Commentator’s Eye: Revo British Championship Finale, Monster Mountain

After a late change of venue, the final round of the Revo ACU British Motocross Championship took place at the new venue of Monster Mountain in South Wales, and an awesome weekend of racing ensued!

Words: Ben Rumbold, Featured Image: Crendon Fastrack Honda

MXGB:RAW Video Courtesy of RHL Activities

There were rumblings of negativity amongst the MX community surrounding the move to the Monster Mountain facility, to the extent that I was called to record a video of the site in the weeks before the event to show the development that had gone in, even since the initial few meetings there. The move from Oxford was beyond RHL’s control. The video was broadcast online and as Mr Hockey himself says, it really is time to stop the negativity.  Even Tommy Searle said that he couldn’t understand the bad reaction to the venue, as the track itself is as monstrous as the name suggests. For sure, it will not win over fans of “old school” Motocross that hate jumps and any man-made obstacles, and it is “MXGP of Turkey” flat in its current form. But there are several straights without jumps, an off-camber section, and plenty of very fast sections where even a 450 can be held flat-out. With new spectator areas to help see even the far reaches of the track, it was possible to really capture the racing from several vantage points if one was so inclined.  Extra soil and the sheer passage of time has also improved the racing surface, and whilst it may still be a little barren up there, greenery is poking through that should make the place a little less moon-like in the months and years to come.

Youth classes

The bulk of the Youth races took place on the first day, with all Championships still up for grabs. Only the two smallest classes would go to the last motos on Sunday, as three Champions could enjoy some celebrations on Saturday evening, still in contrasting style!

Josh Vail completed a great season as the BW85cc Champion. (Pic: SJP Moto KTM)

The extensive track watering, necessary to combat the intense sunshine that was due all day, left the track rutted and not easy to pass on during Saturday. The Big-Wheel 85s were first on track in each block, and series leader Josh Vail on the #479 SJP Moto KTM started the weekend with a 53-point advantage over K & A Construction / Super MX’s Charlie Richmond. Vail had to stop Richmond from gaining 8 points over the three Saturday motos in order to seal the deal before Sunday, and although he slipped from the early lead to 3rd in race one, a commanding win in race two made the title much more easy to secure.  Richmond took 3rd in that moto, where nobody could overtake all race after holeshot winner Hayden Statt slipped down on the second lap.

Foxhill and Hawkstone winner Richmond was supreme in winning both the 1st and 3rd motos, staving off rapid attacks from both Drew Stock and Jamie Keith. Stock went 2-4-5 on Saturday, Keith 4-2-3. Along with Vail, all of the top 4 from Monster Mountain will move up to 125s next year, leaving the 2022 SW85 Champ Statt to deal with the rising tide from this year’s Small-Wheel class!

Richmond, a full two seconds faster than anyone in moto three, would take the overall with another win on Sunday, with Jamie Keith 2nd to secure 3rd overall, but Josh followed Charlie home to secure the title and allow the team to stick a shiny gold #1 plate on the bike for day two!  Vail, fast enough to beat Billy Askew last year and plenty tall enough for a bigger bike, will race the EMX125 class at the Matterley Basin GP weekend. Blast your airhorns for one of the UK’s most promising young racers!

The Small-Wheel 85 title was in dispute right until the end, but only really because of the short 3-round series and the possibility of earning 45 points per moto. Joel Winstanley-Dawson, with backing from Castle Trucks, Techsource, and FXR, had won overall at both Hawkstone Park and School House, and didn’t look like being beaten at all on Saturday. Clearing off to win from the start in both of the first two motos, then passing Archie Butterfield on lap two of the third one, Joel was in dominant form and ended Saturday only needing to finish race four to secure the title.

Butterfield, sponsored by Fosse Hill, Rock Oil, and the JMR Foundation, earned his best ever moto finish of second in the first outing, and took 4th overall behind fastest qualifier Lucas Lee. On the Mr Dig/Ken Rodney Construction Husky, Lee couldn’t get out of the gate well all weekend and had to settle with 4-3-3-3 motos for 3rd overall. Taking 2nd overall with a nice final race victory on Sunday morning was Arthur Moore, out on a private KTM after a change of machinery in recent weeks.  Moore was 3rd on points with Jenson Severn, who started the weekend only 17 points behind JWD on his TS Racing GASGAS, holding on to 2nd in the final standings thanks to 6-5-2-4 finishes.

Winning 9 of the 12 motos, and finishing 2nd in the remaining three, saw Winstanley-Dawson as a deserved Champion on Sunday morning. He will be a force in the BW85 class next year!

The 65cc class was the closest of all the championships, with JMR Foundation’s Harley Marczak 23 points ahead of a tie for 2nd between TS Racing’s Casey Lister and Fast Eddy/Rock Oil sponsored Cohen Jagielski. Sadly for Cohen, he kissed goodbye to the title in the first race with a fall in some deep mud, leaving the young rider unable to re-start his bike until the rest of the pack had gone through. He recovered well to finish 10th, but with too much ground to make up.

Casey, on the other hand, was simply flying all weekend! Rarely with anyone in his path, for the second year running he was clearly the fastest, but paying for a mistake early in the season. Lister romped to all three motos on Saturday, while Marczak was 3rd in the first two races. Harley grabbed a vital holeshot in race three, and although Lister quickly got past, no-one else did, leaving the gap at 10 points between them with just the single moto on Sunday left to go!

With the most race wins following his School House maximum, this left Marczak needing just 7th place in the final moto, and while Lister won again, ahead of Jett Gardiner on the MGMX KTM who took a fine 2nd overall, Harley finished 4th to take the title by a precious three points! Casey didn’t look too worried on the podium, blasting everybody with the bubbly, and both riders are ones to watch in the future.

The combined 125/250 Youth races saw the first two Champions to be crowned. With 2nd-placed Wal Beaney not even showing up to race, Reece Jones was assured of the championship anyway, but waited until the end of the first moto, which he won, to celebrate with his SJP Moto KTM team, who had another shiny gold #1 plate ready to go on!

It was a good job for Jones that he sealed the deal, however, as he crashed viciously in race two, landing short on a table-top and flying out of the front door! With a sore thumb and a fuzzy head, he withdrew from the weekend but was able to celebrate on the Sunday evening podium.

Reece Jones sealed the 125cc title before crashing out of the event. (Pic: SJP Moto KTM)

This left the 125 pack to scrap it out, and after Freddie Gardiner was disqualified from race one for fuelling up on the start-line, he won all three remaining motos to finish a fine 2nd overall for MGMX KTM. His teammate Lucy Barker, fresh from her success in the WMX arena, enjoyed three brilliant battles with Redline Motorcycles’ Max Smith and Ollie Bubb on the 3Flo Madison Crescent Yamaha. Barker led the points after Saturday’s two motos, after finishing 3rd behind Jack Dando & Gardiner.

Wesley McGavin, consolidating 3rd in the series, was 2nd in moto three, but Bubb, Smith, and Barker were fighting for the whole race, finishing in that order as the tear-up briefly engulfed 250 riders Sydney Putnam and Tye Jones!

In line for a win, Bubb dropped down the pack in the final moto, a problem which cost him 3rd in the series as well as the chance at the overall win, as Smith led the class early on! Passed by Gardiner, as well as 250 runners Putnam and Liam Bennet, suddenly Smith had Barker snapping at his heels, those longer WMX motos paying off with her improved fitness helping her to attack up to the very end! Lucy chased Max right to the chequered flag, just finishing an agonising four-tenths of a second back, not just from 2nd in that moto but from the overall win too! She still made history as the first female racer to take a podium against male competition at British Championship level.  Smith was rightfully elated with his overall win, his very first in the series, and should be a threat for the title next year as Champ Jones heads into the 250cc arena.  Gardiner will also be a solid contender.

The big question in the 250s was if Billy Askew could seal the title on Saturday in order to race the Pro MX2 class on Sunday. He needed to make 8 points over DK Off-Road KTM rider Mackenzie Marshall, and ultimately got a bit of help from Stebbings Car Superstore-backed import, multiple Brazilian Champion Bernardo Tiburcio! The rider with the big number 3 actually ran Billy closer than anyone has all season, but the GTCI Revo Kawasaki rider took both wins, making it 16 from 17 motos, and the title, booking his ticket for a race with teammate Tommy Searle on Sunday!

The 250 pack must have been fed-up to see Tiburcio step in just as Askew left them with two race wins available on the Sunday, and Bernardo powered to the front and promptly cleared off! Marshall and local ace Jak Taylor on the WM Tatchell/Apico Husqvarna gave chase for 2nd & 3rd overall. The GRT Impact KTM team must have been happy to see a real lift in pace for Finley Evans too, as a fine 2nd in the final moto saw him ride as well as he has done since his BW85 days.

The riders in this class face an uncertain winter, as the MX Nationals look to run a 125 class with no mention of the 250s. This leaves fast teenagers, who need to get onto that sort of machine to hopefully compete at GP level, without one of the major national series to race in. Bad enough that there were only 8 250s in action on Sunday. Is it an indication that the parents prefer two-strokes? Or is it the cost of running a 250F at the top level? The Revo series will continue to run the class, but there needs to be more support for kids to race on machines that they ultimately need to be super-fast on. Just as Billy is!

Adult Classes

On the subject of “Little Bill”, he took to the Pro MX2 class for the first time in the Championship, and was instantly on the pace with the 3rd fastest time in qualifying on Sunday! The session was red-flagged due to a crash for local rider Shaun Mahoney, and we wish Shaun all the best for his recovery as he had to take the medical cart back to the pits.

After the red flag, Tommy Searle hit back to top the timing sheets with Elliott Banks-Browne on the SC Sporthomes Husqvarna in 2nd.  And Tommy promptly ripped out of the start gate to claim a first-race holeshot, a vital move after a rainstorm had demolished the track which was perfect until then! Searle, Banks-Browne, and M Smith Electrical’s Dylan Walsh started 1st to 3rd and stayed in that order for the duration, but it was all chaos behind them! The MX2 class was stacked with not just Askew, but American Jack Chambers on the Big Van World MTX Kawasaki, Jorgen-Matthias Talviku on the SC Sporthomes Husqvarna, and Joel Rizzi for DK Off-Road all adding to the GP flavour.  Taylor Hammal on the Gabriel SS24 KTM was the only one who could deny Isak Gifting the title, but the Swede hit the deck on the first corner, being run over by another guest rider to the class, Ultimate Wheels/Thunder Road Honda rider Louie Kessell on his 20-year-old two-stroke from the VMXdN Foxhill weekend!

Gifting picked him self up from dead last and fought through to a solid 15th. With Hammal unable to progress from 9th, the MX2 British Championship was his! A great achievement after sorting out a last-minute deal with Stebbings Car Superstore, Bikesure, and 426 Motorsports to race the series.

Meanwhile, the youngsters of the class were putting on a great show, with ASA United GASGAS rookie Ben Mustoe running in 4th early on, benefitting from a slip by Chambers Racing’s returnee Alfie Jones. Askew got past Mustoe after four laps, but it was a brilliant charge from Cab Screens Crescent Yamaha man Sam Nunn which really caught the eye, never giving up to haul in and pass the two teenagers in the last three laps to claim 4th!

The second moto for MX2 was much drier, and the fresh red & gold #1 plate on Gifting’s GASGAS darted into the lead ahead of Walsh & Searle! Joe Brookes, in great form of late, put the GRT Impact KTM into the mix as Walsh fell on lap two. Chambers and Askew moved up as Brookes slipped down the field with two crashes, the second one ending his race. Hammal moved forward steadily as Askew made a couple of mistakes, eventually dropping out of the race with a broken clutch lever.  Walsh battled up to 4th behind Chambers as Searle attacked Gifting on lap five, at first held at bay as the Swede gave Tommy no room to get through on the off-camber section. Searle found more speed on the following lap and squeezed past at exactly half-distance! Gifting stayed with him but couldn’t put a move on him – 250 Tommy was back on top!

With Mustoe only 13th in race two, behind former BW85 rival Tyla Hooley, also on class debut, and Nunn down in 9th, EBB took 3rd overall with 2-7 motos and Walsh 2nd with a 4th and a 3rd! Hammal did enough to claim 2nd in the series ahead of Banks-Browne, but Gifting took the series in MX2 before he moves to MX1 next year. Should he race in the UK in 2024 it could really spice up that division!

The final championship to be decided was MX1. Starting with the track in perfect condition, Josh Gilbert did what he had to do in race one to extend the series to the last moto, which was to beat Conrad! The Crendon Fastrack Honda #3 took the holeshot ahead of Harri Kullas on the Cab Screens Crescent Yamaha!  Mewse got caught mid-pack and had to fight through to 4th behind Ivo Monticelli’s ASA United GASGAS.  After firing past the Italian in a thrilling move, the #426 set a stunning fastest lap and it was getting close between the three who have dominated British racing this year. Then the heavens absolutely opened! I thought that the guy from the Matrix was gonna be stood in the track saying “MISTER ANDERSON!” as it came down in stair-rods. Mewse backed off instantly – “there was no way I was going to take any risks in that, and I fell twice in the last few laps as it was” – and stayed in a safe 3rd. Kullas got around Gilbert with a sweet outside-to-inside move, meaning that Josh would have to win race two and hope for a Conrad DNF. Harri even had the audacity to call it “nice rain” on the podium! He just made it look depressingly easy!

Josh Gilbert led early until the rains came.

Behind them, Monticelli held on for 4th to the flag, but Brad Todd (DK Off-Road/Ultimate Wheels Honda) went backwards as he started to feel sick from what would eventually be diagnosed as COVID! Tristan Purdon advanced his Gabriel SS24 KTM up to an eventual 5th after battling past John Adamson’s ASA United GASSGAS. Kullas’ teammate Jamie Carpenter put a late pass on Chambers Racing’s Tom Grimshaw, who had dropped his goggles and struggled with the obvious results! American guest Zack Williams took his SC Sporthomes Husqvarna to a solid 10th despite some very un-American conditions!

Race two was holeshot by Kullas, and it was Gilbert’s turn to suffer in the pack a little, but as Mewse said later on the podium, he “was not going to hold back” in the final moto and wanted to close the series with a win. With that intent he railed the outside of the aptly-named Honda corner – the second one – and fired past the Yamaha man in the wave section! The Estonian did all he could to hold un but Conrad was consistently faster through laps 2 to 7, and managed it from there.

Gilbert meanwhile was struggling with Monticelli, simply unable to get by the Italian despite multiple attempts. And the drying service was starting to hurt with the roost coming through! He made one last ditch attempt and nailed down 3rd on the final lap, but the top two, and the title, were long gone.

Behind them, Grimshaw put in an impressive ride to pass Adamson and tie down 5th ahead of the Scot, with Carpenter coming out on top of a three-way battle with Purdon and a sickly Todd for 7th. The South African came home 8th with Williams passing Todd & Gabriel KTM’s Liam Knight for an impressive 9th.

It was Conrad Mewse, though, who took his fourth British title in five seasons and crowned it with a glorious win. He has instantly gelled with the Crendon Fastrack Honda machine and team, and his re-signing for next year will make him the man to beat in 2024.  Whether or not he can take it back up to world level, or if he even wants to, is a question for another day, but he seriously wants to deliver or Team GB at Ernee and we should all get behind him. He is our fastest rider of the current time, with many years ahead of him, but for now he should feel good in celebrating his dominance of the British scene in 2023.

Results

MX1 – Overall

MX2 – Overall

Youth 125 – Overall

Youth 250 – Overall

Big Wheel 85 – Overall

Small Wheel 85 – Overall

Junior 65 – Overall