Gilbert & Carpenter the top dogs at Fatcats! 2022 Michelin MX Nationals Round 1 – Race Report & Results

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The Michelin MX Nationals powered by Milwaukee kicked off their 2022 season on the 19th and 20th of March with an amazing two days of hight powered motocross racing at the sandy Fatcat Moto Parc just outside Doncaster in South Yorkshire.

Report by Dick Law – Images courtesy of MX Nationals – Elliot Spencer

Despite some heavy rain in the week the small but hard-working team turned the venue into a blaze of colour that represents what this sport is all about and once again produced a brilliant live stream production free to view on MXN-TV. The sun shone for most of the weekend of racing and it stayed dry and rain-free, if not a bit wet underfoot from the heavy rain in the week before the event.

Fastest 40

An almost full line-up of combined Leatt Elite MX1 and Apico MX2 riders took their positions behind the gate for the start of the first ‘Fastest 40’ race presented by Lyfelinez and faced twenty-five minutes plus two laps around the already rough and challenging track.

Josh Gilbert (SC Sporthomes Husqvarna) had a perfect day on the Sunday as he was the fastest qualifier and won both of the Fastest 40 races with apparent ease and it just couldn’t get any better than that. Like Gilbert in the Leatt Elite MX1, Jamie Carpenter (GRT Impact KTM) won both Apico Elite MX2 races, although Carlton Husband (Phoenix Evenstrokes Kawasaki) topped the MX2 qualifying earlier in the morning.

In the opening Lyfelinez Fastest 40 race, Ashton Dickinson (Talk Template KTM), Tommy Searle (Crendon Fastrack Honda) and Gilbert went into the first turn almost side by side, but as Dickinson led the way around the opening lap, Searle was already in trouble and said after, “I just wasn’t feeling it today and had arm pump so bad I was struggling to hold onto the bike. I eased off to try and get past it, but nothing worked”. Worried he would crash he slowed but dropped down the field of riders until he pulled out of the race just past the halfway mark.

While this was going on, Gilbert snatched the lead off Dickinson on lap two and just cleared off into the distance to win by what seemed like half a lap. Last year’s champion Harri Kullas (Cab Screens Crescent Yamaha) in his usual smooth controlled style, slipped past Dickinson and into second place on lap five, while at the same time, Shaun Simpson (SS24 KTM) and John Adamson (ASA United Gas Gas), minus a thumbnail, fought over fourth and fifth for most of the race. Both Scottish riders were really going for it and the passing was very close to each other on more the one accusation.

Simpson finally broke free of Adamson just past the halfway stage and went on to catch Dickinson and pass him for third with a lap to go. Adamson hung on for fifth place with Jake Nicholls (Crendon Fastrack Honda), who doesn’t usually like sandy going, coming from ninth to sixth place.

Tom Grimshaw (Chambers Husqvarna) and Jamie Law (Apico Husqvarna) were the top placed MX2 riders at the start of the race but soon started to drop off the pace. Carpenter had gated mid-pack but fought his way forward from eighteenth at the start to finish eleventh in the race, but the first MX2 rider over the finish line.

After qualifying as the fastest MX2 rider, Husband got a terrible start and came around on the opening lap second to last. But from there, he just pushed on to finish an impressive twelfth in the race but more importantly the second MX2 placed rider, while Lewis Hall (LHR Husqvarna) started twenty-second, got up as high as tenth and the leading MX2 rider only to drop down to fourteenth place at the flag, but the third placed MX2 rider home.

Gilbert got the holeshot at the start of race two, but by the time the pack rounded turn four a pile of riders were left in a heap. These included Searle, Dickinson, and Jason Meara (Phoenix Evenstrokes Kawasaki) while Kullas and Simpson were in Gilbert’s wheel tracks. But Gilbert was on a different planet and just pulled further and further away to cross the finish line over twenty seconds clear of Kullas, who spent most of the race on his own.

Petar Petrov (Phoenix Evenstrokes Kawasaki) caught and passed Simpson for a couple of laps until Simpson repassed him to finish third. Unfortunately, Adamson’s race didn’t go so well as he crashed out of fourth on lap three, losing his helmet peek in the process which then must’ve been a bit of a pain with the setting sun. Stuart Edmunds (Apico Husqvarna), who must have been hurting from his big trip over the high side the weekend before, added to it when he crashed out of fourth place. He tumbled down the running order and finished out of the points.

Husband and Carpenter gated well in eighth and ninth place and well within the mix with the 450’s. Carpenter then powered forward to fourth place and even put Simpson under pressure for a couple of laps before ending up sixth in the race but the first MX2 racer across the line giving his a 1-1 scorecard in the Apico Elite MX2 class and his first ever professional national overall win.

After an average start, Martin Barr (Apico Husqvarna) came from eighteenth to finish seventh while Nicholls came from twenty-seventh to seventh place only to crash down to thirteenth and had to fight back again to eighth place, he had a busy race. Husband was ninth at the flag but second the MX2 rider home with Calum Mitchell (Fabrican KTM) third.

Overall, in the Leatt Elite MX1 class it was Gilbert with two wins from last year’s winner Kullas with Simpson third while overall. In the Apico Elite MX2 class it was an elated Carpenter claiming the red plate ahead of Husband and Mitchell.

Adults

Shaun Southgate (Herts MX Honda) started the season with three convincing wins and a fourth and won the RFX Expert MX1 calls from Mr Consistency Jayden Ashwell (AJP Racing Gas Gas) with his two-second place and a couple of thirds. Jordon McCaw (Suitor Autofix KTM) was third, while race three winner Josh Waterman (Honda) spoilt his weekend with a DNF in the last race.

Bailey Johnson’s (Verde Shiloh KTM) weekend in the RFX Expert MX2 just got better and better. He was third in race one and backed that up with a second in race two on Saturday before notching up two moto wins on Sunday to give him the overall. Sam Atkinson (Phoenix Evenstrokes Kawasaki) was always in the top five in his four-races and was second overall with Josh Coleman (Holeshot MX KTM) also putting together a consistent weekend to come home third overall.

In the combined Motoverde amateur MX1 and MX2, Harry Bradley (Kawasaki) dominated the MX1 class with four wins from four starts. Lewis Taylor (Gas Gas) did all he could to catch and pass Bradley but had to settle for second with John Kirk (Honda) third, ahead of Brad Thornhill (LMC KTM) who just missed out on the podium.Like Bradley in the MX1, Luca Pegg (Yamaha) dominated and won all four of his races in the MX2, even beating Bradley in the final race. Lewis Glynn (KTM) chased him over the finish line three out of the four races for second overall, with Dan Brough (Husqvarna) bringing it home third.

Michael Graham (G-Force KTM) won three out of his four races to win the Worx Financial Clubman MX1 overall but messed up his third race when he crashed and had to charge from thirty third to finish in fifth. Race three winner Adam Reeves (Kawasaki) was second overall, with Conner Baldry (KTM) putting together a good weekend to claim third overall.

No one could get close to defending champion Ben Wainwright (Honda) in the Moto Connection clubman MX2 as he won all four of his races convincingly with Ryan Gardiner (Yamaha) a distant second, but solid nonetheless. Matthew Pocock (Yamaha) came home third even though his best race finish was a brace of fifths.

Youth

Tyler Wescott (KTM) was another 100% rider as he won all four of the MXY250 presented by Seven races from a fast starting Bayliss Utting (Husqvarna) and Jak Taylor (Team Green Kawasaki). In the MXY125 side of the combined race, the on-form Charlie Heyman (SJP Moto KTM) did the same as Wescott and completely dominated all four of his races. Ollie Colmer (GRT Impact KTM) did all he could to put the fight to Heyman but had to settle for second. In his first year on a 125, Cole McCullough (Milwaukee Hitachi KTM) did all he could to get on terms with the leaders but, in the end, had to settle for third overall.

Billy Askew (GRT Impact KTM) won all four races in the big wheel side of the Syntol Open 85cc races with Josh Vail (SJP Moto Husqvarna) following him across the finish line on all four occasions, albeit someway back. Charlie Richmond (Matt Gardener KTM) put together a solid run of race results for third overall. Archie-Jay Girdham (SJP Moto Husqvarna) took the overall victory in the small wheeled 85cc with three wins and a second. Alfie Geddes-Green (Matt Pope Gas Gas) took the other race win on his way to second while battling with Blake Ward-Clarke (JMR Foundation KTM) who rounded up the top three.

The next round of the Michelin MX Nationals powered by Milwaukee British Motocross championship is on the weekend of the 30th of April and the 1st of May at Landrake Moto Parc.

Results

Pro MX1 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Josh Gilbert	50	25	25
2	Harri Kullas	44	22	22
3	Shaun Simpson	40	20	20
4	Petar Petrov	31	13	18
5	Aston Dickinson	31	18	13
6	Jake Millward	30	14	16
7	Jake Nicolls	29	15	14
8	Martin Barr	25	10	15
9	John Adamson	23	16	7
10	Stuart Edmunds	19	8	11
11	Glen McCormick	18	6	12
12	Jason Meara	15	7	8
13	Gavin Stevenson	14	5	9
14	Brad Todd	12	12	–
15	Liam Knight	11	11	–
16	Tommy Searle	10	–	10
17	Ben Edwards	9	9	–

Pro MX2 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2
1	Jamie Carpenter	50	25	25
2	Calton Husband	44	22	22
3	Calum Mitchell	36	16	20
4	Tom Grimshaw	36	18	18
5	Lewis Hall	32	20	12
6	Jamie Law	29	15	14
7	Sam Nunn	27	12	15
8	Kyle McNicoll	24	11	13
9	Adam Collings	23	7	16
10	Alfie Jones	22	13	9
11	Jake Sheridan	19	8	11
12	Rossi Beard	19	9	10
13	Jay Hague	14	14	–
14	Jamie Wainwright	10	10	–

Small Wheel 85’s – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Archie-Jay Girdham	97	25	25	22	25
2	Alfie Geddes-Green	89	22	20	25	22
3	Blake Ward-Clarke	74	14	22	20	18
4	Hayden Statt	70	18	16	16	20
5	Joel Winstanly Dawson W	59	20	9	14	16
6	Lucus Moncrieff	57	11	14	18	14
7	Finlay Pickering	53	15	18	7	13
8	Danny Flude	53	16	15	15	7
9	Stanley Siebert	49	12	11	11	15
10	Harley O’Callaghan	42	9	10	12	11
11	Ryan Clift	41	10	13	6	12
12	Maison Jones	38	13	12	13	–
13	George Clark	34	8	8	8	10
14	Louis Challenger	30	6	5	10	9
15	Lewis Jenks	26	5	6	9	6
16	Archie Congdon	17	–	4	5	8
17	Michael McCullagh	14	7	7	–	–

Big Wheel 85’s – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Billy Askew	100	25	25	25	25
2	Josh Vail	88	22	22	22	22
3	Charlie Richmond	65	18	15	16	16
4	Chester Hyde	63	14	16	15	18
5	Ryan Waggott	62	20	18	12	12
6	Jamie Keith	61	15	14	18	14
7	Jake Walker	60	–	20	20	20
8	Ollie Bubb	58	16	13	14	15
9	Declan Wright W	42	11	9	9	13
10	Gus Mustoe	39	10	10	8	11
11	Freddie Gardiner	36	12	11	13	–
12	Zane Stephens	33	8	5	10	10
13	Jack Bearey	33	9	8	11	5
14	Tyler Jones	27	7	7	4	9
15	Max Harris	25	13	12	–	–
16	Isaac Ash	25	6	4	7	8
17	Cailen Griffiths	22	5	6	5	6
18	Alfie Osborn	20	4	3	6	7
19	Max Walsham	11	3	2	3	3
20	Tyler Townsend	9	2	1	2	4

MXY1 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Charlie Heyman	100	25	25	25	25
2	Ollie Colmer	86	22	22	22	20
3	Cole McCullough	82	20	20	20	22
4	Ben Mustoe	67	18	16	18	15
5	Tyla Hooley	66	14	18	16	18
6	Leon Ongley	61	15	15	15	16
7	Reece Jones	53	16	14	9	14
8	Kayde Rayns	51	12	12	14	13
9	Jude Turton W	44	11	11	10	12
10	Liam Bennett	37	9	7	12	9
11	Harrison Greenough	33	8	6	13	6
12	Charlie Griffiths	30	6	8	8	8
13	Raife Broadley	27	13	13	1	–
14	Calum Moore	23	5	5	6	7
15	George Hopkins	21	10	–	–	11
16	Sid Putnam	20	4	4	7	5
17	Dan Arkell W	19	–	9	–	10
18	Brett Kelly	14	3	3	4	4
19	Kyron Carron	13	–	2	11	–
20	Reece Ross	10	–	10	–	–
21	Carl Harris	8	2	–	5	1
22	Bradley Johnstone	7	–	1	3	3
23	Cody Specagna	7	7	–	–	–
24	Jules Brigham W	4	–	–	2	2
25	Jamie Collins W	1	1	–	–	–

MXY2 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Tyler Wescott W	100	25	25	25	25
2	Bayliss Utting	86	22	22	22	20
3	Jak Taylor	72	18	14	18	22
4	Finlay Evans	69	13	18	20	18
5	Hudson Roper	66	14	20	16	16
6	Aria Elcock	60	20	13	12	15
7	Harvey Cashmore	57	15	15	15	12
8	Leon Williams	56	12	16	14	14
9	Mckenzie Marshall	50	16	10	11	13
10	Seth Manners	43	11	11	13	8
11	Corey Collins	39	9	12	9	9
12	Charlie Palmer	35	8	9	8	10
13	Jake Barker	31	10	–	10	11
14	Ben Croft	14	7	–	7	–

Clubman MX1 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Michael Graham	91	25	25	16	25
2	Adam Reeves	89	22	22	25	20
3	Connor Baldry	84	20	20	22	22
4	Grant Martin	62	15	15	18	14
5	Mitch Best	61	14	18	13	16
6	Keaton Stewart	54	8	16	15	15
7	Billy Saunders	54	18	9	14	13
8	Ash Senior	46	13	13	10	10
9	Jordan Ambler	45	12	10	11	12
10	James Thompson	40	9	8	12	11
11	Dean Rodgers	40	10	12	9	9
12	Ivan Kerr	38	–	–	20	18
13	Jordan Andrews	38	16	14	8	–
14	Richard Evans	32	11	11	7	3
15	Ben Lightbown	16	3	–	6	7
16	Nathan Moulton	16	–	6	4	6
17	Joshua Rea	16	5	7	2	2
18	Lee Tolan	13	–	–	5	8
19	Joe Croft	11	7	4	–	–
20	Colby Walker	9	–	3	1	5
21	Ryan Davis	9	–	2	3	4
22	Sam Cornwell	6	6	–	–	–
23	Harry Whitlock	6	1	5	–	–
24	Jack Waterman	4	4	–	–	–
25	Harry McDonald	2	2	–	–	–
26	Lewis Wigger	1	–	–	–	1
27	Ryan Bowring	1	–	1	–	–

Clubman MX2 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Ben Wainwright	100	25	25	25	25
2	Ryan Gardiner	78	16	22	20	20
3	Matthew Pocock	61	14	16	15	16
4	Adam Pierce	60	15	18	9	18
5	Max Fletcher	55	20	20	–	15
6	Mitchil Collins	53	22	13	8	10
7	Toby Lightbown	51	10	15	14	12
8	Tom Haddock	44	2	7	22	13
9	Tom Hughes W	43	18	–	3	22
10	Jasper Gibson	42	12	12	10	8
11	Richy Roberts	36	4	9	16	7
12	Aaron Framingham	36	8	10	18	–
13	Jack Ratcliffe	34	9	14	5	6
14	George Boyce	32	–	11	12	9
15	Joe Cooper	30	6	–	13	11
16	Daniel Shutt	27	13	–	–	14
17	Michael McAlister	20	–	8	11	1
18	Guy Prince	14	11	–	–	3
19	Hayden Stevens	11	3	3	–	5
20	Jamie Mottram	11	–	4	7	–
21	Charlie West	10	–	2	4	4
22	Elliot Cook	7	1	6	–	–
23	Ollie Sheldon	7	7	–	–	–
24	Will Morris	6	–	–	6	–
25	Jack Sutcliffe W	5	–	5	–	–
26	Matthew Fuller	5	5	–	–	–
27	Drew Lane	4	–	–	2	2
28	Charlie Parker	1	–	–	1	–
29	Liam Deegan	1	–	1	–	–

Amateur MX1 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Harry Bradley	100	25	25	25	25
2	Lewis Taylor	80	22	20	20	18
3	John Kirk	78	16	18	22	22
4	Brad Thornhill	70	18	14	18	20
5	Aaron Gardiner	55	12	13	16	14
6	Joshua McCorkell	53	14	15	8	16
7	Callum Gordon	53	15	12	15	11
8	David Rushton	49	13	10	13	13
9	Dan Holliday	46	11	11	9	15
10	Billy Wynn	45	20	22	3	–
11	Danny Townsend	39	8	9	14	8
12	Alex Christopher	38	6	8	12	12
13	Stephen Kelly	31	10	6	5	10
14	Tallon Aspden	29	7	7	6	9
15	Scott Hail	26	–	16	10	–
16	Jack Seabourne	20	9	–	11	–
17	Ryan Osborn	19	–	5	7	7
18	Michael Smith	17	5	4	4	4
19	Ross Millard	9	–	1	2	6
20	Billy Collins	9	3	–	1	5
21	Joe Roberts	7	4	3	–	–
22	Ivan Kerr	2	–	2	–	–

Amateur MX2 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Luca Pegg	100	25	25	25	25
2	Lewis Glynn	86	20	22	22	22
3	Dan Brough	76	22	18	18	18
4	Alex Buchanan	70	18	16	20	16
5	Logan Wilcox	66	13	20	13	20
6	Harry Foster	56	14	15	12	15
7	Ben White	52	16	12	15	9
8	Lewis King-London	51	12	13	14	12
9	Arnis Peberz	49	11	14	11	13
10	Harry Barker	40	9	11	6	14
11	David Finnemore	40	15	9	16	–
12	Archie Hicks	35	7	10	8	10
13	Sam Ongley W	30	10	–	9	11
14	Calum Watson	27	6	8	7	6
15	Harry Fletcher	26	8	–	10	8
16	Harrison Drewell	12	–	–	5	7

Expert MX1 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Shaun Southgate	93	25	25	18	25
2	Jayden Ashwell	84	20	22	20	22
3	Jordan Mccaw	71	15	18	22	16
4	Charlie Putnam	66	16	20	15	15
5	Josh Waterman	59	18	16	25	–
6	Richard Bird	56	22	–	16	18
7	Nathan Green	56	14	14	14	14
8	Luke Smith W	48	13	15	–	20
9	Ryan Adair W	48	11	13	11	13
10	Luke Mellows	48	12	12	13	11
11	Jamie Dixon	41	9	10	10	12
12	Koby Newbould	31	–	9	12	10
13	Glen Phillips	30	10	11	–	9
14	Stephen Mullally	17	8	–	9	–
15	Aiden Wigger	16	–	8	–	8

Expert MX2 – Overall

Pos	Competitor	Points	R1	R2	R3	R4
1	Bailey Johnson	92	20	22	25	25
2	Sam Atkinson	70	18	15	22	15
3	Josh Coleman	62	13	20	16	13
4	Ollie Beamish	60	12	13	15	20
5	Jayden Haigh	60	15	11	20	14
6	Louie Kessall	57	7	14	14	22
7	Jack Moore	51	11	16	12	12
8	Matheo Miot	50	25	25	–	–
9	Jimmy Margetson	49	22	–	11	16
10	Aaron Ongley	41	10	–	13	18
11	Ben Clark	39	8	10	10	11
12	Jack Lindsay	39	9	12	18	–
13	Jake Sheridan	34	16	18	–	–
14	Ross Kersey	31	6	8	8	9
15	Kieren Yorke	28	–	9	9	10
16	Wal Beaney W	21	14	7	–	–
17	David Robson	5	5	–	–	–