Dirt Store MXGB: Schoolhouse report and results

By Dick Law on 4th Sep 24

News Motocross British Motocross Championship

Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings proved why he is a five-time world champion as he won both MX1 races at the fifth round of the ACU Dirt Store British Motocross Championship at a changeable Schoolhouse venue in Northumbria. In the MX2 class Tommy Searle (Dirt Store Kawasaki) also proved there is no substitute for experience as he had a double race win.

They say up north that if you don't like the weather just wait 10 minutes and it will change. And that's what it did as for most of the Saturday's youth races, it was blue skies, hot sunshine with a pleasant breeze, but come Sunday's primary race day, the track was covered with low clouds with the wet drizzle that went with it. The rain disappeared as the day went on, but come podium time, it chucked it down.

As expected, Herlings set a very fast qualifying time, almost a second and a half faster than second-place rider Conrad Mewse (Crendon Tru7 Honda) from Josh Gilbert (Gabriel SS24 KTM), Mewse’s teammate Taylor Hammal, and Bobby Bruce (Bike it Kawasaki). But come race time, it would be a different story.

It was Gilbert who got the holeshot at the start of the first MX1 race from Ben Edwards (Dyce Carriers KTM), Hammal, Tristan Purdon (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna), Mewse and Charlie Putnam (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna). Herlings had messed up his start and was in 10th place.

Hammal snatched the lead from Gilbert on lap two, while Edwards and Putnam slipped down the field in the first lap – Mewse was already up to third, with Herlings in eighth place. However, he was taking his time and letting the race settle.

On lap three, Mewse slipped by an unsuspecting Hammal for the lead, but four laps later, Herlings was in second place and flying.

Slowly, lap after lap. Herlings closed in on the leader Mewse, and the large crowd of spectators must have been wondering if he would run out of laps before catching him, but with just two laps to go, Herlings upped his pace and caught and snatched the lead and the win from Mewse's hands.

Hammal hung onto third from Gilbert, Purdon and Jason Meara (Moto-Cycle Racing GASGAS).

In race two, Herlings wasn’t messing around. He got the holeshot and just cleared off into the distance. Bruce had gated second but came off around the first lap, handing second place to Mewse, who stayed with Herlings for a while but could not match the leader’s pace.

Tom Grimshaw (Apico Honda) rounded the first turn in fourth but had Hammal, Mears, and Gilbert slip by him on the opening lap as Brad Todd (DK Offroad Honda) and Purdon fought over eighth and ninth while impressing the spectators with massive uphill jumps.

At the halfway point, Bruce slipped off again, ruining his podium chances, while Herlings sailed to a 27-second win over Mewse. Gilbert was third, followed by Hammal, Todd, Meara, Purdon, and Grimshaw.

Overall, Herlings from Mewse, Gilbert and Hammal missed out on the podium. Herlings now has a 15-point advantage over Mewse, with Gilbert third, but now out of the championship hunt.

After, winner Herlings said when asked about his race one start, “I had a really good jump on the gate, but after the gate, it was like riding on ice, and I just spun up really bad, and the rear wheel was just spinning. I went from first to almost last. It was hard to pass on this track, I think, because of all the rain. It was a bit one-liney, so I took my time, kept it all under control, and managed to pass Conrad (Mewse) with a couple of laps to go. I pulled the holeshot in the second moto and controlled the race for the second win. It was really good.”

A philosophical Mewse said after the race, “If I had that little bit extra to keep with Jeffrey (Herlings), I would be racing the GPs. I am trying to do everything I can to even stay with the man who is the fastest motocross rider on the planet at the moment. It's simply that and I gave it all I had. Compared with the rest of the field, I am feeling good riding well and feeling strong. When he comes, it shows the minor details you must work on to be that good. It's great that he's here as it's pushed me to a new level and has made me a better rider".

Gilbert said from third on the podium, “I have been struggling a lot this year. I have had injury after injury. My elbow is manageable, but the shoulder I hurt at Maggiora is taking a long time to regain strength. But in the last couple of weeks, it's improving, and I am feeling more comfortable on the bike again, so getting back on the box is a nice feeling and I am looking to finish off the racing season strong.”

Championship leader Jack Chambers (Bike it Kawasaki) set the fastest time in MX2 qualifying and was just over a second faster than his main championship rival, Cas Valk (Gabriel SS24 KTM), with Joe Brookes (426 Motorsports KTM) third fastest. But a mistake in race one would spoil Chambers’ Sunday.

Searle got the holeshot at the start of the first race from his teammate Joel Rizzi. Glenn McCormick (Chambers KTM) was third, with the evergreen Elliott Banks-Browne (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna) fourth and Chambers fifth.

By the end of the opening lap, Rizzi had passed his teammate Searle for the lead as Chambers had muscled his way to third place. For the next six laps, it was an all-green Kawasaki top three, with only the white Husqvarna of Banks-Browne stopping it from being an all-green to four as Dylan Walsh (MSR Kawasaki) came to join the party.

Chambers took second from Searle on lap six and set off after the race leader Rizzi, but it all went wrong a lap later. Chambers misjudged his speed and braking point and slammed into the side of Rizzi, and they both went down hard. This action handed the lead, and the race win to Searle, with Walsh second and Banks-Browne third, as for the two downed riders. Rizzi remounted in ninth but finished fifth, while Chambers dropped to 12th place and finished a detuned 10th.

Brookes got the holeshot at the start of race two but had the Kawasakis of Searle, Rizzi, Walsh and Chambers come past him in the opening two laps. The top three stayed in the same order for the rest of the race, with Chambers and Valk swapping places several times in the last three laps. Banks-Browne was running a solid sixth until, with three laps to go, he slipped off and dropped back to 12th place.

Overall, it was Searle with two race wins from Walsh, Rizzi, Valk and Chambers. However, in the championship, with one round to go, Valk will run the red leader plate but has Searle just one point behind him, and Rizzi and Chambers have it all still to play for.

“I am quite surprised with my double win today,” said a happy Searle. “I have had a good run of success up to now, and I am feeling good and confident on the bike, and it’s all working well, so I am happy, but you still have to pull it out of the bag on the day, and I have been doing that. It was a bit of a surprise going one one, and things were going my way. Chambers talking Joel (Rizzi) out in the first race helped, and I thought that was quite funny. In the second race, I seemed to be able to get away but had Joel and Dylan on my tail all race - it was fun.”

A somewhat subdued Walsh said about his second overall, “It’s not too bad, considering my bad starts. The first race I came from almost last, and the second race was OK, but I need to get my starts better. It was a shame as it’s humid and misty up here in the hills, and my goggles were misting up on the inside, and I couldn’t see anything. I took them off in both motos. But it is what it is, and second overall is OK”.

From third on the podium, Rizzi said, "I was happy with the second race as Tommy Searle and myself were showing some good speed, and that's the best I had ridden on hardpack for some time. It's a shame about what happened in the first race, as I could have been leaving today with the red plate, but that's racing. He came off worse than me, and we are going to my best track for the last round, and anything can happen.”   

The combined four-race Youth 250 and 125cc two-stroke races were about the two series leaders consolidating their respective championship positions.

With four race wins from four starts, Reece Jones (K Tech Aristocars KTM) took the 250 side of the race from Harrison Greenough (S Simpson KTM) and Joel Fisher (Ad Modular KTM), while in the 125 side of things, Jamie Keith (MBRPX McGuigan Yamaha) did the same as Jones by winning all four of his races. Josh Vail (SJP Moto / RFX KTM) chased him over the finish line in each race for second, with Charlie Richmond (JP KTM) third.

With three race wins and a second place, Hayden Statt (KTM) won the Big Wheel 85s from Joel Winstanley-Dawson (Castle Trucks KTM), who didn’t finish out of the top three all weekend and with race one winner Alfie Geddes-Green (Matt Pope GASGAS) third, just one point behind Winstanley-Dawson.

Arthur Moore (RMJ SJP KTM), with two race wins, a second place, and a third, took the Small Wheel 85s overall from race three winner Harley Marczak (KTM), with Leo Wilson (Lyme Design GASGAS) third.

Cohen Jagielski (KTM) is in great form this year and notched up another four race wins from four starts in the Junior 65s. With four third places, Elliott Shawyer (Airport Autos KTM) was second overall, with Finlee Pope (JetShed GASGAS) third.

Dirt Store MXGB: Schoolhouse Results

Pro MX1

Pro MX2

250cc Youth

125cc Youth

Big Wheel 85

Small Wheel 85

Junior 65

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