MX Diary: Acerbis Amateur Nationals heads to Culham
By Sean Lawless on 6th Apr 16
Just three weeks after the opening round of the Acerbis Amateur Nationals at FatCat, the championship heads to Culham Park this weekend (April 9/10) for round two.
The series is all about great racing on great tracks and Culham is one of the country's finest.
The challenging circuit has played host to countless national events plus the Y2K British 500cc GP and while it's changed over the years it remains pretty much old-school using the natural contours of the steep Thameside banking to full effect with a few man-made jumps chucked in.
The opening round threw up a number of surprises – mostly due to machine issues – and defending MX1 champ James Lassu will be hoping to have his 2016 teething troubles ironed out this weekend.
The Yorkshireman was leading the opening moto when his bike quit with an electrical problem.
He recovered to win the remaining two races but ended the day in eighth.
Race one winner Brad Cavill took the overall to lead going into Culham with a two-point advantage over series newcomer Ryan Voase.
MX2 champion Lewis Meadows was also forced to start on the back foot after being forced to race with a recently-plated collarbone.
A problem in the first race dropped him down the order but he came back with 1-2 moto finishes in a gutsy display of damage limitation.
Meadows currently sits sixth in the points table, 20 points behind leader Josh Cadman and Danny Wright who needed a race-three tie-break to separate them.
The final big shocker at FatCat was Brian Wheeler failing to win the Veteran class.
Pretty much unbeatable – the only race he lost last year was because of a puncture – the former GP rider won the opening moto of the season but an electrical fault on his CR500/CRF hybrid cost him the win in race two.
He recovered to win the final moto of the day but the overall went to Jez Bailey who ran a super-consistent 2-2-2.
The Ladies class at FatCat was dominated by Stacey Fisher who ripped to a maximum from Nieve Holmes with Nadiya Jones third.
Fisher followed this up with points in the WMX class at the Valkenswaard GP and will be tough to beat at Culham.
Jack Drogan enjoyed a winning debut in the 125cc class with his
1-1-2 card easily enough for the overall from Callum Wardman and Stu Owen, while Jake Preston was in charge in the 250s, taking maximum points ahead of Paul Johnston and Dylan Hodgkins.
The final maximum of the day at FatCat came in the hotly-contested Junior Open class, where Ross Neville came out on top chased by Ben Walsh and Jamie Bevin.
Practice starts at 9am both days with racing from 10.15am. Culham Park is located off the A415 between Abingdon and Clifton Hampden. Postcode is OX14 3DA.
