On Sunday, April 12th, the Halstead DMCC hosted round one of the 2026 ACU Eastern Centre MX championship at Wakes Colne. This season marks the 100th year anniversary of the Halstead club, which is a testament to the hard work of all officials and helpers involved.
Race Report by Stefan Hicks – Images courtesy of Narna Media
With support from long-term sponsors Stebbings Car Superstore and new sponsors Rackhams Auto Body Centre, the season kicked into life in Essex under warm and sunny conditions.
A stacked expert line-up consisting of former champions, fast wildcards and some exciting young British talent would provide great entertainment, as well as the junior championship class and two support classes, giving spectators a mouth-watering 12-race schedule to start the season off.
READ MORE: BRITISH MOTOCROSS NEWS
In the first Expert race, reigning champion Sam Nunn grabbed the holeshot ahead of Tom Grimshaw (Apico Honda) and Travis Steels (Talk Access Yamaha). By the end of the first lap, Grimshaw had made his way into first place with a nice pass on Nunn, and by lap 5, Steels also made his way past and into second. Luke Benstead would take a heavy fall and, unfortunately, not take part in any more racing for the day. Grimshaw, however, was dominant and cruised across the line ahead of Nunn in second and Josh Spinks in third. Steels would drop down to fourth due to a yellow flag penalty, and Bayliss Utting in fifth.
Race two of the Expert class would see Travis Steels quick out of the gate, but he couldn’t stop the inevitable pass, which Grimshaw soon put on him to take the lead. Spinks also made his way past Steels and into second as Shaun Southgate was battling hard in the top five alongside fellow Honda rider Max Broadbelt. Grimshaw controlled the race and would take the victory ahead of Spinks in second and Broadbelt in third. Steels finished in fourth, and Utting was again across the line in fifth.
In the final Expert race, it was Max Broadbelt who was the next rider to try and take it to Grimshaw from the start and looked to be showing good early pace. Grimshaw was positioned just behind the race leader with Utting, Southgate and Spinks all close by early on. After a close battle, Grimshaw powered his way past Broadbelt to lead the race and storm to a perfect clean sweep in the Expert class in fine style. Broadbelt was left to settle
for second place ahead of Bayliss Utting in third and Josh Spinks in fourth. Jake Rackham finished in his best result of the day in fifth.
Grimshaw would take the Expert overall honours with 75 points, in second was Josh Spinks with 60 points and in third was Bayliss Utting with 52 points.
In the Junior Championship, it was Craig Down who impressively won all three moto victories and would take the overall with 75 points, ahead of Jacob Roper in second with 62 points. In third was Tyrone Tugwell with 56 points.
In the Support B class, it was Edward Pegram on the top step with a 1-1-2 ahead of Kevin Palmer in second with a 7-2-1 finish. In third was Zak Beards with a 5-6-4, and in the Support C class, it was Shaun Tacey who took the honours with a 3-2-2 ahead of Finlay Whitlam in second with a 6-4-1. In third was Alfie Hunt with a 4-6-3.
Results
Experts
| Pos | No | Competitor | Total | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
| 1 | 16 | Tom Grimshaw | 75 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| 2 | 180 | Josh Spinks | 60 | 20 | 22 | 18 |
| 3 | 421 | Bayliss Utting | 52 | 16 | 16 | 20 |
| 4 | 103 | Max Broadbelt | 51 | 9 | 20 | 22 |
| 5 | 22 | Travis Steels | 51 | 18 | 18 | 15 |
| 6 | 687 | Jake Rackham | 37 | 6 | 15 | 16 |
| 7 | 48 | Adam Collings | 37 | 12 | 11 | 14 |
| 8 | 500 | Callum Murfitt | 35 | 13 | 13 | 9 |
| 9 | 365 | Sam Nunn | 35 | 22 | 5 | 8 |
| 10 | 301 | Shaun Southgate | 34 | 7 | 14 | 13 |
| 11 | 72 | Connor Hughes | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 |
| 12 | 499 | Benjamin Cole | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 |
| 13 | 151 | Mitch Amour | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| 14 | 49 | Luke Parker | 28 | 15 | 10 | 3 |
| 15 | 57 | Chester Hyde | 18 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 16 | 7 | Sydney Bales | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 |
| 17 | 2 | Josh Peters | 13 | – | 7 | 6 |
| 18 | 807 | Luca Pegg | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 19 | 47 | Simon Booth | 5 | 4 | – | 1 |
| 20 | 8 | Callum McCaul | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | 20 | William Farrow | 4 | – | 4 | – |
| 22 | 198 | Shane Lock | 3 | 3 | – | – |
Junior Championship
| Pos | No | Competitor | Total | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
| 1 | 39 | Craig Down | 75 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| 2 | 260 | Jacob Roper | 62 | 18 | 22 | 22 |
| 3 | 784 | Tyrone Tugwell | 56 | 22 | 16 | 18 |
| 4 | 126 | Caden Tomlin | 55 | 15 | 20 | 20 |
| 5 | 461 | Luke Nolan | 44 | 16 | 14 | 14 |
| 6 | 991 | Justin Whyatt | 38 | 20 | 15 | 3 |
| 7 | 78 | William Bell | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 |
| 8 | 531 | Alfie Malins | 34 | 8 | 13 | 13 |
| 9 | 541 | Mitchell Murfitt | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 |
| 10 | 551 | Sam Rogers | 29 | – | 18 | 11 |
| 11 | 770 | Henry Cox | 29 | 11 | 8 | 10 |
| 12 | 192 | Gareth Lane | 27 | 10 | 10 | 7 |
| 13 | 714 | John Hinz | 24 | 2 | 6 | 16 |
| 14 | 591 | Harrison Fitchett | 24 | 12 | – | 12 |
| 15 | 469 | Ethan Johnson | 23 | 4 | 11 | 8 |
| 16 | 52 | Lee Kirkpatrick | 19 | 5 | 9 | 5 |
| 17 | 220 | Thomas Burgon | 12 | 7 | 5 | – |
| 18 | 521 | Benjamin Arthurton | 12 | 9 | 3 | – |
| 19 | 257 | Henry Crawford | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| 20 | 45 | Josh Watson-Bailey | 6 | – | – | 6 |
| 21 | 771 | Leyton Turner | 6 | 6 | – | – |
| 22 | 581 | Jamie Cox | 4 | – | 2 | 2 |
| 23 | 297 | Bailey Jackson | 3 | 3 | – | – |
| 24 | 346 | Scott Claydon | 2 | – | 1 | 1 |
Junior B
| Pos | No | Competitor | Total | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
| 1 | 459 | Edward Pegram | 133 | 45 | 45 | 43 |
| 2 | 249 | Kevin Palmer | 122 | 34 | 43 | 45 |
| 3 | 728 | Zak Beards | 111 | 37 | 35 | 39 |
| 4 | 816 | Kieran Bullock | 107 | 35 | 39 | 33 |
| 5 | 137 | Nathan Lock | 106 | 32 | 33 | 41 |
| 6 | 721 | Harry Hawes | 105 | 41 | 29 | 35 |
| 7 | 191 | Liam Vant | 101 | 33 | 37 | 31 |
| 8 | 125 | Paul Hubbard | 97 | 29 | 31 | 37 |
| 9 | 842 | Joseph Mulley Forsdike | 94 | 30 | 32 | 32 |
| 10 | 675 | Rodrigo Barata | 88 | 26 | 28 | 34 |
| 11 | 280 | Aaron Saunders | 88 | 28 | 34 | 26 |
| 12 | 287 | Dexter Lambe | 85 | 25 | 30 | 30 |
| 13 | 877 | Alfie Self | 85 | 31 | 27 | 27 |
| 14 | 974 | Zac Bowden | 80 | 39 | 41 | – |
| 15 | 959 | Stephen Atkins | 76 | 23 | 24 | 29 |
| 16 | 132 | Ben Carey | 67 | 20 | 19 | 28 |
| 17 | 225 | Alexander Smith | 67 | 19 | 23 | 25 |
| 18 | 27 | Jesse Eaves | 66 | 22 | 20 | 24 |
| 19 | 247 | Lee Keyton | 64 | 21 | 26 | 17 |
| 20 | 361 | Lewis Wells | 54 | 16 | 16 | 22 |
| 21 | 214 | Joshua Chappell | 53 | 15 | 18 | 20 |
| 22 | 23 | Austen Feavearyear-Foster | 50 | 27 | 4 | 19 |
| 23 | 288 | Ethan Cone | 48 | 8 | 22 | 18 |
| 24 | 38 | Lewis Griggs | 47 | 17 | 15 | 15 |
| 25 | 96 | Ryan Beeston | 44 | – | 21 | 23 |
| 26 | 498 | Bobby Topping | 43 | 43 | – | – |
| 27 | 398 | Jason Bennett | 38 | – | 17 | 21 |
| 28 | 284 | Georgia Potter | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 |
| 29 | 910 | Zack Carter | 35 | 10 | 25 | – |
| 30 | 300 | Damian Flack | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 |
| 31 | 42 | Jake Appleton | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 |
| 32 | 553 | Owen Clark | 32 | 6 | 13 | 13 |
| 33 | 815 | Max Monk | 32 | 11 | 12 | 9 |
| 34 | 868 | Charlie Starsmoore | 32 | 18 | 14 | – |
| 35 | 337 | Brad Watts | 24 | 24 | – | – |
| 36 | 747 | Ryan Christmas | 20 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 37 | 625 | Bill Cox | 16 | 5 | 11 | – |
| 38 | 363 | Jack Cox | 16 | 13 | 3 | – |
| 39 | 212 | Josh Faulkner | 13 | 7 | 6 | – |
| 40 | 915 | Benjamin Wigger | 12 | 1 | – | 11 |
| 41 | 449 | Jamie Sims | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 42 | 253 | Jake Faulkner | 9 | 4 | 5 | – |
Junior C
| Pos | No | Competitor | Total | r 1 | r 2 | r 3 |
| 1 | 418 | Shaun Tacey | 127 | 41 | 43 | 43 |
| 2 | 37 | Finlay Whitlam | 119 | 35 | 39 | 45 |
| 3 | 605 | Alfie Hunt | 115 | 39 | 35 | 41 |
| 4 | 422 | Robert Green | 109 | 37 | 33 | 39 |
| 5 | 775 | Rory Williams | 108 | 34 | 41 | 33 |
| 6 | 665 | Hector Storey | 104 | 43 | 45 | 16 |
| 7 | 159 | Alfie Hoare | 93 | 33 | 23 | 37 |
| 8 | 269 | Darren Watts | 91 | 22 | 34 | 35 |
| 9 | 774 | Lewis Walduck | 91 | 30 | 32 | 29 |
| 10 | 228 | Jack Norman | 85 | 25 | 29 | 31 |
| 11 | 989 | Nathan Gotts | 83 | 28 | 30 | 25 |
| 12 | 921 | Andrew Cattermole | 82 | 45 | 37 | – |
| 13 | 820 | Toby Henderson | 82 | 20 | 28 | 34 |
| 14 | 772 | Connor Davison | 81 | 27 | 31 | 23 |
| 15 | 779 | Paul Lumley | 80 | 23 | 25 | 32 |
| 16 | 988 | Ryan Hunt | 78 | 31 | 26 | 21 |
| 17 | 876 | Lee Faulkner | 74 | 21 | 27 | 26 |
| 18 | 438 | Andrew Rooke | 70 | 26 | 20 | 24 |
| 19 | 946 | Thomas Davies | 66 | 18 | 21 | 27 |
| 20 | 360 | Peter Andrews | 65 | 16 | 19 | 30 |
| 21 | 439 | Tony Rooke | 64 | 24 | 18 | 22 |
| 22 | 58 | Jake Clements | 56 | 32 | 24 | – |
| 23 | 193 | Jack Hunton | 52 | 17 | 17 | 18 |
| 24 | 207 | Jason Eaves | 52 | 13 | 22 | 17 |
| 25 | 464 | Henry Fox | 45 | 12 | 5 | 28 |
| 26 | 304 | Nick Hunton | 45 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
| 27 | 77 | John Smith | 42 | 7 | 16 | 19 |
| 28 | 54 | Dan Simpson | 40 | 11 | 14 | 15 |
| 29 | 203 | Oli Greene | 31 | 6 | 11 | 14 |
| 30 | 251 | Harrison Groucott | 29 | 29 | – | – |
| 31 | 626 | Charlie Wood | 27 | 15 | 12 | – |
| 32 | 419 | Colin Booker | 26 | 4 | 9 | 13 |
| 33 | 782 | Ben Smith | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 |
| 34 | 512 | David Maddison | 23 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
| 35 | 715 | Tommy Maskell | 22 | 9 | 13 | – |
| 36 | 142 | Louis Frampton Webb | 21 | 3 | 7 | 11 |
| 37 | 305 | Aiden Payne | 19 | 19 | – | – |
| 38 | 167 | Liam Evans | 18 | – | 6 | 12 |
| 39 | 931 | Matthew Goodger | 14 | 14 | – | – |
| 40 | 168 | Kevin Day | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 41 | 742 | Bree Keyton | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
