SEMX Rd 1 - Canada Heights
By Dick Law on 29th Apr 25
Over 220 riders filled the paddock at the Sidcup Club’s Canada Heights circuit for round one of this year’s SEMX and club motocross championship on a redesigned and excellently prepared track in and around the trees of North Kent, next to the M25.
The Expert class revolved around Jamie Carpenter on his Crendon Tru7 Honda and Taylor Hammal, mounted on the Bike It Kawasaki, as they shared the wins and second places and were in a class of their own.
The fastest of the Juniors with three A Group wins was Charlie Richmond (Yamaha) but he had Drew Stock keeping him honest and chasing him over the finish line in each race.
Ben Putnam (Husqvarna) mirrored Richmond's performance in the Evo group with Gareth Artus (Honda) securing three second places to Putnam’s victories.
It was the usual established race format, with the Experts and Evos each getting three races. However, the Junior competitors were sorted into performance-related groups based on their qualifying times - the fastest 45 into group A, the second fastest into B, and the rest into C, with all receiving three rides.
It became obvious that Carpenter would be the man to beat by the end of qualifying, having set the fastest time, ahead of Joel Rizzi (Dirt Store Triumph), Chris Mills (Yamaha), Hammal and James Barker (KTM).
Carpenter took an early lead at the start of the first Expert race but had Hammal in his wheel tracks, with the rest of the strong field of racers fighting for the remaining places.
With the race half over and Carpenter and Hammal still battling for the win while pulling further away from the chasing pack, Mills had secured a strong third place.
Only feet separated the winner, Carpenter, from Hammal, with Mills some way back. Ben Mustoe (ASA United GASGAS) finished fourth, followed by Tom Murphy (Yamaha), Calum Mitchell (Worx Triumph) and Rizzi.
Hammal turned up the heat in race two. Carpenter led the pack at the end of the opening lap, but Hammal was close behind, and as the race progressed, he kept applying the pressure. It was all very close and exciting until, with about four laps to go, Hammal slipped through and took the lead. It then appeared that Carpenter let him have the win as Hammal crossed the finish line with a comfortable advantage. Mills, once again, had to settle for third, followed by Mitchell, Mustoe, Tyla Hooley and Raife Broadley (Fantic).
With one win and a second place each, the winner of race three between Carpenter and Hammal would determine the overall Expert winner.
Carpenter was killing the starts all day, and by the end of the first lap, he was in the lead again from, you guessed it, Hammal.
Despite his best efforts, Hammal just couldn’t get by the race leader as Carpenter took his second race win of the day, securing the overall victory.
Mills notched up his third third-place for third overall with Mitchell in fourth. Mustoe had three good races, finishing fifth overall ahead of Hooley and Liam Garland.
Rizzi only participated in one race and Liam Knight (KTM) went home after crashing in race two.
“It was a fun day of racing today,” said a happy winner Carpenter. “One of the reasons I have raced here today was in preparation for the British Championship that takes place here next month. Pulling good starts in all three races and having a nice feeling with the bike set-up took me to the overall win.”
From second place overall, Hammal said, “It’s been a great day at the Heights, going 2-1-2 for second overall. I had a bad start in the first race but was happy with my second race win. I was shattered in the last race because I had only been riding for seven days since breaking my ankle. So it’s still early days for me but taking that into consideration, I was riding a lot better than I expected, so I am looking forward to the British Championship here in three weeks.”
Richmond proved he was the fastest of the fastest juniors by winning all three of the A Group races from Stock, which left Travis Laughton (Yamaha), Lewis Taylor (KTM), and Leon Ongley (Fantic) to fight over the last step on the podium. A DNF in race one spoiled Brad Thornhill’s day, which dropped him to seventh overall despite a third in race two.
Ben Putnam (KTM) won all three of his Evo races on his way to the overall victory. Gareth Artus (Honda) placed second in all three, with Jayden Abbink (Kawasaki) finishing third in each. Ryan Matthews (Honda) had three consistent rides for fourth, while Ryan Allen (Honda) secured fifth overall.
The overall was close the B Group as only three points separated the top two as Mike Young (Honda) took the win from Max Aspden (KTM). Ricky Bowden (Yamaha) was third, 10 points off the winning score.
It was more inconsistent in C Group as none of the riders seemed to put together three consistent scores. The overall winner, Tommy Harris (Yamaha), finished 13th in his first race but followed that up with a third-place finish and a race win. Lee Friend (KTM) was the most consistent, finishing second overall, but third and fourth place riders, Zak Cripps (KTM) and David Bowden (KTM), both had a DNF on their scorecards, although they each won a race.
Expert
1 Jamie Carpenter (Crendon Tru7 Honda) 25 + 22 + 25 = 72
2 Taylor Hammal (Bike it Kawasaki) 22 + 25 + 22 = 69
3 Chris Mills (Yamaha) 20 + 20 + 20 = 60
4 Calum Mitchell (Worx Triumph) 15 + 18 + 18 = 51
5 Ben Mustoe (ASA United GASGAS) 18 + 16 + 14 = 48
6 Tyla Hooley (Triumph) 11 + 15 + 16 = 42
7 Liam Garland (KTM) 13 + 13 + 15 = 41
8 Tom Murphy (Yamaha) 16 + 6 + 10 = 32
9 Raife Broadley (Fantic) 4 + 14 + 13 = 31
10 Josh Coleman (Yamaha) 7 + 12 + 11 = 30
Junior A
1 Charlie Richmond (Yamaha) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75
2 Drew Stock (Yamaha) 22 + 22 + 22 = 66
3 Travis Laughton (Yamaha) 20 + 14 + 20 = 54
4 Lewis Taylor (KTM) 18 + 18 + 11 = 47
5 Leon Ongley (Fantic) 10 + 15 + 16 = 41
6 Tye Jones (Husqvarna) 11 + 11 + 14 = 36
7 Brad Thornhill (KTM) 0 + 20 + 13 = 33
8 Tyler Jones (KTM) 16 + 16 + 0 = 32
9 Billy Alder (Honda) 12 + 6 + 10 = 28
10 Archie Congdon (GASGAS) 4 + 8 + 15 = 27
Junior B
1 Mike Young (Honda) 25 + 25 + 20 = 70
2 Max Aspden (KTM) 20 + 22 + 25 = 67
3 Ricky Bowden (Yamaha) 18 + 20 + 22 = 60
4 Grant Lambert (Husqvarna) 15 + 18 + 13 = 46
5 Harry Keet (Fantic) 22 + 16 + 0 = 38
6 Jamie Garvin (KTM) 13 + 13 + 11 = 37
7 Craig Weller (Kawasaki) 7 + 12 + 14 = 33
8 Hayden Andress (KTM) 0 + 15 + 16 = 31
9 Conner Tingle (KTM) 12 + 0 + 18 = 30
10 Freddie Dudman (Fantic) 11 + 0 + 15 = 26
Junior C
1 Tommy Harris (Yamaha) 8 + 20 + 25 = 53
2 Lee Friend (KTM) 11 + 15 + 22 = 48
3 Zak Cripps (KTM) 25 + 22 = 0 = 47
4 David Bowden (KTM) 20 + 25 + 0 = 45
5 Archie Thipthorpe (KTM) 18 + 13 + 11 = 42
6 Grant Golding (Yamaha) 22 + 18 + 0 = 40
7 Jonjai Moore (KTM) 14 + 3 + 20 = 37
8 Edward Heather (Honda) 7 + 11 + 18 = 36
9 Bobie Fulcher (KTM) 12 + 8 + 16 = 36
10 David Castle (KTM) 5 + 9 + 15 = 29
EVO
1 Ben Putnam (KTM) 25 + 25 + 25 = 75
2 Gareth Artus (Honda) 22 + 22 + 22 = 66
3 Jaydon Abbink (Kawasaki) 20 + 20 + 20 = 60
4 Ryan Matthews (Honda) 18 + 18 + 16 = 52
5 Ryan Allen (Honda) 13 + 16 + 18 = 47
6 Timmy Andrews (Honda) 14 + 15 + 15 = 44
7 Jack Scott (Honda) 12 + 14 + 14 = 40
8 Sam Cheesman (Honda) 9 + 11 + 12 = 32
9 Rikki Knowlton (Honda) 4 + 13 + 13 = 30
10 Jake Morphey (Husqvarna) 7 + 10 + 11 = 28
