down by the railway line, Herlings made an uncharacteristic mistake, letting Mewse through and into the lead. From then on, and for lap after lap, Herlings sat behind Mewse, watching and waiting to pounce and snatch the lead back. But, with the race stopping after eight laps, Mewse was declared the winner ahead of Herlings and Purdon.

Sam Nunn (John Banks Honda) crashed out of fourth place on the fast-flowing Blaxhall track. He remounted in 17th and recovered to 13th place before the red flag stoppage.

Brad Todd (DK Offroad Bikesport Honda) was flying. He had a great start and passed James Cottrell on the opening lap. He then took full advantage of Nunn’s crash to take over fourth place, which he would keep to the end of the race.

Martin Barr (Apico Honda) had a great ride to pull through for fifth. Teammate Tom Grimshaw gated 10th but finished sixth while Dan Thornhill (Chambers KTM) started 18th and finished ninth.

“It’s been a difficult day today. I felt really good all day and amazing in qualifying," said winner Mewse. "I have had four hard but good weeks of training leading up to this event and it's a shame it was cut short. I hope the boys that crashed are all right. It's all very unfortunate, but I can't complain about the win. I was gutted about not having a second race but I am still happy with the win. Bring on Foxhill.”

When asked about his race, Herlings said, “It wasn’t even a race; it was just over half a race. It’s a shame, really, as me and Conrad (Mewse) had a really good pace, and I thought I would try and pass him at the end of the moto, like I do in GPs, but obviously, I didn’t get the chance as the race was stopped. Conrad rode a really good race, and the track was mint. The fans were really nice and such a big crowd again. I understand the reason for cutting out the second race, as you can’t race without ambulance cover. But these things happen. Shame it’s a great racetrack.”

From third place on the podium, Purdon said, "It's been a positive day for me and the team, but it's such a shame what happened to stop the racing. I am not very good at qualifying, so the seventh fastest was great. Then I got the holeshot, which was also unusual for me. I was leading for a bit, but I didn’t know what to do as I was not usually in that position. Then Conrad (Mewse) and Jeffrey (Herlings) came past me, and I thought I would latch onto them but they were a bit better today, and I got dropped. I love this track, as I have been here three times. It’s nice and bumpy now, and I really enjoyed it”.

MX2 series leader Jack Chambers (Bike It Kawasaki) had set the fastest qualifying time, but when it came to the race, there was no stopping Elliott Bank-Browne (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna) from getting the holeshot. He led over a lap until Valk found a way past him in the wooded section.

Joel Rizzi (Dirt Store Kawasaki) had gated third but was passed by Chambers on lap three on his way to take second place from Banks-Browne a lap later.

Taylor Hammal (Crendon Tru7 Honda) was sixth on the opening lap but was on a charge. He slipped past his teammate Jake Nicholls on lap sixth and past Rizzi a lap later. But it all went wrong on lap nine at the end of the top straight. He was closing fast on the then third place rider, Banks-Browne, as they reached the turn at the end of the straight, where they both went for the same piece of the track, and both went down hard. Banks-Browne was hurt and walked back to the paddock holding his arm, while Hammal remounted in eighth place, the position he would eventually finish the race.

From then on, the running order for the race leaders stayed in the same order, with Valk taking the win by almost 11 seconds from Chambers, who had Rizzi 10 seconds behind him. Nicholls was a fine fourth place, with the only excitement at the end of the race coming from a battle for fifth and sixth as Dylan Walsh (MSR Kawasaki) and Tommy Searle (Dirt Store Kawasaki) renewed their old rivalry and crossed the finish line three seconds apart.

Wildcard rider and sand specialist Todd Kellett (Yamaha) was seventh on a 250 two-stroke Yamaha.

“I was feeling very good with the track,” said a happy Valk, “It’s a nice and fast track, and it made for some close racing. It got a good start, and I was happy to get into the lead quickly. I then opened up a bit of a gap and controlled the race from the front. It was a shame there was no second race, but these things happen, and I was looking to do the same in race two. I am now looking forward to the next round at Foxhill”.

Chambers said about his second place, "I didn't have the greatest of starts as my front tyre hit the gate, and I just got a bad jump going down the start straight in about tenth. I got my way through to fourth quick, and I could see that the leader was holding up Cas (Valk) at the time. I knew I had to get by Joel (Rizzi) before Cas got into the lead, but he did it pretty quickly. We struggled a bit with the forks on the bike as they were set up for the last GP and needed to go a bit softer here as it was softer and rutted up quickly. So, I made some mistakes but also had some decent laps but ran out of time to catch Cas".

The always smiling Rizzi said about his third place, “It was a shame about everything that went on and not doing the second race. We had done a couple of tweaks on the bike that may have helped, but I was struggling to find my flow in the first race. I got a good start, but Cas (Valk) and Jack (Chambers) got around me. I kept up with Jack, but then he edged away from me. It was a shame I couldn't stay with them boys, but we are still on the podium. I just need more and more races to work on my technique, as it goes out the window when you're not racing".

In the combined Youth 125 and Youth 250 race, Josh Vail (SJP Moto RFX KTM) was the winner on the track and of the 125cc side of the race, leading from the drop of the gate to the checkered flag.

Reece Jones (K Tech Aristocars KTM) chassed Vail all the way and was the 250cc race winner, while Harrison Greenough (S Simpson KTM) and Jamie Keith (MBRPX Yamaha) battled over third and fourth, with Keith second in the 125s and Greenough second in the 250s.

In the Big Wheel 85s, Alfie Geddes-Green (Matt Pope MC GASGAS) led around the opening lap but was passed by Hayden Statt (Manchester MCs Husqvarna) as the pair finished first and second. Finley Pickering (Mr T’s Racing KTM) spent all race in third while Blake Ward-Clarke (Dirt Store KTM) passed Casey Lister (Chambers GASGAS) for third.

Dirt Store ACU British Motocross Championship

Round Four – Blaxhall, Suffolk

MX1

MX2

Youth 125

Youth Open

BW85

Series Standings

MX1: 1 Herlings 119, 2 Mewse 116, 3 Barr 79, 4 Todd 78, 5 Purdon 76, 6 Meara 73, 7 Gilbert 71, 8 Nunn 64, 9 Thornhill 50, 10 Grimshaw 45

MX2: 1 Chambers 114, 2 Valk 112, 3 Rizzi 98, 4 Searle 88, 5 Walsh 79, 6 Nicholls 60, 7 Hammal 57, 8 Mustoe 53, 9 Brookes 48, 10 Colmer 47

Youth 125: 1 Keith 216, 2 Vail 207, 3 Walker 162, 4 Richmond 136, 5 Spratt 122, 6 Haddock 112, 7 Laughton 98, 8 Hucklebridge 85, 9 Jones 75, 10 Bubb 62

Youth Open: 1 Jones 208, 2 Greenough 197, 3 Fisher 158, 4 Meara 143, 5 M Corke 137, 6 Cameron 125, 7 G Cocke 115, 8 Jones 85, 9 Hooley 84, 10 Wilson 50

BW85:1 Statt 306, 2 Geddes-Green 292, 3 Pickering 272, 4 Ward-Clarke 248, 5 Severn 220, 6 Brindley 206, 7 Winstanley-Dawson 200, 8 Collins 195, 9 O’Callaghan 190, 10 Gyles 183. 

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