Report: Acerbis Amateur Nationals – Rd 8 Farleigh Castle
By Sean Lawless on 17th Aug 16
Stacey Fisher clinched the Moto Connection Ladies championship at round eight of the Acerbis Amateur Nationals at Farleigh Castle on Sunday with another controlled, powerful performance.
With one round and five races still to run the WMX regular – unbeaten this season in a moto by a registered rider – leads Nadiya Jones by 206 points with a maximum of 200 up for grabs at the series finale at Pontrilas last month.
Fisher crashed here last year and reckons the resulting no-score cost her the 2015 crown but this time around she made no mistakes with five wins enough to do the business – even if she wasn't sure of it at the time.
"I genuinely don't know if I've won the championship,” she said. "I never come into a weekend and think about winning or think I am going to win. I never think about the championship – I just ride for the fun of it. Obviously, I do want to win and I hope I do every time.
"I've not been too well for the last two weeks so didn't start the weekend in the best condition but I've just been pushing through it. I'm always excited coming to Farleigh. I really enjoy the track – the surface is what I grew up on and I've done well and come away with all five wins.”
Fisher was chased all weekend by Cath King and Jones as well as unregistered rider Nerys Wornan who carded two seconds on the Saturday but didn't race the following day. Guernsey rider Chloe MacDonald improved over the weekend and led the final moto for four laps before arm-pump forced her to slow.
With riders allowed to drop their worst round score of the season the points situation across the other classes is less clear-cut but, with the lowest score subtracted after eight rounds, some obvious title favourites have emerged.
In the 250cc Two-stroke Open class wildcard rider Brad Freeman dominated with five wins around the rough, tough Somerset circuit but it was Jake Preston who's in pole position for the championship with an 85-point lead from Paul Johnston.
The pair have been battling all season but Johnson's no-score in Sunday's opening moto has handed Preston a clear advantage. Leighton Holmes is 33 points further back in third.
Ben Gillett was the best of the registered riders at Farleigh – only straying outside the top three twice – followed by Preston and wildcard Jordan Carter.
With their lowest scores dropped it's too tight to call in the 125cc class where Ash Harland holds a 45-point lead from Jack Drogan with 15-year-old Dylan Spencer – a further 30 points adrift – still in with a mathematical chance of lifting the crown.
Wildcard Lee Sealey traded wins with Maxxis MX2 regular Todd Kellett with the enduro ace securing the overall in the final moto when Kellett suffered a mechanic failure.
Harland, who's a big lad for a 125, had a string of falls over the weekend but amazingly recovered for second overall. The last race in particular was a classic with Harland going down in the first turn before carving his way back through the field to take third just behind Drogan and ahead of Spencer.
"I don't know how many passes I made on the first lap of the final moto but I was going in a bit shoulder-heavy,” he said. "The first two laps were crucial – especially around here, it's so fast. It was kinda make or break and I had to put in some hard passes.
"I've had a nightmare weekend with lots of crashes but I've managed to maintain the gap with Dylan and I've gained a bit on Jack. Job Done!”
Harry Bradley looks odds-on to lift the MX1 title and holds a healthy 172-point lead heading into the final round.
The class was dominated by wildcards over the weekend with Freeman taking another five wins on his 250cc two-stroke from Tommy Alba and Edward Briscoe with Jamie Smith best of the series regulars.
As far as the title is concerned, the important result was Bradley's sixth overall which pulled him another 11 points clear of championship rival Michael Smith.
In the Craigs Motorcycles-backed MX2 class Brad Wheeler's also looking good for the crown with a 141-point lead ahead of defending champ Lewis Meadows.
Meadows has missed a number of races this year but Wheeler's done exactly what he's needed to do to set himself up for the title after a knee operation forced him out of contention in 2015.
Meadows' second overall behind maximum-scoring wildcard Kieran Banks allowed him to take 16 points out of Wheeler's lead but it looks to be too little, too late heading into Pontrilas.
Wildcard Cory McShane ended the weekend in third ahead of Olly Jones and Wheeler.
Brad's dad Brian posted another dominant performance on his CR500 hybrid to score a maximum in the CNR Vets.
Reliability issues with his big two-stroke over the course of the season – combined with some super-consistent performances from David Campbell – mean his lead is just 20 points.
"We lost the silencer in race four today,” said Wheeler. "The bracket broke which is just one of those things but we only had a couple of laps to go so it wasn't too bad and I still managed to get the win.
"Matt Gordon was with us which mixed it up a bit and Darren's done a fantastic job with the track. They've been working their ass off all weekend.”
The former 500GP rider revealed he may be back on a four-stroke for the final round after being forced to switch for the World Vets at Assen at the end of this month.
"We might ride the 450 at the last one because I've just learnt that I can't actually ride the 500 at Assen because it's MX1 rules and the biggest two-stroke you can ride is a 250. I've got a 450 back at home now so we've got to get back out on that. That's the plan.”
Campbell made sure he's still in the title hunt with a 2-2-2-2-3 scorecard as wildcard Matt Gordon pinched the final race runner-up spot from him.
In the Over 50s category Alan Eaves stretched his championship lead out to 126 points with the overall from David Clayborn and Nick Baum.
The Junior Open class is going down to the wire at Pontrilas with James Griffiths just six points ahead of Jamie Bevin.
With three wins on the Sunday it was wildcard Ryan Davis who topped the podium from James Chandler as Bevin's third allowed him to take 11 points out of Griffiths' lead.
