MX Diary: AMCA final showdown
By Mike Wood on 7th Sep 16
Following a high-quality and very entertaining season, the 2016 AMCA British Motocross Championship powered by Datatag and supported by Dunlop reaches its conclusion on Sunday (September 11) at an event hosted by Newport MXC (Shropshire) at Long Lane near Telford.
In this super series three out the four titles are still up for grabs so it promises to be a dramatic day of great action!
In the race for the MX1 crown the verdict looks set to go right down to the wire and the final chequered flag of the season. Just 17 points separate season-long leader Luke Burton and Gary Gibson. At round six at Brookthorpe, Gibson took all three moto wins and is currently in a very rich vein of form so MX1 should be an absolute thriller!
In the battle for the championship bronze James Dodd holds third but still has work to do with Richard Cannings, defending champion Luke Dean, Ryan Crowder and John May still chasing very hard. In what has been a very competitive class right from the word go, potential spoilers at Long Lane could include Luke Meredith, Clinton Barrs, Adam Harris, Sam Smith, Ed Briscoe and Matt Ridgway.
Over in MX2 the superb Josh Waterman already has the title in the bag so this class is all about the battle for the silver and bronze medal positions. The very consistent Lewis King holds second with Jansen Day third. Mathematically, Luke Mellows, Bradley Tranter, Adam Wells, Paul Neale, James Wainwright, Cory McShane and Brandon Benjamin are all still in with a shout. Realistically it looks like a three-way battle with King and Day – both currently in fine form – the favourites.
Requiring just 57 points to claim the 2016 AMCA 2T title, Ben Saunders should be able to now comfortably get the job done at Long Lane. The KTM rider has been in fantastic form this season, taking the overall win in five out of six rounds and in the process never finishing lower than second in any of the 16 motos completed.
Throughout the campaign James Lane has proved to be a very consistent challenger to Saunders and has already done enough to guarantee the silver medal position. The bronze medal, though, could go to any of the next seven riders. Just 74 points currently separate Richard Lloyd, Elliot Stones, Sam Callow, Matthew Bath, Rory Jones, Jamie Powell and Matthew Nash. At present Jones – in his debut AMCA championship season – also leads the separately scored 2T 125cc class.
While the AMCA 2T class is just about sorted, the race for Vets glory is still very much on and promises to be a very close finish as Matt Gordon tops the table just 27 points clear of defending champion Simon Lane. In the battle for bronze it's Yorkshire's Danny Blakeley leading the charge with Gary Jones, Garry J Williams, Terry House, Darren Bennett and Stephen Marlow all mathematically still in contention. In the separately scored Vets Over 50s it's Brian Staples in control of proceedings.
Long Lane is situated just north of Telford. The circuit will be signposted off the A442 with the action kicking off by 11am. Postcode is TF6 6HR.
