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Mewse is the Master of Oakhanger! 2024 Bridgestone British Masters Round 1 – Race Report & Results

Mewse is the Master of Oakhanger! 2024 Bridgestone British Masters Round 1 – Race Report & Results

After making a speedy recovery from a serious Arenacross accident, Conrad Mewse on his Crendon Tru7 Honda showed he had not lost any of his speed and race craft by winning both of the expert races and, therefore, the overall at round one of the Bridgestone Masters, Powered by Rock Oil, last weekend.

Report and Images by Dick Law

The meeting was held on a shortened, rough, tough, sandy Oakhanger track at Bordon in Hampshire. With the pack-to-capacity start gates in all classes, over three hundred rides packed the paddock among the trees, all looking to start their racing season.

The heroes of the meeting, however, were the track crew in the three diggers. After presenting the club with a great track on Saturday morning, they worked both days between the races tirelessly to keep the bumps, holes, and berms to a reasonable level.

The Digger Drivers

There was no pro rider class for this year, but Pros are now accepted in the new Expert Open races, of which there are two legs on Sunday.

Even after a ten-week layoff from racing, Mewse returned with all guns blazing as he set the fastest qualifying time. He just beat John Adamson by just over a quarter of a second, but Mewse did his fastest lap on a rougher lap eight while most of the rest did their quickest time on a relatively smoother lap two.

Mewse’s speed translated into the races. At the start of race one, he got the holeshot, and in a smooth and fast champions’ style, he powered away to win the race by over thirty-eight seconds.

John Adamson and Luke Mellows.

Adamson gated third but, by the end of the opening lap, had passed James Dodd, who, after being second at the start, crashed out in the Oakhanger woods.

Adamson had a lonely race on his way to second place. After passing Dodd and losing sight of Mewse, the only riders he saw were when he lapped them.

Dan Thornhill had a good start and was running third for the first six laps until Taylor Hammal, from tenth from the gate, snatched the place from him and made third his own.

Dan Thornhill

Carlton Husband was showing some speed as well. He lost a place to the flying Hammal. He passed Thornhill on lap nine to score a strong fourth place, with Thornhill hanging onto fifth.

Liam Knight started sixth and, after swapping a couple of places, ended his race where he started: sixth. After his great start, Dodd finished in seventh place and was the last rider on the lead lap.

Husband got the holeshot at the start of the second race, but by the third turn, Adamson powered past him and into the lead, with Hammal and Mewse following him through later in the lap.

Taylor Hammal

Adamson made a small slip-up on the next lap, allowing Hammal and Mewse to pass. But, a lap later, there was no stopping Mewse from taking the lead from where he had just powered away from the pack and cruised to a comfortable second race win.

Try as hard as he could for the rest of the race, Adamson couldn’t close the gap between himself and Hammal as the pair finished second and third.

Knight had a worse start than in the first race but had more pace as he started ninth to end it in fourth, while Husband’s race stopped halfway through the race when his exhaust system broke.

Reece Jones

Thornhill didn’t get the best start but made his way up to fifth by the halfway stage, only to lose a place on the very last lap as Reece Jones, from seventeenth at the start, snatched fifth from him.

Thornhill was sixth and the last rider on the lead lap.

Overall, it was Mewse from Hammal and Adamson, with Knight and Thornhill just missing out on a podium position.

“It’s been a long time off and a tough injury”, said a happy Mewse, “It’s been a difficult time for me with ten weeks off the bike. It’s tough to come back from. The track was tough and hard, but we did what we came here to do, we certainly have a lot more work to do, but we have two weeks to the Fastest 40 and then the British championship, which is our main goal. So, I will be putting in the hard work and come out ready for round one.”

The start of the second expert race. Husband in the lead.

Hammal said, “With Conrad (Mewse) around here, everyone is looking to see who will be second, but in the second race, when I finally got a good start when he came past, I tried to stay with him for a couple of laps, but when be brakes that tow he is gone. But overall, it’s good to get the first race of the year out of the way on the 450. I have been desperate to get on a 450 for a while now, so Dave (Thorpe) has given me a chance to do one series on it, so I am happy with that. Hopefully, I can show people what I can do on it ready for next year.”

Adamson said from third on the podium, “I didn’t really have an answer for Conrad (Mewse) today; he was in a class of his own. He had his time off with his injury but has come back with vengeance and is riding flawless again. So, we need to go back to the drawing board to see if we can have anything for him in the future. It was tough out there today and I couldn’t get a good feeling with the track like I had here a couple of weeks ago. But it’s OK. We came here for a runout, and it was good to try and learn from the boys that are winning.”

Wildcard rider Scott Aldridge won the Amateur MX1 class with three wins and a third place. However, despite easy wins on Saturday, he didn’t have it easy on Sunday. While Daniel Maule, Ben Knight, and Jake Winnard led that race from the start, Aldridge started way back in eleventh place with a lot to do. By the end of three laps, he was in third place, and three laps later, he was in the lead and on his way to his third win.

While Seth Manners, Josh Greedy, and Maule disputed the lead in the fourth and final race, Aldridge was way back in fourteenth place. He was quickly up to seventh but seemed to get stuck there for too long, as by the time he was on the move again, the top three were out of reach in the remaining laps.

Maule was second, six points behind Aldridge with Manners third, and Greedy fourth.

Clubman first lap mayhem

Wildcard racer Bailey Johnston was unstoppable in the Amateur MX2 category, winning four races from four starts. Raife Broadley followed Johnston over the finish line in all the races and finished second overall, with Jonathan Rodenick-Evans third.

Scott Bates didn’t finish out of the top three over the weekend, and with two race wins, he won the overall in the hotly contested clubman class. With two race wins, Dan Chapman was second, eight points behind the winner. Elliott Pugh was third, while wildcard rider Luke Richardson just missed out on a podium by just three points.

It was very close at the top of the 125cc class as Chester Hyde, with a win, two seconds, and a third place, took the overall win from Matt Bayliss, who had two wins, a third and a fourth place as they ended the weekend separated by just two points. Race one winner Charlie Richmond was third, four points behind the leading pair.

What can you say about the young wildcard racer Jamie Keith in the MXY2’s? On a two-stroke against the more powerful and easier-to-ride four-strokes and on a power-sapping sandy Oakhanger track, he took four wins from his four starts.

Jamie Keith

Tyla Hooley chased Keith over the finish line in each of the races for second with Harrison Greenough third. Beau Brown finished on equal points as Greenough but was placed fourth by Brown’s higher place finish in race four.

In the Big Wheel 85s, it was close at the top, with Alfie Geddes-Green and wildcard rider Finley Pickering ending the four-race weekend separated by just one point.

In the first race, Pickering led Geddes-Green at the start, then swopped back on lap three. They continued in that order until the last lap when Pickering snatched the win. In race two Geddes-Green led from the gate from Pickering and Kameron Greenhaigh.

In race three, Pickering crashed out of the lead and dropped back to fifth but made a comeback to take the win. While this was happening, Zane Stephens was second, but Geddes-Green had worked his way from fifth to third on lap four, but a crash dropped him back to finish sixth. In the fourth and final race of the weekend, after race leader Danny Flude crashed out of the lead, Geddes-Green took over the lead and the win. Greenhaigh was second in the race and third overall, while Pickering crashed out of fifth but finished seventh, which robbed him of the overall win.

Alfie Geddes-Green

Harley Marczak won the Small Wheel 85s but rode better on Sunday than he did on Saturday. In race one, while Nixon Coppins led from start to finish, Marzak gated fourth and finished second. In race two, after the holeshoting, Teddy Merriman slipped down the pack, and new leader Archie Butterfield crashed out of his lead; Leo Wilson won the race, with Marczak finishing fifth.

On Sunday Marczak won both races and took the overall by nine points from Arthur Moore, Butterfield, and Wilson.

The Junior 65s were always going to have trouble with the deep, boggy bits of the Oakhanger track, and none would see the end of racing without coming off two or three times.

Wildcard rider Jett Gardiner didn’t win a race, but with finishing high up in each race took the overall win. Second-place man Elliott Shawyer also didn’t win a race on his place but bagged the runner-up position. Ronan Watson, who won the opening race, was third.

Jack Clark

Results

Expert – Overall

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2
1 Conrad Mewse 90 45 45
2 Taylor Hammal 84 41 43
3 John Adamson 84 43 41
4 Liam Knight 74 35 39
5 Dan Thornhill 72 37 35
6 Callum Mitchell 65 32 33
7 James Dodd 64 34 30
8 Charlie Cole 62 28 34
9 Richard McKeown 57 26 31
10 Henry Williams 53 29 24
11 Josh Coleman 52 25 27
12 Declan Whittle 52 30 22
13 Travis Steels 51 22 29
14 Charlie Putnam 51 23 28
15 Lewis Hall 51 33 18
16 Ashley Greedy 47 15 32
17 Reece Jones 46 9 37
18 Harry Bradley 45 19 26
19 Rory Jones 45 20 25
20 Kristian Whatley 45 24 21
21 Jak Taylor 40 17 23
22 Carlton Husband 39 39
23 Liam Bennett 38 21 17
24 Jake Preston 34 14 20
25 Dominic Newbury 31 16 15
26 Bayliss Utting 31 31
27 Harvey Cashmore 30 11 19
28 Ben Franklin 27 27
29 Luke Mellows 27 13 14
30 Aaron Patstone 25 12 13
31 Patrick Jackson 23 7 16
32 Henry Siddiqui 18 18
33 Tom Ellwood 10 10
34 Taylor Johnson 8 8

125cc – Overall

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 Chester Hyde 172 43 45 43 41
2 Matt Bayliss 170 39 41 45 45
3 Charlie Richmond 166 45 43 35 43
4 Freddie Gardiner 150 35 37 39 39
5 Damen Strydom 146 33 39 37 37
6 Will Haddock 131 41 34 41 15
7 Charlie Palmer 128 29 33 31 35
8 Harry Linton (W) 125 30 28 33 34
9 Daniel Brough 118 23 30 32 33
10 Jack Brearey 118 32 32 26 28
11 Ashton Phillips 108 28 22 29 29
12 Samuel Jackson 107 25 27 25 30
13 Lewis Proud 106 37 35 34
14 Troy Haywood 104 27 26 27 24
15 Travis Barnes (W) 99 16 24 28 31
16 Braidy Tucker 91 24 29 12 26
17 Joe Grainger 91 26 21 23 21
18 Louis Perrin-Brown 89 31 10 30 18
19 Jorge Parkin 86 18 19 22 27
20 Phillip Tchorek 84 15 25 19 25
21 Harry Shand 83 20 20 21 22
22 Yarin Evans 74 22 9 24 19
23 Declan Wright 73 34 31 8
24 Tristan McGrath 66 17 12 14 23
25 Troy Willerton 65 8 15 10 32
26 Max Ellerker 65 14 17 17 17
27 Harrison Drewell 64 11 18 15 20
28 Reegan Rogers 60 21 14 11 14
29 Halim Own 60 19 23 18
30 Marley Alder 50 10 11 13 16
31 Ryan Christian 37 9 8 20
32 Mitchell Evans 35 6 7 9 13
33 Oliver Watson 29 13 16
34 Daniel Barlett 20 7 13
35 Dee Jay Walker 16 16
36 Tom Goodfellow (W) 12 12

Amateur MX1 – Overall

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 Scott Aldridge (w) 176 45 45 45 41
2 Daniel Maule 170 43 39 43 45
3 Seth Manners 166 41 43 39 43
4 Josh Greedy 156 39 41 41 35
5 Liam Crellin 146 35 37 35 39
6 Jake Winnard (W) 142 34 34 37 37
7 Simon Booth 132 37 33 34 28
8 Ben Knight 127 26 35 32 34
9 Leon Williams (W) 124 30 30 33 31
10 Brad Thornhill 121 31 31 30 29
11 Callum Gordon 119 33 27 27 32
12 Bradley Wheeler 115 32 32 26 25
13 Shane Davies(w) 111 29 29 23 30
14 Phil Mercer (w) 104 27 25 25 27
15 Ross Millard 99 23 24 29 23
16 Lewis Taylor 93 25 22 22 24
17 Lewis Huckerby 91 24 17 24 26
18 Adam Paxton 78 21 19 18 20
19 George Clarke 76 28 28 20
20 Jake Carrey (W) 68 18 16 16 18
21 Josh Scott 67 16 15 17 19
22 Kaie Stesel 66 15 18 11 22
23 Bradley Flagg 66 22 23 21
24 Liam Smith 64 31 33
25 John Joe Wright 63 9 26 28
26 Fraser Gardiner 60 17 11 15 17
27 Billy Collins 59 12 14 19 14
28 Riley Stesel 53 20 20 13
29 Ethan Blackley 53 19 21 13
30 James Thompson 51 11 12 12 16
31 Charlie West (w) 49 14 14 21
32 Connor Maltby 31 6 10 15
33 Adam Hardy 21 8 13
34 Jake Strange 13 13
35 Jason Hibberd 10 10
36 Ben  Butler 7 7
37 Lewis Wigger 5 5

Amateur MX2 – Overall

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 Bailey Johnston (W) 180 45 45 45 45
2 Raife Broadley 172 43 43 43 43
3 Jonathan Rodenick-Evans 162 41 41 41 39
4 Kayde Rayns 149 39 39 37 34
5 David Plank 137 35 32 33 37
6 Logan Wilcox 135 31 28 35 41
7 Harrison McCann 127 34 31 30 32
8 Leon Ongley 124 28 34 32 30
9 Charlie Hamlet (W) 123 23 33 34 33
10 Syd Putnam 122 27 37 23 35
11 Tye Jones 117 33 29 39 16
12 Josh Bassett 115 24 35 29 27
13 Henry Partridge 114 32 25 26 31
14 Ryan Osborne 107 26 24 28 29
15 Jamie Watson 107 37 30 14 26
16 Martin Jones 94 22 26 21 25
17 Jesse Wren 92 20 19 25 28
18 Max Smith 87 29 27 31
19 Cody Spacagna 86 18 23 22 23
20 Gary Ashley 77 19 20 24 14
21 Mitchell Warhurst 75 16 17 20 22
22 Samuel Bishop 71 14 16 17 24
23 Ezra Blackwell (w) 70 21 12 16 21
24 Corey Collins 69 22 27 20
25 Richy Roberts 69 17 14 19 19
26 Lenny Ashley 69 30 21 18
27 Lewis Bethell 64 13 18 15 18
28 Connor Warren 53 11 13 12 17
29 Charlie Parrott (W) 43 8 9 11 15
30 Owen Wildish-Conway 34 10 11 13
31 Joe Grace 29 9 10 10
32 Logan Powell 27 12 15
33 Mitch Armour 25 25
34 Sam Menzies 15 15
35 Liam Ryland-Pye 15 7 8

Clubman – Overall

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 Scott Bates 174 43 45 41 45
2 Dan Chapman 166 45 39 45 37
3 Elliott Pugh 154 41 31 39 43
4 Luke Richardson(W) 151 26 41 43 41
5 Lee Clarkson 142 39 43 21 39
6 Jamie Collins 141 35 37 34 35
7 Colin McLuckie 139 37 35 33 34
8 Jack Loveridge 121 28 29 32 32
9 Joshua Lee Young 120 16 34 37 33
10 Richard Evans 118 32 33 27 26
11 Kane Fisher 116 19 32 35 30
12 Kevin McBride 115 34 30 22 29
13 Joe Winnard (W) 110 29 24 30 27
14 Jacob Bell 106 33 17 31 25
15 Teddy Hyde 97 23 25 28 21
16 Matt Jones 96 12 27 29 28
17 Josh Kirby(W) 94 20 26 17 31
18 Josh Bailey 90 25 19 23 23
19 Joe Sargent 88 22 28 18 20
20 Liam Deegan 88 27 21 25 15
21 Aidan Carney 82 15 22 26 19
22 Ben Hughes 79 18 18 19 24
23 Liam Ware 75 24 5 24 22
24 Kurt Richardson 67 21 20 10 16
25 Roger Frean 63 14 16 15 18
26 Callum Radford 61 17 11 16 17
27 Jake Evans 60 31 23 6
28 James Hargreaves 53 7 14 20 12
29 Jack Gatland 52 13 12 13 14
30 Ria Truman(w) 52 10 15 14 13
31 Robert Williams 42 9 13 9 11
32 Matthew Fuller 36 30 6
33 Ryan Davies 33 11 10 12
34 Ethan Bailey (W) 31 5 8 8 10
35 Jake Cappa 28 8 9 11
36 Craig Wildish-Conway 17 3 7 7
37 Ashley Walsh 12 4 3 5
38 Josh Ithell 10 6 4

MXY2 Youth – Overall

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 Jamie Keith (W) 180 45 45 45 45
2 Tyla Hooley 172 43 43 43 43
3 Harrison Greenough 160 41 39 39 41
4 Beau Brown 160 39 41 41 39
5 Harley Maskill 143 32 37 37 37
6 Matt Fernley 134 35 31 35 33
7 Jack Wilson 133 37 35 32 29
8 Austin Beasty 131 31 32 33 35
9 Dayton Thompson 123 33 29 31 30
10 Shane Jones 115 30 25 28 32
11 Zac Newlands 108 27 30 26 25
12 Conor McGrath 105 26 28 20 31
13 Fenton Rayns 105 29 23 27 26
14 Harry Lee (W) 102 34 34 34
15 Layton Sulley 99 28 7 30 34
16 Ricky Barstow 98 25 26 24 23
17 Jon Waghorn 87 21 21 21 24
18 Mitchell Conway 87 22 22 22 21
19 Kyron Carron 81 19 33 29
20 Levi Saunders 79 24 27 28
21 Enzo Mussell 70 16 19 15 20
22 Finlay Boxall 67 18 24 25
23 Ripley Carter 67 9 17 19 22
24 Dan Wood 64 14 15 17 18
25 Josh Blackley 63 15 16 16 16
26 Curtis Roberts 55 17 20 18
27 Freddie Saunders 53 7 14 13 19
28 Braedon Mc Ginn 52 20 18 14
29 Ashden Walsh 51 23 8 6 14
30 Corey Gordon 50 23 27
31 Joseph Horn 49 13 12 7 17
32 Max Walsham (w) 49 12 11 11 15
33 Ronny Robb 45 10 13 12 10
34 Tommy Gibbard 44 11 10 10 13
35 Leon Warren 35 6 9 9 11
36 Harrison Bates (W) 34 8 6 8 12

Big Wheel 85cc – Overall

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 Alfie Geddes- Green 168 43 45 35 45
2 Finley Pickering(W) 167 45 43 45 34
3 Kameron Greenhalgh 156 31 41 41 43
4 Joel Winstanley Dawson 154 41 39 37 37
5 Zane Stephens 148 39 37 31 41
6 Olly Waters 143 32 33 39 39
7 Jenson Severn (W) 141 33 30 43 35
8 Ryan Clift 128 35 35 26 32
9 Maison Jones 127 37 29 28 33
10 Harley O’Callaghan 127 34 31 33 29
11 Archie Stapley 121 29 32 29 31
12 Jack Leese 111 30 22 32 27
13 Danny Flude 110 28 24 30 28
14 William Evans 108 27 28 27 26
15 Jenson Cole 101 26 27 24 24
16 Andrew Piggford 98 34 34 30
17 Leo Self 95 24 21 25 25
18 Joseph Robinson 91 25 25 20 21
19 Bobby Farmer 79 21 26 15 17
20 Ryan Prentice 78 22 19 23 14
21 Harley Pastoor 76 18 17 21 20
22 Brooklyn Gabbitas 75 17 18 17 23
23 Max Williams 74 19 14 19 22
24 Harry Beattie 65 16 16 14 19
25 Liam Heptinstall 63 20 23 7 13
26 Spencer  Newman (w) 61 14 13 18 16
27 Archie Congdon 61 23 9 22 7
28 Sam Verbeeten 51 8 20 8 15
29 Oscar Gilham 47 10 3 16 18
30 Freedy Richards 47 12 15 11 9
31 Marley Meechan 46 15 7 13 11
32 Jack Smith 43 13 12 6 12
33 Max Greenwell 34 7 8 9 10
34 Olly Mc Clurg 33 11 10 12
35 Lucas Todd 31 9 4 10 8
36 Ricco Hardy 24 6 11 3 4
37 Caden Pill 22 5 6 5 6
38 Daniel Hollis-Reeves 18 4 5 4 5

Small Wheel 85cc

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 Harley Marczak 170 43 37 45 45
2 Arthur Moore 161 34 43 41 43
3 Archie Butterfield 154 41 31 43 39
4 Leo Wilson 154 39 45 33 37
5 Nixon Coppins 153 45 33 34 41
6 Daniel Devine 141 33 41 32 35
7 Teddy Merriman 129 32 35 31 31
8 Arthur King 129 35 34 37 23
9 Ethan Gawley 125 30 28 35 32
10 Henry Lewis 118 26 32 30 30
11 Keedan Williamson 116 37 39 7 33
12 Harry Hall 108 29 29 23 27
13 Harry Cuddy 104 19 30 21 34
14 Ryan Taylor 104 25 26 28 25
15 Ollie Truman (w) 101 27 27 18 29
16 Tyler Rogers (W) 96 31 39 26
17 Alan Thomson 93 28 21 29 15
18 William Macaulay 90 20 23 27 20
19 Jamie Thorpe 89 23 25 20 21
20 Jake Dixon 88 18 20 26 24
21 Brooklyn Tinkler 88 22 24 24 18
22 Baili Black 87 21 16 22 28
23 Dylan Standing 74 13 19 25 17
24 Freddie Gurney (W) 71 24 13 12 22
25 Ben Alexander 62 16 14 16 16
26 Caleb Shearer 62 14 17 19 12
27 Oliver Bardoe 60 17 12 17 14
28 Oscar Fairclough 56 9 15 13 19
29 Rueben Jenkins 56 12 18 15 11
30 Charlie Dalgleish 52 15 10 14 13
31 Rylee Byrne 43 10 22 11
32 Oliver Monks (w) 39 11 9 9 10
33 Harris Curran (W) 33 7 7 10 9
34 Sebastian Todd 27 6 8 6 7
35 Charlie Parker 27 8 11 8
36 Alfie Brough 24 5 6 5 8

Junior 65cc

Pos Competitor Points R1 R2 R3 R4
1 Jett Gardiner (W) 166 39 41 43 43
2 Elliott Shawyer 162 43 39 41 39
3 Ronan Watson 154 45 33 39 37
4 Jack Clark 139 34 35 35 35
5 Cohen Jagielski 135 45 45 45
6 Sydney Williams 129 32 31 33 33
7 John Slade(w) 121 43 37 41
8 Forrest Roberts 111 31 32 27 21
9 Charley Wilcock 103 35 34 34
10 Harrison Chiddey 103 26 29 23 25
11 Bradley Thompson 102 33 21 31 17
12 Preston Chorley 99 30 23 22 24
13 Harrison Ashwood (W) 97 27 25 16 29
14 Sonny Saunders 96 29 18 29 20
15 Francis Nellist 95 13 30 24 28
16 Mason Staddon 95 23 26 19 27
17 Will kremer 92 17 28 17 30
18 Tommy Gaddes 91 25 4 30 32
19 Austin Edwards (W) 91 8 27 25 31
20 Tyler Peaty 90 41 34 15
21 Freddy Graham 88 19 24 26 19
22 Charlie Tunnicliffe 86 24 15 21 26
23 Isaac Arnold 82 28 32 22
24 Archie Oakes 79 16 20 20 23
25 Preston Hubbard(w) 77 22 19 18 18
26 Alfie Cotter 74 37 37
27 Blake Marks Bracey 61 22 28 11
28 Jack Waters 53 14 14 13 12
29 Liam Hannah 52 18 17 12 5
30 William King 50 15 12 10 13
31 Mason Shields 50 10 16 14 10
32 George Hickinbottom 48 12 7 15 14
33 Charlie Farmer 47 21 10 16
34 Louie Elderfield 40 11 9 11 9
35 Ava Peedle (W) 38 9 13 9 7
36 Max Miller 33 6 11 8 8
37 Jacob Penfold(w) 28 7 8 7 6
38 Haydn Escott 20 5 5 6 4
39 Jay Weaver 20 20
40 Jasper Morgan (W) 10 4 6