Herlings masters Monster Mountain
By Press Release: Ben Rumbold Images: Matty Lee on 30th Jun 25
The spectacular, and still relatively new, hilltop venue of Monster Mountain played host to the first of three rounds of its new Midweek Race Series and a good crowd of spectators came out to enjoy some of the best in the business ply their trade alongside a bumper entry of Clubmen, Vets, and Youth racers who all got stuck into the GP-sized circuit, which was prepped to perfection by the Monster Mountain crew.
In the Pro class, the enthusiastic crowd got what it wanted with a set of brilliant showdowns between Jeffrey Herlings and Conrad Mewse, repeating their full-gas encounters from last year in the British Championships. Amazingly, the Crendon Tru7 Honda man from Somerset took the second heat win, and therefore the overall MX1 Pro class victory, away from the Dutchman, but the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing legend had the last laugh with a commanding win in the six-lap Super Final, although the Mewse Missile was closing in fast!
The day’s programme actually began for competitors shortly after noon, with each class getting two decent practice sessions as well as a five-lap qualifying run to set the gate pick order for the first races. While the Youth 125/250 class and the Clubmen were sitting around the two-and-a-half-minute mark, star man Herlings was justifying his Bullet nickname with a time of around two minutes and five seconds, still making it longer than Matterley Basin was for the MXGP of Great Britain just three days before.
Mewse was just over a second behind the Dutchman in Qualifying, while Dirt Store Triumph Racing teammates Tommy Searle and Joel Rizzi took third and fourth in that order. Lexa MX wildman John Adamson took fifth best time ahead of Mewse’s teammate Jamie Carpenter, while flying the green flag for Bike It Kawasaki was Taylor Hammal, earning a solid seventh. Leading MX2 contender Ben Mustoe was eighth fastest for ASA United GASGAS, just days after his top ten in EMX250 at Matterley.
The buzz around the circuit grew when it came to the Pro/Expert class races. On such a big track there was no fear of lapped riders being an issue through the four-lap heat races, and Herlings bolted into the lead of the first outing from the get-go, with an impressive start from Joel Rizzi keeping him ahead of his teammate Searle. Mewse was in fifth, initially behind his teammate Carpenter, but worked his way forward methodically, up into third by the end of lap two. Herlings was disappearing, but Mewse’s lap times were better in the last two circulations as he worked his way past Rizzi. Jeffrey was up by eight seconds at the flag, a sprint by his standards of under six and a half minutes!
Rizzi kept a great pace to finish over six seconds clear of Searle, with Hammal passing Carpenter on the last lap for fifth spot. Ben Mustoe, with just Jonathan Roderick-Evans and Ezra Blackwell sharing the MX2 class with him, and finishing in that order both times, set about taking on the 450s and finished seventh on-track.
The Experts class win was snatched on the line from Glen Phillips by a tenacious Shane Carless, by just 18 thousandths of a second! Dan Maule brought his two-stroke home in third, while Gloucester boy Ollie Bubb took the MX2 Expert win ahead of Ben White and 250F rookie Reagan Rogers!
Race two in the Pros saw Scotsman John Adamson take a brilliant Holeshot with the last three MX1 British Champions – Mewse, Searle, and Herlings, snapping at his heels! Although The Bullett also had Hammal in front of him initially, and had to carve his way through. He was up to third past his old rival Searle before Mewse could pass Adamson, and on lap two all three of them got past the Lexa rider, and the chase was on! The Brit, with an excited crowd behind him, just kept ahead of the five-time World Champion, and they crossed the line less than a second apart – in the Honda man’s favour! Searle took a steady third from Adamson, with Hammal fifth and Carpenter beating Rizzi to sixth.
Mustoe, again top MX2, was ninth on track this time just behind Tom Grimshaw, who was in his first race back from his early-season shoulder injury, but Glen Phillips was only a second and a bit behind him, the local legend being cheered on by the fans in the know! Carless and Maule rounded out the top three to make that the Expert MX1 podium, as Bubb, White, and Ollie Harris claimed the top three places in the MX2 Experts.
Mewse’s second race win meant that he would claim the overall winner’s trophy, but there was a bigger prize on the line next – the six-lap Super Final!
There was no doubt that Jeffrey wanted the big money from this one, and even though he is not known as a demon starter he was on it this time, nailing the Holeshot and basically clearing off. Mewse started behind Searle and Adamson, but was quicker to pass this time and set off after Jeffrey, who made a slight mistake on lap five to raise the crowd’s hopes as the gap came down to just over a second!
Ultimately the race went to the record GP winner by just over two seconds, but it was a thrill to watch him on sections like the dragon’s back, where he just flew the factory Katoom over the quickest “triple-out” combination to make a tenth or two on the rest every time. A joy to watch, and Mewse again showed just how much he can dig out of himself against the very best. With Searle third, Hammal fourth, and Adamson fifth, most riders went home happy and with a bit of extra cash in their pockets, although Rizzi was less than impressed with Carpenter after a rougher pass than usual in a right-hander!
Ben Mustoe was a solid seventh as the top 250 rider, and Carless was top Expert in the Super Final with ninth place.
All in all, an amazing night of quick-fire motocross for all concerned, and for sure the buzz of this event can only attract more riders and fans to Monster Mountain for round two, the Wednesday after the Preston Docks British Championship round. Join us there on July 23 to see Herlings Vs Mewse Vs Searle and the rest, all over again!
