When all of the individual honours have been handed out and the season is reaching its conclusion, attention generally turns to a bit of good old team event action! And, regardless of the motorcycling discipline, when its team time the competitiveness bar goes up a few notches as riders dig deep to find that last extra percentage of speed, strength and determination to end the campaign in glory!
Race Report and Images by Mike Wood
For the closure of 2025, the AMCA introduced their own new team event, the ‘Motocross of Clubs’ and what a success it was! Seventeen current AMCA clubs entered the contest, with eventual victory going to Middlewich MX ahead of Potteries MXC and Tameside MXC.
The venue for Sunday’s battle of the Clubs was Lower Drayton in Staffordshire, and taking into account the recent change to wet, inclement weather, this proved to be a very wise choice! Although the soft, loamy soil meant conditions were deep, gruelling and energy sapping, the Cannock MXC had worked overtime to ensure that the meeting would take place, so well done to them and indeed all riders and officials on getting the three blocks of racing safely completed.
Under the same scoring system used in the Motocross of Nations, first to go racing at Lower Drayton was a Juniors class, and after Harry Pollitt of Tameside MXC had led the early exchanges, Lewis Day of the Potteries MXC came through to take the win. Just like any team event, the ultimate aim is to ensure that all of your competing riders finish the race as far up the leaderboard as possible, showing consistency and avoiding the dreaded DNF, so what a start the Eastbourne MXC were to make in moto one. Bobby and Frazer Turner finished 2nd and 3rd, whilst Burntwood Barracudas MCC lads Hayden Butler and Oscar Bott also started strongly by posting 7th and 8th respectively.
After scoring that great runners-up spot in Moto One, Bobby Turner then kept the flag flying high for Eastbourne as he took victory in the second Juniors clash of the event. In that one, Hannah Jones, representing the Mold & District MXC, led the way before falling at the end of the opening lap. Hannah, though, did quickly remount to still earn a super 3rd with her sister Sophie taking 17th place for Mold. Although Potteries ace Lewis Day scored his second moto win of the day by being first past the chequered flag in the final Juniors moto ahead of Frazer Turner, Romie Chittock, Pollitt, Reggie Chittock and Ioan Lloyd, it was Eastbourne MXC who topped the class. Well done to Bobby Turner, Frazer Turner and Jake Humphreys.
READ MORE: BRITISH MOTOCROSS NEWS
Fast starting Travis James of the Clwyd and Chester MXC led the first Seniors clash at Lower Drayton from start to finish. With Harley Piper (Middlewich MX) in 2nd and Ryan Hughes (Burntwood) 3rd, the club starting strongest in this contest, though, was the Potteries as Mickey Machin took 4th, followed home by teammate Ben Harrison in 5th. Then after bagging 5th in that Seniors opener, Harrison just missed out on victory in his second outing following an epic battle with Ted Bullen of the Tameside MXC. Also, in the frame and scoring big finishes for their respective clubs were Harri Farrell, Stuart Arden, Oakley Skinner and Aaron Hall.
Following his Moto Two success, Bullen was again victorious in the last Seniors moto with Piper, Skinner, Machin and Hughes displaying great consistency despite the conditions to record another impressive top six placing. Also in the mix in this one were Jacob Ince (Brymbo MXC), Thomas Poxon (Coalville MCC), Tyler Lane (Brymbo), Nathan Bates (Walsall MCC) and Louis Bruce (Clwyd and Chester MXC). Top overall Seniors team were the Potteries MXC represented by Ben Harrison, Mickey Machin and Thomas Tunnicliff.
What a start it was to be for Middlewich MX in the Veterans Over 40’s class as Dain Traylor led all the way from teammate Mark Swift. Impressive in 3rd spot was the Sevenseven2 Kawasaki team boss Craig Chamberlain with Gary Marshall (Tameside MXC) 4TH and the Burntwood duo of John Butler and Thurlow Bone next up. Also posting a big moto one result in the Vets was the Ollerton MXC pairing of Colin Conduit in 7th and Sean Dodders in 10th.
Showing the true strength of their team, Swift scored another victory for Middlewich in the second Vets clash with partner Michael Whalley in 11th. With Anthony Bennett (Wrekin), Brian Petty (Cannock) and Richard Tudor (Eastbourne) next up, Colin Conduit had another super ride in 5th. Talking of super rides, what about Mr Craig Chamberlain, having a very rare race outing, he caught and passed Dain Traylor to convincingly win the last Vets O40’s moto with Marshall, Bennett, Butler and Dodders chasing hard. Despite Chamberlain’s fine efforts, team victory in the Vets belonged to Middlewich MX, so well done to Dain Traylor, Mark Swift and Michael Whalley.
So, what about the Experts contest? Well, it started with a super scrap as the very fast and talented Jayden Jones, representing the Mold and District MXC, caught and passed Henry Williams, who was competing for the Middlewich MX. Having a rare outing on a 4T Yamaha, Luke Dean was right on the gas, taking 3rd in this one for Ollerton MXC. With Middlewich going 2/7 courtesy of Williams and Patrick Gilligan, Wrekin and District MCC also started strongly, posting 4/6 placings courtesy of Lee Sealey and Ray Rowson. Completing the top ten in this frantic opener were Jordan Wright (Merthyr MCC) 5th, Lee Clarkson (Market Drayton) 8th, Luke Bull (Ollerton MXC) 9TH and Ben Walker (Walsall MCC) 10th.
Making his racing debut for the FUS Marsh Honda team, Will Hughes made a supersonic start in the second Experts moto and thus led for a couple of laps before his FUS and Middlewich MX teammate Henry Williams came through. From here onwards, it was Williams and Hughes all the way as Sealey had another super ride to get home in 3rd with Sean Wainwright representing Coalville MCC in 4th. After posting 9th in the opener, Bull was at the top end again in this one by scoring 5th as young Wyatt McGregor picked up a very impressive 6th place competing in the Eastbourne MXC colours.
After his quick holeshot in Moto Two, Hughes was at it again in the final Experts moto, this time leading for three laps. However, there was to be no stopping the super quick Jayden Jones, reeling Will in before going on to bag another stylish win. Rowson 3rd, Wright 4th, McGregor 5th, Gilligan 6th, Marshal Halstead of the Tameside MXC and Clarkson in 8th all recorded another strong top ten ride for their clubs, joined on this occasion by Kyle Myatt Ibbs (North Staffs MCC) and Luke Knight (Ollerton MXC). So, the overall team win went to Middlewich MX with their dynamic trio of Henry Williams, Will Hughes and Patrick Gilligan.
Eventual AMCA Motocross of Clubs champions Middlewich MX added that the Experts class win to their Vets Over 40’s success. Throughout the event, they also finished 3rd in the Seniors contest and 5th in the Juniors. Massive congratulations to them ,and let’s hope the AMCA Motocross of Clubs is here to stay with many more to come!
Results
Juniors: 1 Eastbourne MXC (Bobby Turner, Frazer Turner, Jake Humphreys) 2 Potteries MXC (Christopher Potter (Bradburn), Lewis Day, William Miles) 3 Tameside MXC (Adrian Goulden, Harry Pollitt, Lewis Nedderman) 4 Brymbo MXC (Oliver Williams, Evan Evans, Ioan Lloyd) 5 Middlewich MX (James Whalley, Reggie Chittock, Ronnie Chittock) 6 Wrekin and District MCC (Mason Brown, Cameron Antcliff, William Burd) 7 Burntwood Barracudas MCC (Oscar Bott, Hayden Butler, Jack Pynn) 8 Mold and District MXC (Hannah Jones, Justin Fisher-Cooke, Sophie Jones) 9 Coalville MCC (Bobby McManus, Harvey Lewis, Nathan Betts) 10 Cannock MCC (Cameron Haynes, Erin Howes, Owen Bagnall) 11 Ollerton MXC (Ben Turner, Ben Hughes, Tommy Gayson) 12 Clwyd and Chester MXC (Alex Cruse, Ben Pritchard, Reece Cruse) 13 North Staffs MCC (Alfie Tomkinson, Lucas Wain, Luke Knapper) 14 Market Drayton MC (Callum Prophett, Ewan Prophett, James Farnell) 15 Walsall MCC (Christopher Griffiths, Leon Cotterill, Simon Stoddart) 16 Burton and District MCC (Alan Murby, George Byrne, Sam Homer) 17 Merthyr MCC (Jonathan Nicholas, Mark Davies, Sam Bebbington).
Seniors: 1 Potteries MXC (Ben Harrison, Mickey Machin, Thomas Tunnicliff) 2 Tameside MXC (Alex Goulden, Nick Manger, Ted Bullen) 3 Middlewich MX (Chris Bescoby, Harley Piper, Toby Rutter) 4 Clwyd and Chester MXC (Finn Fitzgerald, Travis James, Stuart Arden) 5 Brymbo MXC (Finley Goodyear, Jacob Ince, Tyler Lane) 6 Walsall MCC (Liam Dorman, Daniel Wilson, Nathan Bates) 7 Eastbourne MXC (Amber McGregor, Callum Hurst, Oakley Skinner) 8 Cannock MCC (Kye Gardiner, Michael Simmons, Tom James) 9 Market Drayton MC (Frankie Farnell, Dan Edwards, Harri Farrell) 10 Wrekin and District MCC (Cameron Hussain, Jack Hollis, Neil Shevlin) 11 Coalville MCC (Lee Warner, Rikki Wainwright, Thomas Poxon) 12 Burntwood Barracudas MCC (James Wilson, Ryan Hughes, Jack Howell) 13 Merthyr MCC (Josh Murphy, Max Brick, Ryan Murphy) 14 Ollerton MXC (Ricky Ryder, Sam Hughes, Riley Scott) 15 North Staffs MCC (Aaron Hall, Dom Seaton, Liam Noden) 16 Burton and District MCC (Scott Hill, William Birch, Zach Lakin) 17 Mold and District MXC (Ethan Ballam, Kieron Burville, Adam Knight).
Veterans Over 40’s: 1 Middlewich MX ( Mark Swift, Dain Traylor, Michael Whalley) 2 Ollerton MXC (Colin Conduit, Sean Dodders, Dale Gayson) 3 Burntwood Barracudas MCC (Thurlow Bone, John Butler, Dale Moreton) 4 Wrekin and District MCC (Ian Jesson, Stephen Reid, Anthony Bennett) 5 Cannock MCC (Brian Petty, Dan Gaskell, Ricky Duckhouse) 6 Eastbourne MXC (Gary Hurst, Russell Hurst, Richard Tudor) 7 Coalville MCC (Chris Wainwright, David Wainwright, Ste Marlow) 8 North Staffs MCC (Anthony Dugmore, Lee Spurr, Stephen Thorley) 9 Potteries MXC (James Harrison, Jason Minshall, Steven Miles) 10 Walsall MCC (David Tunnicliff, Craig Chamberlain) 11 Tameside MXC (David Langtree, Gary Marshall, Shaun Nedderman) 12 Market Drayton MC (James Farnell, Martin Grobelny, Mark Frost) 13 Clwyd and Chester MXC (Gary Edwards, Jerry Greenhaigh, Keith Cruse) 14 Merthyr MCC (David Boswell-Jones, Jonathan Williams, Carl Smith) 15 Brymbo MXC (Peter Sargeant) 16 Burton and District MCC 17 Mold and District MXC (Lee Martin, Tim Ballam, John Littler).
Experts: 1 Middlewich MX (Henry Williams, Patrick Gilligan, Will Hughes) 2 Wrekin and District MCC (Lee Sealey, Ray Rowson, Junior Carroll) 3 Ollerton MXC (Luke Bull, Luke Dean, Luke Knight) 4 Mold and District MXC (Ben Seaburg, Jayden Jones, Oliver Abbott) 5 Tameside MXC (Conner Challinor, Conrad Tomlinson, Marshal Halstead) 6 Coalville MCC (Braedon McGinn, Phillip Dyson, Sean Wainwright) 7 Potteries MXC (Albie Hall, Tom Neesam, Lauren Collingwood) 8 Brymbo MXC (Lewis Roberts, Liam Johnston, Matthew Richard Evans) 9 Burntwood Barracudas MCC (Mitchell Ingley, Lewis Thompson, Jack Sandland) 10 Merthyr MCC (Drew Larcombe, Jordan Wright, Logan Jay Powell) 11 Market Drayton MC (Matthew Jones, Lee Clarkson, Steven Owen) 12 Eastbourne MXC (Jack Davis, Oliver Hurst, Wyatt McGregor) 13 Walsall MCC (Oliver Davis, Ben Walker) 14 North Staffs MCC (Kai Reason, Kyle Myatt Ibbs, Kyle Thorley) 15 Burton and District MCC (Dexter Marks, Joshua Cooper, Kian Bown) 16 Cannock MCC (Joe Bailey, Louis Perrin-Brown, Sam Bailey) 17 Clwyd and Chester MXC (Tomos Roberts, Christopher Childs, Jed Reeson).
Final Club Standings:
1 Middlewich MX 10 points
2 Potteries MXC 19
3 Tameside MXC 21
4 Wrekin and District MCC 22
5 Eastbourne MXC 26
6 Ollerton MXC 30
7 Burntwood Barracudas MCC 31
8 Brymbo MXC 32
9 Coalville MCC 33
10 Cannock MCC 39
11 Walsall MCC 44
12 Mold and District MXC 46
13 Clwyd and Chester MXC 46
14 Market Drayton MC 46
15 North Staffs MCC 50
16 Merthyr MCC 54
17 Burton and District MCC 63
